The Earl of Arms and Ammo #3
“I’d rather have my ma and not a stupid little sister,” was what her brother Lennox had shouted at her when he was eight years old, desperate and angry.
It was the first time that she had connected the dots.
Even though nobody else ever blamed her, and Lennox only this once, there were nights when the memory still haunted her dreams. And to this day, she couldn’t help but feel that no one really saw her.
She was stuck in a complex role: the spoilt baby of the family to some, Bonnie’s legacy to others – and constantly compared to the mother she hadn’t known and couldn’t ever live up to.
Perhaps that was why she was struggling so much to see who she really was?
Maybe it even explained why she shied away from serious commitments?
Well, she had made a serious commitment now: the distillery was her baby! It was also a first step towards getting recognised for her own merits, even if the seed money came from her da and the recipe for the gin from Isla. The business itself was hers, and she was bloody proud of it!
Shona went outside. Next to the old malting floor stood an empty barn where barley used to be stored.
She hadn’t decided yet what to use it for in the future.
Perhaps to store bottles? For the time being, it would stay as it was.
Her property also included a large pasture that her father had fenced off with an electric fence before he brought over some of his sheep to graze.
Her free lawnmowers! On days like today, Nessie was keeping them company.
The alpaca seemed comfortable around the sheep, but she visibly perked up when Shona appeared.
“Hey, sweetie,” she whispered into the dark grey animal’s fluffy ear. “Did you have a good day with the sheep?”
Unsurprisingly, Nessie did not reply but nudged her favourite human tenderly and joined her eagerly for the walk home.
When they reached the village’s main road, Shona stopped to check for traffic.
Since the near miss with Kendrick’s vet van the other day, she was paying much closer attention.
Not that there was much traffic, but she wasn’t willing to risk anything.
On the village green, she promptly spotted the vet van parked outside the pub, and as she scurried past with Nessie, the vehicle’s back door swung open, and she found herself face to face with Kendrick.
He seemed just as surprised and startled as she and stared at her wide-eyed before mumbling, “Oh!”
“Erm ... hi,” Shona replied just as awkwardly.
All she wanted was to go home, have a shower, wash her hair, put on something cosy, put a pizza in the oven and hang out in front of the TV.
On her personal list of favourite things to do right now, a conversation with the vet was at the very bottom.
To make matters worse, he looked rather grim.
His green dungarees were beyond filthy, as was his grey long-sleeved shirt. And the stench ...
“Did you fight a goat?” she asked curiously before she could stop herself. Keeping her thoughts to herself was definitely not her forte.
“Something like that,” he replied, visibly uncomfortable in her presence. “There were three billy goats and eight rams, and I got to castrate them all.”
“Sounds like an impactful afternoon,” she replied, unable to suppress a chuckle. “I take it the young lads put up a fight?”
“Mm.” He was obviously unwilling to grace her with a more comprehensive reply.
“And now you’re planning to visit the pub, looking and …
smelling … like this? I’m sure the other patrons will be thrilled.
” She wrinkled her nose and wondered why she was still here and talking instead of moving on.
She did not want to talk to Kendrick. Neither about castrated bucks nor about that night in Inverness.
Especially not about that! But why the hell was she frozen in place?
“I just need to drop off some cheese from the MacMillans – for Isla to try,” he explained, and his gloomy expression suddenly brightened. “You could do me a favour and hand it to Jon for me!” He held out a paper-wrapped parcel to her.
“Me?” She shook her head vehemently. “I’m not presentable either.”
“But you smell better.” He actually had the nerve to sniff her.
She backed away – mainly because he really smelled terrible, but at the same time an irrational part of her wanted him to pull her into his arms and ...
“Sorry, I really have to go,” she spluttered hastily and left him standing there.
She rushed across the village square before curiosity got the better of her and she turned round once more.
Kendrick was still in the same spot by his van, cheese in hand, watching after her.
“What’s going on here?” Kendrick asked surprised when he arrived at Rupert’s stables the next afternoon as agreed.
