Page 53 of The Falcon Laird
Behind the boys and the women came at least twenty or thirty men, Gavin saw. They carried tools and led sturdy, shaggy ponies whose backs and saddles were loaded with sacks and implements; he saw hammers, chisels, axes, and more. One cart pulled by an ox held a blacksmith’s anvil. Walking there was a man nearly as broad as the ox, his arms like hewed oak, his hair and beard a wild furnace-red.
“And a smith to fix the portcullis,” Gavin said. John hooted.
“And the rest look eager to find work in winter. But not all will be English supporters, is my guess.”
“Likely none of them. But I will not ask about their sympathies.” He lifted Will off the stone, whooped, spun the boy around, and carried him down the steps to greet the workers.
“Master Tam saysthe portcullis chains are melted and cannot be used at all,” Fergus said. “It is porridgey mess of iron and stone. He cannot make new chains from contaminated iron.”
In the gatehouse with Tam and Fergus, Gavin watched as the blacksmith examined the chains, pulleys, and winches that had once operated the massive portcullis and the drawbridge. Beside him, the stonemason and a carpenter muttered too as they studied the gaping holes in the gatehouse floor.
Master Tam grunted, stomped on the charred winch—Gavin held his breath, expecting the rest of the floor to go—and spoketo Fergus in Gaelic. The priest replied, listened to the smith, then to the mason and carpenter. They all had quite a bit to say, while Gavin waited and watched them point and gesture. The fate of his castle was in the balance and he was dependent on a Celtic priest and a few Scots who likely did not want another castle to go to the English.
“Master Tam says you need new pulleys and a winch, which can be made from oak. He says he can remake the struts on the portcullis and repair part of the chain if he can get his forge hot enough,” Fergus said. “The carpenters will bring enough wood for that. But he says the heaviest chain links must be purchased. Stout hempen rope as well. He wants you to order those from a smith and ropemaker in Ayr.”
Gavin nodded agreement, and Master Tam grunted in satisfaction. “The carpenter will construct a new yett and close off the castle with wooden gates until the grille can be fixed,” Fergus added.
“Well enough. What else are they saying?” Gavin asked. The three men behind Fergus were still muttering. Gavin thought it sounded suspiciously like complaining.
“They are saying it is a muckle load of work for winter, and not a sheep offered to anyone.”
“They will have as many sheep as they like when the spring fair opens,” Gavin said. “What else?”
“The priority, you ken, is wood. The laborers must go into the forests and cut timber for all these tasks. They need oak and pine to build floors and rafters and doors. You want hearths, which requires more stone. And you want a tub. They do not see the importance in that, but they will do it, and all else. They will work for you, though you be a Sassenach.”
“I am grateful.”
“They are willing because you saved Lady Christian and because I told them you do not care for Sir Oliver Hastings. Andbecause you will pay coin. But they do want livestock and grain later. Their wives do not care for silver more than for food.”
“Thank them for their help and tell them I will do all I can for them. Fergus, you must help me learn some Gaelic.”
“I will, but many of these men speak English. They just use Gaelic being as you are a Sassenach.”
Gavin looked up in surprise to see the men grinning. He laughed. Master Tam mumbled again, gruff, breathy Gaelic that made the others chuckle. Fergus answered them, laughing.
“Master Tam says he cannot repair the portcullis with the wee bairnies swinging on it like an apple tree in a croft-yard,” Fergus said. “I said mayhap he would like some young apprentices in my two youngest. But he politely declined the privilege.”
“Ach, the noise,”Christian said as she walked through the yard with Dominy. “How could I have forgotten the noise of a working castle? It has been peacefully quiet with just the few of us.”
The courtyard was filled with sound and activity. Some workmen stood on scaffolds, using hammers and chisels, others slapped down mortar with trowels to repair damaged walls; laborers climbed ladders or worked pulleys to lift heavy stones, and carpenters stood at trestles in the yard hammering or sawing oak and pine for doors, or shaped long beams and boards for floors and ceilings. From every corner of the yard, shouts and conversation added to the din. Even now, men with axes slung over their shoulders walked alongside an ox-drawn cart, its iron-trimmed wheels squealing, to exit below the portcullis. They were off to the forest to gather logs for dressing into boards and beams.
“This noise? But a small clamor,” Dominy said. “At Carlisle, the castle was constantly filled with the noises of two thousandsoldiers. Oh, I am sorry, my lady. I did not mean to mention that awful place.”
“I know too much about Carlisle,” Christian said, ignoring the swirl of grief and fear that spun in her gut at the word. “I much prefer the wee clamor at Kilglassie.”
“Now that the work has been going on for weeks, ye do seem happy about it. Not at first though.”
“Repairs were desperately needed, and much improvement has been made. It is good to see the castle coming back after the fire.”
“Even with the promise of English troops to come? Hey, Will,” Dominy shouted, striding forward, “get off that gate! It is no oak tree for ye to climb! Ye’ll be hurt, and then what! Get down now!”
Dangling from the bar of the crooked portcullis, William leaped off, landing on his bottom in the muddy yard.
“Willikin, ye’re my trial of spirit,” Dominy said, helping him up and smacking the seat of his tunic to clean it. “If Master Tam saw ye, and him set to work on the gate, he would be angry. Now go find the other children and play some other game.”
“Robbie and Patrick said they were going to join the Bruce. I do not know where they went. But Michaelmas said she might play swords with me. A carpenter made wooden ones.”
“Go find her,” Dominy said, and he ran off.
