LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND
The Past
Bracing my legs, I lifted the heavy pot of stew and carried it into the hall. Nearly dropping it several times, I was relieved when Muir stood up and rushed to help me with my burden.
“Be careful,” I said. “It’s really hot.”
“Och, lass, I’ve got it.” He took the pot and carried it to the table.
I caught the bimbo giving me a nasty look and my stomach flipped over on itself. Gavin was watching me too, not with any kind of look in particular and that lack of emotion pissed me off probably more than it should.
“I need to get the bowls and spoons,” I tossed out and then raced back to the cook room.
Grabbing the bowls off the table, I took a few breaths. “I can do this.” Squaring my shoulders, I hurried back to the hall and only slowed my step when I saw Callum leaning over the pot and looking cautiously inside.
I would have laughed at his expression if I wasn’t so mad. Not at him, mind you, but at Gavin and the entire predicament I now found myself in.
When Callum saw me, he stepped away from the table with a meek look on his face.
“What’s the matter?” I set the bowls and spoons down.
“Nothing, lass. It smells mighty fine ta me,” Callum said.
“I hope it tastes as good as it smells.”
“So, do I, lass. So, do I.” Callum nodded his head.
Trying not to look at the end of the table, I began filling the bowls.
Callum took the first bowl that I filled and once he was back in his seat, he leaned down to sniff it. After doing this, he gave Muir a nod.
Muir stood up and rounded the table to where I was standing. I continued to dish up each of the bowls until all the men had theirs and the only remaining bowls were for Gavin, the bimbo, and myself.
“Thank ye, lass, “Alec said taking his bowl.
“You are welcome.”
Gavin finally stood and walked over to my side. “Thank ye, lass,” he said, taking the bowl.
“You are welcome.” I waited for him to say something more but instead he turned and walked the bowl of stew over to the bimbo at the table. Placing his hand on her back, he leaned forward and set the bowl down in front of her. Once he was finished, he rubbed her back a few times, speaking in her ear quietly.
To keep from saying anything smart, I bit down on my lip. Gavin had never petted my back like that, even when we were in future together. Jerk.
Lifting the spoon, I filled it with stew and slammed it in the bowl with gusto, which garnered a few wide-eyed stares from the men.
Gavin walked back to my side and lifted the bowl I had just filled and quickly made his way back to his seat at the head of the table.
The last thing I wanted to do was eat out here with her, but as it stood, I was also very hungry and surprisingly, my stew did smell delicious.
Quickly dishing up my own bowl, I made my way over to the chair by the fire, the one I had inhabited since I arrived here, and sat down.
I hadn’t even gotten the spoon to my mouth when the bimbo, as I liked to call the girl, started talking in hushed whispers to Gavin.
Gavin shook his head and muttered some incoherent words to the bimbo that she must not have liked, because she stood up quite abruptly, glared at me and then stormed out the door.
Everyone had stopped eating, but kept their eyes averted, with the exception of me. I didn’t’ want to miss one minute of this.
Gavin rose from the table and then he too, walked out the door.
The hall was quiet for a few minutes, but then Callum spoke, “Och, I thought she would never leave.”
“I know what ye mean,” Muir said. “I do no like her one bit. She is just as mean-spirited as she has always been.”
Chewing Alec and Graham nodded their heads in agreement.
“You don’t like her?” I asked, leaning forward, my food momentarily forgotten.
“Och, lass, she is full of spit and vinegar, that one. None of us like her,” Muir said.
I couldn’t help the bubble of elation I felt from hearing this bit of information. “Then why is she here?”
Ignoring me, Callum looked at Muir and said, “I thought she was dead.”
“Aye, so did I,” Muir said.
“Alec,” Muir said. “Was she no dead?”
The only response Alec gave was a shrugging of his broad shoulders.
“Lass,” Graham said. “Try not ta worry overmuch; I am sure she will leave soon enough.”
“Who said I was worried?”
They all gave me a knowing look, which pretty much told me they did not believe a word of my lies.
“Fine. Maybe I am a bit upset that he is treating me like a servant and her, that woman, like a queen.”
“I think she has bewitched our laird,” Callum said in hushed tones.
“Aye, I think so too,” Muir, added.
“Well, why don’t you tell him that?” I asked.
“What are we ta say, lass?” Graham finally spoke. “He is no acting right in his mind. And I am afraid if we push him on this, he may well lose it fer good, if ye ken what I am saying ta ye.” He lifted his tawny brows for emphasis.
“Where did she even come from?”
“We have been asking ourselves that very same question, lass,” Alec said.
“I thought she was dead,” Callum repeated. “Did she come back from the dead, and if so, is she a ghost or worse…a witch?”
“I bet she is a demon,” Muir added.
Callum shuddered. “Och, Muir, ye should no speak such things …out loud,” he whispered the last part.
Graham shook his head but didn’t add anything more to the conversation.
“Och, she is jes a lass. Not a nice, lass, but a lass jes the same,” Alec said.
This line of conversation went on for quite some time through the meal and even during Muir and Callum’s second helpings.
For once, I was enjoying myself immensely until Gavin and his bimbo came back inside and then all the conversation squelched to a halt.
The bimbo gave me a nasty look as she passed the table and quickly made her way across the hall and climbed the stairs, leaving Gavin gawking after her like a dog in heat.
Not wanting to get the men in trouble, and also not wanting to see Gavin at the moment, I quickly gathered up the empty bowls, spoons and the almost empty pot of stew and carried them to the kitchen.
Normally, I would have asked Gavin if he wanted some more but I didn’t’ quite feel like that was necessary. After all, he was the one who decided to follow the bimbo like a dog in heat outside. So, if you asked me, he deserved to go hungry.