Candace Robb - The Fire In The Flint

‘So he’s gone?’

‘We’re all gone — Sim hasn’t been about since they closed the tavern.’

Margaret would not miss him, but Geordie and Roy had become part of her family.

‘I’ll miss you.’

Geordie nodded, suddenly shy.

‘Geordie, when did Belle and Roy begin meeting in the maid’s cottage?’

He shrugged. ‘I saw them the night Master Roger arrived.’

‘How long had Roy been leaving you alone in the kitchen?’

‘Early summer — not so long after their babe was born. But I thought he was seeing Belle at her ma’s.’

‘If you see Roy, tell him I wish to speak with him.’

Geordie nodded. ‘God speed, Dame Margaret. I pray that we meet again in this life.’

Such a chilling prayer. ‘God speed, Geordie.’ Margaret walked out into the sunshine and lifted her face to the warmth, trying not to think of how final these farewells might be. It was time she had a quiet moment in the warm and fresh air. She sat on the bench outside the kitchen and leaned back against the wall. She wished she’d seen Roy before he left. She doubted Belle would tell her anything. The woman was slippery as an eel.

Margaret grew drowsy in the sunlight and began to nod, but was roused by the sound of James and her uncle taking leave of one another. James appeared in the yard between her uncle’s kitchen and the tavern and headed straight for the archway between the two inn buildings, not bothering to look around. It was then that Margaret noticed there was no English soldier behind the tavern. Thinking perhaps he had withdrawn to a shady spot, she searched the close, but saw no sign of a soldier.

She found her uncle sitting, seemingly napping, near his kitchen fire despite the heat of the day, his bare feet propped on a bench. But as she approached him he said, ‘You’ve tidied all the rooms now, eh?’

‘I thought you were asleep.’ She glanced around, thinking the guard might be in here, but her uncle was alone. ‘The soldier is gone.’

Murdoch chuckled as he sat up. ‘You’ll not find him in here.’

‘He’s not in the yard,’ Margaret said.

‘He is not.’ Murdoch’s grin stretched ear to ear.

‘What have you done?’

‘Made him welcome.’

‘If he’s not really gone, but he’s not in here …’ Puzzling over her uncle’s self-satisfied grin, she settled down beside Agrippa, who was curled into a ball. It did not take long for her to venture, ‘You’ve fed him a barrel of ale?’

Murdoch waggled his head side to side. ‘Not quite a barrel. He’s lying in the straw on the tavern floor, sleeping it off.’ It was evident he was proud of the prank.

Margaret thought him foolhardy. ‘You trust that he won’t report what you’ve done?’

‘Och, Maggie, it’s worth the risk to be free of prying eyes for an afternoon.’ He swung his feet down to the floor and stretched his arms overhead.

‘I saw James leave. Surely the English already know he is your partner.’

‘I’ve no doubt of that.’ Murdoch’s voice lilted with delight.

Margaret still did not understand why he thought it worth the risk. ‘Why did you need the guard drunk this afternoon?’

‘He was to make a list of all the items in the undercroft. A rare thing, a soldier who can write. I sat down with him to explain the order of things. One drink led to another, and he lay down to rest.’

‘You needed time to remove something.’

‘James did.’ Murdoch’s grin soured into a scowl. ‘In another day you’ll be gone, Maggie. What I do no longer concerns you.’

Margaret shook her head. ‘Another day? But there is still so much to do.’ Her hands were suddenly cold. ‘Has Roger said we leave tomorrow?’

Murdoch nodded solemnly. ‘He told Hal to have the horses ready after dark on the morrow.’

‘I’d heard nothing of this,’ Margaret cried, feeling a confusion of anger and panic. ‘I must speak with him. Where is he?’

‘He tells me naught, lass.’ Murdoch reached out, squeezed her shoulder. ‘To delay will not make it easier.’

He used to squeeze her shoulders thus when she had taken a tumble as a child, or been scolded. Courage, Maggie , he used to say. She wanted to stay here with him.

‘But the laundress has the bedding for washing,’ Margaret muttered to herself. ‘And we’ve not discovered who searched the undercroft.’ Her pulse pounded in her ears.

‘We may never find the intruder. As for the laundry, no one bides here now.’ Murdoch’s voice sounded as if it came across a great distance.

‘You bide here,’ Margaret said. ‘You need clean bedding.’

‘I sleep at Janet’s more than I do here. You need not worry about me, lass, or the bedding. It will be delivered whether you’re here or no.’

Margaret said nothing, almost choked by bile rising up from her roiling gut.

‘Och, Maggie.’ Murdoch’s hand was suddenly beneath her elbow. ‘Sit down, lass.’ He led her to a bench. ‘You’ve gone all pale. You can’t be with child already — Roger’s been here only a few days.’

‘No,’ she said softly. ‘I’m not with child.’ And if I were, what would we do? She struggled to think clearly. ‘Roger said nothing about departing in such haste. I can’t-’ Could not what? She could not grasp hold of her thoughts. ‘It’s happening too quickly.’

‘You’re no stranger to hasty departures, to hear your brother Andrew tell it. According to him, you decided between Jack’s funeral Mass and his burial that you would accompany Andrew from Dunfermline to Edinburgh, even knowing he meant to leave as soon as possible.’ Murdoch handed her a cup of watered wine. ‘Drink that down.’

He was right about her hasty decision to come here. ‘But that was different.’ Though she could not collect her thoughts sufficiently to explain how. The wine had soothed her stomach but had done nothing for the pounding in her head. ‘Why didn’t Roger tell me?’

‘I’d say he and his man learned today that it must be tomorrow night.’ Murdoch took the cup and refilled it.

Margaret refused it. ‘My mind’s scattered as it is.’

‘If I’m right, he’ll not change the plan, Maggie. Perhaps he knows that the most careless guards are on duty tomorrow evening.’

‘Why must our departure be so planned? Others depart Edinburgh without such thought.’

‘Horses don’t. Had you not noticed? The English are not keen for us to have mounts, and if Roger is carrying money and documents he’ll not wish to draw attention.’

Margaret had not thought of that. ‘I should make it clear to Celia how much we risk.’

‘You’ve escorts who ken the perils, Maggie.’

Pressing her cold hands to cheeks that were on fire, Margaret nodded. She was grateful that her uncle had warned her, albeit inadvertently, about her imminent departure before she made a fuss with Roger. They were in a tentative truce, Roger having conceded that Celia would perforce remain with Margaret rather than risk lengthening the journey in order to pass through Dunfermline. She wished to do nothing to change his mind.

‘You’ll not drink this?’ Murdoch asked, still holding the cup of wine.

‘No.’

He tipped back his head and emptied the cup in a gulp. ‘I’m no happier about this than you are, lass. In a short time I’ll be without all that has tempted me out of bed of a morning — the gossip of the tavern, the siller folks pay to bide here, you and all your fussing. I’ve no purpose of a sudden.’

He looked so sad she searched for something to cheer him. ‘You have skills from your smuggling days that our people need, Uncle. You’ll still be called upon to board and plunder the English ships anchored off Leith.’