Wolfish in Sheep’s Clothing #5
Kathy alone was responsible for going with a strange man to his “friend’s” place. She wondered if Calder was awake yet, or if he wondered where she’d gone.
Kathy dressed in jeans, one of her knitted sweaters, and tennis shoes, and went downstairs to the business centre.
She checked her email and saw that Emma had, as promised, sent an invitation to stay at a “magnificent castle”: “I’ve made all the arrangements with the housekeeper, Jemma.
The laird, Humphrey MacNeil, is some kind of workaholic, obsessed with saving his village from becoming more lost than Atlantis.
Supposedly, there are sheep, so at least you can talk about wool if you can comprehend his brogue.
Have you found your man in a kilt yet? Did you buy a blue coat? ”
Emma said that Kathy could show up anytime in the next week and suggested she take an afternoon train that went north before proceeding on to the small atoll in Orkney.
Kathy remembered the painting she’d loved and wanted to be in that landscape right now. She sent back a note to Emma saying, “Thank you! Can’t wait to get home!”
Packing took only a few minutes, and she was glad the manager wasn’t at the front desk when she checked out. She left the stained blue coat there. Maybe someone could salvage the fabric.
Before walking outside, she put on a long scarf and tucked all her hair into a brown hat, because she didn’t want to be recognized in case … But he wouldn’t be looking for her. When she saw her reflection in a mirror, she looked like her old ordinary self.
Before she went to the train station, she stopped at a small knitting shop and bought fine merino yarn and needles. Her mother had always said that idle hands were the devil’s plaything, and her hands had never been idler than when she lay still while Calder stroked and kissed her.
When the train left, Kathy began making a scarf for Humphrey. She hoped he wouldn’t be like young Calder, disdaining handmade things, things made with care.
Her yarn was wrapped in an orderly sphere, but her thoughts were a tangle of regrets, anger, and the memories of Calder’s touch, his taste, that smile, the scent of him, the sound of his voice and his laughter. The way he gazed at her and murmured, “Kat”.
Although it was raining and cold when she finally arrived in St Margaret’s Hope, her spirits lifted as she looked with wonder at the peaceful cove and the brick buildings of the old town.
The housekeeper’s husband met Kathy at the ferry landing. Mike was a taciturn raw-boned and middle-aged man, but gave her a thermos of hot tea and a thick wool blanket once she was in his motorboat.
He had ignored her initial pleasantries about the weather and the scenery, and after several minutes of silence, Kathy said, “My friend, Emma MacNeil, says you have sheep.”
He barked out a laugh and when he spoke she worked to interpret what he was saying, the gist being, “Aye, sheep and cows are all we have, though Humphrey – that’s Mr MacNeil – is chuffed with some ‘brilliant’ new scheme for a business.
He’s got us clearing rooms as if anyone would want to come and stay.
No use telling him, because he’s so contermashious. ”
“It’s a castle, right? Everyone wants to stay in castles.”
Mike turned his grey eyes on her and said, “It isn’t Balfour, lass, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Oh, no, I didn’t expect Balfour.” She didn’t.
He docked the boat at a small weathered pier.
Gulls cawed overhead and the cold wind whipped at Kathy’s clothes, but she didn’t mind because she was staring at the green island.
Mike handed her up, and she could see the tiny village ahead; buildings made of pale stone lined a street.
Beyond were fields and hills with outcroppings of stone.
The briny air was invigorating and Kathy felt an unexpected thrill. “It’s so beautiful.”
“Aye, Miss, it may be a rock, but it’s a gem.”
He carried her bags to a car parked nearby, rusty from the salty air. “I’ll take you up to the castle and then you can meet the missus.”
He put her bags in the back of the car and then drove over a hill and on a gently curving road leading to a cliff. He parked on a gravel circle and said, “It’s here.”
Kathy didn’t see any buildings and had a sudden fear that Mike was going to push her over the edge in some barbaric ancient folk sacrifice.
She walked very cautiously after him on the path that led to the precipice.
She could see the deep blue-green water below, crashing into white foam against the layered sandstone face of the cliff.
“There’s Old Humphrey’s Castle,” Mike said as he pointed to a tall column of rock that rose perilously from the water’s surface.
“Where?”
“That sea stack, that’s Old Humphrey. It’s one of the best around. Let’s get you to the house, so ye can get settled. How long is it you’re staying?”
“Two days,” she said as they went to the car. Then she would return to London.
