“Inside!” Gavin shouted, pointing to the hall. “Come on then.”
Domnal slowly let go of Kyle’s arms and let him free, giving him a friendly pat on the back as the group walked toward the hall, the whole of the yard staring in bewilderment. “Ah, leave it alone!” Domnal cried to them, waving his hand. They entered the hall and slammed the heavy doors shut behind them.
“Well?” Gavin shouted, holding out his arms. “Care tae explain?”
“I’m not drunk!” Kyle shouted back, pounding his hand on the table.
“Well, ye are certainly behaving so!” Ella added, walking around to stand beside her husband.
“I,” Kyle said, faltering, “I am sorry.”
“Well, that’s all well and good,” Gavin said in a mocking tone. “What the devil is wrong with ye?”
Kyle stood silent for a moment longer, fuming internally, and finally, let the parchment drop onto the table before him.
“And what is this?” Ella asked incredulously. “An excuse?”
“It’s Laila,” Kyle said softly. “She’s gone.”
“Gone?” Domnal asked, cocking his head. “What d’ye mean gone?”
“Just that,” Kyle said, shrugging apathetically. “Gone.”
Ella looked at him suspiciously as she walked over to the table and plucked up the parchment, glancing once more his way as she read the document.
“Well?” Gavin asked, his face still wide with bewilderment.
“What the devil did ye do tae her?” Ella said, slamming the parchment down.
“Let me see that!” Gavin shouted, going red in the face from all his confusion and anger. He snatched up the parchment and began reading it.
“What’s it say?” Domnal asked, just as confused as Gavin.
“Let me read it!” Gavin huffed. “And I will tell ye!”
“This is all rotten,” Ella said, crossing her arms.
“A spy!” Gavin announced, crumpling the parchment beneath his fist. “She’s a spy!”
“A spy?” Domnal asked. “Fer who?”
“The English o’ course!” Gavin spat back. “Who else?”
“An English spy,” Domnal marveled. “Right under our noses.”
“Come now, the both of you!” Ella criticized. “She’s a fine lass! She is nay a spy.”
“How can ye know that?” Gavin replied. “She’s here a week, and those Englishmen show up? It’s all rotten! Ye slept with her, didn’t ye? Ah! A spy, I’m sure of it!”
“A spy?” Kyle gawked. “That’s a bit farfetched, isn’t it?”
“She’s not a spy?” Domnal asked, his eyes narrowing further in confusion. The poor man was having a hard time keeping up.
“She is!”
“She’s not!”
“How d’ye know?”
