Chapter 6
M aggie was able to easily find most of the supplies she needed, but still felt guilty purchasing them with Evan’s money. As soon as she found permanent work, she’d be sure to repay him. She’d spent the last two hours going from shop to shop, inquiring about possibly getting a job as a midwife here in town and asking if anyone could help her.
People weren’t very friendly to a stranger and shrugged her off, not willing to give her any information. Finally, in the last place she’d gone, she’d gotten her answer, although it wasn’t the one she was hoping for.
“My good friend Gunnora is the midwife in this town, as well as at Saltwood Castle,” said the wife of the baker. She was a hefty woman, with double chins and chunky arms that looked like tree trunks.
“Oh, is Gunnora the midwife who is out of town helping a family member?” asked Maggie, as politely as she could.
“That’s right. What of it?” The woman’s hands went to her hips and she looked like she was getting ready for battle. “You trying to steal her job, or what?”
“Steal her job?” repeated Maggie. “Nay, of course not.” She forced a smile, trying to get the woman to smile too, but it wasn’t working. Even though Maggie wanted to turn and run right now, she stayed and tried to be as pleasant as she could. Mayhap that would help soften this woman’s bad disposition.
The bells to the bakery shop jangled as Giles walked in. He had been waiting outside for her at Maggie’s request. She thought people might be leery of her if she applied for a job with a knight’s squire looking over her shoulder.
“Maggie, are you almost ready? Sir Evan is expecting us at the smithy, and I am sure you are anxious to get back to aid Lady Martine with her pregnancy,” said Giles.
The baker woman’s mood got even worse at hearing Giles say this. “So, you are already working as a midwife at the castle. You did steal Gunnora’s job, like I thought.” The massive female made her way around the counter with a large wooden rolling pin clutched in one hand. Her other hand went to her waist. Maggie wasn’t sure that the woman wasn’t going to try to hit her.
“Nay, you’ve got it wrong,” said Maggie, clutching her basket and taking a step backward. “I am only helping out until Gunnora returns, I promise. I am looking for a job but I am not trying to steal a job from another midwife.”
“Well, I think you are and I don’t like it.” When the woman got closer Maggie noticed the hair growing on the woman’s chin which only made her look even meaner. A bad feeling twisted in Maggie’s gut and all she wanted to do right now was to go, but her feet seemed to be stuck to the ground. Her fear kept her from moving. “If you don’t leave town at once and stop trying to steal my friend’s job, I’m going to make you sorry.” The baker raised her rolling pin in the air. Maggie stepped back so abruptly that she knocked into Giles and fell to the ground, landing on her butt.
Giles quickly pulled his sword and held it under the woman’s chin. “Leave her alone or I’ll have to teach you a lesson,” he threatened.
The woman slowly lowered the rolling pin. “Who the hell are you?”
“I am the squire of Sir Evan Blackmore, and I promise you he’ll hear all about the way you are treating his girl.”
“His girl?” Maggie mumbled, surprised to hear this. Shocked, actually. Is that what Evan told his squire about her? If so, it meant that Evan liked her. Impossible. He was a noble and she was naught but a common midwife.
“You’re a squire?” The woman squinted at Giles and cocked her head. “Nay, you’re not. I recognize you now. You’re that milksop page from the castle who is afraid of his own shadow.” She laughed heartily. “You probably don’t even know how to use that big blade, let alone hold it properly. I warn you that I am faster with my rolling pin than you will ever be with that sword. You are just a scared boy pretending to be brave, and we both know you will never amount to anything.”
“Nay, Thomasina. Stop!” called out the baker’s husband, running in from the other room. “Please, you must forgive my wife.” He was a small man, and his huge wife towered over him. Maggie almost laughed aloud because these two didn’t seem to belong together. The man held up a pouch that was clutched in his fingers. It was a black leather bag with a loaf of bread painted on the front of it. “I think when Sir Evan collected the rent earlier my wife forgot to give him all of it.” He handed over the pouch of coins to Giles. “Please, take this to your lord. And please don’t mention my wife’s brash behavior to Sir Evan. We wouldn’t want to upset him.”
“Nay, I don’t suppose so.” Giles took the coin pouch and lowered his sword. He reached down and helped Maggie to her feet. “Just don’t let it happen again,” warned Giles, escorting Maggie to the door and not turning his back on the baker and his wife until he was outside.
“My, you were fierce in there,” said Maggie, as soon as they got outside. “Thank you for protecting me, Squire.” She turned to see the boy sweating profusely. His face was as white as snow and she wasn’t sure he wouldn’t faint. She swore she saw his body shaking. “Giles? Are you all right?”
