Alright here it is. Hope you guys love it. Lots of research went into this and I hope everyone appreciates it. That is why it took so long, I wanted it to seem authentic, i may have gotten some things wrong but I did try to make it true to the time period.
I am waiting anxiously for your feedback, so don’t keep me waiting. As always I pray I haven’t let any one down. And thank you for all your patience.
This is a labour of love for me and all your support and good wishes are much appreciated.
“Naw git tae readin’ bonny lasses and dae nae ferget tae tell me what ye all think!” :-)
Chapter 34:
A Fine Prize;
Hugh rushed over the moment he saw her rounding the bend. Sarah didn’t even have a chance to draw breath.
“Sarah, are ye alright lass?”
Sarah was taken aback by the question as well as the obvious concern on Hugh’s bearded face.
He was looking at her worriedly, as if she had just survived a beat down with an alligator. Which Sarah knew, suppressing a guilty blush, she most certainly had. Although it hadn’t ended too badly, she thought to herself, a wayward smile threatening to crack through her tightly sealed lips.
“I am fine Hugh,” she assured him, as seriously as she could manage, when all she could think about was how she had felt in Iain’s arms, Dear Lord she was still floating on bloody air, “Why shouldn’t I be?”
“That is good tae know lass,” Hugh sighed finally letting out his anxiety.
He was so happy about her being unharmed that he didn’t even notice the colour creeping up Sarah’s fair skin or the dreamy look on her face.
When the triplets had come over moments ago, frantically waving their arms and told their mama about leaving the Lass down by the Loch Hugh had panicked, especially since he knew damn well Iain would not appreciate finding his wife by the water front.
A million dreadful thoughts had raced through his head and every single one of them ended badly for the Lass.
Iain could be a stone-cold bastard when he wanted to be and Hugh had never seen him angrier than when he had stormed off towards the Loch. His temper could easily sear the most stalwart of opponents and Hugh had worried about Sarah’s ability to cope with the inferno.
Just the prospect of Iain injuring Sarah’s tender feelings had brought him out in a cold sweat. Twas hard to believe the lass could mean so much to him in so short an amount of time, but Hugh loved her as a daughter already and could not stand the thought of any harm coming to her.
He had been on the verge of going down there himself to shield Sarah from Iain’s wrath, but then he had seen her walking gingerly up the incline and his frantically beating heart had settled.
It was with a good deal of relief that Hugh now watched Sarah as she stood before him smiling.
“I thought I told ye never tae go tae the Loch in the mornings lass,” Hugh scolded, “What ever could have possessed ye tae go down thaer in the first place,”
Now was the time for prevarication, Sarah thought, trying her damndest to come up with some kind of bull shit explanation.
She was surprised to find Hugh already knew about her little trip to the Loch, but until she knew exactly what the man knew and more importantly what he didn’t know, she wasn’t prepared to tell him the whole sorry tale.
She had already had it out with Iain, and Sarah wasn’t in the mood to have yet one more guy vax eloquent about her lack of common sense.
For now she would just hedge her answers and hope for the best.
But Sarah shouldn’t have bothered; her partners in crime had other ideas.
“Lady Sarah, Lady Sarah!”
Sarah groaned inside when she saw the three little girls rushing towards her.
Not now, not yet, she thought, queasily.
She loved the little sprites but they had a tendency of showing up at the worst possible time. Desperately Sarah sought to forestall the onslaught of questions but it was too late, the three Mary’s had their quarry in their sights and they went in for the kill before Sarah could so much as open her mouth.
“Are ye alright,” Mary Alice asked, panting, though that didn’t stop her from yelling out her question.
Nor did it forestall her sisters from shooting out a barrage of their own queries.
“Did he hurt ye, milady?”
“Did he skewer ye with his sword?”
“Did he whip ye with his belt?”
“Did he poke yer eyes out?”
Sarah was flabbergasted by the bloodthirsty questions. If she didn’t know better she would have blamed the violence on T.V for the girls morbidly shocking thoughts.
“Nay ye ninny, she’s still has her eyes,” Mary Murphy stated the obvious, gazing superiorly at her twin.
“Hmmmfff” Mary Alice scoffed, affronted. “Well he could have,” she quickly defended herself, pert little nose up in the air. “Derrick said......”
This time Sarah did groan, a guilty blush worked its way over her cheeks, great, in ten seconds flat the girls had pretty much laid it all on the line and she could tell by the inquisitive gleam in Hugh’s eyes that he was on the brink of asking a few questions himself.
Sarah stared helplessly at the now bickering threesome and decided to jump in and change the subject.
