A Very Highland Holiday - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,6
away,” he said. “We have a whole chamber full of things from the battle. Someone tried tae destroy it, the same people who ruined the common room yesterday, but the chamber still stands. It still has things from the dead and as long as there is breath in my body, it’ll go untouched. Carrie calls it the Chamber of Sorrows. That’s what it is, ye know… a place full of sorrow. But it’s also a shrine tae the brave dead.”
Rafe turned his attention in the direction the old man had indicated. Chamber of Sorrows, he thought. A memorial to the dead of Culloden, preserved by an old tavernkeep and his daughter. Rafe thought that perhaps his new friend, James, might find something of his brother there, something from the man that had him so tormented.
But first, he had a woman to see.
“That was kind of you,” he said. “Gathering possessions that were important to someone, once. I should like to see them sometime if Carrie will show me, but Gaira… I wish to speak with her. Can you tell me where she is?”
Balthazar allowed himself to reflect on the horrors of Culloden’s aftermath for a moment longer before shaking himself, returning his focus to the question at hand.
“She’s gone home for the night,” he said. “But she just left. If ye hurry, ye might catch her. Her mother’s home is down the main road, at the end of town. Ye’ll see a two-storied, stone house with a walled yard. ’Tis where Gaira lives.”
Rafe thanked him swiftly and dashed out into the night.
The snow was falling lightly and it wasn’t difficult to see. Cottages along the avenue were lit from inside, just enough light to see by as Rafe made his way down the avenue, hoping to catch Gaira before she entered her mother’s home. But he had a feeling the conversation with Balthazar had cost him time.
Still, it was important he speak with her.
The house Balthazar described came up quickly. There was, indeed, a walled yard, but the wall wasn’t any taller than a man’s chest. He could see the two-storied home, simple and modest, and faint light emitted from a window on the ground floor. Entering the walled yard, and hoping there weren’t dogs to chase him off, he went to the heavily fortified entry door and rapped firmly upon it.
He could hear voices inside. Women’s voices.
He rapped again.
“I’ve come seeking Gaira,” he said loudly, hoping they could hear him. “I have no weapons and I mean you no harm. I’ve come from Balthazar’s. He told me where to find Gaira.”
More voices. After a moment, someone threw a bolt and the door creaked open. In the dim light beyond, he could see Gaira’s suspicious face. Once she got a look at him, however, recognition dawned.
“I know ye,” she said, opening the door a little wider. “I served ye food and drink.”
Rafe nodded. “You did,” he said. “May I come in, please? I’ll only stay a moment. I promise that I’ve not come to harm you. You can see that I have no weapons.”
He opened his cloak to show her that he had nothing visible. Gaira inspected him before glancing over her shoulder at something Rafe couldn’t see. After a moment, she returned her attention to Rafe and opened the door wider. As he stepped into the warm and stuffy chamber, he could see a woman in the corner with a big ax. Clearly, she was ready to use it if he made the wrong move.
“Thank you for seeing me,” he said, keeping his focus on Gaira and not the woman ready to split his skull. “I am not sure how to start this conversation, so I will simply come out with it. You were in the chamber when Worcester was speaking of finding his brother, an officer who perished at Culloden.”
Gaira was listening closely but cautiously. “Aye,” she said. “I was there.”
“You heard the entire conversation.”
Gaira wasn’t quite sure what he meant. “I heard him speaking,” she said. “I dunna know if it was everything he spoke of.”
Rafe paused, trying to determine the best way to direct the conversation and not upset her in the process. “As he was speaking, I could see your face,” he said. “It seemed to me that Culloden has affected you also. Was I wrong?”
Gaira looked at him for a moment, growing uneasy. “It affected all of us, m’laird,” she said. “The battle was a great tragedy.”