Silver Hollow (14 page)
“Open your eyes
,
lassie!” Slaine bellowed.
Amie shook her head but her eyes seemed to have a mind of their own. They opened and the world came to an abrupt halt when Slaine Cutterworthy stretched his hand out towards the horse’s flesh. Like flipping a switch, the shadows and beastly fury
were
replaced by his former joy. Light had returned and the shadow for now abated. Amie’s chest shook as she watched Slaine’s ferocity be replaced by fanciful amusement, his mouth quirking into a wide grin.
Underhill
was laughing from her perch and Eddie left her side to reclaim the ca
l
med steeds.
Slaine inclined his head and tipped his fingers to her out of respect. “So ye can set free the beast
,
Jessamiene. But can ye tame it?” After a glance over to her, he revealed pieces of fruit in either hand, of which both creatures gratefully munched on. “You can let go now
,
lass,” he soothed after.
This was when she realized she had acted on the images flashing through her mind’s eye. And she had somehow thrown herself onto the back of a horse while never having had a lesson in her life.
’
Twill never do, the poor lassie…
Underhill was thinking to herself as she watched Lady Wenderdowne walk with
Eddie
into the stables. Slaine had disappeared with the horses, telling his nephew to turn back to his present task. And for a moment, Rachel watched her mistress shift awkwardly on her muddy boots, unsure what to say.
It was no use talking to Eddie Cutterworthy, Rachel could have told her that. For years now the recluse had clammed up until he scarce looked like the man he had once been. Oh, certainly now he kept himself as untidy and unremarkable as possible, but Rachel
remembered
.
Now he was watching the Lady with a wary eye, fingers twitching at his sides whenever she leaned in closer to catch a better look at him. Each time she turned to engage his conversation he tucked his chin to his chest and peeked at her through his messy hair. Clucking her tongue, the maid once again shook her head and sighed. It would be pleasant if Jessamiene Wenderdowne could drag the lad from his Eddie disguise.
Smirking to herself, she recalled how pleasing to the eye he had seemed to her as a child, strutting with confidence about the castle. His kind thought they owned the world then.
“What a pity they had to get themselves locked up!” she bemoaned, raising the back of her hand to her forehead. Squinting at the sun above, she thought of all the tasks waiting for her inside.
Oh
,
’
twill never be done with only Reggie in charge! Perhaps Cook can look after Mistress for a turn!
Clasping her hands together, pleased by the streak of brilliance, Rachel skipped from the fencepost to the open buggy. Her ears picked up Jessamiene’s words, quite by accident, naturally.
“—if you aren’t going to say anything!” Lady Wenderdowne exclaimed.
Eddie ducked his head even lower, if possible, determined to polish every crack and crevice, and still he said nothing.
Rachel snatched her charge by the arm and beamed down at her and said, “
’
Tis high time we put some food into that little belly of yours, milady. Come, Alastair is expecting us.”
Underhill cringed, knowing this wasn’t entirely true. Cook was always prepared to serve when he was needed.
But we have little time to prepare for our
guest
,
she thought with a grimace. What a pity they were wasting so many ticks of the clock preparing for
the
sly old M
erlin. The very idea was insulting to her
sensibilities. If anything the M
erlin should be serving
them,
after all the trouble he had caused.
“I guess I could eat,” Jessamiene said, turning to face the path ahead. Perceptively, Rachel sent a wink over her shoulder for the stable hand’s benefit. It was her way of calling in a debt. He had saved her life once, and she was more than happy to pester him for it for all eternity.
As they made their way up the slight incline, she savored in the feel of the wind against her neck, beneath her fluffy white cap. Rachel adored her white cap, thought it hysterical Jessamiene found it ridiculous
,
because she loved such things.
What was life for, if not to laugh at?
might have been Rachel’s motto.
Jessamiene wiped mud from her face with her sleeve and the maid gave her best attempt not to shudder, imagining how many
nixings
it was going to take to get her clothes to rights. A single smudge was left on the young lass’s brow and Rachel twiddled her thumbs to keep from laughing. Everything her Lady did was adorable to
her
, but only
she
was allowed to
find her quirks amusing. The few staff members
who
dared comment on the oddities of their new Mistress received more than a sound reprimand from their Head of House.
Something was on Jessamiene’s mind. Rachel could tell by the way she twisted the necklace under her shirt. It was a grave secret,
her
necklace, something she hadn
’t dare
d
tell the Master of
yet.
All shall come in time, Elisedd.
“Why won’t Eddie talk? Is it because he can’t?” the
l
ady abruptly
said
in an oddly forlorn tone.
Rachel’s laughter was stolen by the wind. “Never you mind him, milady! He’s just a sour old
bildgedragon
not to be bothered with.” She watched as Milady’s lips quirked into the faintest of grins, convinced she had done her duty. Patting her hand in a motherly manner, she appeased her further. “Master is all the right and proper company ye need here. Now imagine all the delicious
crunch-munchies
Alastair has cooked up for ye!”
Yet Rachel’s mind was far from sweets at the moment. She couldn
’t help her fears, knowing the M
erlin was soon to be in their roost. Glancing at the Lady from the corner of her eye, she thought,
Hope ye are prepared
for him, Jessamiene Wenderdowne.
