There Your Heart Will Be Also (18 page)

Now the Scots were alone in the great hall, Cedric pulled Duncan aside for a private conversation.
“It is truly great to see ye again.”

Grasping Cedric's forearm in a type of privately shared greeting
, Duncan spoke,
“Aye, it is great to see ye as well
,
my ol' friend.
How long has it been since we tourneyed together?”

“T
oo long.”

“Aye, it has
,
”
Duncan said. He scratched at his head looked around the room to ensure they were still alone before speaking again.
“Cedric, I mean no offense to ye new station in life.
But what in the world are ye doing in an English castle
thinkin' on
marryin
'
an English lass?”

“Duncan, it is a long story and a sad one.
And I don't ache to share these distresses with ye.
However, most of them ye already know, and the rest I don't wish to discuss, if y
e don't mind.
But what of ye?
”

Duncan shrugged in a manner of avoidance.
“As ye say, I have me own distresses I don't wish to share with ye.
I will tell ye my da passed on and Cainneach is now leader of the clan.
Don't get the idea he ran me off.
He just gave me free rein to leave if I felt led.
And I did.”

“Aye, Duncan I am sorry to hear about ye
r
da.
He was a good man.
I am sure Cainneach is doin' a fine job of running ye
r
clan.
And ye
r
other personal issues are ye
r
own, but we do need to discuss
why ye are here so early.
I told Barney to tell ye to wait for my signal.
”

Duncan scratched a place between his brows
.
“
I canna get over it. I seriously thought ye were dead. Imagine me surprise when
Barney
shows up and says he has work for us. I couldn't hardly believe me ears when the man
said
it was
ye
, Cedric MacNeil, who
wanted us to steal
a
flock
of sheep
and
ferry them away
to another field so ye could ride in and save the day
.
Which is
what we were
comin' to
do.
Imagine m
e astonishment
,” Duncan added,
shaking his head
,
“when
we
arrive
and someone else was already doing it for ye.
Of course, I didn't know they weren't ye
r
friend
s
till I saw ye with ye
r
blade.”

Cedric shrugged
.
“
As ye can see, I'm alive.
But I might not have been had ye not shown up.”

“Who were those other raiders?”

“I don't know.
Between the two of us there were none left to question.”

Duncan
puffed out his chest, pleased with himself
.
“Another question, if
ye
weren't expectin' me then how did ye discover them?”

“The noise!
They
were makin' so much racket they could
have
hear
d
th
e
m
in the
King's
court
!
”

Duncan
laugh
ed.
“
Guess they had a mite too much ale on
the
gold they received.
”

When Cedric's face took on a fierce scowl
,
Duncan raised his hands in a defens
e posture.
“Now before ye go and get to
o
upset
, m
aybe we can find a
way to put this to ye
r
advantage.
”

Cedric snorted under his breath.
Duncan was notorious for tormenting people.
If he had a plan then Cedric wanted to hear it.
How they were going to turn this to Cedric's advantage was beyond him.

Finally, all the Scots were ready to go outside and settle down for the night.
Cedric
saw them safely outside the castle walls, and instructed the night watchmen to keep the gate closed unless the Scots needed in before morning.
His whole plan had been ruined!
But truthfully he had helped stop a real raid.
Maybe Duncan was correct and this could work to his favor.

Cedric
went back to
Megean's spare room
.
He undressed quickly and slid naked under the sheets.
As h
e lay
staring
up at the
shadows playing across the
ceiling
, his mind drifted to
Sarra.
The way her hair shone in the candle light
, t
he
feel of her soft
lips.
He enjoyed her lack of inhibitions about sharing affections with him in a public setting.

He was infatuated with her.
Indeed s
he was an
intoxicating
woman to be around.

Cedric
was determined to learn more about
the
faith
Sarra spoke of.
The way Sarra explained the mistress' father and his passion for
the
book in the library, learning about this faith could be
the way to the mistress
' heart
.
If her maid was taking newcomers through the castle and sharing the book
,
then surely the mistress h
el
d even greater feelings
in this area
.