“Now girls,” she scolded gently as she bent down to their level, she deftly separated Mary Alice from Mary Murphy before the two little girls came to blows, “You know what I told you about making things up. Now run along girls, I am sure you’re mama’s anxious to see you.”
“But Milady,” Mary Catherine cried, “Derrick said the Laird would give ye a black eye fer trying tae climb big Donnan. He said ‘twould serve ye right fer winnin’ the wager.”
“Aye,” Mary Alice added, “He said he’d dunk ye in boiling water and.....”
Dear lord these girls were going to drive her crazy. If ever she regretted making childish wagers now was most definitely it. She had to shut these chirping magpies up before Hugh weighed in but it was too late.
“What are the wee ones chattering on about, Sarah?”
“Oh nothing,” Sarah replied nonchalantly, “Nothing at all, just a little game me and the girls were playing down by the Loch.”
“So ye were down thaer with these three then?”
Damn it! Sarah fumed; she was just as bad as the girls.
“Well you see, I was having my morning walk and the girls decided to join me and we sort of ended up at the loch and......”
“But don’t ye remember Lady Sarah ye took us thaer tae have it out wi’ Derrick fer not playin with us,” one of the Mary’s reminded her, cutting into her weak explanation.
“What’s this I hear about Derrick?”
Sarah closed her eyes, this really was one hell of a day, first she’d been stupid enough to accept a wager like a five year old, then the whole altercation with Iain and now having to explain her self yet again, it looked like the Gods above were completely unwilling to cut her any sort of slack.
“He was there too,” was all Sarah could say before the girls piped up once again.
“Aye he was,” Mary Catherine informed Hugh shyly peeking up at him with her doe eyes.
“And Lady Sarah beat the weesal,” Mary Murphy chortled gleefully, “She climbed big Donnan and now he has tae play wi us fer a whole month,”
“Big Donnan?” Hugh asked incredulous, “Is that the tree the lads are always aimin’ tae climb?”
Sarah’s silence and the exuberantly nodding heads of the triplets were answer enough for him. Hugh’s eyes flared with a combination of surprise and disbelief.
“And ye wagered with Derrick tae climb that tree?” Hugh asked Sarah still unable to completely grasp what had happened.
At the discomfited look Sarah cast him Hugh finally believed the girls were telling the truth.
“Don’t you dare laugh,” Sarah snapped when she saw the hilarity begin to gather in Hugh’s eyes.
She was embarrassed enough as it was, and she didn’t need Hugh pestering her with all his teasing on top of everything else, adding insult to injury. And in her case the injury was all too real she thought, her arse was still raw from landing on Iain like she had, thank God the girls weren’t there when that had happened or else Hugh would really have something to laugh about.
“Why is yer skirt ripped, Milady?”
Sarah cursed her luck.
Dear Lord this was a nightmare.
All she wanted was a hot bath and then a little rest, was that too much to ask for? But it seemed like she wasn’t getting any of those things until she got rid of these three.
She was finally beginning to understand why Derrick had groaned in despair when he had lost the wager. Miracle of miracles she was even beginning to sympathise with the poor boy.
“Now girls,” Sarah said sternly, “Why don’t you three go and fetch Ceana and Megan, I need to have a word with them about the party tonight. And then run along home, I am sure your mama is wondering where you are,”
Sarah thanked her lucky stars when the terrible threesome smiled at her and nodded their heads happily, finally heeding her words.
Sarah heaved a relieved sigh, boy were those three a handful she thought unable to suppress a smile when she looked at them skipping along merrily, holding hands and muttering about beating the weesal.
“So why is yer skirt ripped?”
Sarah bit back an angry retort.
Hugh was having a ball, she could tell and it was most definitely at her expense which Sarah didn’t appreciate.
Sarah cursed her lack of skill in wearing these damn medieval costumes. She had prayed her frayed underskirts wouldn’t be too visible underneath her voluminous plaid but she didn’t have the pre-requisite skill at the expert pleating Megan did, and that is why a good foot of her tattered hem was visible underneath her hastily donned plaid.
“Look Hugh I am really not in the mood to talk about my skirt right now,” Sarah said, “I have had a very trying morning and all I want to do is forget about it.
“Oh I understand Lass,” Hugh drawled, although there was a suspicious gleam in his eyes, “Twas quite a morning ye had from the sound of it. Although I still can’t quite believe ye were out climbing trees,” he chuckled.
That did it; Sarah wanted to smack the old coot.
He was enjoying this a tad too much for her liking, she had a funny feeling she would never hear the end of it. Maybe she should land on top of Hugh too she thought vengefully that would shut him up for sure.
