Page 129 of Once Upon A Haunted Castle
Laura turned with as much dignity as she could muster and walked ahead of him. To cool her temper, she washed her face and hands with a small linen square dipped in the river. After calming herself, she mounted her palfrey.
The troop continued on. At dusk, they reached Canonbie on the River Esk.
Without enough room for the troop at the coach house, the men camped in the forest for the night. Jamie and Laura went on and secured a room.
“One room. Wheredo you plan to sleep?” Surely he didn’t plan to stay in the same room with her. They walked into the public room.
“Look around the tavern. Do you think for one moment I’m going to leave you in a room by yourself?”
She stood by the inn door. It was the only place where she didn’t have to hold her breath from the foul odor. Men, many she wouldn’t want to stand near, filled the room. Now that she looked with care, other than a serving woman, she was the only female in the lot.
Jamie held one of her satchels and a blanket. He directed her up the stairs. They passed through a door into an open air gallery that ringed the coach house yard. At the far end, an open staircase led to the yard below. Jamie stopped at the last room and put a rusty key in an equally rusty lock. After a few strong shoves, the door sprung open. The hinges let loose a clawing metallic screech that set her on edge.
“At lease no one can sneak into the room at night. They would wake the dead.” He walked in first, scanned the room then nodded for her to enter.
A large window filled the wall across from the door. A rag hung from a pole across the top, a curtain she supposed. It didn’t hide the bare oak tree that brushed against the building. A chest with a broken piece of polished metal over it, stood against one wall.
She turned her focus to the large bed to her right. Jamie pulled back the bed blanket and looked at the linen. Laura shivered, not from the cold, but one look at what he expected her to sleep on made her ill. Jamie laid the blanket over the mattress then their bedrolls.
“You’ll be comfortable enough in the bed. You stay here. After I check on Sean and the others, I’ll speak to the men downstairs. Reivers roam this area. I want to know what we face tomorrow. The other travelers will have some information.” Before she could say a word, he left the room.
“The audacity of the man.” She stamped her foot. Did he expect her to sleep in the same bed with him? Like one of those ninnies the village women gossip about? She stared at the door. Her hands in fists so tight her nails left impressions in her palms. What was she supposed to do now? Laura shrugged out of her coat. Her temper didn’t ease as she paced the room.
Her stomach rolled from hunger. Laura stood in front of the door, her anger at a boiling point. Did he expect her to starve while she waited for him? Her stomach rumbled again.
The men in the public room may smell bad, but they didn’t scare her. She’d been in the public room by Glen Kirk, although no one knew her here. Ach, the innkeeper’s wife would be nearby. Her decision made, she pulled on the door. It didn’t move. Again, she tried to open the door, still it didn’t budge. In frustration, she slammed the flat of her hand against the door by the lock and when she stepped back, it popped open without a sound.
“So much for waking the dead.” With a swish of her skirt, she left the room and closed the door behind her.
The sun had slipped behind the ridge, taking with it what little warmth it gave. Laura, her arms wrapped around her for warmth and her breath leaving a trail of white puffs of frost, hurried along the gallery toward the public room stairs.
“I asked forJoseph when I secured the room. He’s run this inn since I was a boy.” Jamie stood with Sean a few yards into the forest. “The innkeeper told me his brother, Joseph, passed away after a long illness following a reiver’s attack.”
“I didn’t know the man had a brother,” Sean said.
“He didn’t. There’s nothing we can do now. I’m glad you suggested the men stay here.”
“I suppose you want to make the castle by nightfall tomorrow?”
“Yes. The sooner we get to Caerlaverock the better. Be ready to leave at first light. Have one of the men cover our tracks. At least they won’t know where we’re headed. That should give us some advantage. Have a safe night.”
“Many thanks forthe warm wine.” Laura sat in a corner of the room away from the other travelers and tried to smile though the tart, almost vinegary liquid that forced her lips to purse. How anyone could drink this was beyond her, but she persevered.
“Where do you and your husband travel?” the innkeeper’s wife asked as she set down a bowl of greasy warm stew.
“Jamie’s not my husband. He’s my mother’s distant cousin. He’s escorting me to Caerlaverock Castle. I have family there.”
“Would you like some more wine or bread, perhaps?” her soft tone held a slight bitterness.
Laura shook her head. She should have stayed hungry. “No. This is quite enough.”
The door opened and Jamie came in. He saw her at once and headed for her table. She didn’t look forward to his company.
“What are you doing down here? I thought I left you in the room.”
Laura paused, a piece of stew-soaked bread almost to her lips.
“Here, here. Don’t you disturb this fine woman,” the innkeeper’s wife said. “She told me you weren’t her husband. You have no rights here.”
