Chapter 3 #2
“Aye, I’ll give ye coins to purchase fabric for new clothes.”
Elayne’s face lit up at the prospect of a new pretty dress.
Not an old drab dress. When she saw Cailean again, she wished to wear a new blue dress.
When walking, she’d studied how the men looked at the women.
Of course, their heads turned at pretty lasses too.
Elayne was not interested in turning any lad’s head.
But she longed to see a glimmer of appreciation reflected in Cailean’s eyes.
“Yer dinner is delicious tonight, isn’t it, Father?”
Her father smiled and said, “Aye, ye are a marvelous cook, Mrs. Logan, and I don’t know how we would live without ye cooking for us.”
Mrs. Logan blushed at the compliment. It was then that Elayne glimpsed the soulful look of longing the widow gave her father and realized the widow liked him quite a lot.
Elayne appreciated Mrs. Logan, who had always been kind to her and treated her like the daughter she didn’t have.
In fact, Mrs. Logan was the one who had sweet-talked her father into letting her ride to the loch so she could take time for herself.
Elayne determined she would try to help their romance and see if her father was equally interested in Mrs. Logan. To this end, she left them alone after dinner and heard them talking as she returned to the forge for the evening.
Elayne worked extra hours after dinner to make the needed items to sell at the summer fair. She squirreled away a precious piece of paper, and with a piece of charcoaled wood from the fire, she drew designs of hilts for dirks and swords that she intended to make to sell.
She also drew her dream dress based on what she saw other ladies wear.
The style drew the eyes of men, who enjoyed seeing the woman’s shape under the dress.
Elayne noted how their eyes lingered on the necklines, breasts, hips, and arses of the ladies.
Often she saw them looking back at the ladies after they had passed.
The next evening at dinner, Mrs. Logan joined them again. The widow had prepared a lamb stew with potatoes, leeks, and carrots, which tasted delicious on this bitterly chilly night.
“Papa, do ye think we could purchase milking goats in the spring? We could milk them to make cheese to eat and mayhap to sell. There’s room in the pen. The goats only need water and straw for their pen. I would tend them before I tend to the chickens.”
“We will see in the spring. If we get milking goats, it is better to get a billy goat too.”
“Oh, then they may have babies! That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it, Mrs. Logan?” Elayne looked directly at her father. “I wish I had a brother or sister, so I’m sure the goats would be happier.” He blushed deep red, and Mrs. Logan appeared flushed too. Elayne wondered what it meant.
They heard the wind pick up and howl outside. It started snowing heavily again while they were eating dinner. Elayne realized it was the perfect opportunity to begin her matchmaking campaign in earnest.
“Papa, I’m worried about Mrs. Logan going home in this storm. Ye will need to ride her back home, or she should stay with us. Mrs. Logan can sleep in my bed. I will make a bed by the hearth.”
“Child, I do nae wish to take ye from yer bed. It is not far to walk home.”
Elayne noted how Mrs. Logan gazed shyly up and smiled sweetly at her father and his corresponding blush.
“Nae, it is too far in this storm. I would be worried about ye as I know my father would too. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to ye.
Ye are the closest to a mother I have now.
I couldn’t bear the thought if anything happened to ye in this storm.
Ye should stay here with us, shouldn’t she, Papa? ”
“Aye, Elayne is right. Ye can hear the wind howling outside like a banshee. It is not a fit night for man nor beast. We will do as Elayne said. Ye can sleep in her bed, and ye ladies can fashion a bed by the hearth so Elayne can be comfortable.”
Pleased with herself, Elayne returned to the forge.
Despite how long she worked, she did not feel tired but energized and proud of her accomplishments this evening.
Elayne beat, pound-ed, and pummeled the metal for a long, heavy, shining sword she hoped a warrior would purchase.
She wished to fashion a unique dirk or a sword for Cailean to protect him in battle.
It would take weeks upon weeks of extra work to create what she had in mind.
Elayne wanted Papa to be proud of her work.
The tedious toiling and pounding made her shoulders and arms ache something fierce.
The extra effort was worth it with a goal to work toward.
Each week she toiled, she could see the tangible evidence of her labor.
It helped her to determine how much more she needed to do to achieve her goals.
The winter solstice finally arrived. Elayne heard the merriment as she walked to get water.
Elayne kent she was too young to attend, but she longed for the day when she could join the fun.
A bonfire burned in the courtyard, and musicians played a merry tune, inspiring people to dance.
Warriors stood by the fire and drank mulled hot wine before they took a turn dancing.
Elayne dawdled at the well. Intently, she observed the jollity and fun across the massive courtyard. Nae one would see her here in the darkness that engulfed her. Elayne felt as if she were across a chasm as the merrymakers danced to the beat of the music and the notes of the fiddle.
Her heart felt older than her body as she experienced feelings she didn’t fully understand.
Time seemed to stop for a few moments when she glimpsed Cailean.
He stood with a group of men, no doubt his friends, and they were telling stories and laughing as they swilled ale or wine.
Cailean smiled back at them. Elayne saw how the women looked at him and flirted, hoping he would ask them to dance.
A pang of yearning pierced her heart and stole her breath for a moment.
Grateful to see Cailean again and that he was healthy, safe, and happy, Elayne wiped away the tears that silently slid down her face.
Mayhap he had already forgotten her. She was only a bairn to him the last time he had seen her.
Elayne was sure his many friends and his duties occupied his time as a warrior.
She had nae one. She had only had him. Elayne slipped away in the darkness, returning to work at the forge.
Cailean gazed out into the darkness, thinking of Elayne.
He wished she could share this evening with him.
He missed her smiles, laughter, and gentle touch.
Elayne was a bright and comforting light in his life.
Cailean thought he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.
As he glanced across the courtyard by the well, whatever he saw had vanished.
Only emptiness remained. Cailean’s heart felt empty without Elayne.