Leaving the castle, they made for where everyone stood or sat in front of the small stage. James was up there with Cam.
“Why is Cam up there? I thought Eden was going to help him?” Kate said as she reached Alice, who was standing with Nicholas. He had his arm around her waist, and she leaned into him.
Kate had never wanted to lean on a man until now. She also knew that Rory had a very nice chest for just that purpose.
“Cam said he’d help as James could surely not get through all the cakes and Eden is watching her waistline,” Alice said. “Out of the goodness of his heart.”
“Which we all know is a whopping lie,” Nicholas added. “That man would do anything for food.”
“He’d sell a sibling or two should it gain him a chocolate eclair,” Alice added.
“Sit, Rory, you are pale, which suggests your shoulder is aching,” Emily said from the seat in front of Kate. She patted the one beside her.
“Kate should sit.”
“No, you should sit before you fall,” Essie said from her place further down the row. “I told you to have a care and don’t overdo things. Where is your sling?”
Rory hastily pulled it from his pocket and put it on.
Max appeared and nudged his brother into the seat. “Sit, for the love of God, before she gets up and tends you.”
Rory sat beside Emily, who held Beth on her lap. The little girl studied her new uncle. He smiled; she smiled back. She touched his arm, so he patted her hand.
“You’re big like Uncle Max. And look like a lion.”
“I don’t bite like one.”
How did he believe this was not the life for him? He was a good man like his brothers. A good man with a big heart.
“I like him.”
“Who?” Kate dragged her eyes from Rory to look at Nicholas, who had said the words into her ear so they would not be overheard.
“Rory. He’s like Max—well, perhaps the Max he once was. I’d say he’s got the same strength and loyalty, even though he would have everyone believe differently.”
Kate nodded. Thankfully the plum pudding judging was about to begin.
“If I can have your attention please!”
Mr. Clackers was self-proclaimed mayor of the town of Crunston Cliff. This Kate knew because he’d told her when he came to see Essie yesterday to have his throat looked at. It was he who spoke. Standing on the platform, he wore a hat pulled low and a scarf wrapped several times around his throat.
Essie had told him to keep it warm as it was swollen and infected.
“Now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for.”
“It’s not something I’ve been waiting for,” Dev said as he moved to her side. “Watching James gad about with that silly hat on and Cam eating. I mean, I watch Cam eating all the time, after all.”
“Good point,” Kate said. “Is Mr. Clackers really his name?”
“It is, and when his throat is not sore, he can yell from one end of the village to the other, and everyone will hear.”
His voice certainly did carry.
“The plum pudding contest will begin!” Mr. Clackers croaked.
“He’s like a ferret, with that nose,” Kate said, watching Cam lift a bowl and sniff the contents.
The raven on James’s head bobbed as he bent to taste a mouthful of pudding. Cam righted it, looking smug. The duke then elbowed him hard in the ribs as he turned.
