Page 24 of Plaid Attitude
“I had some soft cheese on toast, with plenty leftover. Do ye want some?”
Coira exhaled gratefully. “I wouldlovesome, thanks.”
Their steps turned toward the village and the cottage the lass shared with her father. “So ye’re sad because ye have to protect Madeline from Fen the Terrible and her Cleaver of Doom?”
Since Fen had to be the shyest person in the world, Bess’s lips twitched again. “Nay, I’m…” She sighed, but when she inhaled, she made a sound like a sob.
Immediately Coira turned and placed her hands on the lass’s shoulders. “Bess.” She leaned down a bit to be able to peer into her eyes. “What is it?”
Bess dropped her gaze. “I’m bleeding,” she whispered.
“What?Where?” Coira ran a practiced gaze over her young friend, looking for scrapes or bandages, going so far as to lift the duck. “Did Madeline bite ye after all?”
“Nay, I…” With a snort, Bess tugged her duck back, then rolled her eyes. “Bleeding.”
“Ye said that, now tell me…” Coira’s eyes went wide as she realized why the lass was gesturing toward her hips. “Och,bleedingbleeding?”
“Aye,bleeding bleeding,” Bess repeated, then sniffed again.
“Um…?” Coira cleared her throat and glanced about the village square, wondering if the girl knew what this meant and if she’d been prepared for it. Had Doughall given her The Talk? She pulled Bess into an awkward hug. “Congratulations?”
Madeline bit her on the fleshy part under her arm.
“Ouch! Ye little shite!” Coira exclaimed as she pushed the girl away again. “Someoneshouldeat something so foul-tempered!”
Bess ran her wrist under her nose. “Fowl-tempered, I think ye mean.”
“Aye.” Coira sighed and threw her arm around her young friend, turning them both toward Doughall’s cottage. “Bess, ye understand why ye’re bleeding? The mechanics of it all?”
“Edgar says…says I’m a woman now.”
Edgar…the lass had mentioned him before. Coira knew who he was and shared Doughall’s suspicion of the young man, who seemed a no-good loafer. But she wasn’t going to mention that while Bess was so delicate, especially if the girl had seen it fit to tellEdgarher menses had begun.
“Um…and is that a good thing?” she probed.
Bess sniffed. “I dinnae ken if I want to be a woman,” she admitted softly.
Coira’s snort slipped out before she could stop it. “I dinnae blame ye,” she hurried to explain. “A woman’s lot in life often is to be yoked to a man, her worth based on her husband. But…”
The girl had rested her head against Coira’s arm as they walked. “But what?”
“It doesnae have to be like that.”
“I dinnae want to be a nun,” Bess blurted.
Coira’s grin flashed. “I dinnae blame ye. Neither of us have the inclination, I believe.”
They’d reached the cottage. “Come in,” the girl offered. “I’ll make ye something to eat.”
She might not want to be a woman, but Coira had to admit, the lass had a knack for taking care of people. So, she nodded and pushed open the door, what with Bess’s arms being full of her duck.
Mayhap she should have let the lass precede her. Because the first thing Coira saw when she pushed her way into the cottage was Doughall’s naked backside.
* * *
Doughall had just pouredthe last of the water over his head when he heard the door open. Just his luck; he’d come home from the lists and decided to clean up a bit before going to find Coira, and his daughter had to walk in on himnow? He gave his hair a good shake and turned to glare at her.
Only to discover BessettaandCoira standing in the doorway.