…
Cook opened the square window above the door and his voice boomed over to them. “Rachel Elisedd Underhill, brambling through the grass again
,
is we? You brimbled brownie!”
The maid gritted her teeth at the light jab and resisted the urge to box Alastair’s ears.
Underhill
is for certain not
one of those loathsome
,
mindless
ollyfeathers!
As they stepped into the richly sweet
-
smelling kitchen, she shot him a look of promise. If she wasn’t in need of a favor she would never have come.
Afternoon sunlight shimmered through tiny high-set windows. Flour specks danced in the air like windswept summer cotton. It coated everything, from herbs to roots hanging from above and over three separate dishes being prepared below.
Cook’s round nose and flushed cheeks filled their view. It was quite impossible for the
ogre
of a male to do otherwise, and Underhill laughed as he swept her into a hug.
“Alastair
,
ye old sourpuss!” she giggled, in spite of herself.
What is it about this fool that shoves my mind to the brimbles?
The burly cook, who was anything but sour, released her after imprinting her brown skirts with a fine layer of flour. “In my defense, you are one of the most bamboozling lasses I’ve yet to meet.”
Milady watched the exchange with a steady grin, certainly unused to Vale phrases. Then again, Rachel and Alastair had never had a normal relationship. His compelling green-blue eyes locked onto the maid’s and didn’t release them for a long pause. Thus far he was ignoring her silent pleas and gestures. After serving the household as long as they had, they had their silent communication down to alchemy.
Rachel felt her control over him slipping away, watching
a
knowing, mischief
look
fill
his
dashed handsome face. Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from calling out,
she
knew it was too late when he rounded to Milady.
Cook took her in with all the force he applied to making every meal. “What is this gooseberry I find sweeting my kitchen, Elisedd?” He winked.
Jessamiene’s eyes grew wide as saucers and she echoed, “Gooseberry?”
Rachel
giggled at her mistress’s confusion and skipped over to sample some of Cook’s newest flavors. “Ooh
,
this one looks promising
,
Alastair!” In truth she was making threats. Alastair hated it when
she
stole his recipes.
Cook was still laughing while eyeing her warily and
,
taking Amie’s arm through his
,
he ignored the maid. “Aye, gooseberry! By far only the sweetest of the Creator’s nectar! And it makes a smashing sparkling wine!” He dragged her royally across the kitchen while
Rachel
continued to stick finger and spoon into his various inventions.
“Ah
,
here we are! Sample this one milady!” Cook’s blue eyes sparkled keenly over the bubbling cauldron steaming a red mist between them.
Amie hesitated then said, “What is it?”
“What an idea!”
Rachel
giggled while secretly pulling a tiny vial from her waistcoat and slipping half its contents into the mix. She kept it for emergencies, but Alastair needed to remember who the true alchemist of the house was.
Him! With his
umbridged
concoctions
,
thinks he’s king of the world, he does!
Cook said between guffaws, “What indeed! More like which, aye? I hardly know!”
Rachel whispered loudly behind her hand, “Cook’s quite the inventive mind!” His gaze settled briefly on hers, a warning. She tipped the vial and flashed him a catty grin.
“Moment of truth,” Jessamiene said with a shrug. Dipping her finger in the contrarily cool liquid Amie brought it to her lips. Her eyes shot round as tea cups and she spun on her booted heel to Cook. “Whoa! Man
,
that’s good!”
“Brilliant!” Cook grinned. “There’s another remedy for your vials then
,
Elisedd!
Draught of Joy
,
I’m thinking…” Pinching his square chin between two thick fingers, Cook practically danced across the floor and exclaimed, “Ach
,
me pie!”
Rachel gritted her teeth as Alastair passed
. He
brush
ed
her shoulder and whisper
ed
too low for Milady to catch, “Care to best me, then?
Your
little vial shan’t tip my work to the
brimbles
.”
Checking to be certain the Lady was still sampling the gooseberry dish, Rachel turned her chin up at him and said, “Consider our battle begun, Alastair Dearborne.”
…
Over the next few minutes Cook taught Milady the difference between gooseberry and elderberry, then set her and the Miss Underhill to work on two of his three dishes. The two
servants
laughed
and giggled respectively as they threw pinches of herbs and liquids together. Secretly, however, when Mistress wasn’t observant, a hard edge affected their amusement. Rachel was convinced she would win. She would remind the
Mister Dearborne
he couldn’t best an alchemist.
Jessamiene stirred the fat wooden spoon in the cauldron set over the blazing hearth. Cook dumped all the contents from his bowl into the cauldron. When the stew began to bubble and hiss a thick magenta
-
colored steam, he turned and grinned cheekily at Underhill.
“So what exactly are we making?” Milady asked with her face half buried in the pink cloud.
He craned his neck back the maid’s way
,
certain he had her attention, and then faced Amie with a chuckle. “I’m not for certain, but she mustn’t catch wind of it or she might try to steal me recipe!”
“And you two don’t share your secrets
,
I’m guessing?”
Cook’s
eyes narrowed
and
he said, “The result of such a blunder would be catastrophic
,
gosling.” With all the grace a man of his size shouldn’t possess he ambled back to Underhill to check on her progress.
