Read Online Border Storm by Amanda Scott - Free Book Online Page B

Bridget says—”
    “That will do, Isabel,” Blanche said sternly. “If you cannot hold your tongue, you must retire to your bedchamber.”
    “I’m sorry, Mama,” Isabel said in a small voice. “Must I go now?”
    “The one who really should leave the table is Laura,” Blanche said, giving her husband a look of irritation. “She should be ashamed of telling such untruths to the child, particularly tales like that utter nonsense about Janet Scott.”
    “That story is true,” Laurie said quietly. “Everyone knows that she rode to Carlisle Castle. And that is why they call her ‘Janet the Bold.’”
    “You forget that I have become acquainted with Lady Scott,” Blanche said. “There can be no doubt that she is a gentlewoman. Moreover, you seem to forget that she is English. Her brother is England’s deputy warden for the western march.”
    “Still, she—”
    “Be silent,” Blanche commanded. “Doubtless people hereabouts tell foolish tales about her simply because she has the misfortune to be English and was raised in an odd way. Her mother and father died when she was small, and her brother, who they say is a harsh man, raised her himself. If she sometimes says or does odd things, ’tis doubtless because she had no mother to teach her how to go on.”
    Laurie had never met Janet Scott, but she had admired her bravery from the moment she first heard about it. Now she found herself envying Janet, as well.
    “There will be no more such talk,” Sir William said with a stern look at her. “Not of Janet the Bold or of Rabbie Redcloak. Do you hear me, lass?”
    “Yes, sir,” Laurie said meekly as she tried to imagine what it would be like to hear herself called Laurie the Bold.
    Instead, however—and particularly if Blanche had anything to say about it—people were more likely to call her Laurie the Stubbornly Unwed.
    Blanche seemed to have forgotten about Isabel’s lapse, for she returned to the subject of Fast Castle, and the rest of the meal passed without incident.
    As soon as Sir William excused Laurie and her sisters from the table, Laurie hurried to her bedchamber. She thought briefly of speaking to May. Then she remembered that Blanche had promised to have a talk with Bridget. At this hour, Bridget was likely to be in the bedchamber that May shared with Isabel, waiting to help them prepare to retire.
    Having no wish to encounter Blanche again until time had done what it could to lessen that lady’s displeasure with her, Laurie decided she would be wiser to wait until she and May could talk privately.

Six
    There came an old lady
    Running out of the wood…
    “Y E’VE GOT COMPANY, SIR Hugh,” Ned Rowan said over the noise of ponies’ hooves clattering on cobblestones, as Hugh and his men rode into the inner bailey at Brackengill Castle a short time later.
    Hugh grunted in response, for the unusual activity in the yard had already informed him that company had arrived. Unfamiliar lackeys tended unfamiliar horses, and some of his lads were dragging baggage through the main entrance. He had no idea who it could be, but unexpected company was common in the Borders. Frequently, passing travelers requested hospitality, and hosts rarely denied them.
    “I’d better see who it is,” he said to Rowan, adding in a louder voice, “Andrew, come and take charge of my lad here.”
    A thin, wiry little boy came running to take the dun’s reins, saying cheerfully, “Aye, Sir Hugh, I’ll look after him.”
    “See that you do, lad,” Rowan said, dismounting and reaching out a hand to tousle the boy’s dark, curly hair.
    Andrew nodded without comment.
    As the boy turned away toward the stable with the dun gelding, Hugh strode to the stone steps leading to the castle entrance. Taking them and the spiral stairs inside two at a time, he entered the great hall, where he found serving lads scurrying about in response to sharp commands issued by a frail-looking lady of indeterminate years who sat rigidly