Realizing she would have trouble memorizing how to make two different things, Alyssa asked, “Do you mind if I record the conversation?”
“What does that mean?” Bonnie asked.
“Well, it will have your voice on it, telling me how to make the oatcakes and oatmeal. I can play it back later, so I can remember how to do it.” Alyssa looked both ways to be sure no one was looking in the window before pulling out her phone and pushing the record button. “My name is Alyssa, and I like to use my phone.” Then she played it back for Bonnie. “Like that!”
Bonnie giggled as she heard Alyssa’s voice come back out of the small device. “Oh, aye! I would like to hear my voice come out of that box.”
Alyssa deleted what she’d recorded, and tapped the button again, this time recording what Bonnie was telling her. The measurement of handfuls didn’t seem very exact to Alyssa and even worse was when she was told to use a pinch. Oh well, she’d figure it out for herself after getting the vague measurements from Bonnie.
When Bonnie was finished with her lesson, she sat down with Alyssa, and they ate oat cakes together. “Oh, these are delicious,” Alyssa said. “Are oats plentiful?”
“Aye. They are the biggest crop we grow as a clan. Those and potatoes, which I’m told we shouldn’t be able to grow yet, but we’ve had them for my entire lifetime. The first laird of Clan McClain, after the clan was renamed of course, was said to have the ability to grow anything in a matter of seconds. I never got to see it happen, as he passed a long time ago, but I would have liked to have seen it.”
“Does it not strike you as odd that the laird of this clan comes from a family who came from England?”
“Nay. We all grew up with the stories, and it seems normal to this clan. Other clans may feel differently, but we dinna blink at it.”
“Had you heard the story before you married into the family?”
Bonnie grinned. “The stories are told all through the clan. Though, everyone believes them to be just that, stories. When I married into the family, I found out the truth, and I must say, I was shocked. But now? It seems like it’s a normal thing to have your clan run by people with magical powers.”
Alyssa grinned. “I see. How often have you seen the powers used?”
“Oh, I see Collum’s grandfather use his all the time. I was very ill as I carried Anella here, but he healed me over and over until I could keep food in me to grow that tiny bairn. Anytime anyone in the clan is hurt, they are taken to him. He hides what he does behind tinctures and salves, but I think I always knew that he was healing with his hands.”
“Interesting. Do you ever wish Collum had a power? Like Bryson?”
“Nay. Twould keep him from me and our bairn. All the powers are important. I dinna know what I would do if Collum had to run about healing or dealing with any stray animal who comes upon our village.”
“Is that what Bryson does?” Alyssa asked. “Deal with animals?”
“Aye. If there is a wolf in the woods, he will be called to tell it to go away. We don’t want to hunt the wolves, but we don’t want them attacking us either,” Bonnie said. “He spends much time training with Kendrick and the other men, but he is called away often. If an animal plagues any of our allied clans, he’s sent for.”
Alyssa ate the last of her oatcake. “Thank you for teaching me and for feeding me,” she said. “I’m going to go to the keep now and see what Holli is up to.”
“You feel comfortable going to the keep alone?” Bonnie asked.
“Don’t you?”
Bonnie slowly shook her head. “I like Holli, but I canna feel comfortable in a place where magic happens all the time.”
“I can understand that,” Alyssa said. “But Holli and Heather are my best friends. I’m not afraid to spend time with them.” She got to her feet.
“Ye should come back in the morn, and I’ll teach ye more cooking.”
“I’d like that a lot!” Alyssa said as she headed toward the door. “Thank you again for helping me today.”
“What else are sisters for?”
Alyssa looked all around her as she walked toward the keep. It seemed odd to her that the family members of the laird would live so simply, but she didn’t mind of course. She wondered how the former lairds felt about their drop-in stations, though.
When she got to the keep, she wasn’t certain if she should walk right in, or knock. In Julie Garland’s Highland books, the keep was like a meeting place and people were in and out all the time. But in some of the others she’d read, it wasn’t like that, and people were expected to knock. She decided to knock, preferring to err on the side of caution.
Holli opened the door and shook her head. “Just come in, silly.”
When Alyssa explained her thought process, Holli laughed. “I guess I lived here right away, and I didn’t have to worry about things like that.”
“I had no idea what I was supposed to do for food. I ended up going to Bonnie’s house, and she taught me to make oatcakes and oatmeal, and she was super excited when I recorded her.” Alyssa shook her head. “I don’t know exactly how much two handfuls of oats is, but I’m sure going to try to figure it out! Her oatcakes were amazing.”
