When she looked up, I found a smile. “Mayhap together we can bring this keep to rights again. May I ask your name?”
“Oh, I have lost all manners!” She stood and offered a curtsy. “Forgive me. I am Lady Anne McGee. You are right. I am a widow now and at the mercy of whatever comes.” She stood straight, her refinement clear in her bearing. “I have no fortune of my own and now with Ralph gone…” She put her handkerchief, or what was left of it, to her eyes. “Well, I hope your, um, man has more luck with the horrid pirates than Ralph did.” She closed her eyes and crossed herself. “God bless and keep him. He would be disgusted at how I’ve let his home go to ruin.”
“I have men here. They will help with the cleaning.” I looked over my shoulder and saw one of the lads we’d sent for from Castle Campbell. “Colin, I’m sure there are some local workers here that are keeping out of sight. Roust them out and let them know they answer to Lord Campbell now. There will be no slacking with a new Guardian in charge of the keep.”
“Aye, mistress.” Colin touched his cap and began giving orders.
“Of course, there are people here. Though the king’s soldiers left after Ralph died, the castle holds many who live and work here. Where are they?” Lady Anne walked back down the steps. “Holly, Douglas! Get out here and show yourselves.” She was already looking better than the pale wraith who had first appeared when we’d arrived.
A man and a woman scurried from a building that must have been the kitchens since the smoke coming from the chimney smelled of cooking meat.
“Douglas, why was the drawbridge down? We are lucky these people seem to mean us no harm.” Lady Anne looked down at the straw beneath her feet. “And why hasn’t the courtyard been cleared away? Set the maids to work, Holly. I want everything scrubbed until it shines. The courtyard is a disgrace!”
“The drawbridge broke, my lady. Got it down on market day but then the chain came loose and no one here knew how to fix it.” The man, who wore dirty pants and a loose shirt, wiped his hands on that shirt. He had obviously been eating when called.
“And no one saw fit to tell me about it, Douglas?” She walked up to him and sniffed. “You smell like bad fish. My God but this is outrageous.”
“You was in your room, my lady. You know you don’t like to be disturbed there.” The woman spoke up. She had a generous bosom shrouded in a grimy apron that marked her as the cook. She wore a dusting of flour on her chin and hands. “There’s no bad fish here, I swear it. That smell is Dougie. He won’t take no bath. Says it’ll give him lung fever.”
“He’ll not step foot in the house until he does bathe. That’s my order. Do you hear me, Douglas? Take a dip in the sea if that’s all you can stand.” Lady Anne was red-faced. “Pass the word to the rest of the servants. No one waits on me unless they are clean in body and wear fresh clothing.”
“There is no other servants here, my lady.” Holly, the cook, wiped her hands on her dirty apron. “They left when there was no wages coming. I tried to talk to you through the door but you kept tellin’ me to go away.” She seemed to shrink at the look she got from her mistress.
“Run to the village then and get them back. I have coin, hidden away. I can pay whatever is owed them.” Lady Anne dabbed her eyes again. “Yes, I lied when you got here, Mistress Gloriana. Can you blame me? Living with the fear of those pirates returning has made me wary.”
She straightened her shoulders and faced the cook. “It is clear to me, Holly, that you have been enjoying a bit of a rest while I mourn for my husband. I am not going to mourn any longer. We must put things to rights here. If you want to keep your place, you will both do as I say.”
“Aye, my lady.” There was much bowing and scraping as the two backed away.
I enjoyed the sight but certainly hadn’t enjoyed the smell. At least I didn’t need to eat anything coming out of what was surely a filthy kitchen. Almost as if she could read my mind, Lady Anne shook her head.
“To think I’ve been eating food she prepared with those filthy hands!” Lady Anne looked sick. “Holly was always a good cook, not slovenly. I think she has been mourning too.”
“You may excuse her if you like, just take comfort in the fact that in your own grieving, my lady, I doubt you ate much at all.” I took her arm again. “Now you will have company. Mayhap with others to occupy your time, the pain of your loss will begin to ease.” Poor lady. She was going to have to adjust to more than just ordinary company. The shape-shifters among the men from Castle Campbell were always careful but if we had a battle with the pirates, it was possible Lady Anne would see things she’d consider impossible. One look at a man turning into a beast and she’d run screaming into the night.
“I hope so.” She glanced at the sky again. “It is late. We must find you a bedchamber.”
“I’m sorry we arrived at such an unusual time. My protector, Lord Jeremiah Campbell, insists on working during the nighttime hours. I know it will seem strange, but I have become used to it. It is surely when the pirates will raid anyway.” I followed the lady into the massive stone building. “You’ll find that Jeremiah and I sleep the day away and make the most of our nights.”
Lady Anne didn’t know what to say to that. After all, Jeremiah was