Disgusted with Hugh for his teasing Sarah made to push past him towards the keep but unfortunately Hugh wasn’t through with her yet.
His words stopped her in her tracks.
“I suppose I could always ask Iain,” He said softly, scratching his scraggly beard consideringly.
Sarah whipped around to glare at him.
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Well ye are nae givin’ me much choice in the matter naw are ye lass,” he drawled, shrewd as ever, “I mean ye could tell me yerself but since ye are bein’ difficult I suppose I have no choice but to go tae Iain.”
By now Hugh was genuinely curious about what had taken place down by the Loch.
Sarah’s threatening glare didn’t fool him one bit, he supposed he could be understanding about it and let the matter drop. But something in the guilty flush marring Sarah’s porcelain skin egged him on. That and the memory of the last eight times the lass had trounced him in chess were more than enough incentive.
“This is blackmail you know”
Hugh affected an expression of hurt, “Ye wound me with yer thoughtless accusation lass. How could ye accuse yer dear old champion with such a hurtful remark,”
Hurtful remark my arse Sarah raged.
Oh she would get him for this one for sure she decided. Just wait till he brought out that mangy chessboard again, she was going to make him weep and gloat every single time she beat him.
That would get his bloody goat.
“Oh for heavens sake, alright,” Sarah finally announced, shaking her head in disgust, “I fell on my way down that blasted tree and my skirt caught in the branches as I tumbled down. There, are you satisfied now? You nosy Nancy. Do I have your permission to leave or do you have any more damn questions.”
The worry reappeared on Hugh’s face, “Are ye sure ye are alright lass. Maybe ye should get Morag tae have a look at ye. She be a fine healer. Falling off a tree is dangerous lass. Ye are lucky ye didn’t break yer careless neck. Maybe ye.....”
“Oh I am perfectly alright Hugh, I just want to go inside and get out of these dirty clothes,” At his still sceptical look Sarah let out frustrated curse under her breath, he just wasn’t going to let her be until she assured him she was alright.
Dear Lord he was worse than a nursemaid.
“You have nothing to worry about Hugh,” she said, “Something broke my fall and I didn’t really fall from such a big height anyway. It was scary at the time but....”
“Something broke yer fall?” Hugh muttered in surprise, “But thaer be nothin’ out thaer but grass and rocks. What could possibly....”
Hugh didn’t finish that sentence, an amazing conclusion suddenly blindsided him. It was all he could do to keep his eyes from bulging out in horror.
“Tell me ye didn’t lass,”
When Sarah remained stubbornly silent Hugh finally put two and two together. Hells teeth, poor Iain.
Sarah wanted to smack him for the deafening guffaws of laughter emanating from his jiggling pot belly.
“And ‘ere I wis thinking I had tae save ye from Iain’s wrath,” He choked brushing at the tears of mirth cascading down his cheeks, “The poor Lad. I should have been down thaer protecting ‘im instead. Is he still alright Lass or did ye help him break something.”
Sarah got all the way to a count of ten before her fury and embarrassment would allow her to open her mouth. And even then all she managed was an outraged squeak because Hugh wouldn’t let her to get in two words.
He even had the audacity to hold onto her shoulder for support while laughter shook his bulky frame.
“Just wait till I see that boy...”
“Hugh don’t you dare say anything to Iain. Trust me he won’t be very receptive to your teasing. And neither am I for that matter,” Sarah threatened, “I want your word you won’t say anything. I mean it, Hugh.”
Hugh sobered when he saw the urgent entreaty in Sarah’s eyes. He immediately sought to reassure her, “Off course not lass. I wis just funnin’ ye. I will nae mention a word tae Iain lass, ye can rest assured,”
Sarah heaved a sigh of relief although she didn’t thank Hugh. How could she when he went into new peals of laughter. “But tae think ye felled him by fallin’ on top of his hard head. I can nae imagine how it must have looked. How I wish I could have been down thaer fer that sight.”
This time Sarah did push past him with gritted teeth and clenched fists, she shot him one final glare which only served to make him laugh harder and strode away towards the front door of the keep before she really did do him bodily harm.
“Dae nae run away so quickly lass,” Hugh shouted after her, “Ye dae nae want tae fall down again naw dae ye?”
Sarah shot him a fulminating look behind her back, not that it did her any good.
She was just glad no one else seemed to be around to witness the imbecile bent at his waist laughing his bloody head off.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ceana the cook and Megan hurry towards her. And not a moment too soon Sarah thought, fed up with her day so far.
Megan was the first to address her, “Where were ye Milady. The Laird is back and we could nae find ye anywhere.”
