“Thank ye for that,” Saoirse said, applauding the servants and Mary. “I needed it very much.”
The servants cheered her. “Thanks to our Lady!”
“Aye, but we cannae be carousin’ all day, much as we’d like to.” Mary lowered the fiddle and cast a telling eye across the servants. “With that amusement to keep yer spirits high, it’s back to yer work with the lot of ye.”
The servants grumbled a little, lamenting the short distraction, but they seemed keen to make a good impression on their new Lady. As such, they quickly went on their way. Although, Saoirse made a point to stand by the doorway and bid each servant a fond farewell as they scrambled back to their posts. It made her heart sing with joy, seeing all their happy faces. Indeed, it was almost like being at Baxter Keep again.
“Ye really are very skilled,” Saoirse said, as the room cleared of everyone but Mary.
Mary shrugged with a smile and her rosy cheeks burning brightly, making yer look much younger than her years. “It was nothin’ really. Ye looked as if the world was comin’ down around ye. I just wanted to give ye a wee bit of joy today. The Lord kens ye deserve it.” Mary placed the violin back on the wall and sighed. “But, I’m afraid that must be getting’ back to me duties, too. The cook will have a fit if I’m nae in there to help her wit’ dinner.” She hastened to add, “Only preparin’ potatoes. Daenae worry.”
Saoirse saw an opportunity. “Dae ye think I could come with ye? Maybe learn a few things in the kitchen?” If not, she realized she would be stranded with nothing to do for the rest of the day but dwell on memories she didn’t care to dig up.
“I’ll say it ‘til me throat bursts—ye’re the Lady of Thorn Castle. This is yer home and ye can do whatever takes yer fancy. And when the Laird is away, ye’re the one in charge. Why dae ye think the servants came in to listen without any fear?”
Saoirse shrugged shyly.
“Because ye let them have a moment of fun,” Mary explained. “Dae ye think they would have wandered in here without yer permission? Nay,” she threw her hands up. “They came in here because ye allowed it. So, if ye want to get yer hands dirty in the kitchen, then by all means, let’s go get yer hands dirty in the kitchen. I wouldnae mind another tattie peeler on me side.”
Saoirse followed Mary out of the music room and listened as she chattered through the hallways about her father’s gift for music and her life at the Castle, which had begun when she was only four years old. Mary didn’t mention her mother, and Saoirse thought it wise not to ask.
Upon reaching the kitchens, the warmth of female company and the comfort of endless chatter only increased. The cook, Leah Wellerby, showed Saoirse how to peel potatoes and chop carrots and turnips and celery. Meanwhile, Mary wasonlyallowed to wash and peel the potatoes. Every time she went near any of the pots and pans, Leah shrieked and chased her off like a feral cat.
As the sun shifted through the hours, changing the light that glanced through the window, Saoirse found a sense of pride in her work. Her fingers ached and her palms were sore, but she knew the discomfort was worthwhile. Most importantly, however, she felt like she’d found her place in this new world of Thorn Castle. It wasn’t at Noah’s side, but with the servants who had welcomed her with open hearts and arms.
“Is that all there is to it, then?” Saoirse watched Leah slip the meat pie into the stone oven and dust her hands on her apron.
“Aye,” Leah said raking the back of her hand across her large brow. “That’s the gist of it. Ye can put just about anythin’ in a pie, too, so if ye see them often, ye’ll ken I’ve run out of ideas.”
Saoirse chuckled. “Then it’s fortunate that I like pie.” She paused. “Ye’re a wonder, Leah. Ye make cookin’ seem like a… dance or somethin’, the way ye drift around the room so gracefully, stirrin’ this, mixin’ that, turnin’ the other. I’m in awe of how easy ye make it look.”
Leah smiled back, lifting her head a little higher. “Ye ken, I daenae think anyone of High Society has ever said that to me.” Her lower lip trembled as if she were about to cry. “I suppose timemakesit easy. I could cook blindfolded, and I’d ken where everythin’ was.”
“’Tis a gift,” Saoirse said, reaching out to pat Leah’s arm. Instead, the portly woman tugged Saoirse into a tight embrace, threatening to suffocate the poor girl with her vast bosom. But Saoirse didn’t mind. It felt nice to be embraced.
Nestling into the warmth of the hug, it dawned on Saoirse why she’d found herself in the bowels of the Castle with these women. It wasn’t to learn a new skill, nor was it to keep her mind distracted so she didn’t have to think about Noah; it was because Leah and Mary reminded Saoirse of Georgia and Anna, her sisters. Older, of course, but what they might be like in a few decades. A pang of sorrow stabbed Saoirse’s chest.
“Ye all right there?” Mary asked as her smile crumbled into concern.
“Just thinkin’ about my family,” Saoirse answered, pulling back from the embrace.
Heart full and empty at the same time, she sat down on a nearby wooden stool. Absently, she poked her fingertip into the scrap of dough, left behind from Leah’s meat pie. It took her a moment to realize that Leah and Mary were staring, wearing expressions of deep sympathy.
“Ye ken ye can write to them if ye like,” Mary said. “John runs the post for the Laird nearly every mornin’. Well, mid-mornin’. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to take a letter to yer family for ye.”
“Nae yet,” Saoirse replied. “My sisters are nay doubt busy wit’ their own lives, and if I were to write, they’d think there was somethin’ amiss and come to see me. Besides, it has only been one day. I must wait at least a week before I start lightin’ the beacons and havin’ my sisterly horde come to my side.”
Mary frowned. “There’s nay shame in askin’ for their company, if ye need it. If therewassomethin’ amiss, I mean, which I’m nae sayin’ there is.”
Before Saoirse could reassure the women that she could manage by herself, the side kitchen door flew open. Saoirse jumped back as a slender man barreled in, hay lodged in his hair, his clothes sagging from his body.
“Henry,” Leah said with a smile that calmed Saoirse’s shock. “What brings ye in here at this hour? It’s nae dinner yet.”
“The Laird is on his way back and he’s wantin’ somethin’ hearty. Said somethin’ about nae havin’ a moment for breakfast this mornin’,” Henry panted.
Saoirse jumped to her feet. She had completely lost track of the time. Her eyes shifted around the room as she stumbled back to the doorway.
“Mary, Leah, will ye please nae tell the Laird my whereabouts. I daenae wish to see him at present,” Saoirse pleaded.