Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

M inna took one step through the dining room door and sighed. Jamie, her brother, was sprawled backwards inelegantly over a chair with one foot on the floor and another on the table. There was a string of saliva dripping from his open mouth onto the left side of his jacket, and he was snoring loudly enough to wake the dead. His arms were hanging over the arms of the seat and there was an empty tumbler on the costly carpet beside him, its contents spilled in a pool that had soaked into its woolen pile. A pungent smell of whisky filled the air.

Minna stood looking at him for a moment in disgust and was just about to sneak out and ask for a tray in her room when Jamie gave a fearfully loud snort. Minna put a hand over her mouth to stop herself laughing at what happened next.

Jamie jumped in fright, suddenly wide awake, and looked around in panic, then his eyes fixed on Minna and he glared at her from under his dark brows, his face a mask of anger.

Minna sighed inwardly. On mornings like this he always woke up like a wounded bear. He sat up, his movements painful and stiff before he winced and put a hand to his forehead, groaning.

Minna was laughing inside, and trying not to let a triumphant grin spread over her face. She had seen Jamie in this condition many times before, and although she knew that he would be surly and irritable, she could not help enjoying his pain. It was entirely self-inflicted and he deserved it. However, it did not make him a pleasant person to dine with, and she sat down to eat with great reluctance.

She only dined with Jamie occasionally, and even then merely to catch up with any gossip that could be useful to her. However, she seriously doubted that any of that would come her way that morning, since he was very much the worse for wear.

"Get me some willow bark tea, will you?" Jamie asked gingerly, putting a hand on each side of his head and screwing his eyes shut.

Minna was tempted to ask him to say please, but she refrained from doing so, since she did not want an argument today. Likely the reason he was not ringing a bell to ask for a maidservant was because he was afraid of the sound of its ringing. Minna had heard from various avid drinkers that the pain in the morning was akin to an ax splitting one's head in two, and loud noises made it worse. She had to resist the impulse to roar into Jamie's ear, since she knew she would regret the consequences. Instead she tiptoed out of the dining room and called the first maidservant she saw.

"Fennie!" She spoke in a loud stage whisper and crooked her finger in a beckoning gesture. Before she could speak again, however, the young woman held up her hand to stop her, smirking.

"I know what ye are goin' tae say, Mistress." Her voice was full of mischief. "He is fu' again, is he no'?"

"Of course not!" Minna replied in mock indignation, then the two women began to giggle. "Willow bark tea?" Fennie asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Please." Minna wiped tears of mirth from her eyes and went back into the dining room, where she found her brother slumped over with his head resting on the table.

For a moment she thought that he had passed out or died, and her heart skipped a beat, but he stirred, moaned and sat up, running his fingers back through his hair which was exactly the same light brown as Minna's.

He looked at her in a hostile manner as she piled her plate with food.

"Is my tea coming?" he demanded in a growl.

"Yes, it is," Minna replied tersely. "But the maids can't move at the speed of a racehorse, brother. Have some patience."

Jamie humphed then poured himself some ale. He had always subscribed to the theory that having ‘a hair of the dog that bit you' - which meant another alcoholic drink, would help to cure the headache. Minna had told him oftentimes that it was a myth, and so had the village wise woman, but he refused to believe it. Everyone was always wrong but him.

"It is my body," he growled. "And no-one will tell me what I can and can't do with it."

Privately, Minna would have let him suffer, except that he made life so unpleasant for everyone else when he drank.

They waited a short while, and while Minna ate calmly, Jamie fizzed with impatience and eventually stood up and marched to the door, reaching it just as it opened. It hit him, not forcefully, but in his already unsteady state, enough to unbalance him and knock him backwards so that he landed on his back on the floor.

Fennie, who was carrying the tray, somehow managed not to drop it and carefully placed it on the table before crouching by her master's side, looking at him anxiously. She was not to blame, but that did not matter to Jamie.

"M'Laird - are ye all right?" she asked, her eyes wide with fear. She knew that she could well lose her position over this, and she had a family to feed. She and Minna helped Jamie to his feet and Minna brushed down his clothes with her hand.

"YOU!" he shouted at Fennie. "You no longer work for me! Pack your bags and go!" His face was crimson with rage, and Fennie gasped with shock, while tears sprang to her eyes. This was the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

"I am sorry, M'Laird. It was an accident. Dinnae send me away - please. I am the breadwinner for my family." She was begging, but her plea fell on deaf ears, for Jamie was not interested. He simply did not care about those who depended on him.

He made a shooing motion with his hand and Fennie burst into tears and turned to flee, but Minna caught her arm as she made to leave the room. "No, Jamie!" her voice was loud and firm. "You will not tell this young woman to go. She has served this family loyally for three years. She works hard, does not complain, and I will not allow you to commit this injustice upon her. She does not deserve it."

