Page 58 of The Tempest
“Did ye pay the women for the bread ye took?” she finally asked, turning to her middle son. “Well?”
He was being very casual about it. “Mayhap some of them, we paid,” he said. “But others, I dunna know. We may have simply taken what we wanted.”
Maude grabbed the bread out of his hand and threw it on the ground, stomping on it. “This is not a game, Declan,” she growled. “I swore that we wouldna raid this village or harass these villagers whilst we were here. If ye make me look like a liar, I’ll take it out on yer hide.”
Angry that his bread had been taken away and ruined, Declan flared. “Ye made the vow,” he pointed out hotly. “I dinna. I’m hungry for bread, so I went and found some. If that makes ye look like a liar, then that is yer misfortune. Not mine.”
Maude whipped out a dagger she always carried, wielding the weapon in front of her as Declan pulled out his own weapon. Francis, unwilling to see his mother defeated in a knife fight,kicked the dagger out of Declan’s hand. When Declan tried to come at him with a fist, Francis kicked him between the legs.
Declan went down like a stone.
“All of ye,” Maude shouted angrily, “take the bread back where ye found it and give the woman ye stole from a pence for her troubles. I’ll not have the sloppy lot of ye make me look like a liar, so do it now or face my wrath!”
She meant every word. Maude’s men knew well enough that if she was displeased, she went for the first thing a man held dear—that private body part between their legs. She’d cut off more of those than the men could count and wasn’t beyond cutting them off her own men, so those with the loaves began to back away, hesitantly, but willing to return to the village. They had no choice. As Maude stood there, glaring at them, a figure came through the trees behind the tavern.
Maude found herself looking at Payne.
Her eldest son was frowning at the men who were filtering past him, some carrying loaves of bread, but he frowned even more when he spied Declan on his knees.
“What is happening?” he asked. “Where are those men going? And why is Declan on the ground?”
“He’s on the ground because he threatened Maudie,” Francis said, going to stand with Payne. “I made it so he canna stand anytime soon.”
That brought Payne’s immediate condemnation. He glared at Declan before looking at his mother. “Are ye well?” he asked. “He dinna hurt ye?”
Maude shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “But he’d better learn tae obey my commands or the next time, his injuries might not heal so quickly.”
“What happened?”
Maude nodded in the direction of the village. “Did ye see the men heading toward the village?”
“I did.”
She returned her attention to Declan. “Evidently, they went on a foraging mission this morning and stole bread,” she said. “Or mayhap they paid for it. Declan wouldna give me a straight answer, so I can only assume they stole things. I told him I gave my promise that my men wouldna steal from the village, and by stealing bread, he’s made me out tae be a liar. I canna abide by that, so I sent the men tae return their ill-gotten gains.”
Payne could figure the rest out. “And Declan doesna agree?”
Maude simply shrugged, but by this time, Declan was lurching to his feet. His face was red and sweaty. “Francis,” he growled, “ye better hope I never catch ye alone, because ye’ll pay for this.”
“If ye dinna disobey me, we wouldna be having this conversation,” Maude shot back. “This is yer fault, Declan. The sooner ye take responsibility for yer actions, the sooner we can let the matter lie.”
Declan wasn’t willing to forgive and forget. “This is the problem, Maudie,” she said. “Ye always defend Francis or Payne, but never me. I’m always the one ye take tae task and I’m tired of it.”
“How do I take ye tae task?” Maude asked. “If ye commit a wrong, I tell ye. If Francis commits a wrong, I tell him. I’m not persecuting ye over the others.”
Declan wouldn’t be placated. “No man should have tae be subject tae his mother’s punishment.”
“I only punish ye when ye deserve it.”
“That’s all the time!”
“Then that should be a lesson tae ye tae obey me!”
Declan threw out his arms in a gesture of rage. “All I do is obey ye!” he boomed. “I serve on yer ships, I do as ye ask, and I take a bit of bread because I’m hungry, and suddenly, I’m making ye out tae be a liar.”
“Ye did,” Payne said seriously. “If ye canna see her point, Declan, then ye’re hopeless.”
Declan didn’t take kindly to his eldest brother piling on. “And ye,” he snarled. “Ye have no say in all of this. Ye’ve shunned us for the past ten years, so ye have no rights at all.”
