Damaged - Chapter 5

Damaged Chapter 5

Elizabeth Victoria Wallace

Š2012 Elizabeth Wallace

Chapter 5 The following day, the Rose and Crown inn buzzed with excitement as word spread of the upcoming wedding between the MacDonald and Campbell clans. The union would change many things, and make the Campbell’s the most influential family in the area.

Ambrose Campbell flung the door of the inn open with a flourish, and stepped inside with his best man at his side. The men inside scattered and surrendered their stools by the fire as Campbell swaggered towards them shouting, “Landlord, landlord, for God’s sake, hurry up man. Two tankards of your best ale, and don’t take all day about it.

Bread and cheese too. I have much to celebrate this day.”

Without a word, the innkeeper brought the food and drinks on a tray, placed it on the table, and stepped away.

“Go upstairs and tell the little woman I’m here waiting on her,” Campbell yelled to the innkeeper over his shoulder.

A little smile crept onto the innkeeper’s face, but he brought it under control as he turned.

“But sir, she’s not here. She left yesterday afternoon,” he responded.

“What! She’s gone. Why didn’t you send me word?

Did she say where she was going?”

“I believe she said she was going to Edinburgh to find her Aunt Joan,” said the innkeeper.

Campbell stood abruptly, picked up his ale, and threw it over the innkeeper. “You stupid oaf - you’ll pay dearly for that mistake. You should have sent word.”

The innkeeper turned, brought his dirty apron to his face, and wiped it. None saw the smile or heard the chuckle as he moved away. He watched the men from the safety of the bar. He had never seen Campbell as angry as he was at this moment. His face was bright red, and full of fury. He kept shaking his head and gesturing with his arms. Then, suddenly, both men pushed their way towards the door.

Campbell scowled at the innkeeper as he marched past, and shook a clenched fist in his direction. Once outside they mounted their horses, and headed north towards Edinburgh.

It had been a quick stop. Tom watered the horses, and they drank thirstily. He patted their rumps and said aloud, “I have no food for you boys, but you’ll have all you need tomorrow.” He looked at Catherine. “Come, we should be going. It won’t be long before I won’t be able to see my hand in front of my face let alone guide the team.

Let’s agree that the first place we come to we’ll spend the

night. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an inn, priory or nunnery we’ll have to stop.”

“I understand,” she responded with a little smile, “you’ll have no arguments from me.”

They continued in silence for the next two hours. A small farmhouse appeared out of the gloom at the side of the road. “Just in time,” said Tom, “I was beginning to get worried.”

“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” she offered.

Tom frowned, and was about to make a comment, and decided against it. He helped Catherine to the ground, and knocked on the farmhouse door.

A wizened old face appeared framed in the window in the door. The man opened the door holding a candle and squinting at his visitors. “My goodness, I didn’t expect to see travelers at this time of night. What do you want?”

Catherine pushed herself forward, allowing the farmer to see her habit. “Would it be possible for us to spend the night?”

“Hmm, this is very out of the ordinary sister, but I suppose so, come in. Not you though,” he said pointing to Tom. “You and your dog can spend the night in my barn.

I’ll have my wife bring you a blanket and some food.”

After supper, Catherine feigned tiredness and begged to retire early. She knew they were curious about their guests. Farmer Burgess had asked so many questions, and when they were not answered, looked to his wife for support, but she gave him none. Instead, he drew on his clay pipe grumpily, and puffed the smoke out the side of his mouth.

“Of course sister, you must be tired after your long journey…” Catherine did not take the bait, and instead reached down for her carpet bag, and slowly made her way up the rickety stairs.

She listened to the couple gossiping below, and heard the woman of the house chastise her husband. “You embarrassed me asking those questions. If she wanted to tell us anything, she would have done so. I’m off to bed myself.”

Catherine held the candle in front of her as she looked around the room. It was about the same size as her bedroom at the priory, with the bare essentials including a bed, chair, closet and a water stand. A wooden crucifix hung over the mantelpiece. She took some comfort in seeing that, said her prayers quickly before falling fast asleep.

