Page 26 of Her Highland Prophecy
“No. We buy our meat from the butcher, already dead and skinned. Sometimes even cut into pieces.”
That made no sense.
“But how do they preserve it until you buy it?” he asked curiously, even as he continued his work. “Are they like farmers who kill the animal they are ready to eat?”
He finished with the first and picked up the second rabbit to repeat the process. He noticed her flinching slightly away from the sound.
“Not quite,” she answered. “Remember electricity?” At his nod she continued. “We have a machine like a closet that keeps things cold. It’s called a refrigerator. Scientists have discovered that food lasts longer when you keep it cold, just above freezing temperature. It won’t spoil so quickly, and fungi won’t start growing on it for a few days.”
The more she explained, the more possibilities entered his mind. To have the ability to save food from spoiling was incredible.
“Once they discovered how to keep the food fresh, merchants started selling things like milk and meat that didn’t have to be smoked or cured ahead of time and that would keep for a few days before going bad.”
“And these ‘refrigerators’ were they verra common?” he asked as he pulled out his knife to clean out the rabbit. He cut through the stomach, skillfully removing the offal and tossing it into a shallow pit that he dug out before beginning.
“Everyone has one in their home. Some shops have refrigerators as big as a room to store all their wares.”
“Incredible,” he breathed trying to imagine what that might look like but coming up blank.
“You asked me if I have ever seen an animal skinned. The answer is no, I haven’t because it is not something one usually sees in my time unless you are interested in hunting for sport.”
He started cutting the rabbit into small squares, spearing them with a sharp stick and placing them over the fire. Diana was still speaking, still looking away from what he was doing. He thought it might be from nervousness rather than any want to impart knowledge on him.
“Me? I never even learned how to cook. We had servants at home who took care of that for us, so I have never seen meat being prepared. Usually it is served to me fully cooked, in one way or another.”
He shook his head at her words. She would fit right into the role of a wealthy Sassenach if this was the way she was brought up. Her family in the future obviously had money.
She slowly approached him and sat nearby as he roasted the bits of rabbit over the fire.
“Breakfast?” he asked a few minutes later when the first batch was fully cooked.
Her face turned an unhealthy shade of green again as she contemplated the food he was holding.
“There is no way on God’s green Earth that I would ever eat that. It was a fluffy bunny not an hour ago and I saw it with half its coat pulled off. I think I might vomit at the very idea.”
He laughed.
“As ye wish, Princess, though I think that ye will be verra hungry if ye dinnae eat any game when ye are offered it.”
“I don’t mind game when it’s already cooked. I just can’t eat the one that I watched you skin in front of me,” she countered with a grimace.
He picked a piece of meat as it cooled and started eating.
“Do ye object to fish? Maybe we could catch one in the river for ye.”
“Are those my only options?” she asked. She looked very disturbed at the idea.
“Aye,” he answered, “at least until we reach Inverness. We can buy a few bannocks for ye there.”
She sighed. “I’ll wait until we get to Inverness, then.”
“As ye wish, Princess. It will still be a few hours before we arrive.”
“Princess?”
“Aye, a proper Sassenach Princess,” he said with a smile.
She grimaced at his words but didn’t protest the name and his smile got larger in response. He would be very interested to see how she reacted to things like hunting if something like killing a rabbit disgusted her so much.
