Arsenic and Old Armor (19 page)

Luke realized she had not heard any of their
explanations. “We cannot stay, m’lady,” he said louder. “I’m
expected back at Blackthorn Hall. So many guests have already begun
to arrive. And these good fellows need to be out looking for one of
the guests who’s gone astray.” Luke paused, looked at William. He
wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. “One of the guests is
missing.”

“
Oh, dear! That’s quite
dreadful,” Margaret said in her high-pitched tone. “It is so close
to supper, though.” She addressed the two Armstrong men. “Why don’t
you have just a wee bite to eat before you leave?”

“
We appreciate you
offering, m’lady,” John said pleasantly, “but we cannot stay, you
see.”

“
Lady Judith is bringing
out something to take along with us,” Tom added. “That will hold us
just fine until we’ll get back to Blackthorn Hall.”

“
We made some pastries just
this morning.” Margaret walked to the table and looked at the
pitcher and the cups. She glanced at the cupboard, picked up one of
the cups and looked inside before putting it back. She turned
around to the men. “I just took some oatcakes to a poor villager
who has been suffering with toothache.”

Judith walked back into the great hall, her
arms full. Tom and John rushed over to help her and took the
bundles she had for them, thanking her.

“
Oh, you’re back,
Margaret,” she said, spying her sister. “How was
Duncan?”

“
He is suffering, poor
man.”

“
Poor man,” Judith
repeated. “That’s hardly pleasing to hear.”

“
He told me the tooth
puller from Dumfries is expected to be in the village tomorrow.
He’s going to see him,” Margaret said, taking the platter of the
cakes from her sister and putting it on the table.

“
The tooth puller from
Dumfries,” Judith repeated excitedly. “Could we go and
watch?”

Margaret nodded and smiled.

Brother Luke watched the two sisters giggle
as something else was said that he couldn’t hear. He thought, how
kindly of them to want to be present and hold a suffering soul’s
hand while he was going through such an ordeal.

“
We’ll be on our way now,
ladies,” Tom said. “Thank you for the food.”

“
We might even share a bit
of it with the rest of the lads,” John added.

Sir William pushed to his
feet. “I’ll take something to share with
my
men.” He picked up the platter of
cakes. “I’ll take these to them in the dungeon.”

“
No, Sir William,” Judith
scolded.

“
Put it back, Sir William,”
Margaret ordered.

The older man held the platter protectively
to his side. “They’ll start pillaging on their own if I don’t take
this to them.”

“
William,” both sisters
said in a warning tone.

Brother Luke found it almost tragic to see
how much trouble the older man was to his sisters.

“
Perhaps I can assist with
this.” Brother Luke reached for the platter but immediately
realized it was a mistake.

“
Away, you bloody English
cur. You’ll be wanting to take this to your own men, I suppose.” He
reached for his sword.

Luke immediately stepped back.

“
It’s fine for him to have
it,” Margaret said, resignedly.

“
He can have it,” Judith
repeated.

“
Say good-bye to your
warriors,” Margaret told her brother. “They’re leaving.”

“
They’re leaving.” Judith
pointed to the two men who were standing wide-eyed near the
entrance to the hall.

The platter stayed close to his side as
William went to escort the Armstrong men out. Brother Luke watched
the exchange between the three. This time, though, he didn’t find
it amusing. Today was the first time that he’d realized how
dangerous William could be. The madness in him was apparent.
Something needed to be done about it.

The two Armstrong men left, and Luke
remained standing, keeping a chair between William and himself as
the older man walked to the arched doorway on the opposite side of
the great hall. If it was upstairs or the dungeons or the kitchens
he was disappearing to, Luke couldn’t know. He did notice, though,
that there was no shout of “FREEDOM” as Sir William McCall went
out.

Margaret pushed all the dirty cups to one
side. Reaching into the cupboard, she took out one that had a bit
of liquid left in it. She looked into it thoughtfully and then
turned around to ask her sister a question about the wine. She
stopped. She’d forgotten that Brother Luke was still here.

“
Are you certain you cannot
stay for supper?” she asked.

“
Do stay for supper.”
Judith clapped her hands in excitement.

The clergyman shook his head and picked up
his cloak from the bench. “I have very much enjoyed your company
and your cooking, ladies, but I cannot.”

“
That’s disappointing,”
Margaret said.

“
Very disappointing,”
Judith added.

“
I promise to return very
soon, however,” he promised. A frown darkened his features, though,
as he glanced toward the door through which William had
disappeared. “But before I go, I am very curious to know…I hope you
don’t think I’m intruding…”

“
Of course not, Brother
Luke,” Margaret replied. “What is it you wish to know?”

“
Well, have you ever tried
to persuade your brother that he
isn’t
William Wallace?”

“
Oh, heavens, no!” Margaret
cried out.

“
Not at all,” Judith
stressed.

“
And why is that?” Brother
Luke asked.

Margaret looked at her sister first before
answering. “Well, our parents named him William. I think they
wanted him to be William Wallace, too. He couldn’t be anyone
else.”

“
No one else,” Judith
agreed.

“
With a name like William
he couldn’t be Robert the Bruce.”

“
Not Robert the Bruce,”
Judith agreed.

“
It would have been nice
for a change…,” Margaret added doubtfully.

“
But it wouldn’t work,”
Judith finished.

“
Lady Margaret. Lady
Judith.” Brother Luke shook his head. “Parents have many reasons
for naming their bairn. But I sincerely doubt that your good
father, the old earl, named your brother William with the idea that
he should wander about frightening people by pretending to be the
Wallace.”

“
But he’s as gentle as a
wee mouse, Brother Luke.”

