Hearing her name, Cathlina’s head came up from her bread and she appeared thoughtful. “I have never tried,” she said with a glimmer in her eye, “but I have great aim with an open palm.”
Mathias grinned. “That means someone would have to get close enough to you for you to slap their face. I hope that is never the case.”
“I can pull hair, too. And punch.”
“Let us hope it does not come to that.”
They shared a small laugh as they finished up the remainder of their meal. Sebastian, having inhaled his fill of the beef, belched loudly and began collecting the rubbish to throw outside. Now with the meal dwindling, fatigue was overtaking him.
“You did not answer my question, Mat,” he said as he got up and opened the cottage door. “Where do you plan on taking us tomorrow?”
Mathias finished the last of the ale in his wood cup, cheap liquor but satisfactory considering it was all they had. Already, he could feel the warmth in his veins, soothing his weary body.
“It will be a long day,” he said. “It is at least a day’s ride on a swift horse to reach Hawick. I would like to try and make it there tomorrow night. But I think our first priority must be commissioning armor that fits us but I do not suspect we will find such a smithy until we reach a larger town like Edinburgh. Until then, we will have to be careful and make do.”
Sebastian tossed the stripped bone outside. “Then we will leave early,” he said, wiping his hands off on his dirty breeches. “Come along, old man. Let us leave the lovers alone.”
Justus was still chewing on a piece of bread, looking rather surprised when Sebastian pulled him to his feet. But he just as quickly realized what the man was saying. Mathias had a new wife, something he was still unused to. It had been just the three of them for years since his wife passed away. Now, there was a new female added to the mix and in all honesty, he still wasn’t sure how he felt about any of it. Times were changing and he was forced to accept it. He looked at Cathlina with a grin.
“I apologize,” he said. “I am a dense old fool. Good sleep to you, my lady.”
Cathlina fought off a smile as she pointed a stern finger at him. “You must call me Cathlina. You did it once before.”
He nodded, still grinning. “Cathlina, then.”
As Justus quit the cottage, Sebastian came up, his dark green eyes working her over for the moment. He, too, was fighting off a smile.
“Good night to you, sister,” he said. Then he pointed at Mathias. “Come bang on my door if he is too brutish with you and I will put him in his place.”
Cathlina laughed, blushing furiously. “You are a beast,” she said, pointing at the door. “Out with you.”
Sebastian chuckled and did as he was told, leaving the cottage and following his father out into the night. When they were gone, Cathlina went to shut the door behind them butnoted that the water bucket near the door was nearly empty. They would need water for the morning. She picked it up by the rope handle.
“I would collect some water before we retire,” she told Mathias. “I shall be right back.”
He shook his head as he moved for her, extending a hand. “I will get it for you.”
Cathlina was already moving out of the door. “I will get it,” she insisted. “You have done all of the work all day and I have done nothing. Let me do something.”
He simply lifted his shoulders as she made her way outside to the riverbank barely twenty feet away. The moon was just starting to rise, making the gently flowing waters of the river look like streams of diamonds. Everything was glittering, cold and bright.
He could hear his father and brother in the cottage next door, arguing over something, and the faint noise from the tavern behind them wafted upon the cold air. He watched Cathlina go to the edge of the river and crouch down, splashing the water with her hand before dipping the bucket into it.
Mathias’ gaze lingered on her a moment, thinking of the night to come, before turning around and moving to the fire to stoke it. He wanted it warm when his wife took off her clothes. He was in the process of working it into a rolling blaze when he heard Cathlina scream.
Mathias was up and out of the cottage faster than he had ever moved in his life. Even as he was running at her, he could see that she was quite alone. There were no threats that he could see. Sebastian and Justus were running towards her as well, all three men descending on her, preparing to do what was necessary in order to protect her. But by the time they reached her, she was giggling uncontrollably and splashing her hands in the water. She seemed to be having a marvelous time.
“What is the matter?” Mathias demanded. “Why did you scream?”
Cathlina looked up at the three edgy men behind her and stood up, apologetic. “I did not scream,” she said, bewildered, but then her features relaxed with understanding. She put a wet hand on Mathias’s arm. “I am sorry. I suppose I did scream but it was not one of fright. I was startled when the otter came out of the water and nibbled on me.”
“Otter?” Mathias repeated. “What otter?”
Cathlina was crouching down again, splashing her hands in the water. She was calling to something, something they couldn’t see in the darkness, but suddenly a flash of black wet fur shot out of the water and into the bucket next to Cathlina. She squealed with laughter as an otter about the size of a large fish, perhaps ten or twelve pounds, played around in the bucket, dumping it over and then slithering back into the river. Cathlina was delighted.
“See?” she pointed to the river. “An otter. He seems to be quite tame.”
Sebastian crouched down next to her, watching the otter frolic in the moonlight. “I have seen them around in the burns and lakes,” he said. “They are little thieves. They will steal your meal if you don’t watch out.”
