I nodded.
She shook out my plaid and began wrapping it around me. “Our bonny queen is in France…”
She pinned the plaid at my shoulder. Then stepped back and looked me over.
I smoothed down the front of the skirts. The wool was rough under my fingers, and smelled faintly of smoke and wet sheep. The fabric was gathered in thick folds, making my body more bell-shaped than I cared for. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t even all one color — there was a patch of brown on the side, clumsily stitched.
But it was warm, and for the first time in days, I felt dressed.
Then Torin came in and grinned. “Och aye, ye look like a bonny Scottish lass.”
“Everything is dry and warm, I feel much better after the chill last night.”
After this, Madame Elspeth softened toward Torin, and even called him a ‘good lad’. When he pressed a coin into her hand for the skirt and the bed, and charmed her by complimenting her stew as ‘the finest in the land.’ She laughed merrily and, in return, bundled up some extra bread and cheese in a cloth for us to take along.
Then she left, wagging a finger at Torin, telling him he was a ‘verra fortunate husband,’ because I was bonny.
I grinned. “Well, that was nice, she had a good spirit for someone who’s married to an auld man who farts in his sleep.”
Torin chuckled. “All bonny lasses are married tae an auld man who farts, eventually.”
“I guess that’s true.”
We went outside and stood in the dawning sun, sharing some bread and cheese, with a little goat’s milk to drink. Dude lapped happily from a shallow plate.
I said, “But we aren’t married, glad she didn’t know that.”
“Aye, she likely would hae had a verra different opinion on us. As it stands she has invited us back, whenever we pass through here again.”
“I am never coming back here. I hope.”
He nodded and brushed crumbs from his fingers, then pulled out the vessel, staring at it in silence before tucking it back into his sporran.
I sighed. “How far until we get to the next town?”
“The first place we will come tae is Glenesk — tis nae far, perhaps ten miles or so. We will stop there for the midday meal. After that, the next town worth the name is Kirriemuir. Tis most of the day’s ride, less steep than yesterday, but many more miles.”
“Great.” I finished the last of the warm milk. “Will there be a nice inn when we get there?”
“I believe so.”
“Then I guess we ought to get going.”
21
LEXI
1558 - GLENESK
He helped me climb onto Ferrari, then mounted Lambo, and we set out again. For a while Dude padded after us, sometimes trotting close, sometimes darting into the brush, crossing, and chasing, then reappearing ahead of us, somehow. Like it was a game.
But then, of course, there was a long stretch without him.
“Dude’s gone.”
“Aye, we ought tae pull over. Ye can relieve yerself, and we will coax him intae the bag. We are almost at Glenesk, there will probably be more travelers on the road ahead.”
He helped me down, and I ducked into the brush beside the path to pee. When I got back, Dude was already waiting by Ferrari’s hooves. Ferrari, Lambo, and Dude all flicked their tails.
