Chapter Fourteen #3
Surprisingly, there was a nice variety of food and she nibbled at the brown bread with currants, oatmeal pies that had some kind of meat mixed in with them, cheese, small apples and several pears.
She ate until she could eat no more, offering Mathias something to eat and having the pleasure of feeding him because he had both hands on the reins because the charger was still rather skittish.
He would eat whatever she fed him and try to steal kisses in between.
Unused to games played by men, or anything having to do with romance, Cathlina was rather embarrassed at his affectionate attempts in front of his father and brother, so she ended up burying her head under the oil cloth so he couldn’t get at her. Mathias laughed long about that antic.
It was near sunset when the rain finally let up and the waning afternoon produced deep blue skies.
The sun came out and, although cool, shed light upon brilliant green fields that glistened with moisture.
The River Esk ran off to the east, a wide expanse of watery ribbon that snaked its way through the landscape and just as the sun went down, they passed through a small berg that sat on the river’s edge.
The temperature had dropped with the clear sky and it had turned very cold as they came to a halt in front of one of the many taverns that lined the river.
Cathlina could see at least three others down the avenue with laughter and drunken people spilling out of their glowing innards.
Mathias handed her down to Sebastian, who carried her to the threshold so she wouldn’t get her boots muddy in the puddles that smelled like urine.
She thanked the redheaded brother, her basket of half-eaten food from the morning still in her hand as he put her on the ground.
Justus and Sebastian escorted her inside as Mathias went to see about securing two rooms for the night.
The inn wasn’t very busy, at least not like the other ones in town, and Mathias soon realized it was because the man’s prices were fairly high.
Moreover, the inn was one-storied and fairly small, and they didn’t have rooms to let for the night.
They did, however, have small cottages down by the river’s edge that cost a decent amount of money for just one night’s lodging.
Mathias didn’t care at that point. He paid for two cottages and four meals.
The inn was on a slight rise and the cottages tucked down below next to the water.
They were constructed of sod and rock, which made them little more than a cave, but Mathias quickly discovered that they were dry and surprisingly comfortable.
The innkeeper and a serving wench brought down buckets of wood and peat for the fires and soon enough, Sebastian had two blazing fires smoking in the hearths.
It was warm in the little caves quickly.
Both of the cottages had one rather small bed and a small table with stools instead of chairs.
Dried grass and straw were thick on the mud floor to provide some insulation.
Not strangely, Cathlina was very comfortable inside the little cottage because anything was better than being on the back of the skittish charger, so she very happily settled in, checking the bedding and making sure there was water in the basin and a chamber pot under the bed.
When the meal was finally delivered by two serving wenches, she had them set it upon the table in her cottage.
The smells of beef drew the men into the small cottage as Mathias, Justus and Sebastian crowded in to eat.
Just as if they were back home in their smithy shack, Justus and Sebastian grabbed the stools and settled in around the table where huge knuckles of beef awaited them.
There were also an abundance of carrots boiled in brine, turnips, and big hunks of warm brown bread.
It was a feast and they dug into it with gusto as Mathias pulled off big pieces of steaming beef for his wife so she wouldn’t be left out.
She had been crowded out by the hungry men.
Cathlina giggled as he handed her a slab of bread with the beef piled on top because he was rolling his eyes at the manners of his brother and father and even went so far as to smack his brother on the side of the head because he was eating like a barbarian.
Food was flying everywhere. Mathias took his own meat and bread, sitting down beside Cathlina on the bed.
“How far do you plan to take us tomorrow, Mat?” Sebastian asked as he stuffed meat in his mouth. “If I recall this road, there isn’t a tremendous amount of civilization until we reach Edinburgh.”
Mathias nodded as he chewed on his meal. “A positive aspect,” he said. “Hopefully it means less Scots to question us and wonder what we are doing in their lands.”
“What will we tell them if we run across any?” Justus wanted to know. “With a woman along, I do not suppose you would be inclined to fight your way out of a confrontation.”
Mathias looked at Cathlina, shoving bits of bread in her mouth.
