Tempest

Chapter Four

Colm set his mug down hastily and followed Idra into the kitchen. Two more women stood at a counter, putting together plates of food when they weren't moving from oven to skillet to hob, and at the very back of the room, a wizened old woman, hunched and skinny, bent over what smelled like a rum cake as she cut very thin slices of it and laid them on a plate. She looked up as Idra and Colm approached, and her wrinkles stretched wide as she smiled a welcome.

"This is Desandre's boy, then!" Megg proclaimed, setting the sharp knife she'd been cutting with down and coming around the table. "Colm Weathercliff, look at you! I've been hearing about you in letters for years now, but I'd never imagined you would be so tall! And just as handsome as my niece told me." She pulled Colm down into a tight embrace, and his heart shuddered with pure relief at the warmth of his welcome. "Welcome to Caithmor, welcome to the Cove, welcome!"

"Thank you," Colm said, his voice a bit husky. Megg let him go, and he cleared his throat and tried again. "Thank you very much. I don't know exactly what my stepmother said to you in her letter, but—"

"That you've your poor dad's ashes with ye, in need of a proper burial at sea," Megg broke in, nodding decisively. "Of course he wouldn't rest easy in some mountain village, not a proper sea-loving lad. We'll take care of that as soon as we can, my boy. Desandre says you want to try your hand at city life, and I think it a fine idea. There's always room for another good fisherman here, and she says you're the best."

"Thank you," Colm repeated, a little overwhelmed.

"And ye'll be stayin' here at the Cove, o' course," she continued. "Back in the family quarters. I'll put you in with my grandson, Nichol. It'll be a bit tight for two lads in his room, but it'll do for the short term."

"Oh." Colm's voice finally caught up to his racing thoughts. "That's very kind of you. I'll pay you, naturally."

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Megg exclaimed, sounding scandalized. "Pay to stay with your own family, what nonsense! Ye'll catch me fish and ye'll help around the inn, and I'll be glad for the company, Colm. I almost never see Nichol these days, he's so busy with the Sea Guard.

"Idra," she said, changing targets, "finish up this cake for me and hand it out to the dinner guests. I'm going to show Colm the family quarters and get him settled for the night. Keep back a plate with some of the chowder and fresh bread for him, won't you?"

"Yes, Mistress," Idra said, moving in to keep cutting on the cake. Megg laced her arm through Colm's and led him out the back door into a small courtyard. The top of her head barely came to the middle of his chest, but her presence seemed much larger than that.

"The stable's on the other side of that wall there next to the well, and there's servants quarters set back here for my keepers. It's just Vernon right now. Idra goes home to her mum after the evening's done. The family quarters are back here, nice and snug." She led Colm to a heavy wooden door and pushed it open. A blue-black cat with two tails emerged from the dark and immediately wound itself through their ankles. "Sari! You cheeky little mouser, get out of the way!" To Colm, she said, "Sari was a wedding gift from my husband, and she's a right bit of luck usually, but she can make a nuisance of herself sometimes."

"A wedding present?" Colm didn't know much about cats, but he was pretty sure they weren't meant to live for as long ago as Megg must have gotten married, even with nine lives.

"Oh, she's a spirit cat, love. It took a special spell and a lot of help from a priest to manifest her. She'll last me as long as my own heart beats, though, and be my guardian and friend. She was a very grand present for a new bride, but then my Rory always did believe in grand gestures." Megg pointed out a smaller door on the ground level of the small, dark building. "The pot's on that side, and my room's just back there, so don't hesitate to come and get me if you need something."