“I think so,” he said, sheathing his sword and handing her the pouch of coins that the baker man had given him. “Here, Maggie, you take this. Use the money to buy more supplies.”
“Nay, I can’t do that,” she said, looking at the pouch, rubbing her thumb over the white loaf of bread painted on the leather. “It wouldn’t be right. The baker said that this is part of the rent due.” She held it back out to Giles.
“It’s not,” Giles assured her, pushing the bag of coins away from him.
“How do you know that?” asked Maggie.
“Sir Evan would never leave the shop without first counting all the rent money to make sure it was all there. If not, he would be sure to get it. This is naught but a bribe for me to keep my mouth shut and not tell Sir Evan about his wife’s awful behavior.”
“Oh, I see.” She tested the weight of the coin pouch in her hand. It felt like more money than she’d had in a long while. “I still think that mayhap you should give this to Sir Evan.”
“I can’t,” said Giles. “If I do, he’ll ask what it is for.”
“Mayhap you should tell him. After all, that woman was horrible and even threatened us.” She looked up to see the baker’s wife spying at them out the window of her shop.
“Maggie, please. I’d rather forget all about this if you don’t mind.”
“Why? I don’t understand.”
Giles let out a deep breath, looked around, and then lowered his head, speaking softly to Maggie. “Because what the woman said is true. I’m not brave. I really am a coward just like she said. Oh, Maggie, I don’t want Sir Evan to know it. Please, don’t tell him.”
“Of course not.” Her heart went out to the boy. He still seemed shaken and it was from confronting a woman!
“Put the coin pouch away before someone sees it and tries to steal it.” Giles looked up and down the street. “This isn’t the best part of town, and robberies happen often. We need to be alert and careful.”
“If you’re sure,” she said, quickly peeking into the bag of coins. Her jaw dropped open. There would be enough money here to not only replenish her linens and herbs, but to also feed and take care of Charles and Emma for at least the next month or two. This would come in quite handy while she was trying to find a steady job.
“We’d better get to the smithy,” said Giles, blowing out another big breath of air, seeming as if he were trying to calm his nerves. “Sir Evan won’t like us being late.”
“Yes, of course,” said Maggie, slipping the bag of coins into her basket.
“It might be wise not to mention this incident to Sir Evan,” Giles reminded her once again.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “It seems to me he should know.”
“My nerves are still a little shaken,” Giles admitted. “You see, I’ve never had a confrontation with anyone before. If we have to go back to the bakery with Sir Evan, I’m afraid I might not be able to keep my composure around that frightening woman.”
“Giles? Are you sure you’re all right?” asked Maggie with a smile. She couldn’t believe that a squire of a knight could be so nervous and afraid of a woman. Shouldn’t he have confidence and be able to protect his liege lord?
“Maggie, can I be honest with you?” asked Giles, holding the reins of his horse as they headed down the street to the blacksmith’s shop.
“Of course, you can. What is it?”
“I never wanted to be a squire, but because I come from a noble family it is required of me. I don’t really like it and I’m not even sure I have the ability. I’ll never really be able to do the job.”
“Yes, you will,” she said, gently reaching out and resting her hand on his arm.
“I’m no good at it and will never be. Just like the baker’s wife said.”
“I don’t believe that, Giles. You were quite brave in there just now, protecting me. I am sure when the time comes to protect Sir Evan, you will do just as well. And I’m sure in time you will love being a squire. It just takes a long while to train, so be patient and stop being so critical of yourself.”
“I hope you’re right,” he told her. “Because I’m afraid the first time I follow Sir Evan into battle that I’ll die. I really don’t want to die.”
“No one wants you to die, Giles,” she told him in a kind voice. “You worry too much. Just have confidence in yourself and you’ll be fine. I saw you stand up to that awful woman in there and I was very impressed by your actions.”
“You were?” he asked her, seeming more than surprised that she said this.
“Yes. I thought you were very brave and just as fierce as that madwoman. After all, you not only protected me but got the woman’s husband to pay you just to keep the secret. You are very good at being a squire indeed.”
“Thank you,” said Giles, standing a little taller. “Mayhap I am just too critical with myself like you say. I’ll try to have more confidence. I don’t want to let Sir Evan down. Ever.”
Evan paced the floor of the smithy, wondering what in the world was taking Giles and Maggie so long to get there. They should have been here to meet him a half-hour ago. Peering out the window of the shop, he finally saw them coming up the walkway. They were walking side by side, and Giles held on to the reins of his horse as the animal followed. To Evan’s surprise, Maggie had her hand on Giles’s arm. They were both smiling and laughing.
Jealousy reared its ugly head. Hell, she hadn’t even held Evan’s arm when he escorted her. And she was smiling more with Giles than she had with him since he’d met her.