Tom was awake at the crack of dawn. Horses were fed and watered, and he and Toby were waiting at the front door expectantly. When Catherine walked out, Tom caught his breath. She looked so beautiful. She had washed her face and brushed her hair. Gone were the worrisome lines in her sweet face, and gone were the red eyes. She looked refreshed and ready for the journey. He was not sure they were doing the right thing, but he was adamant they had to leave Prestwick. He smiled as she approached. “Did you have a good night’s sleep?”

“I did thank you…and you.”

“We slept well, didn’t we boy,” Tom looked over towards Toby whose long tail swept back and forth happily.

The farmer’s wife came bustling out of the house.

“Here, I have something for your journey, it’s not much, but it will keep you going.”

“You are very kind, thank you Mistress Burgess.”

Catherine climbed into the carriage and looked down at the woman. “God bless you,” she called after them.

“We’re getting a wonderfully early start,” said Tom. ‘I spoke to the farmhand this morning; he said Castle Douglas is only twenty-five miles away, if we keep up a good pace, we’ll be there before nightfall.”

“What reason would we have for going there?”

“None, other than I would be happy to have a destination in mind. I was concerned last night that we wouldn’t find a place to stay, and it was getting darker and darker.”

The couple continued their journey much as they had on their way to Scotland. There were long stretches of silence when neither spoke for the longest time, each deep in their own thoughts.

Catherine was the first to break the silence.

“Campbell called my mother a whore you know, and Alice a bastard child.”

Tom was unsure how to respond. Instead he bit his lower lip, and stared ahead.

She continued, “That’s what everyone will think isn’t it?”

“Well, I’m not so sure. Everyone makes mistakes, we just hope that people will be fair minded and kind, and give you a second chance in life. Besides, Scotland is a long way from Essex. Perhaps you’ll not have to disclose everything.”

She ignored his comment. “I know what my mother did was wrong, but we all make mistakes. We still don’t know why or how she became involved with the clan, but

Alice escaped didn’t she? How did she accomplish that? To escape from that place and make her way to Hedingham Castle was no mean feat. If you could have been there Tom, if you could have seen her face when I walked into her room – she just smiled at me, and died. How could I have known she was my half-sister? It breaks my heart.

Now I have to go back and face everyone, tell them why my mother left me, and why she didn’t return. I doubt I have the strength to do this alone.”

“You don’t need to; I shall be by your side for as long as you need me.”

She turned and smiled the sweetness smile he had ever seen. He wanted to take her into his arms, and stroke her hair. Instead, he kept his eyes downcast fearing she would see the look in his eyes.

“In actual fact, Alice must have followed a similar route to us don’t you think?” said Catherine absentmindedly. “We have no idea how she travelled, or where she got the money for food and lodging. What I do know is that when she arrived at Hedingham Castle, she was at death’s door. Mary the cook told me that Alice wore an expensive damask dress which she must have worn for weeks. It was so filthy, it had to be burned. She had worn holes in her boots, more evidence she had been travelling

for some time. Mary did what she could for her, and then the Earl of Essex sent for me. Now I suspect Mother Superior knew more than she was letting on when she sent me to the castle. How could I have been so naïve?

Honestly, this has been the worst experience of my life, but I fear I have more troubles ahead. How will I explain all that has happened?”

“You don’t need to say very much. The more information you provide, the more you will have to tell them. Just say she had an accident, and died. You don’t need to tell them all the details. Women talk too much anyway.”

“But you know that will not be enough to satisfy most people. They’ll discover the truth and judge me by my mother’s past. How will I ever live it down?” She wrung her hands.

Eager to change the subject, Tom nodded. “Look ahead that must be Castle Douglas.” He did not know what to say or how Catherine would manage the stigma her mother and half-sister had left her. What he did know is that he would be by her side no matter what happened.