“That would not be my first choice,” he said, his gaze lingering on her sweet beauty.
“The armor and mail we have is limited from what we could scavenge. Sebastian and I split the armor I used for the tournament and you have an old mail coat that hardly fits. It will make a fight even more dangerous.”
Sebastian shrugged. “At least the weapons we have are superior.”
Justus sighed faintly. “There is an old baron somewhere who will wonder what became of the sword I was making for him.”
Sebastian snorted. “We have more weapons on us than a small army,” he said. “We stripped the stall of anything valuable before we left it – hammers, blades, or tools. Woe betides the idiot foolish enough to attack us.”
“Cathlina, can you use a weapon, lass?” Justus asked, half in jest. “We are speaking of battles and not including you in the conversation. Mayhap you can fight as well.”
Hearing her name, Cathlina’s head came up from her bread and she appeared thoughtful. “I have never tried,” she said with a glimmer in her eye, “but I have great aim with an open palm.”
Mathias grinned. “That means someone would have to get close enough to you for you to slap their face. I hope that is never the case.”
“I can pull hair, too. And punch.”
“Let us hope it does not come to that.”
They shared a small laugh as they finished up the remainder of their meal. Sebastian, having inhaled his fill of the beef, belched loudly and began collecting the rubbish to throw outside. Now with the meal dwindling, fatigue was overtaking him.
“You did not answer my question, Mat,” he said as he got up and opened the cottage door. “Where do you plan on taking us tomorrow?”
Mathias finished the last of the ale in his wood cup, cheap liquor but satisfactory considering it was all they had. Already, he could feel the warmth in his veins, soothing his weary body.
“It will be a long day,” he said. “It is at least a day’s ride on a swift horse to reach Hawick.
I would like to try and make it there tomorrow night.
But I think our first priority must be commissioning armor that fits us but I do not suspect we will find such a smithy until we reach a larger town like Edinburgh.
Until then, we will have to be careful and make do. ”
Sebastian tossed the stripped bone outside. “Then we will leave early,” he said, wiping his hands off on his dirty breeches. “Come along, old man. Let us leave the lovers alone.”
Justus was still chewing on a piece of bread, looking rather surprised when Sebastian pulled him to his feet.
But he just as quickly realized what the man was saying.
Mathias had a new wife, something he was still unused to.
It had been just the three of them for years since his wife passed away.
Now, there was a new female added to the mix and in all honesty, he still wasn’t sure how he felt about any of it.
Times were changing and he was forced to accept it. He looked at Cathlina with a grin.
“I apologize,” he said. “I am a dense old fool. Good sleep to you, my lady.”
Cathlina fought off a smile as she pointed a stern finger at him. “You must call me Cathlina. You did it once before.”
He nodded, still grinning. “Cathlina, then.”
As Justus quit the cottage, Sebastian came up, his dark green eyes working her over for the moment. He, too, was fighting off a smile.
“Good night to you, sister,” he said. Then he pointed at Mathias. “Come bang on my door if he is too brutish with you and I will put him in his place.”
Cathlina laughed, blushing furiously. “You are a beast,” she said, pointing at the door. “Out with you.”
Sebastian chuckled and did as he was told, leaving the cottage and following his father out into the night.
When they were gone, Cathlina went to shut the door behind them but noted that the water bucket near the door was nearly empty.
They would need water for the morning. She picked it up by the rope handle.
“I would collect some water before we retire,” she told Mathias. “I shall be right back.”
He shook his head as he moved for her, extending a hand. “I will get it for you.”
Cathlina was already moving out of the door. “I will get it,” she insisted. “You have done all of the work all day and I have done nothing. Let me do something.”
He simply lifted his shoulders as she made her way outside to the riverbank barely twenty feet away. The moon was just starting to rise, making the gently flowing waters of the river look like streams of diamonds. Everything was glittering, cold and bright.
He could hear his father and brother in the cottage next door, arguing over something, and the faint noise from the tavern behind them wafted upon the cold air. He watched Cathlina go to the edge of the river and crouch down, splashing the water with her hand before dipping the bucket into it.