Chapter Fourteen
Ailith enjoyed the slow ride to Teagan’s cruck house and the freedom that came with it. Wee Brian had been occupied, helping a cousin in the barley fields, so Ailith had a stable lad saddle a sleepy palfrey. She had hoped the plodding beast would be an easy ride, and she’d been right.
This first solo ride to Teagan’s had been misty, cleansing, and bespoke a liberty Ailith had not felt since she’d left her own time.
Yet here, on this horse, heading toward Teagan’s small house, she could reclaim some measure of that freedom.
Teagan seemed to expect her – her front door hung upon a bare inch. Rain came from the west, so the east-facing door remained dry even as the mist became a gentle rainfall. The airy petrichor was loamy and intoxicating.
Ailith tethered her horse under the thatched overhang between the house and the lean-to barn and peeked her face past Teagan’s door.
“‘Allo, Teagan?”
Her orange hair appeared from behind the door first, followed by her mossy eyes and smiling mouth.
“Ailith! What a pleasure. I had hoped ye might join me this day. Is William with ye?”
Ailith stepped past the doorway and closed the door until the dim, flickering candlelight was all that lit the small interior.
“Nay. I rode here alone. He’s at the Moray Keep near Aberdeen, Blair Keep, I think he called it. Some diplomatic visit, from what he told me. He should return sometime on the morrow.”
Teagan’s lips thinned before her smile returned to her face.
“Knowing the Morays, ‘twill be for naught. I dinna know much about history, but one thing I have learned in my time here is that the Morays will stop at nothing to keep their power and gain kingship. Ye know that’s what the Mormaer is, aye? They believe themselves the kings of the northern Highlands, equal in power to the king.”
Ailith understood Teagan’s caution. “Aye. Fortunately, I did study my history, and until the clans all come together under the banner of Scotland, the Morays will always hold that belief.”
“Is that why ye have such an interest in the politics of the clans?” Teagan asked as she led her to the table. “Ye studied history?”
“Enough of it, aye.” Ailith nodded. “Ye mentioned in your time here. I never asked anything more. How long have ye lived in the Highlands?” She glanced around the cruck house. “From how ye live, I presume quite a while.”
Her words must have surprised Teagan, because she didn’t move for a moment. She stared at Ailith, then, in a quick twist, reached for a low shelf and removed a flat, thin piece of wood covered in ashy markings.
“I use this palette and burnt wood to keep track,” Teagan explained. “Easier than worrying about purchasing parchment at the village at Stonehaven. Does no’ raise any eyebrows, aye?”
Oh, smart. Ailith also understood her reticence – ‘twas one of the reasons why William had purchased her own papers and ink, and why she kept them tucked away in her rooms.
“I mark the seasons,” Teagan continued. “Spring when I first arrived, then summer, fall, and winter.”
She pointed to three sets of full markings and the start of a fourth. Only two markings in the fourth set.
Three years, and the start of a fourth. All alone here in his land north of any town, away from people, eking out a living on her own.
Ailith marveled at it. When she first arrived, she’d had a knowledge of history, Leitis and her brother Seocan, then William as company and protection to help her in her cause.
Teagan had done this journey all on her own.
She was a stronger woman than Ailith could ever conceive of being.
Could she have made this trip on her own and survived more than three years?
Teagan was more prudent in how she lived than Ailith had been and did not draw too much attention to herself. Ailith could learn from her.
“Ye have done well for yourself over three years. I would no’ have survived three days on my own, I fear,” Ailith told her.
Teagan clicked her tongue. “Ye dinna give yourself enough credit. I think ye would have done just fine on your own. Look, ye came to my rescue in town, figured out how to secure your mushrooms so they can be used in your time as medicine, and even arrived here on your own horse, which I still cannae do well. A few missteps, aye, but we’ve all had those.
” Teagan patted her hand. “Dinna think so little of yourself.”
Ailith lifted her satchel and set it on the table. “Were ye lonely much?”
It seemed a stupid question – of course, Teagan had to have been lonely! She lived by herself, did not seem to have any friends or close clan connections, and no beau or husband was in the picture. Yet Ailith was curious to hear the truth from her lips.
“Aye, a bit, when I first arrived,” Teagan answered as she shrugged and shifted her focus to the table.
“But I met some regulars in Stonehaven, acquaintances at most, but friendly enough.” She lifted her face to Ailith, her tearful eyes like watery lochs.
“And now I have ye I can call a friend. Am I right in this?”
