“Yer turn!”
Margaret caught it, shaking her head. “Very well, but only one throw.”
The children immediately scattered across the courtyard, shouting directions all at once.
“Here!”
“Nay, here!”
“Throw it tae me!”
Margaret laughed and tossed the ball toward the far side of the yard. Unfortunately, she threw with more strength than she had intended. The leather ball sailed high and for one hopeful moment, it appeared it might descend neatly into waiting hands. Instead, it struck the slanted wooden roof of the barracks with a dull thump.
The children froze. The ball rolled once, twice, then settled firmly in a shallow dip between two warped planks. A collective groan rose from the group.
“Och nae,” someone whispered.
Several of the children were already craning their necks upward.
“Nay one can reach it,” one boy sighed.
“We’ll have tae ask the guards.”
“They’ll take it away.”
“They always say we’re too loud.”
Margaret followed their gazes. The barracks roof was not terribly high, perhaps twice her height, but the boards along its side formed a rough ladder where rain barrels and stacked crates had been placed against the wall. It did not appear especially difficult.
She brushed her hands together.
“Well,” she said. “I shall go and retrieve it.”
A chorus of alarm erupted.
“Me lady, nay!”
“Ye’ll fall!”
“The laird said we’re nae allowed up there!”
Margaret waved a dismissive hand. “I assure ye, I am quite capable of climbing.”
The children were staring at the stranded ball as though it were a lost treasure.
“It will take only a moment,” she tried to reassure them, as she gathered the skirts of her gown and stepped onto the first crate.
The children immediately crowded below.
“Be careful!”
“Dinnae step on that board!”
“That one’s wobbly!”
Margaret ignored the warnings with calm determination. She had climbed trees as a girl. A roof was hardly more challenging. She pulled herself onto the stacked barrels and reached the lower edge of the barracks roof. The wood felt rough beneath her hands as she hoisted herself up.
“There,” she said, dusting her palms once she was standing.
