The Black Knight of Ashfern

Chapter 10

With fierce determination and outrage that William would accuse Jamie of stealing, Nan marched back to the kitchen. William followed several feet behind. Her anger showed quite clearly in the stiffness of her back and shoulders and the tightness of her fists at her sides. She was dead set on proving him wrong.

Sadly, William knew he wasn't. If the boy had been stupid enough to steal from him, he knew whatever punishment he chose to meet out, she would take instead. How he relished the idea of having her not only indebted to him, as she had repeatedly pointed out, but now at his mercy for a crime, her brat had committed. The supporting collateral of her debt made it easy to keep her close, but this misdeed. She was a woman duty-bound to honor her debts, no matter to whom they were or what they were for.

A rare, practically nonexistent breed, even for a beggar, though the more William was around her and spoke to her, he found it less and less likely that she had been born a beggar. She spoke with refinement and education, walked with the superior pride any woman of nobility carried, but displayed none of the disdain or contempt for those beneath her. No, William was hard-pressed to believe Nan had always been a beggar. The more he thought about it, the more he found himself wanting to restore the odd gem that was Nan Harris to her former shining glory. Whatever that may have been.

When they reached the hall leading to the kitchen, Nan paused halfway, as if a thought had struck her, then turned back to William though her eyes scanned behind him rather than look at him.

"If you wish to plead your boy's innocence further, looking at his accuser and not past him would be a better start." William chided.

"I'll not argue a thing you already believe to be true." She answered, eyes still looking past him. "You asked for proof, and you shall have it," Nan stated, a tiny smile pulling at her lips before her eyes returned to him. Touching William's arm as she directed his gaze back to a linen closet hidden in the wall just off his right. "That door there, go stand behind it, but leave it cracked just enough for you to hear." She instructed.

"You want me to hide?" He growled down at her.

"I wish you to stay out of sight while I speak with Jamie. He knows me and trusts me. Can you say the same?" Nan queried, her words short and pointed. When his unmoving frown was all she received in response, she let out a quiet huff of exasperation. "If you want the truth, you will get it directly from his lips while I speak with him. But if you want his ire and a line of profanities directed at you for merely accusing him of this deed, please, by all means, stay out where he can see you. I'm certain, at the very least, I'll enjoy the sight of you being unmanned by a child." Nan added, eying William unhappily as she waited for his response.

"And how will I know that the moment you go inside, you will not coach the boy to answer in your favor?" his retort was swift.

"I'll not go inside; I'll call him from the door. And I'll not speak to him until we are close enough for you to hear us. But do nothing," she raised a hand to stop any protests he might have. "Say nothing until I have finished."

With a resigned sigh and a touch of embarrassment that he was being made to hide just to prove he was right, William turned to the closet she had indicated, opened the door, and stepped inside. Not closing the door as she'd instructed. From his slight slit in the door, William watched as Nan walked to the kitchen, pushing the door open as she called inside. It was only a matter of seconds before the boy appeared, covered in flour and sporting the largest grin William had seen from the child as he greeted Nan. They walked down the hall, stopping only a few feet from Sir William's hiding spot, as Nan positioned the boy with his back to William's hiding place.

"What'd ye want to see me fer Nan?" Jamie asked, his voice sweet and happy as Nan kneeled down before him, holding onto his arms lightly as she did, brushing back his dusty hair with a soundless laugh as she took in his messy state.