A warm-hearted smile crossed Ailith’s lips. Oh, how she adored Teagan’s forward speech! It reminded her of Muire and Sine, and was a welcome contrast to the guarded words nearly everyone else in the Highlands seemed to use.
“Aye. I consider ye a friend indeed.”
They took a moment in a shared gaze before Teagan turned her attention to the satchel.
“So, are we planting more today?”
Ailith shook her head and reached into the satchel, drawing out three dried mushrooms.
“I put these to the side a while ago. The moment I have feared has come.”
“What moment is that?” Teagan asked, taking the shriveled mushrooms between her discolored fingertips. Shrunken and dried, they were even smaller, resembling something from a fairy tale rather than actual mushrooms.
“The moment I’ve been lying about. I’ve told everyone that not only do these mushrooms choke out unwanted plants, making them good to plant near weeds, which is all true, but it was too small an excuse for my unseemly madness in wanting to find and plant them.
So, I’ve told everyone that the reason they are valuable is their ability to cure diseases and illnesses in this time. ”
Teagan turned one of the mushrooms over in her fingers, then lifted it to her nose and sniffed it. Her nose crinkled slightly.
“An odd scent, but no’ verra acrid. Have ye told your husband about your wee lie?”
“Aye.” Ailith nodded. “I had to. What would happen when he asked me to use the mushrooms, and I didn’t know how? But he’s the only one who knows. He and now ye.”
“And ye want to see if we might do anything with these? To see if they do have any medicinal or therapeutic properties?”
Ailith wiped her fingertips across her forehead. “Aye. Can ye do anything with them? Sine asked me yesterday, and I had no good answer. Headaches, I said. ‘Twas a quick answer, and I know of other mushrooms that are curatives when mixed with tea.”
“Mmmm,” Teagan mumbled as she studied the shroom. “And ye did no’ research on it before ye came here?”
“How could I?” Ailith answered. “’Tis extinct in my time. I dinna know if it gets ye high, kills ye, or cures ye.”
One orange eyebrow slowly rose on Teagan’s clear forehead. Ailith’s answer amused her.
“We can do a few simple things now. Let us use one and make a paste. I have a cut here –”
When she held out her hand, Ailith grabbed it. “Teagan, nay! What if ‘tis poisonous?”
Keeping her semi-smile on her face, Teagan flipped her wrist and grasped Ailith’s hand, exposing scraped knuckles, nicked fingertips, and cracked nail beds.
“I have the sense that if ‘twas poisonous, no’ only would it no’ be useful to your doctors in the future, but ye would have suffered ill effects already. I can only guess how much these mushrooms have scraped and settled against your scuffed hands. If ‘twas poisonous, ye’d have known it already.”
Ailith looked upon her abraded hands with awe. How had she missed that? Because ye are no nurse, and Teagan is. She seeks out injury to cure it.
Pressing her hands back onto the table, she returned her surprised gaze to Teagan. “Ye think we can do something with it?”
“Even if ‘tis no’ the best solution for a wound, a well-cleaned wound will heal on its own. We can ascribe the healing to the mushroom. ‘Tis no’ much, but ‘tis a start.”
“A wonderful start,” Ailith marveled, a wash of excitement mixed with relief filling her. “Let’s get started.”
It was near sunset by the time Ailith stepped outside to return to Drumoak and cursed her foolish absent-mindedness that caused her to lose track of the day and leave so late. She’d be lucky if she made it back before night blanketed the Highlands on her slow-moving palfrey.
At least William wasn’t home to chide her for riding home in the near dark. She had already caused him so much distress, she’d hate to cause him more.
Her palfrey, which the stable lad had called Bonnie Bride due to her sleek white coat, pawed at the ground as Ailith wiggled her way into the saddle. Her riding had improved, but her mounting technique still left much to be desired. A giggle followed her as she adjusted in the saddle.
Teagan leaned against the side of her wattle house, trying to bite back the laughter that emanated from her entire being. Ailith frowned at her.
“I’m sure ye looked the fool when ye were first learning to ride.”
Teagan giggled again. “’Tis why I dinna ride much. Never could quite take to it well enough for any long ride. I always took a streetcar or a cart. Or I walked.”
“But ye have a horse in your lean-to?” Ailith asked as she flicked her head to the side. “Ye dinna ride it?”
Teagan shook her head, her orange curls falling around her ears. “I use him to pull my cart. I’ve ridden him a few times, but neither he nor I are much good at it.”
Ailith leaned forward and swept her hand over Bonnie Bride’s smooth mane. “If ye ever want to try again, I recommend this one. She’s as patient and easy to ride as any streetcar.”