His thoughts drifted back to
Sarra
.
Cedric
had never met another
woman
like her.
G
enerous
and
loving
,
the
woman
did everything for her mistress.
Even t
he knight
s
loved,
respected
and protected
her.
She knew things about God and H
is laws Cedric had never even heard.

Rolling to his side on the thin
,
straw
-
stuffed mattress and placing his arm behind his head,
Cedric
peered
through the cracks in the wall.
The wind whistled and howled outside.
He
needed to stop thinking about Sarra.
He wasn't here to become enamored with a mere maid.
He was here to garner his land.
He was here to become
Lord
of Greenbriar.
Determination filled him.
Tomorrow he would find the mistress and thank her for allowing the Scots inside her home.
He would introduce himself and state his business.
This had gone on long enough.
No more plotting.
No more sc
heming
.
It was time for the truth.

Cedric rolled over
,
his eyelids drifting toward
his cheeks.
As he
fell
into a deep
sleep, thoughts of
a young maid
r
an
through his head.

Sarra
awoke
to a dark
room
with a sense of
foreboding.
Pulling a coverlet around
trembling
shoulders,
she
made her way to the window and pulled back the shutters.
Rain pelted her face, wetting
her
thin
chemise.

Feet planted, Sarra pushed with all her strength to close the wooden shutter against the howling wind.
Once
the shutters were
closed
,
she
leaned upon the wall and sighed.
The rain was bound to drive people to the keep.

Rushing to ready herself,
she
was dressed and downstairs in record time.
The great hall was
already
full to bursting with people.
Ella was busily rushing back and forth from kitchen to great hall with platters of food, blankets, and other essential items.

Her counterpart,
Shelly
, was just as busy.
They needed help.
Sarra raced back upstairs and f
ound an old ribbon lying on her
desk
and wound it
tightly around her hair.
When
she
passed
the looking glass
,
Sarra
stopped.
The clothing spoke of
a maid, right?
There was no time to do anything but maintain the ruse for now.
Part of her hoped to tell Cedric her secret.
But with so much activity below
,
she needed to focus on
the
people for now.

After heading
back downstairs, Sarra went to work.
All the villagers with leaky roofs had come.
Parents came with
flock
s
of unhappy children.
They whined and wailed at being held in one place.

“But
M
um
,
I'm tired of sitting.”

“Jacob
,
just wait until the rain lets and ye can go out and play.”

“I don't believe ye.
Ye won't let me play in the mud,” the small boy intoned with arms crossed
upon his small chest
.

“If ye don't quit
pestering
me I might let ye play with the wolves.”

“Humph,” responded the little boy.

Sarra
repressed a giggle
.
In the library was a small box of wooden toys.
Heading there now
,
she found what she
sought
and brought
it
back to the great hall.
The box was gingerly laid in the middle of the room and Sarra began to pull the small toys out
,
plac
ing
them on the floor.
Slowly but surely, the mass of children moved
in their direction
.
There was a collective sigh of relief from the worn
-
out
mothers
.

One child didn't go to the toys but rather stopped by Sarra's side and tugged on her skirt.
Looking down, Sarra saw the child's spindly arms were reaching up to her.
“Ball?” came the words through the child's gummy mouth.

“Aye, babe.
Alas I have no ball.”

The small head hung low.
Sarra scooped the child up into her arms, ready to give her a hug when the doors to the keep blew open.
The villagers in the room who had just gotten warm from the fire set into complaining, until they saw the huge mass of flesh
which
stood in the opening.

“Please come in and shut the door,” one villager rang out.

“Aye.
Get in.
We were warm until you flung the door back,” said another.

“Not sure if we're welcome to enter or not.
Looking for the mistress.”

Sarra shrunk backwards.
What now?
Who could be looking for her in such weather?
Should she wait until the villagers gave her up or should she announce herself?
What to do?

Before Sarra had a chance to do anything,
an aged voice said
, “I'm the mistress here.
How can I help ye?”

The stuttering and stammering from the group of Scots
who
had slept the night on the
nearby
hills was a sight to behold.
With much trepidation the leader spoke up, “May I and m
e
men shelter inside until the rain slacks?”

“Aye,” said Charism.

