The Betrayal of Maggie Blair - By Elizabeth Laird Page 0,102

to Angus. Held in Dunnottar Castle, so I believe."

Tam had been jabbing his bread into his stew and cramming the dripping pieces into his mouth with sighs of blissful contentment, but he jumped with a start and stopped chewing.

"Dunnottar? That's terrible! It makes you tremble just to hear the name." Then he saw my stricken face and said, "Oh, what am I saying? It was Dunvegan I was thinking of. Or Dunrostan, maybe. Dunnottar's a fine place, I'm sure of it, right beside the sea. But why did they shift them away from Edinburgh?"

"Where have you been these past months?" Mistress Virtue asked sarcastically. "Up with the man on the moon? You must have heard of the invasion?"

"Oh, that! The Earl of Argyll and his little army from Holland. But it was all over weeks ago. The man's head will be stuck up on a pole by now."

"It is." She nodded grimly. "Along with the other fools who followed him. When the big folks heard that Argyll was coming, they got in such a panic, they sent all the rabid Presbyterians out of the city. Marched them north to Dunnottar to get them out of the way."

"Has anything been heard of them?" I burst out. "Are they safe?"

"Safe?" jeered Mistress Virtue. "It depends what you mean by—" I saw Tam shake his head at her. "How would I know? I've no patience with preachifying and psalm singing. Don't do this, don't do that, you're all sinners, and you're going to hell. I've had enough of the lot of them."

I knew I should be standing up for Uncle Blair and the cause he cared so much about, but I was too hungry and too tired. Despising myself, I picked up my spoon and began to eat my stew, which had cooled to the point where it no longer burned my mouth. I could think of nothing but my ravenous hunger, and slurped and chewed and scraped around the bowl till every drop was gone. Then, with a full stomach for the first time in months, I lay down on a pile of Mistress Virtue's rags and fell asleep, utterly exhausted.

***

The clatter of a bottle dropping to the stone floor woke me a couple of hours later. I lay bewildered, not knowing where I was, staring with fright at the two enormous black shadows flickering across the ceiling. I turned my head and saw that they were cast by Mistress Virtue and Tam, who were sitting with their heads together by the fire, cups in their hands and an empty bottle rolling by their feet.

"Where did you get this money from, you old sinner?"

Mistress Virtue was holding a coin up to the light, squinting at it.

"You don't want to know, my dear."

"Oh, I do, Tam. I do."

"Well, then, it fell from a gentleman's pocket in all the turmoil at the city gate this evening. What could I do? If I hadn't caught it, someone else would have done so. But don't tell the girl. An awful tight conscience she has in these sorts of things. And she's been living with the strictest Presbyterians this past year."

Mistress Virtue tucked the money away in a hidden pocket. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to know about Tam's crimes.

"Is she one of them fanatics? Does she hold with all their nonsense?"

I listened for Tam's answer.

"My Maidie? No! She's a sensible one. She'd lay down her life for a friend, but not for some minister's rant about the rights and wrongs of who rules the kirk."

I bit my lip, half ashamed that what Tam had said was true.

"But you have to wonder at them, when all's said and done," Tam went on. "Stubborn! It's not the word for it. They hold to their beliefs unto death. Did you hear about the two women in Wigtown? They wouldn't take the oath, so off they were bundled, down the beach at low tide, and tied to stakes. Up comes the water, slowly, slowly, covering their feet, and then their legs, and then their bodies, and at last their heads. One was just a young girl. The people kept saying to her, 'Give in, give in, you silly wee fool,' but she wouldn't. She stood there, singing away, till the water filled up her mouth."

I felt goose pimples rise along the length of my body and had to cover my own mouth with my plaid to stop myself from crying out. Tam shook his head, sighed, and took