“
As a mouse!”

“
I know that, ladies. But
what in heaven’s name is wrong with being Sir William
McCall
? You two gentle
ladies are yourselves. And your late brother, the good earl, was
John McCall, Earl of Fleet. No confusion.”

The two sisters looked in bewilderment at
each other. Neither Margaret nor her sister really understood what
the clergyman meant, or what they were supposed to do.

“
But he’s
happy
as Sir William
Wallace,” Margaret said finally, for the lack of anything else to
say.

“
Very happy.” Judith nodded
wholeheartedly.

“
But are
you
happy?” Brother Luke
asked the two of them.

The two sisters exchanged a look again.

“
I cannot see as well as I
did in my younger years,” Margaret admitted. “But I’m quite happy,
beyond that.”

“
My knee makes a wee
cricking noise when I go up and down the stairs,” Judith offered,
pointing to her knee. “I’m happy, too, beyond that.”

Brother Luke looked flustered. “Ladies,
we’re all advancing in age. What I was asking really had to do with
Sir William. Are you two happy that your brother lives in a world
of dreams? That he is no help to the two of you in running this
tower house? That he scares off the regular help, causing you to be
burdened with so much more than any gentlewomen of your age and
station should be burdened with?”

Margaret didn’t have to think hard to answer
that one and shook her head. “I am happy with William,
Brother.”

“
I am very happy,” Judith
agreed.

“
He’s our baby brother.
It’s our job to look after him,” Margaret added as an
explanation.

“
Our baby brother,” Judith
echoed, smiling and nodding.

Margaret watched as Brother Luke’s troubled
face suddenly lit up. “This is all the more reason to be concerned.
He’s your baby brother. And what shall happen to him when you two
pass on?”

“
We’re not going anywhere,”
Margaret said.

“
Only to the village, once
a week.” Judith explained.

“
And to Marion’s wedding at
Blackthorn Hall,” Margaret remembered.

“
We are going to Blackthorn
Hall to have some cake,” Judith agreed.

“
I am not talking about
going anywhere in this life,” Brother Luke said grimly. “What shall
happen to Sir William after you die?”

Margaret looked at Judith, who was clearly
surprised, as well, by the question. “We are not ready to die,” she
said miserably.

“
No, we’re not ready,”
Judith said with a choking sound in her throat.

The cleric ran a hand down over his face. He
looked upset. All this talk of dying was clearly distressing him,
Margaret thought.

“
I am very sorry to bring
this up, ladies. I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just as a friend
and as someone who has great respect for your family, I thought you
should begin thinking about such things.”

“
We’re done thinking,”
Judith said firmly.

“
I think we are done for
today,” Margaret agreed.

“
Would you care for a wee
bit of pastry before dinner?” Judith asked. “Did we ask you to stay
for dinner?”

“
Thank you both. You are
too good, but no.” Brother Luke shook his head and draped his cloak
over his shoulders. “My apologies again, ladies.”

Margaret nodded pleasantly, and Judith
walked with him to the door.

“
Please come and see us
soon,” Judith encouraged.

“
Very soon,” Margaret
called out to him.

Almost there, and Marion wished she could
grow wings.

At a fork in the road, the horses turned
down the lane leading to Fleet Tower. She was again on McCall land.
Finally. Her eyes drank it all in.

There was something dreamlike in the
landscape as she looked around her. The countryside, the cottages
nestled in the glens and on the sides of the hills, the farms—so
much of it was almost new to her. It was all here twelve years ago.
All just the same. She knew that. But she’d been too young when she
left. It had slipped away from her memory like the mist on a
morning slope.

Still, there was something familiar in all
of it.

There was so much that she wanted to see,
yet at the same time she was impatient to get to the Tower. The
yearning ache of the years now became almost unbearable. She filled
up her lungs with the cool autumn air, trying to recall the smell
of the earth and the trees and the fading heather. She didn’t even
realize that she’d ridden past the front of the group until Iain
suddenly appeared beside her.

“
You need to promise to
wear this same smile for all our married days.”

“
I promise.” She smiled at
him, happy that he wasn’t slowing her down, but staying with her.
“And thank you for taking me home first.”

“
I told you I’ll stay the
night with you at Fleet Tower, but I need to send most of the men
back to their families.”

“
Send all of them away. I
doubt my aunts would be ready to take care of so many new
arrivals.”

“
We’ll see. I might just do
that,” he said. “Tomorrow, though, you and I need to ride to
Blackthorn Hall to see my mother. You cannot avoid her until the
wedding.”

She nodded reluctantly. Marion was not
looking forward to meeting with Lady Elizabeth. All of the memories
she had of the gentlewoman consisted of her looking down her nose
disapprovingly at Marion. Correcting her whenever she was in her
company. Lecturing her on how she should behave and what her
responsibilities were. Lady Elizabeth treated Marion like a wild
child who wasn’t getting any instruction on behavior from her own
family.

Well, perhaps she wasn’t, Marion admitted to
herself, but that wasn’t any reason to try to make her feel so
lacking.

“
But I want to come back
here to spend the night,” she told Iain.

“
Very well.”

“
And I want you to let me
stop, visit, and get to know this countryside again on our ride
over and back.” She made a sweeping gesture that took in everything
around them. “I’ve missed all of this so much.”

“
We’ll do that, as
well.”

Marion looked at her husband and her heart
swelled with everything she felt for him. He couldn’t have been
kinder to her since their stay at the inn. He could not have been
more caring, compassionate, or understanding. Something had changed
in him. She could see it in his eyes, in the way he looked at her,
in the way he caressed her when he thought she was asleep, in the
words of affection he murmured to her.