The men, about ten in all, entered the keep and closed the door behind them.
They found an empty wall on the east side of the room and slid down.
Sarra glanced at them briefly.
Beckoning Ella and
Shelly
. she said
, “I'll deal with the Scots.
You keep the villagers happy and quiet.”

“Aye, my lady,” they answered in unison.

Sarra didn't want anyone from the keep getting
too
close to the Scots and telling them the tru
th about the
mistress.
The only way to accomplish such a feat was to take them on herself.

Wiping the sweat from her brow
,
she angled her body toward
the waiting men.
They seemed content to just sit and wait.
Sarra couldn't help but wonder if Cedric would come to the keep for shelter as well.

As far she knew
,
he was at Megean
's
, snug and warm in bed.
Did Megean have a leak?
Maybe Sarra could have someone go and punch a hole in the roof.
The thought
brought a
grin
to her face
.

“What a lovely
smile
ye have
,
miss.”

Sarra blushed.
Compliments were an uncommon thing for her.
“Thank you.
Would you and your men like something to drink?”
she asked
Duncan
.

“Aye.
W
ould be nice
,
b
ut don't put ye
r
self out.
I can have the men get it.”

“Nay.
The mistress has invited you inside the keep.
I will be more than happy to provide you with something to drink.”

“I don't think Cedric will like it,” said a blond
-
headed fellow.

“Boyd, will ye shut up
?
What Cedric don't know won't hurt him.”

“Don't ye tell me to shut up, Filib.
Cedric has his eyes on
this
one.
And I for one don't wish to offend him.”

Sarra's eyes widened.
It was obvious Cedric had been talking to these men about her.
Heat flooded her
cheeks as the two men Boyd and Filib continued to speak
about
her as if she wasn't there.

“She's fair to look upon.”

“Aye, I know.
But we shouldn't look.”

“And why not?”

“
'
Cause if Cedric sees us lookin'
,
he just might rip our eyes out and leave them for the buzzards.
That's why.”

Sarra didn't know how much more of this she could take.
Duncan must have sensed her mood for he said, “Men, cease.
Tell the young maid what ye want to drink.”

Ten voices all spoke at once.
Sarra was overwhelmed but was able to capture most of what they said.
It didn't matter.
She could have told them there were no choices save one, but would
they
listen
?

After they were finished giving their orders,
just as if
they were at a local pub, she sauntered to the kitchen, found a pitcher and a few goblets and brought them back to the waiting men.
Plopping the items down in the middle of them
she said
, “You'll have to share.”

They stared at her slack
-
jawed as she walked away
with a
whistl
e on her lips
.

The rain continued for most of the day, dropping in heavy sheets.
Every time
anyone
thought to leave
,
the giant hall doors
were hauled open
,
but
one look outside and
guests
returned to their seat
s
upon the rough
-
hewn floor.

By midday, Sarra was exhausted from filling orders,
look
ing after young children, and listening to constant complaining
.
S
he couldn't wait to retire and leave the lot to
themselves
.

By nightfall the rain still hadn't slacked.
Looking out through a narrow slit in the kitchen door, Sarra
's heart broke
as
the
tiny shoots of the
neat
row
s
of vegetables
had been
washed away.

The moonlight only emphasized the gravity of
the
situation.
The whole yard was a barren wasteland of mud and debris.
If the rains didn't let up soon, there would be nothing left.
All the food needed for the winter would be lost. How would the keep survive then?

Sitting at the kitchen table, Ella and
Shelly
were hulling peas
Cook
would prepare
for tomorrow's meals.
Charism was tending the sick in the other room.

T
hough not physically
on her own
, Sarra realized just
how
alone she was.
When the rains ended,
the lady of the keep
would be in charge of getting
everything
in order.
The villagers would look to her for guidance, leadership.

At this moment she wasn't sure what to do.
In all her time as leader of the small keep
,
nothing like this had happened.
It
felt as if
the
future had washed away
with
the tiny seed
ling
s.

Sarra
s
igh
ed
,
placing
a basket of peas
upon
her lap.
The stool wobbled under the added weight as
Sarra went to work.
There was too much to do now to worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow would have enough worries unto itself.