He could barely find a spot in the car park, and the stables and riding arenas were so crowded with people that it seemed as if every horse and its owner in the region had decided on some exercise at the exact same time.
Although, not quite all, he corrected himself: on closer inspection, it was almost exclusively female equestrians!
More than a dozen women of all ages and backgrounds were on site, most of them carefully made up.
“Dinnae get me started,” groaned Rupert, whose patience was apparently running short. “They’re all here because of our celebrity guest.”
“Just like me then.” Kendrick smiled. After hearing the gossip from Jon last night, he had done a touch of internet surfing himself to learn more about the Earl of Penningcard.
Very little of what he had found was flattering, not by his standards anyway.
He found rich men flaunting their wealth simply gauche.
It was this whole idea that they could buy whatever they wanted: luxury items, attention and affection.
Although it was probably na?ve to assume that a rich, young aristocrat was concerned with authentic feelings when he kept surrounding himself with an armada of stunningly beautiful women.
It was more likely a simple matter of give and take: the women put out and he gave them generous gifts like jewellery or designer clothes, plus their fifteen minutes of fame.
Maybe you could even call it a fair deal, though Kendrick couldn’t understand why some women were okay with this.
Then again, he had been shown clearly enough that he didn’t understand any women.
What really ticked him off, though, was that even these Highlanders, most of whom were really down-to-earth, had nothing better to do than try and seek the company of the Earl of Arms and Ammo.
“No’ quite. You’re here for the celebrity guest’s horses,” Rupert corrected him.
His face turned grim as he guided Kendrick through an excitedly chatting group of women who had positioned themselves strategically right by the entrance to the guest stable.
With the doors closed safely behind them again, Rupert breathed an audible sigh of relief.
“I’ve never seen such a crowd here! Not even when Cameron Sinclair was here, or that royal show horse two years ago.” Kendrick was a bit impressed.
“Me neither,” Rupert agreed. “And I could well do without it, believe me.”
“So, what exactly is the matter with these horses? What problems do they have and what can I do?” Kendrick enquired.
“The earl has three of his best horses with him. One supposedly suffered a massive drop in performance from one day to the next, without any apparent reason. The second suddenly developed anxiety attacks in the starting gate, and the third throws off anybody who tries to ride it.”
“Hmm … Doesn’t sound like medical issues to me.”
“Agreed, but I cannae rule it out. I want you to check them all thoroughly and do bloods for each of them too.”
“Doping?” Kendrick raised a brow.
“It wouldnae be the first time and certainly no’ the last. We may no’ be able to enforce the rules, but I want to know what I’m dealing with.
The earl’s vet is opposed to you getting anywhere even close to their horses, of course, but I said they’d better agree, or I wouldnae work with them. ” He sighed.
“You’re expecting trouble?”
“I’m afraid so. There is a lot at stake in the racing industry; so much comes down to prestige.
The earl’s horses have been among the world’s elite for years, but they huvnae won a single important race this season.
Men like him dinnae like that. Without knowing more, I suspect the horses are completely overworked and tha’s why they are developing behavioural problems. I winnae be able to say for sure for a few days.
But I definitely want to rule out physical issues. ”
“Fair. Have you worked with them at all yet?”
“No’ really. Hailey and I watched them in the paddock for a while yesterday and they seemed pretty normal.
They are also rather easy to handle – given that they are highly-strung thoroughbreds, that is.
No’ a hint of aggression or refusal. On their first day, they were pretty excited when I put them in the paddock for a few hours.
I reckon they’re no’ used to that. But after half an hour of anxious fretting, they calmed down and started to graze.
The earl and his vet told me about all the problems yesterday, but I winnae know exactly what is going on until I see for myself.
His Lordship is expected to arrive in the next few minutes and then we’ll discuss next steps. ”
“Have you got the health records for the three of them?” Kendrick wanted to know. By now, they had made their way to the boxes of the three racehorses. They were beautiful, elegant animals, he had to admit.
“Your colleague wanted to give them to you himself. But as I said, I care more for what you think, because the files could be doctored. I’d be surprised if they weren’t.”