“Most animals dae. It is a gift, I suppose,” she said.
Rory pursed his lips and the happiness fell from his face. He exhaled deeply and turned to her. “Ginger was disappointed when I turned ye and yer family away. I am sorry for daeing that. It was wrong of me. I knew it was wrong at the time, but I just thought—” he sighed again. “Well, I suppose I was nae thinking properly. I hope ye can accept my apology, although I dinnae hae a gift like this tae offer ye. The only thing I hae is, well… is this,”he spread his arms around the forge. “Would ye perhaps like a tour?”
Elvira inclined her head. “That would be lovely,” she replied. Rory beamed and first took her to the forge, where he showed her his hammer. He offered it to her, and when she took it into her hands, her arms almost fell to the floor because of the weight. She strained to hold it aloft. “How dae ye use this hour after hour, day after day?” she asked.
“Ye get used tae it,” Rory shrugged as though it was no grand feat at all, but she was suitably impressed. He then showed her the furnace and the anvil, as well as some of the things he had been working on. While Elvira was not necessarily attuned to the ways of the blacksmith, she had an instinctive appreciation for beauty, and the things Rory made certainly were beautiful. They showed skilled craftsmanship, and it was easy to see why he was in such high demand.
Rory took her through the back, showing her the kitchen and the storerooms. It seemed far bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. When she commented on this, Rory looked sheepish.
“I know. Which makes it even more hard-hearted of me tae turn ye away. There is plenty of room here and, well, I am sorry again.”
“I dinnae mean tae stab at ye, Rory. I just meant it’s a lot of space for one man. Dinnae ye get lonely here?”
“I hae Ginger,” he replied. “And I suppose I hae gotten used tae it over the years. I always assumed that Ian and Lucy would return someday. It is nae the same without them being here,” he replied.
“Why did Ian leave?” Elvira asked, emotion rising in her voice as she spoke about her old friend.
“That brings us tae the last part of the tour,” Rory said as he led her down to the basement. “Ian had an illegal distillery here.In secret. The Laird and his advisor decided that there should be a ban on alcohol, which people felt tae be unfair. Ian took it upon himself tae distill his own whiskey. We used tae smuggle it through the village.”
Elvira’s eyes widened. “Ye smuggled whiskey? But I thought ye dinnae like tae get in trouble.”
“I dinnae,” Rory folded his arms across his chest and scowled. “But I was younger then, and Ian can be very persuasive when he wants tae.”
Elvira chuckled. “I remember that,” she thought back to when Ian had dared her to jump into streams and climb high trees, forcing her to confront and defeat her fears. “What happened after that? Did he get caught?”
“In a way,” Rory led her back up to the table, where Ginger was nosing at the basket. Rory and Elvira sat at the table. He opened the basket and started sharing out the food, which Elvira had not expected. She had brought all of this for him, after all, yet he did not think twice about sharing it with her, and Ginger. Rory continued with the story.
“Glennrock, the Laird’s advisor, had arranged for his daughter tae be married tae someone she dinnae want tae be married tae. Sae she escaped and ended up hiding in our basement. Ian feared that eventually the distillery would be discovered, and he certainly dinnae want the attention of Glennrock, but Lucy begged him tae stay, and I suppose I hae my part tae play in that as well. We hid her here, until things became tae dangerous. Eventually, they thought it was better tae leave. They wanted tae find happiness elsewhere. I never thought he would leave this forge. It was all he hae, well, until Lucy came along,” a feeling of wistfulness crept into Rory’s voice.
“And how is he now?” Elvira said before placing a creamy bit of cheese into her mouth, letting the flavor linger upon her tongue before she chewed.
“Oh, he’s fine. I get letters from him and Lucy regularly. They settled in a small village and they both made themselves useful, I think it’s what they needed. I would love tae see them again, but I can understand why they might think it’s a wee bit dangerous. If Glennrock should see Lucy again, I dinnae like tae think what might happen. I’m sure Ian will be happy tae hear that ye came looking for him.”
Elvira was glad that Rory no longer cast suspicion on her story. There was a sense of mystery about him, though. He was clearly capable of great kindness, yet something had happened to make him guarded. Elvira wanted to know what this was.
“Rory, if ye dinnae mind me saying, there is something about ye that dinnae quite make sense.”
“Oh?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow. Ginger was mewing for more meat, and Rory indulged her.
“It’s just that ye helped Ian smuggle whiskey and harbor Glennrock’s daughter, yet when it came tae helping me, ye acted as though I was poison. Ye were sae scared. Did something happen tae ye when ye were young? Were ye punished for something?”
“Almost,” he smirked. “The truth is that my sister and I never hae anyone tae rely on. We were shunned by the world, and had tae rely on our own wits. We came up with tricks tae steal food and money just sae that we could survive, at least until my sister got married. It was nae an easy life. I hated living in fear and looking over my shoulder, always wondering if some guard was gaeing tae drag me away. Frankly, I dinnae understand how we managed tae stay free from capture. Anyway, I wanted tae leave all that behind and find an honest craft. I came tae this village because I knew of Ian’s reputation, and I wanted tae learn from him. When he told me about the distillery, I thought about leaving, but I knew I could learn sae much more from him. He’s the best blacksmith around, sae I did it even though I hatedit. It seemed as though I could nae escape trouble, sae after he left I vowed that I would never put myself in that position again. I wanted tae live a simple life, but I may hae taken it tae an extreme. Sometimes ye cannae avoid a wee bit of trouble, especially when people are in danger.”
His tone grew somber, as did his expression. As he revealed this bit of his past, everything fell into place. Elvira’s heart went out to him, and she felt ashamed of accusing him of being ignorant. The truth was that he did know what it was like to be treated as an outsider. He could hardly be blamed for wanting to avoid that again, yet still, he had plunged himself back into this way of life for her sake. Once again, she was overwhelmed with gratitude.
After they had eaten, Elvira invited him for a walk through the forest for some fresh air. Rory accepted this invitation gladly. They exited the forge and headed towards the forest, leaving the village behind and enveloped by a verdant world that was lush and fertile. The air was sweet, the ground soft below their feet, and the shadows of the trees stretched long around them. It was a place filled with magic. Sometimes, the most powerful magic was that which occurred between two people.
Rory pulled back a thorny branch so that Elvira could pass. It swung back as he let it go, but moved more sharply than he anticipated. He moved quickly to avoid it, but in his haste he got his ankle caught in a divot and lunged forward. Elvira reacted quickly, catching his arm and managing to steady him. She placed her hand around his back to support him, her fingers pressing against the tight muscles. He laughed and shook his ankle to make sure that it was undamaged, while still holding her hand. It was only then that he realized what was happening, and he relinquished his grip.
“I suppose now I am gaeing tae hae tae bring ye a basket of food tae thank ye for saving my life,” he said with an easy smile.
Elvira laughed, secretly lamenting the emptiness of her palm. “I will be happy with some flowers,” she said, although only meant it in jest.
However, when Rory spied a vivid spot of color, he rushed over and plucked a small bouquet of flowers for Elvira, bringing them back and making an exaggerated bow. “For ye, my lady,” he said.
Elvira continued to laugh and brought them to her nose, breathing in the sweet scent. “These are lovely,” she said. She took one flower and wrapped the stem around locks of her hair. The bright petals nestled against her dark strands. She did the same with a few more. “Is this suitable?”
“It looks lovely,” Rory said. There was an undercurrent of tension to his voice that was unmistakable. Elvira rolled her lower lip between her teeth and stepped towards him, closing the distance between them.