Brother and sister glared at each other for a long moment, but it was Jamie who looked away first. "Very well," he said grudgingly, "I will let it pass this time, but this is your last chance." He was scowling at the young woman as he spoke.

"How very good of you, brother." Minna's words were loaded with sarcasm. She looked at Fennie again. "If you have any more trouble, come to me, Fennie. Only to me." She looked at the maid pointedly. She had not said ‘any more trouble with him ,' but it had been implied.

Fennie gazed at her gratefully and nodded. "Thank ye, M'Laird, Milady," she said shakily before fleeing.

Minna sat down and pushed the cup of tea over to Jamie, who drank it in one draught. He began to pick at his breakfast, but it took a long while for him to eat even half of it. However, he calmed down a little as his stomach began to fill up, and by the time he had cleared his plate he seemed to be a tiny bit happier.

"How are you feeling?" Minna asked as Jamie put his knife down at last.

"Better," he replied, although his face still had a gray, sickly look.

"Good." Minna smiled grimly, then took a deep breath. "Because I need to ask you something."

"What?" Jamie's voice was hard and suspicious.

"I need you to make some of our capital available to the tenants," she begged. She had intended her tone to be loud and confident, but it did not come out that way. "It is almost the end of the sowing season and they need to buy seeds, since last year's harvest was so poor. If they have nothing to plant then soon they will have nothing to eat. Please, Jamie. They need our help and compassion and they need it now."

Jamie leaned back in his chair and studied her for a moment, then let out a great guffaw of laughter. "And what, pray tell, do you know about land management and the running of an estate? You are a woman. You should be married and birthing brats by now! In fact, I should marry you off soon, because you are not getting any younger, sister dear."

"You are older than I am," she pointed out indignantly. "Should you not be taking a wife?"

"Ah! But it is different for men!" Jamie's tone was triumphant. "We can be forty, fifty, even sixty and still be in our prime, but no-one wants a woman who is past childbearing age."

"I am twenty-one years old!" she protested. "I could bear a dozen babies yet!" Minna felt a wave of fury wash over her as she glared at the smug face of her brother, because what he had said was true. It was a man's world, and men in their sixties could marry girls in their teens and still sire children. A woman would find herself unmarriageable after the age of twenty-five.

"I would advise you to be very careful, sister of mine," Jamie told her with a dangerous smile. "I know a lot of men who would love to get their hands on a young lass like you, and I am in a position to hand you over to them without anyone saying a word. And don't for a moment think I am making an idle threat, Minna. This estate, and everything on it, is mine, and I will do with it as I see fit. Understand?" He raised his eyebrows in a question.

Minna was making a conscious effort to stay still and calm, for she knew that nothing would be achieved by aggression. She looked at the knife on her plate. It had a sharp scything blade for cutting tough meat, and a vicious point.

There was no-one in the room. If she stabbed Jamie in the back of his hand she could say that it was an accident and no-one could prove a thing; it would be her word against his. Anyway, he was a drunk, and everyone knew it. Yet she knew she was not capable of committing such a cruel act, even though she wished she were.

"I hope no one dies because of your callousness, Jamie," she said angrily. "You know there is a place for people like you. It is called hell, and if you do not wish to end up there, I suggest you get off your behind and start doing something for the tenants. You and father wanted this place so much that he took it by force, so now you are responsible for it. Why did you want it anyway, if you are not going to take care of it? Should you not start being a proper Laird instead of just playing at being one?"

If Minna had thought her brother's face had been angry before, she was now faced with an expression that resembled a thunderstorm, and for a moment she was afraid for her safety. Jamie was big, at least six inches taller than she was, and purely by virtue of being a man he was more muscular.

Now, as he advanced towards her around the table, Minna looked for a weapon. She got hold of a candlestick and held it above her head, ready to strike should he come any nearer.

"One more step and I will bring this down on your head," she said, trying to sound threatening even while she heard the tremble in her voice.

She saw Jamie's gaze flick to the weapon, and his lip curled upward in a sneer, but there was a glimmer of doubt in his eyes. "You would not dare!" He gave a cynical laugh, but he did not advance any further.

"Don't tempt me!" There was something about his stance that gave Minna courage. Suddenly he was not quite as brave as he had been. This was borne out when he turned and stamped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Minna flopped into a chair, her heart hammering. She had never been close to her brother, and had sometimes acutely disliked him, but she had never actively feared him before. Now she knew that she would have to be very, very careful. She picked up the knife with which she had contemplated maiming Jamie and put it in her pocket. She would never hurt her brother, she told herself - except in self defense, but perhaps that would soon be necessary.