They had carried them with them from Newcastle and it was a good thing they did. The tower needed to be scrubbed, and scrubbed it was. Using the old bucket they’d found in the hearth on the ground level, they took the rags and soap and began to clean the floors of the dust, cobwebs, and bird droppings. Tibelda, a woman of very few words, was a hard worker and while she scrubbed floors, Maitland cleaned out the hearths on this level and eventually started a fire in one of them with a flint and stone she carried in her satchel and some of the broken pieces of furniture that could surely not be repaired.
Soon, the old tower began to show signs of life again.
And that was how Thomas found her when he came hunting. Maitland’s head stuck into the chimney of the hearth on the upper level of the tower, her hair was pulled away from her face and a sooty kerchief around her head. He just stood there a moment, watching her and realizing that when it came time to leave, he didn’t want to go.
He simply didn’t want to leave her.
“Do you see anything interesting up there?” he asked.
Maitland pulled her head out of the chimney, grinning when she saw the amused twinkle in his eyes. “Not really,” she said. “Bird’s nests, mostly. I was trying to clean it out a little before lighting a fire. I do not want to set the entire tower on fire.”
Thomas looked across the landing to the second door, which was open. He could see the flickers from a flame inside as well as Tibelda as the woman vigorously scrubbed the floor.
“You managed to clean out that hearth,” he said, gesturing. “It looks as if you will soon have this place cleaned and ready.”
Maitland stood up, brushing off her hands. “I hope so,” she said. “I do not want the children to sleep in the outbuildings tonight. Has Artus come out, by the way?”
Thomas shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “He remains inside, which is where I suspect the rest of the children, if any, are hiding.”
Maitland nodded, wiping at her face with the back of her hand. “Those are my thoughts, too,” she said. “And what about that old woman? Queenie? Who do you suppose she is?”
He snorted. “Who can say?” he said. “But that belch she delivered was impressive.”
Maitland lifted an eyebrow. “And that’s another thing,” he said. “Where do you suppose she got the money to buy ale? If she was a servant here, which I am assuming she must have been, then surely there is not any money left in this place. Clearly, there is nothing at all.”
Thomas lifted his big shoulders. “If Edenside is supported by Kelso Abbey, then mayhap they have given them some money or provisions.”
“I hope that is true,” Maitland said. “But that lad looks as if he hasn’t eaten in a month, yet the old woman has money enough to buy ale?”
“Mayhap she took the only money they had. But the lad seems quite protective over her.”
It was all a perplexing mystery to be sure, one that Maitland could only shake her head at. “I suppose the only way to know the truth is to lure the children out of their hiding places,” she said. “The pork should be ready to eat, as should the beans. Tibby?”
She called into the other chamber and the silent Tibelda set aside her scrubbing rags, wiping off her hands on her coarse skirt as she stood in the doorway. She lifted her chin at Maitland as if to answer the summons, and Maitland replied.
“It is time to see these children we have come to help,” she said. “Should you check to see if the beans are ready to eat? I am getting hungry, too.”
Tibelda simply nodded her head and quickly made her way to the spiral staircase, which swallowed her up as she descended. Thomas turned to Maitland with his eyebrows lifted.
“She does not say much, does she?”
Maitland shook her head. “She has a rather severe speech impediment,” she said. “A very heavy stutter at times, so she does not like to speak. But she is an excellent worker and a kind friend.”
“You have known her long?”
“We were in Newcastle together for at least two years. We became friends when I saw some nuns harassing her for not saying her prayers properly. I defended her and now she is my shadow. Shall I tell you a secret?”
“Please do.”
“She carries a big dirk beneath her skirts. And she is not afraid to use it.”
Thomas laughed softly, his eyes glimmered at her. “Then I shall make certain to avoid angering her,” he said. Then, he sobered, but the humor, the appreciation, never left his eyes. “I am quickly coming to see that you are the defender of the weak and less fortunate. That is a noble calling, my lady. And admirable.”
There was that warmth again, something that Maitland had sensed from Thomas since nearly the beginning of their association. At first, she thought it was simply flirting, but now… now it was something different, something deeper. Something confusing but thrilling. It would be so easy to give in to his warmth, but Desmond’s words kept ringing around in her head–I cannot count all of the women he has taken to his bed.Maitland had always thought she was too strong, too noble to fall victim to someone like that but in Thomas’ case, she realized that she wasn’t so strong when it came to him.
That made him a little frightening.
Unsure what to say to him that wouldn’t begin that fluid repartee that started so easily between them, she simply nodded her head gratefully and turned for the stairwell. But Thomas shot out a big arm and blocked her path, his hand on the wall as his arm prevented her from moving forward. When she looked up at him, curiously, he smiled faintly.