“What’cha lookin’ at?” asked the smithy, wiping the sweat from his brow and pumping the bellows to feed the fire in the forge.
“Nothing, Alan.” Evan hurried back to a small table with a lock and keys on it. He’d had an interest in locks and keys his whole life. As a youth he had come to town often to visit the blacksmith who was also a locksmith. Alan saw he’d had an interest and started teaching Evan how to repair locks. Soon, Evan started making keys in the forge and designing locks that hung on chests, too. It was a creative thing to do that took him away from his troubles and worries. He focused on the lock he’d been trying to repair and the new key he’d made for it over the past year. As an adult it was getting harder and harder to pursue this interest, since as a noble, he shouldn’t be spending time at the town smithy. As a knight, he’d be lucky to ever get back to the craft. Then again, nobles weren’t craftsmen—or at least they weren’t supposed to be.
Giles and Maggie entered the shop.
“My, it is dark in here,” Maggie’s sweet voice floated in the thick and ashen air. She coughed. “It is a little hard to breathe. And hot.”
“This is no place for a lady.” Evan got to his feet. “Maggie, this is my friend, Alan. He said you are welcome to harvest the honeysuckle that is climbing up the outside of his building.”
“Thank you,” said Maggie, her eyes going to the lock and key on the table. “What are you doing?” she asked, walking over to inspect it.
“It’s nothing,” he said, brushing off his hands. “I just like tinkering with locks.”
“This is very good work.” She picked up the lock and key and inspected it. “You made this key in the forge, didn’t you,” she asked, turning it over to inspect it. “You did a good job heating and hammering out the shank, and were precise with the files making the ward.”
“That’s right,” said Evan. “How do you know about that?”
“My father was a locksmith,” she told him, placing the key back down on the table. “My little brother and I used to go to work with Father sometimes when we were children, while Mother was assisting with a birth. I was supposed to be watching Charles, but I found more interest in watching my father make and fix locks. Actually, Charles was even more interested in the craft than I was. My father would put him on his lap to watch while he worked. He would even let him help once in a while and that meant the world to Charles.”
“So you know a little about this, then.”
“Oh, yes. I remember a little but I am not skilled at it, and neither do I want to be. It is my brother Charles who always wanted to be a locksmith and follow in my father’s footsteps.”
“Did I hear your brother is interested in being a locksmith?” Alan wiped his hands on a cloth and walked over to join them. “It just so happens that I am in need of an apprentice. Of course, he won’t be paid, but he would gain a lot of experience working here. I would teach him everything he needs to know. If he makes it to journeyman someday, he can actually bring in good money knowing the trade.”
“That is a great offer,” Giles interrupted. “If I wasn’t a squire, I think I’d like to be a locksmith.” He walked over and picked up a lock and clicked it shut, causing Evan to groan.
“Giles, I don’t have the key for that lock finished yet,” Evan told him.
“Sorry,” said Giles with a shrug, then putting the lock back down.
“I’d like to meet your brother,” said Alan. “How old is he, and is he working anywhere right now?”
“Charles is not yet fourteen,” said Maggie. “And nay, he doesn’t have a job, although he’d like to.”
“He’s the perfect age to start his apprenticeship,” said Alan. “When can you bring him in?”
“I can’t,” she told him.
“Maggie, what are you saying?” asked Evan. “This is an opportunity of a lifetime. Charles shouldn’t pass it up.”
“We’d have to be living here in town for him to be an apprentice, and sadly, we’re not,” Maggie explained to Alan.
“Oh, really? So, where do you live?” asked the man.
“She’s living at the castle for now,” Evan answered for her.
“She is?” Alan sounded impressed. “You are a midwife for the nobles?” he asked, noticing her apron and cap.
“Nay, I’m not!” Maggie almost sounded angry. “It is a temporary position, but I and my family will be leaving soon. I was in town today to look for a job, but it seems there is no opening. No room for me here.”
“I’m sure you’d be a welcome breath of fresh air compared to that grumpy old midwife, Gunnora.” Alan chuckled. “If I were a pregnant woman, I’d be afraid to have the wench touch me.” He faked a shudder.
“I won’t be stealing anyone’s job, if that is what you are insinuating,” insisted Maggie. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to harvest the flowers before the dew sets in.”
“I’ll help you,” offered Giles, opening the door and holding it for her. He left with Maggie, leaving Evan once again sitting alone.
Alan released a low whistle. “She’s a looker, that one, and feisty too.” His gaze was focused on Maggie out the door as she reached up to pick the flowers. “Know if she’s available?”
“She’s not,” growled Evan, leaving the smithy and wishing now that he hadn’t brought the girl to town after all.