Mike said, “You can see the whole place in ten minutes. Will you want to have a look about the town? Not that there’s much to see but the women knitting, especially since most of us got made redundant when the management company consolidated in Glasgow.”
“I’d love to see women knitting, Mike.”
She got back in the car and said, “I feel rather foolish. I thought I was going to stay in a castle.”
He grinned. “Local joke, miss. Your Emma said you were a good sport.”
Kathy burst out laughing. “Emma! She’s been the cause of all my troubles. She says she has the gift of second sight.”
“Some do, you know. What else has she seen?”
“Mostly lotto numbers that are wrong. She swore that I would meet a man in a kilt, but all I met was a wicked trow.”
Mike grinned. “We’ve got both of those here.”
He steered the car around a bend and she looked down the hill to a grand building built in a cove. It was three storeys high of pale stone, with a slate roof and many chimneys. It faced a serene inlet and was surrounded by an emerald lawn.
Kathy felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if she knew this place. Maybe Emma had shown her a photo, or she’d seen it in a guidebook, because it was so very familiar. On a hillock beyond she spotted sheep grazing against the grey sky, just like the painting.
Mike drove down to the house and parked around the side. An old yellow lab ambled up to greet him, and then a middle-aged woman in corduroys and a sweater came out. “Welcome, welcome!”
“Hi, I’m Kathy.”
“I’m Janna. Hope your trip was good.”
“It was, and Mike showed me the castle.”
She looked at her husband and they both laughed. Janna said, “There was a castle here once, but we like this place fine. Come in out of the cold.”
Mike excused himself, saying, “The boss gave me a list of tasks. He’s coming in this evening.”
Janna took Kathy into the house through the front entrance, which led to a marbled entry and huge room with pale grey walls, a mix of modern and antique furniture and paintings that made it seem both timeless and contemporary.
“The Great Hall,” she said. “Mr MacNeil keeps saying that he’s to sell off all the valuables, so enjoy them now. ”
“Why would he do that? It’s perfect.”
“It is, but he thinks he can save all of us from going hungry. I keep telling him to look out for himself, and the rest of us will manage. It’s no wonder he doesn’t have time for a wife.”
Janna led Kathy up a wide staircase with carved wood banisters. “Your friend said you have a knitting business.”
“Yes, a small one. Trying to meet my bills is always a challenge. Your sweater is lovely. Is the pale green a natural dye?”
“You’ve an eye. The wool is from our own herd and I made the dye from kelp, which is also what the sheep eat.”
“I’ve never heard of that!”
“Even our local sheep are odd,” Janna said, leading Kathy down a panelled hallway with a faded carpet.
“Them that eat the kelp are an old breed, and the laird’s parents raised other old breeds.
As if anyone wants to see a sheep museum.
” Janna opened a door at the end of the hallway.
“The furnace here works, so you’ll be warm, and you’ve got the afternoon sun. ”
The large comfortably furnished room had pretty chintz wallpaper and a fireplace. “Thank you. It’s very nice.”
“If you come to the morning room, we’ll have tea and then I’ll give you a tour of the house and grounds.”
Kathy put away her things and then looked out the tall narrow window. The rain had let up and golden rays of sun beamed out between the slate clouds. This place might not be a castle, but it was fantastic.
She washed up in the adjoining bathroom and thought that she’d enjoy a leisurely soak tonight in the deep tub.
The image of Calder’s long body in the bath came to her unbidden and she felt a throb of something between lust and loss.
Her mind kept returning to him, not just what they’d done, but what she wanted to do with him, to him.
However, another woman, the blonde woman, had exclusive rights to those pleasures.
Kathy washed her hands, smoothed on tinted lip-gloss and followed Janna’s directions to the morning room. Tea was set up, but Janna was nowhere around. Kathy sat and waited. After a few minutes, she poured a cup and drank it. Then she went to find Janna.
She searched the ground level and discovered a dining room, a wing of empty bedrooms, and a snooker room.
There was a long library with french windows looking out to a stone terrace …
but no kitchen. Then she found a staircase leading down and went to the basement.
She followed the scent of cooking food to an expansive, out of date kitchen.
Janna was talking on an old wall phone and cursing a blue streak.
Her source of aggravation was the sink. When she saw Kathy, she tempered her voice and continued her conversation: “I would appreciate it if you could fix it as soon as possible. Thank you.” She hung up and looked at Kathy.
“Everything goes wrong in an old house.”