"Do ye want me help or ye want to trade insults. The last time we did, ye cried yer arse to Ma because I called ye a daft fud which ye still are. Ye are worse than a fanny at times Caillen. Why will ye nae swallow yer pride and let me just help."
"Alright then." Caillen picked up the paper in front of him and slammed it in front of his brother. "Ye fix this. It is the aftermath of the fire. There will be a—" He was interrupted by Gawain waving him off.
It was just as Gawain had predicted. The food was not enough. Compared to the last harvest, they had gotten less than half of what they often got during a harvest. It was worse than Gawain thought it would be, which meant they had to act fast or face the consequences.
"A food shortage at this time is nae going to be helpful fer us. Winter is almost upon us and what we have cannae feed the villagers let alone feed us in the keep. First, do we have any other food stored?" Gawain looked up a t his brother, who nodded.
"There is always food stored in the keep in case of emergencies. It should feed those in the keep."
"Nae, we give that to the villagers."
"And we starve? What a wonderful plan "
"Nae, listen to me." Gawain set down the paper before sitting straight. "The clan has money. With that we can buy food. It is almost time to pay tax, and even though they complained about the taxes being too much, we can reel in more than enough money just fer this winter. Send out the food, add a slight increase in the tax only fer this collection and use that money to buy food."
"Buying food will give the other clans an idea of our problems, Gawain."
"Nae. We will nae be buying from other clans. We will be buying from merchants and farmers from the lowlands. Their soil is richer, and their river cuts through their farms. They have the best food we can buy. Winter is almost here, they will nae be willing to sell as much, but I ken and trust a handful of merchants and farmers from when I lived there. If they see me or me signature on a letter, they will sell as much as we need to us."
"I see...but it is extremely risky. If we are to bring back that much food, we’ll surely be attacked on the way. Multiple men will have to go with ye which will draw attention. We would lose money, food, and possibly even men. Nae, that will nae work."
"Then we travel by ship. I’ve been here only fer a few days and there aren't as many people who go to the lowlands by sea. If we are lucky enough, I should be able to find the ship that brought me here. The captain is as crooked as they come, but he'll behave if we pay him handsomely. A week or two on sea, and we’ll be back with food, Caillen."
"And what if ye cannae find this captain?"
"Then I ride with two men to the lowlands, and we’ll find a ship there. Traveling on land with money hidden away is safer than traveling with baskets of food. Think about this, Caillen. This is the only way we can go through with this."
"Nae, it is still too risky. The ship could get hijacked, or ye could get swindled."
"I just said I could put me trust in these people. If we do nae take the risk, we might all starve this summer. Yer wife will put to bed during one of the winter months, a nursing mother needs as much food as she can get fer her child. Think about her children if ye will nae think about the children of the villagers. They will go hungry, their cheeks will become hollow. Is that what ye want?"
"That is obviously nae what I want but... Gawain, listen to this. How do ye want me to go about this? If the elders ask about where that sort of money went—"
"Those elders then better have food stored somewhere and ready to give to the villagers because we sure do nae. Listen to me, this is the best we can come up with at the moment. Think about it, Caillen, because the earlier we make a move, the better it’ll be fer us. After this, we drop the taxes, the villagers are already complaining about how high it is, but I think we can get away with this inflation if we tell them it is fer food, they all ken about the fire and the outcome." Gawain finally set down the paper in front of his brother. "Is there something else eating ye up, or is that all?"
Caillen flushed, a scowl overtaking his features at his brother's smug grin.
"Go fall off a cliff."
"Oh, ye would love that very much, would ye nae?" Caillen slumped back in his chair, heaving out a sigh before looking up at Gawain. "What continues to bother ye?"
"Ye already ken what I’m about to say. ‘Tis Hector and the different things that have been happening nowadays. I cannae seem to link everything together. First the fires, then Hector, and now I’m missing a few papers." This caught Gawain's interest as he inched toward the edge of his seat. "Well nae just papers. They are actually battle plans."
"Why were ye planning a battle?"
"I feared some information about the fires might leak to other clans, and they would come fer us in our sleep. I was paranoid, and I had Scott help me draw them up while ye were out. I left me study to see Emer, and when I came back, I did nae even notice their disappearance until Scott came back wanting to correct something."
"Caillen, do ye ken what ye’re saying? If such a thing gets out—"
"We are doomed. Aye, I ken, but what do ye want me to do? I was concerned fer the clan, and I wanted to make plans ahead."
"If ye wanted to make plans, then ye could have started by finding out how to solve the incoming food shortage, Caillen!" Gawain shot from his seat to pace the room. Both men went silent as Gawain thought of anything he could do to fix what happened. The best course was to find the plans and whoever stole them to prevent a raid from another clan.But who could it be?
Chapter Twenty-Two
Gawain continued to pace the room as faces of numerous people flashed through his head. He ruled Caillen and Scott out, it was their plan, so why steal it. He ruled out Emer and Davinia. Emer was with Caillen when the plans went missing, and he trusted that Davinia would never do such a thing. He ruled out Hector. The man was still dancing on the fine line of life and death. Perhaps a guard then?
No. The guards positioned in front of the door would have stopped anyone except the laird going in. Then how would they have gotten in? The window, perhaps? Gawain's glanced toward the wide-open windows, allowing the late afternoon breeze into the room. "Did ye leave yer windows open?"
