Page 44 of Plaid Attitude
As the other scoffed, Ramsay came to his wife’s defense. “Nay, seriously. It goes…um…Rain, rain…?”
When he looked helplessly at Nicola, she frowned thoughtfully. “Rain, rain, go away?Something like that.”
While the others chuckled, Robena hummed. “Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day. Ramsay’s sisters want to play.”
The others joined in. “Dinnae come back or I’ll say nay,” sang Leanna.
“I doubt the clouds will hold at bay,” deadpanned Brodie.
With a grin, Pherson offered, “If this works, we might be fae.”
And Kester offered, “I cannae sing, whatever ye say.”
His wife dissolved into giggles, effectively ruining the song, since she’d been humming the tune all along.
Fenella was smiling in that soft way of hers. “I swear I’ve heard this one afore,” she teased. “As I recall, the singers then get caught in a deluge on the way home from Mass?”
“Nay,” her husband intoned in that dry way of his. “Ye’re thinking ofThe Lassie With the Golden Lips.”
Kester shook his head. “That’s the song where the girl falls into the well with the sheep and two pieces of flax.”
“Dinnae be ridiculous,” Robena snorted. “That’sI Went To Market With My Dear Auld Aunt Leonard.”
Leanna was shaking her head. “Nay,thatsong has a similar tune, but is about the girl with two thumbs on one hand, remember? And she uses them to do that thing with the spindle, the turnip, and the pair of chickens?”
“Och, aye, ye’re right,” Robena agreed. “I’m getting it confused with that one.”
“There’s a song about two cocks?” whispered Ramsay to Nicola, who shrugged.
But Fen was shaking her head. “Ye’re thinking ofSix Times ‘Round the Oak Tree with Pine Sap in Her Hair.”
“Nay, I’m no’!” Robena argued back. “That one is the one that ends with a question at each verse, remember? Like…” She tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling and hummed a few lines, then ended with, “so where am I to put my badger now?”
“I always thought that was a euphemism,” muttered Pherson.
His wife nudged him. “Ye thinkeverythingis a euphemism, love.”
“I thought the badger song was the one that startedIn the merry month of May?” asked Kenneth.
As one, Leanna, Robena and Wynda all groaned. “Everysong starts that way!” they chorused.
Ramsay asked, “Do ye kenWhere Have All the Pickles Gone, Robbie?”
As the rest of them chuckled, Nicola spoke up before Robena could answer her husband. “None of these songs can help us with the situation at hand.”
And just like that, Coira sobered once more. “Aye, although Iwishwe could wish it all away. But ye’re all here for a reason.”
“Because ye called us here,” offered Leanna.
“Because there was nae other room big enough to hold us,” her husband said. When they all turned to look at him, he shrugged. “What? ‘Tis why we’re here.”
“Here, as in Oliphant Castle,” sighed Coira. “No’herehere, in this solar. We could have this meeting anywhere—Och, why am I arguing?”
Leanna nodded commiserating. “Because ye havenae learned yer lesson?”
“Because ye like to be in charge,” added Wynda.
“Because ye’re the auldest,” offered Fen, “and cannae help yerself.”
