Eternal Moon

Chapter Three: A Good Walk Spoiled

After a long nap and a very long, hot shower, Jamie felt a little more human and hopeful. Her stomach rumbled angrily and she realized she hadn't eaten since the evening before. Thankfully, the hunt for the kitchen meant she could also explore her new accommodations.

The castle was medieval, well over seven hundred years old. The exterior was a formidable red sandstone but the interior was a labyrinth of ornate bedrooms and fancy drawing rooms. Some of the hallways were low and cold with stone tunnels that inevitably led to some sort of dungeon, she was sure. But a grand study overlooked the grounds and was full of warm wood paneling and cases and cases of books. The kitchens were on the lower level, and much more medieval than Jamie had anticipated. For a man of the Laird's obvious wealth, she was surprised to not find a high-tech, state-of-the-art kitchen with a talking fridge and farmhouse sink. Instead, huge pots stood in front of a massive brick hearth and a simple wooden table laden with ceramic bowls and plates. Jame was genuinely confused. Parts of the castle were right out of the Middles Ages but others were completely modern. At least a 20th-century version of modern. She had not seen any signs of a TV or computer, and she was afraid to ask for the Wi-Fi password since it probably didn't exist. And Laird Murdock had a way about him that seemed so... old. He didn't look older than thirty-five but his demeanor reminded her of those she had seen in black-and-white photos from the turn of the 20th-century. Distinguished, sophisticated, haughty. The man had servants for God's sake. Not as many as she would have expected for such a large home but enough to count. She greeted them as she came into the kitchen. Even they seemed out of place as if someone had plucked them out of Downton Abbey.

Catrina and Effie. They were older women, frumpy and a bit awkward but very kind. They fussed over Jamie like she was royalty and offered to make her anything her heart desired.

"Actually some coffee would be great," Jamie admitted as she took a seat at the table. "I slept terribly last night and never had any this morning."

"Right away, Miss," Catrina, the more talkative and bubbly one, chirped as she began boiling water over the hearth. Effie came out from the storage pantries and began to actually grind beans.

What in the world... "You guys do things very old-school here, huh?"

The blank looks on their faces told Jamie they had no clue what she had just asked.

She tried a different approach. "I don't know a lot of people who still make coffee this way. It's very... traditional."

Catrina nodded, understanding that statement much better. "Aye. We are a more traditional lot, especially the Laird."

Jamie tucked away that piece of information for later. "I've noticed. Why is that you think?"

Catrina and Effie were a little more skilled at hiding their secret glances but Jamie still caught the look that passed between the two women.

"The Laird is... a conservative man," Catrina supplied, busying herself with the now ground coffee. "He is slow to change."

Yes, Jamie was starting to see that more and more. "Is his family like that too?"

"Family, Miss?"

"Yeah, doesn't the Laird have some family here? Maybe a wife or children? Parents?"

Catrina hesitated. "No wife or children. I-I can't say where his parents are but I've never met them."

Odd. The castle looked like an ancestral home, especially for someone in the nobility, which meant it would have passed down through the generations from the Laird's parents. Maybe he was a weird cosplaying Highlander after all. Or maybe the women had just never met his parents. They could be recent employees.