“Don’t be daydreaming. Ye must keep an eye on the tarts. Make sure they dinna burn. If they do, ye have to make fresh batches.” Bessie showed them how to use the bread paddles to move the tray of tarts to bake evenly. Elayne observed how much Cailean perspired in the warm kitchen by the hot oven.
“What do ye think?” Elayne said. “These look done to me.”
“Aye, they are done and have a lovely golden color. I’ll show ye how to pull the trays from the oven and nae drop any on the floor. Ye did a wonderful job for yer first time. Cailean, ye need more practice making and less practice eating.”
Elayne tried to stifle her giggles, but she couldn’t contain them. Laughter bubbled forth and Cailean enjoyed her mirth, even at his expense.
“What ye say is true, Bessie. But mayhap ye’d like to come with me hunting one day and shoot a deer with me?”
“Get on with ye. I don’t have time for yer shenanigans. Hang up yer aprons on the hook yonder and wash yer hands. Lass,perhaps ye can take a towel and dust off the flour on Cailean.” Bessie chuckled.
“Thank ye, Bessie, for teaching me how to make tarts. I’d like to surprise my father by making them for him.”
“I am happy to teach ye—even Cailean too. Come back anytime, lass. I can always use a pair of willing and quick hands in the kitchen. But please sit and have tea with me before ye go. Ye must eat the tarts to determine if they are as good as they appear.” Elayne placed the cups on the table and poured the steeped tea. Bessie dished up a few tarts for them to enjoy.
“I rarely sit and take a break, so I especially enjoy being able to sit down and take tea with ye, Elayne.” Cailean gave Bessie a startled look. “I can tell ye work hard, lass, by looking at yer hands,” Bessie continued regardless. “Ye have scrubbed them hard until they are red and chafed. Cailean can take ye to the healer for salve to put on yer hands at night. Please tell me about yerself and yer family, child.”
“I live with my father. The widow Mrs. Logan prepares our food each day, does our laundry, and mends for us. I help my father with his work, otherwise I could cook for us.”
“Mrs. Logan is a lovely woman. What work does yer father do, lass?”
“The blacksmith is my father, and I am his apprentice.”
Cailean’s eyes widened in surprise.That is where she disappears to each day. Bless Bessie’s nosy heart for asking. Now I ken where to find her.
“It is hard and tedious work for a powerful man, much less a bit of a thing like ye,” Bessie said. “I admire ye for working hard and helping yer father. Now must be especially busy forye, working at night helping the farrier shoe all the warrior’s horses.” Cailean’s brows rose in amazement that Bessie was so well informed.
“Aye, it is tiring, dirty, and endless work. My father relies on me to create most of the short nails for the horseshoes, but I can make everything. I’d rather make swords than wagon wheels or farm tools. I am saving my money to purchase fabric during the summer fair. I hope someday I can go to a dance and wear a pretty dress. Nae one would be too eager to dance with me covered in soot and smoke.” Elayne laughed.
Bessie’s shrewd eyes took in everything, noting how Cailean looked at the lass and listened intently. Some things the lass told her had surprised him. Elayne was beautiful and sweet, genuine and without artifice, and Bessie could understand Cailean’s attraction to her.
It would be difficult for him to get his father to accept marriage to a merchant’s daughter. The laird built alliances with other clans, and he would compel his children to do his bidding for the clan’s safety and prosperity. But a lass like Elayne would be an excellent influence for Cailean and the clan. However, it would take more to persuade the laird of their match.
Cailean relayed Elayne’s history of arriving at the clan over ten years ago as an orphan, then asked, “Do ye recall any information about the clan she may have come from? Elayne remembers little since she was a wee bairn. Others who arrived then have dispersed.”
“Aye, I recall the time. The clan was fighting border wars and rendered aid to the Grant clan. The warriors brought back many people from the Grant clan, and others. Unless ye find someone who ken the lass, it would be hard to ken where she is from.” ToElayne, Bessie said, “Did yer father keep anything ye had with ye from then? Did he ken anything about yer kin?”
“My father never told me anything. I ken I wore a thin dress, had nae shoes, and carried my blanket with me. I remember nothing else.”
“Mayhap Cailean can learn more when he visits other clans after his brother’s wedding.”
Cailean stood up. “Thank ye, Bessie. I learned a lot today from ye.”
“Here, lass, go with Cailean and take these to yer father. Ye made the tarts for him. Please come back anytime to visit or to learn new recipes.”
“Thank ye, Bessie. I will let ye ken how my father likes these.” Elayne curtsied to Bessie, and she and Cailean left the kitchens and returned outside to the courtyard. Cailean’s stomach clenched nervously at the prospect of engaging with Elayne’s father.
“After ye give these to yer father, I want to take ye riding with me.”
“Can we go hunting again so ye can teach me about shooting a bow so I can shoot pheasants? Mrs. Logan and I are going to use their feathers to make pillows to sell at the summer fair. I didn’t realize how many birds it takes to make one pillow.”
“Aye, I will put the bow with extra arrows on my saddle. Do ye want me to come to yer home or would ye prefer to meet me by the well?”
“If ye don’t mind, the well. That would be best.” She left him at the well, mulling ideas over in his mind. She returned minuteslater. Her father was nae there. He must be at the widow’s or the farrier’s.
“I will encounter ye on the road.” She walked toward the meadow while Cailean strode to the stable and saddled his horse. He took his bow with him, and he sheathed a sword on his back. Cailean leaped up on his horse and rode through the courtyard and past the village. Hastily, he stopped for Elayne, lifted her into the saddle in front of him, and rode into the forest. Excited to distinguish the animal tracks, Elayne pointed. “Look, here’s a fox’s footprint.”
They dismounted and she got her bearings, as she didn’t want them to get lost. They spied pheasants at a distance and crept closer, making it easier for Elayne to take the shot. Cailean placed his arms around Elayne and showed her how to position her arrow and pull the bowstring. He instructed her where to aim, then he stepped back and cocked his own bow and they both let loose their arrows at the same time. They both shot pheasants, and Elayne tried to contain her excitement.
