A Lesson in Passion (14 page)

It was only then that Ginny realized how cold
it was. Waking from her shock, Ginny's mind railed against this
situation and place she found herself in. She knew that she should
be enjoying herself. Obviously, the smell, the unsanitary
conditions, the lack of clean anything was wearing thin. But she
knew that she was living someone else's life and should be free to
do whatever stupid things she wanted, consequence free.

As it was turning out, she was living very
much as she had, in a time that had little tolerance for any
freedom afforded the female gender. And, she was paying for it.
Ginny couldn't help that the clan hated her for being English, but
she could help by being more demure and accommodating. It might
just save her ass from being paddled again.

“Are ya feeling well, my lady,”
Maude asked tentatively, staring at Ginny's face. Ginny must have
seemed a thousand miles away.

“Huh... oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just
thinking about how to make my situation more tolerable,” Ginny said
hoping to be alone soon to consider her options.

“Why don't ya eat a little and then
get some rest. I know you dinna sleep verra well last night,” Maude
said, with her sweet smile.

“Thanks, Maude. You don't have to
hang around here. Go do whatever it is you're supposed to be doing.
I'll be fine,” Ginny returned the smile.

Maude bowed her head and left the room. This
gave Ginny time to feel sorry for herself and try to figure out how
to make things better. She needed to formulate a plan, but her mind
just kept returning to things she shouldn't do. Ginny considered
running away, after all, isn't that what the damsels in the books
always did. Then the mega-hunk would have to race to find her in
the middle of whatever trouble she'd gotten herself into, save her
and then proclaim his undying love and live happily ever
after.

Ginny was starting to turn this
around in her head. If she could accelerate the timeline, or plot
line, she might be able to finish this drama and return to her own
body in the future.
I guess it's worth a
try
, she thought as she slowly ate the hard
black bread and moldy cheese. She tentatively tasted the ale. Ginny
liked a good beer, and to her, anything from Mexico constituted a
good beer. This ale tasted more like warm light beer on a bad day.
But, beggars can't be choosers!

After finishing her meager offering, Ginny
laid down on the bed. Part of her did not want to sleep on this
“mattress.” Too many stories about bed bugs and lice were swimming
in her head (and possibly would make a home on her head if she laid
down). Looking around the room, she didn't see anything that would
be an acceptable alternative. Eventually, she was too tired to care
and settled down on her stomach, to allow her bottom to
heal.

As she began to relax, Ginny
started thinking about the Cat Steven's song
Wild World: Oh Baby, baby, it's a wild world, it's hard to
get by just on a smile, Oh baby, baby, it's a wild world and I'll
always remember you like a child
. Despite
an intense case of heebee jeebies, Ginny was asleep in minutes.
Snoring away, as she always did when she slept on her
stomach.

Sometime after dark, Ginny began to
shiver. Not quite awake, she suddenly felt a warmth move towards
her. She moved her body to be closer to it and was both relieved
and comfortable. She settled back into her dreamless
slumber.

• * Chapter 13 *
  

The next morning, Ginny
woke up suddenly and couldn't remember where she was again. She sat
up in bed too quickly and the pain in her rear reminded her of both
where and when she was. Ginny laid back down and groaned.
Why can't this be over? I want running water
again!

She stepped gingerly out of bed, not wanting
her bare feet to touch either the filthy rugs used as carpeting or
the cold hard floor. She had little success avoiding either. No
sooner had she stepped out of bed, did Maude come in.

“I thought I heard ya. Are ya
feeling well today?” Maude was all smiles.

Despite her initial fears about the bed, she
had to admit, it was very comfortable. Although the room was
absolutely frigid, Ginny was nothing but warm and toasty in the
bed. “Maude, I feel a thousand times better today. I believe I can
get through an entire day without being paddled,” Ginny said it,
but she didn't actually believe it.

“Let's get ya dressed and find ya
some food. Then I will show ya around the village.”

“No thanks, Maude. I'm quite
through with being spit on,” Ginny was not about to let the clan
have another crack at her. Their treatment on her first day was
enough to convince her that maybe she should just run away. After
all, what would Ian do? He must be just as tired of dealing with
everything to bother coming after her.

“Oh, I think ya will be surprised,
my lady.” Maude pulled out some new clothes for Ginny to wear.
Hardly fashionable, they were at least clean. Ginny pulled on the
chemise. The cloth was coarse against her skin, like burlap. Maude
handed her the long tunic dress next. The sleeves were wide, and
the fabric was heavy, but it would keep her warm. Next came some
heavy hose and strange slipper like shoes.

Surprising Ginny for a moment, Maude handed
her a cloth and some powder. It took Ginny a moment to realize it
was for her teeth. Reaching into the knowledge she gained from Lady
Chatham, Ginny knew that although hygiene wasn't the top priority,
Medieval people weren't as unclean as she always thought. The
powder wasn't as good as her toothpaste at home, but it would
work.

After her bath the day before, her good
night's sleep and the opportunity to clean her teeth this morning,
Ginny was ready to face whatever came her way.

After some breakfast, Maude went about the
tour. Outside the large stone keep, there were many huts that
dotted the landscape. As they passed each hut, Ginny noticed small
gardens, growing beans, peas and spinach. The huts themselves
looked to be made of mud bricks and some stone with thatched roofs.
The windows and doors were covered in linen and provided little
protection from the elements.

Further out were plowed fields of wheat,
barley and rye. Maude began to chatter on how their clan was famous
for their bread and ale. They sold or bartered it to many of the
other clans that bordered them. As they passed building after
building, Maude would rattle off its name and purpose. Ginny was
only half listening, since she was expecting to be attacked at any
moment.