Sarah blushed but she managed to keep a straight face even with Hugh making maddening a racket in the background. “I was just having a walk, Megan, nothing to worry about.”
“I am glad tae hear that milady,” Megan said smiling, “but why is Laird Hugh carryin’ on so. A moment ago he wis wringing his hands with worry over ye.”
Sarah didn’t spare Hugh a single glance. Let the old coot laugh himself into a seizure. It would serve him right if every one thought he had lost his mind.
Sarah wondered if there were nursing homes in the Middle-Ages, she sure as hell would love to pack Hugh’s arse off to one right about now.
“Forget about him,” Sarah said angrily, “He is just as crazy as his nephew.”
Megan’s eyes rounded at that vehement statement but Sarah didn’t give her an opportunity to ask any more questions.
Instead she rounded on Ceana, the diminutive cook,
“Is everything ready, Ceana?” Sarah asked, pushing the door open and stepping into the newly refurbished main hall of the keep.
The women followed her in and the heavy door finally slammed shut behind them cutting off Hugh and his infernal racket.
“Aye, Lady Sarah. Everything is ready as ye asked. But I still think ye should have consulted Laird Hugh before giving me all that uisge beatha milady. I am afraid I will have tae use quite a bit tae get the effect ye asked fer and the laird will nae be too happy about that.”
“You leave the Laird to me Ceana,” Sarah said firmly, “Let me handle him. Just be sure to use as much as you want. But remember to add it to the batter once the oil is searing hot. And don’t mix too vigorously, otherwise it won’t rise properly.”
“Aye Milady, I know. Dae nae worry,”
Sarah smiled.
She had full confidence in Ceana as a cook.
They had spent all day yesterday in the cavernous kitchen perfecting the recipe until Sarah was confident it was as good as the real thing.
Tonight she was going to blow every ones mind with her version of the famous English fish and chips. Thank God she had been to that fancy London restaurant with whisky battered fish fillets.
That is what had given her the idea.
Cutting the salmon into smallish fillets was easy enough but the flour for the batter had taken ages to prepare. What with all the layers of muslin cloth it had taken to filter the grit out of it. But in the end she had been satisfied with a somewhat refined batch of white flour, perfect for making batter.
After that it had been a tedious process of choosing all the right ingredients and their quantities properly, eggs, water, a little bit of salt for taste, and some milk for richness and the hardest thing of all to figure out, the raising agent.
At one point Sarah had been prepared to call it quits, because the thing they had tried first, namely yeast gave the batter a very pungent smell and bitter taste. With no Baking powder available Sarah had almost given up but then she had remembered that they used beer in the chip shops in London and she had tried going down that route. Unfortunately neither ale nor wine gave the batter the airiness she wanted.
It was only after testing whisky for the task, or Uisge Beatha as they called it here, that Sarah had finally hit on the perfect fit.
Thank God there was plenty of it in the weaponry. Although she hadn’t informed Hugh about what she was planning to do with it, that old sot would have cried like a baby if she had told him about her plans for his precious “Water of Life.”
All she had had to do was provide Ceana with a barrel or two of the finest whisky raided from an English monastery and viola her recipe was complete.
And it made the batter taste amazing, crisp and fragrant just as it should be.
“Did you get enough fillets ready Ceana?”
“Aye Milady,” She replied, “We have more than enough,”
“And did you skin the fish first,” Sarah asked, aware of the look on Ceana’s plain face.
Ceana had argued long and hard about skinning fish, she had thought it unnatural. But Sarah had managed to convince the reluctant woman in the end.
Sarah suppressed a wayward grin at the disapproving frown on Ceana’s small face.
At her stiff nod Sarah continued.
“How about the Turnips?”
“Tis all ready milady,” Ceana said smiling broadly, “I cut them neeps up into chunks and boiled the lot in water until they were just a bit soft on the outside.”
“Great,” Sarah said satisfied, intially she had been dissapointed that they didnt have potatoes in the middle ages. But then she had substutued turnips for the job, there were plenty of them around in the larder and though they didnt make the ideal chips the result wasnt half bad either, “Just remember to keep them covered and in a cool dry place and then fry them separately from the fish. Like I showed you.”
“Aye milady,”
Sarah nodded and turned her admiring attention to the hall itself.
What a transformation she thought, grinning.
The women had all worked a wonder.
The two tables were still there but now they stood at opposite ends of the huge hall, close to the walls, with plenty of empty room in the middle. They were also covered with a sumptuous table cloth, in burgundy with black trim which the women had made in record time.
Sarah was glad the girls had gotten rid of the benches for tonight, given that she was planning this party to be a buffet style affair the ambience was just right.
