“That wasna a question I expected ye to ask. Aye. I have one. What’re ye going to do with it?”
“I’d like it to eat a couple pieces of mint.”
“Why? Ye ken they like it.”
“I need it to eat a couple pieces that I have. I need to see what happens. I canna explain more yet, but it’s important, Wiley. Please.”
“Aye. Come with me.”
Saoirse walked alongside Wiley as they moved across the bailey. They came to the animal enclosures. There were chicken coops, a falconry, and a rabbit hutch. Wiley opened the hatch and drew out a medium sized animal. It hung limply in Wiley’s hand. Saoirse wondered if it was already weak. But its nose twitched and ears wiggled when it looked up at Wiley. She realized the animal was content and trusted her cousin. He had a knack with animals. He was practically the Pied Piper.
“Is there part of the chicken coop ye could put him that’s away from the other animals? I want to observe him, and I dinna want any of the other animals to bother him.”
“Her. And I’ll make space here.” Wiley shooed four chicks to a different end of the coop and dropped a divider in place. He pressed the rabbit into the enclosure and reached for the mint Saoirse held.
“Nay. I dinna want people to handle it. I must scrub ma hands afterwards.” She broke off two leaves and stepped in front of Wiley. She fed them to the rabbit and closed the door. “I dinna ken how long we’ll have to wait.”
It took less than five minutes before the animal heaved and threw up. It was a bubbly pool with traces of the leaves, but Saoirse could tell most of what it ingested remained in its belly. Two minutes later, and the rabbit passed more from its other end.
“Is she going to die?”
Saoirse heard the genuine concern in Wiley’s voice. He bred and raised rabbits for food, but she supposed he used more humane ways to kill them than watching them spew from both ends. After another minute of observing, the rabbit shook itself and hopped toward the coop’s door. It looked no worse for wear than before Wiley put it inside.
Saoirse waited for Wiley to retrieve the animal before she poured the water she’d fetched into the coop. It washed away the remnants of her experiment as the dirty water dribbled from the open slats. She ground the leaves beneath her boots until nothing was left of them.
“Thank ye. I need to see Grandda and Uncle Callum. Are they in the lists?”
“Nay. They went to Grandda’s solar.”
Saoirse nodded and made her way back into the keep. She went to the kitchens and scrubbed her hands until they were nearly raw. She knocked on her grandfather’s door and waited to be bade entry. She stuck her head around the door as she opened it.
“Grandda, do ye have a moment?”
“Of course.” Liam got up from the chair behind his desk and walked toward the door. Callum stood by his chair and moved aside when Saoirse approached.
“I ken what caused Óg’s illness. At least, I ken part of it. Someone’s been putting a drug on his mint. I ken he chews it often, so that’s how he got sick. He felt better this morning and swore he was healed. He’d had none in days. The moment he chewed some, he was violently ill again. I examined the sprig and found something on it, but I still dinna ken what it is. But I ken it made Wiley’s rabbit ill when I fed it two leaves. It’s the mint, nae Óg.”
“Do ye ken who’s responsible? Any suspicions?” Callum glanced toward the door, as though he might see through it and spy the culprit.
“Nay. None. Siùsan’s going to investigate who’s been cutting the mint and preparing Óg’s trays. I dinna remember which maids came up. I wasna paying attention to them.”
“Before Óg arrived, did any of the men favor ye?” Liam didn’t like his suspicions, but it was the first explanation that came to mind.
“I dinna think so. Conan asked me to walk with him twice, but I made it clear I wasna interested. I havenae been interested in anyone before Óg.”
“Anyone else? Even if they didna approach ye. Mayhap just paid attention to ye,” Liam pressed.
“A couple, but Da scared them all away a couple years ago.”
“Saoirse, that was nearly six years ago,” Callum corrected.
“It’s been that long?” Callum’s comment shocked her. He nodded. “I’ve seen a few men watch me now and again, but none seemed keen.”
“Anyone overly grateful when ye healed them?” Liam returned to questioning her.
That made Saoirse stop short. She shifted uncomfortably as she recalled one such patient. “Nicholas brought me flowers twice and bought me a meat pie in the village four moons ago after I tended to his broken nose. I had to tell him I felt appreciated enough when he arranged to be ma guard three or four times.”
“Does yer da ken aboot this?” Liam watched his granddaughter. She was the mirror of her mother. He recalled the stormy night Alex carried Brighde into the keep after she collapsed outside their gates. He’d taken her to his chamber without thought and had hovered while she was unconscious for days. Liam knew something destined Alex and her to be together within a sennight once Brighde was well enough to leave her bed. He could imagine how the clan’s young men felt about Saoirse. She was as beautiful as her mother at the same age, and he’d had to warn away several men when Brighde arrived, lest Alex kill them all.