Maude noticed her inattention and said, “Ya
will not be treated so badly again, my lady. Many of the clan were
impressed by how ya took yar punishment yesterday.”

Ginny smiled and sighed her relief. It was a
beautiful day, for Scotland. The sun was making a rare appearance
and it wasn't as cold as it usually was. The grass smelled fresh
and the animals were downwind. It was still painful to witness the
poverty of these people, but it was just the way it was. In a mere
800 years, things would be better, at least for more people. Even
with all the world had in the future, there were still too many
people who lived like this.

Grim thoughts for a such a
beautiful day
, Ginny thought. She was
determined to get into the spirit of this place. She had a part to
play and hopefully it would lead her back to her time.
To what?
, she thought
again,
being alone but being well fed? To
a home by myself, with no one to share it with.
Ginny shook her head in disgust. Living in a romance novel was
beginning to make her crazy.

Maude continued to chatter on about this and
that. She showed Ginny her family's hut. Ginny met Maude's mother,
a short, round woman with mousy brown hair flecked with gray. Her
father had passed away only a few months earlier. Maude spoke on
about how the rest of the clan helps their family out and now she
had a job as her servant so she would be able to help more,
too.

“Servant? You're not my servant,
Maude,” Ginny replied to Maude's assumption.

“Laird McKenna asked me to assist
you. I was willing to help ya for no reason, since I like talking
to ya, but the laird insisted on paying me. He is a generous
man.”

Ginny could see the pride Maude had in her new
found position and didn't want to deflate her enthusiasm, but she
had a problem with this young girl being a servant to her. “Listen,
Maude. I appreciate your help and God knows I need it, but can we
call you something else? How about 'mentor,' since you're teaching
me all the things I need to know so I don't get
paddled?”

Maude laughed and made a musical sound. “If it
makes ya feel better, ya can call me whatever ya want. I am just
happy to have you as a friend.”

“So am I, Maude. You can now be my
mentor. I do warn you though... If I get paddled on your watch, you
may be out of a job!”

Maude laughed again and continued
the tour. Ginny began to wonder what she was supposed to do now.
Feeling useless was not something she enjoyed feeling. She could
use her skills to help doctor these people. It was the best she had
to offer. Maybe she could start with bathing and how it kept one
healthy.
Baby steps, Ginny, can't move
mountains
, she smiled.

*
*
*

And so it was, Ginny became the clan's psuedo
healer. Psuedo because most of the clan wouldn't come near her
because she was English. The older the clan member, the more they
refused to be treated. Ginny was learning about all sorts of plants
used for healing. Many she'd known about from her grandmother, but
many were new and interesting in their uses.

The hardest part was trying to treat those
that would be instantly cured with antibiotics or surgery, but were
left to suffer slow and sometimes agonizing deaths. Often left to
pure guessing, Ginny tried to help with everything from hangnails
to cancer. Mostly, she just tried to make the clan member more
comfortable.

Ginny was working from morning 'til night. She
would see patients inside the main room of the keep, since she had
no hut of her own. Maude was her assistant and nurse. No matter
what Ginny asked her to do, she grinned and bore it with grace.
Maude was not allowed to assist with the men's treatment. It seemed
that no one cared about Ginny's sensibilities.

When Ginny wasn't seeing new patients, she and
Maude would travel to check up on the sickest in their huts. Ginny
had become very good at masking her feelings when entering some of
the horrific conditions these people lived in. Dirt floors,
sleeping on hay in corners, no clean water, clothing or bodies. It
was no wonder they suffered so much. Their diets were bad enough:
not enough protein, high in fiber, but low in Vitamins A, C and D.
The diet, coupled with the unsanitary conditions often made Ginny
wonder how anyone survived past infancy.

Ginny was beginning to feel the effects on
her. She seemed tired all the time. When the sun did make an
appearance, she stood outside for as long as she could, willing her
body to soak in the Vitamin D. There was no explaining nutrition,
since they had only so much food to go around. They were poor, but
were also very generous and caring. It was awesome to
witness.

Every night, Ginny would retire to Ian's
bedroom. He had been very generous to loan her his bed. She had no
idea where he spent his nights and probably didn't want to know.
Every night, she would begin to shiver and suddenly there would be
warmth. She'd snuggle against it and sleep soundly. Every morning,
she would be cold again. Despite her initial reservations, the bed
was comfortable and she had yet to get lice. Pretty good
considering.

Days drifted into weeks and nothing new was
happening. Ginny barely saw Ian, as he was often working with his
warriors to hone their skills. When she had some time and she
wasn't trying to make better concoctions with her herbs and plants,
Ginny would sit and watch them fight. It was brutal and she knew
she would probably be called to set a broken bone, but she was
fascinated by the skill and cunning many of the men
displayed.

She watched as they practiced with swords and
bow and arrows. Most of the time, it was hand to hand combat,
wrestling and full on cage fighting. Ginny got the impression that
if someone didn't walk away bloody, it wasn't a worthy
match.

Ian would often stare at her from a distance.
Since the kiss after her paddling, he had avoided her like the
plague. Ginny was willing to make the sacrifice of sleeping with
him if it would get her home quicker, but she knew that was not how
these books worked. She would have to fall in love with him despite
his flaws and he would have to do the same. Ginny just didn't want
to fall in love. It seemed so cliché.

And so, they barely spoke, they
barely stood within a few feet of each other. If they were supposed
to fall in love, this wasn't the way to do it. Something had to
change. Ginny rolled her eyes to herself as she pondered what she
had to do.
How
embarrassing
, she thought grimly.
I'm going to have to change something here and
probably humiliate myself in the process.