She wanted everyone to mingle and have fun, and those long benches wouldn’t allow that, nor was there enough room on them for everyone to sit.
Sarah had however compromised by asking Megan to place a few chairs here and there, discreetly off course, for the older members of the clan in particular, in case they tired of standing around.
But that was her only concession as far as seating went.
Tonight was going to be a first for the Mclaughlin's, every single man and woman in the village was invited and Sarah hoped her modern take on a medieval feast was a rip roaring success.
Megan and some of the village girls had even worked on some giant tapestries which were now hanging proudly off the walls.
Sarah was especially happy with how her attempt at designing an attractive crest had come along. She had taken inspiration from Iain's moniker, namely the "Black Wolf", and made a design of a wolf’s howling profile juxtaposed against a moonlit background.
Sure it was insanely cliché, but Sarah liked it.
It looked great adorning the elaborate embroidery in the centre of the heavy red fabric.The tapestries weren't fully complete yet but their effect on the previously bare walls was still a damn sight better than the cold grey-stone edifice that had greeted her before.
Sarah turned her gaze upwards towards the shuttered windows high up above her head. Douglas had done an awesome job with that particular task Sarah thought to herself.
The whole place looked warm and inviting, which in itself was a bloody miracle.
“Make sure the candles are lit tonight Megan,” Sarah said, gazing at all the tallow candles adorning the narrow shelves Douglas had nailed the length of the walls on either side of the room above the tables. "And be careful about placing them properly so those tapestries dont catch fire."
Sarah eyed the candelabra’s Douglas had made for her as per her instructions. At the moment they lay forlornly on the floor besides the tables.
“Oh and make sure those candelabras have enough candles in them, then place them in the middle of each table, spacing them so you have five on each. And don’t forget to light the torches Megan...” Sarah rattled on, firing off orders like a General with her helpers following in her wake as she made her way across the room surveying every thing with a critical eye.
“How about these rushes, “Sarah asked, looking at the soft shaggy mats underneath her feet. “They still smell a little musty, don’t you think Megan?”
“Aye Milady, but thaer is nae need tae worry,” Megan rushed to assure her, “Morag has left us plenty of Lavender and thyme. Oh and Alain also gave me lots marjoram and meadow sweet. He said ‘twould be perfect fer making ‘em smell as fresh as spring,”
“God bless that man and his love of flowers,” Sarah exclaimed, her eyes darting towards the potted bouquets of flowers clustered around the front door.They would look perfect once she had a chance to decorate the tables with them properly.
Megan chuckled, “Aye but ye could nae tell that by the look of ‘im,”
Sarah laughed recalling the fierce looking old warrior, “Aye indeed, that man could make a raging bull turn tail,”
“What does that mean?” Ceana asked perplexed.
“Oh nothing,” Sarah said, “It is just an English term. Well anyway, it looks like you have everything under control here.” Sarah said jovially, encompassing both the women with her appreciative gaze, “I am extremely grateful for everything you have accomplished. I can’t believe how well all of this has turned out.”
“Think naught of it Lady Sarah,” Megan said softly, overwhelmed by her mistress’s praise. “Twas yer vision that helped us achieve this transformation. We can nae wait fer the Laird tae see all the changes ye have wrought in the in the keep.”
Sarah drew some confidence from the encouraging looks on the women’s flushed happy faces. She just hoped Megan was right about Iain’s reaction. It would be a shame if he bellowed and grumbled about everything these amazing women had accomplished in barely a week.
“Ye should go upstairs naw Milady. Dae nae fret about the hall any more. I assure ye we will have everything ready fer tonight. Ye just go on upstairs and Ana and I will bring ye up a nice warm bath.”
“Thank you Megan. I know I can count on you. Just don’t forget.....”
“It smells like a barn in ‘ere,”
Sarah turned around to face the oldest living dinosaur in the history of the world. She smiled, even Aga with her pointed words couldn’t mess up her mood at that moment.
“Sure it does,” Sarah said sweetly, smiling gaily at the old crone standing by the stairs, “You just walked in,”
Aga struggled for a cutting come-back but she was stumped. Giving up she cackled, the lass with her witty retorts was a breath of fresh air Aga thought to herself.
The village hadn’t been the same ever since she had come here and Aga for one was thrilled with her new mistress.
She had brought laughter and joy back to this dusty old place and injected a sense of wonder and excitement in the entire village.
‘Twas galling to admit that an English woman had brought the village back to life but somehow she had, and Aga for one was immensly grateful.
‘Twas a fine prize the Laird had brought them from England, a fine prize indeed.