The Battle for Duncragglin (17 page)

“Why don't you take a great flying leap into the ocean?” Willie suggested. Shivering, he pulled a sweatshirt over his head.

“I might do that later,” Annie retorted, unfazed. “It looks like a nice enough day.”

Willie slapped the dead rabbit down onto a flat boulder. “Okay, let's do this.” He surveyed his furry task. “Where do you think I should start?”

“Maybe you should cut off the head,” Craig offered.

Willie looked up. “Why the head?”

“It looks gross staring at us with those ants crawling across its eyeballs.”

“And it won't look gross if I cut the head off? Maybe
you
should do it!”

“Slice it up the belly,” Alex suggested.

Willie rolled the rabbit onto its back and hovered the knife over its furry white underside. “Do you want me to take the guts out?”

Alex snorted. “No, you don't gut it. It's not a fish. You need to skin it.”

“The whole thing?” Willie looked at Alex blankly.

Alex sighed. “Let me try.” He took the knife, lightly rubbing the blade against the skin, but he could not bring himself to slice through.

“Excuse me,” said a little voice.

“What is it, Katie?” Alex spoke gently so as not to frighten her. He shifted to block her view of the dead rabbit.

She wriggled past him impatiently and took the knife from his hand. In a flash, she had pierced the rabbit's loose fur and sliced it open from head to tail.

Annie gasped. The boys stared, their jaws gaping.

Katie flipped the rabbit inside out and rapidly sliced off strips of muscle, dropping each one into the pot Annie had hastily provided. Once she finished with every possible scrap
of meat, she carved out a few morsels that were also dropped into the pot.

“What are those?” Alex asked hesitantly.

“I think that dark red one is the heart.” Annie looked slightly pale. “The gray ones, I think, are the liver and kidneys. Don't ask me what the others are.”

There was not much left of the rabbit when Katie was finished with it. Even its little black eyeballs were missing. Nor was there much left of Alex's appetite.

Katie held up a furry appendage. “Who wants a lucky rabbit's foot?”

“No, thanks, you keep it, Katie,” Annie said quickly.

“I've already got one.” She reached down her top and fished it out. “It's really lucky.”

“I'll take it,” Alex said.

Katie beamed and tossed it over. “There, now you will be lucky too!”

Alex's appetite returned when he smelled the hot bubbling stew. Annie had topped it up with fresh water she found trickling down a crevice. Katie had sprinkled in handfuls of forest greens, and the stew smelled delicious. At least Alex knew there were no thumbs in it.

Alex set himself the task of carving a wooden spoon. The bottom round part was easy, but hollowing out the inside was challenging. When he was done, it was far from smooth, but it did hold a decent sipful of stew. Everyone gathered around to take turns having a slurp from it. Katie sat next to Alex, who kept a close watch for a rabbit eyeball. Finally he lay back contentedly, with an arm flung over his face.

“I
think the stew needs a bit of crab,” Willie said, stretching lazily. “Later, much later, when the tide is out, let's go crab-hunting.”

Alex propped himself up on one elbow. “When will it be out far enough to find our tunnel?”

Annie was sitting cross-legged, looking over the shore. “Can't tell yet,” she replied. “By tomorrow, we'll be able to see which way it's going. When the tide reaches the highest watermark, the lowest tide will be about six hours later.”

Alex sat up. “If the lowest tide is only a few days away, we don't have much time to get ready. We'll need to get our hands on a torch, or an oil lamp, or whatever the farmers around here use for light. Even candles would be a help.”

“But how will we get these things?” Annie asked. “There are no shops around here, and we have no money.”

“Looks like we'll just have to steal what we need,” Willie replied.

Annie waved a finger at him. “Do you know what they do to people caught stealing around here, even if it's only a loaf of bread? They hang them, just like that.”

“Phew.”
Willie wiped his brow. “I thought they'd do something bad, like cut off their hands or something.”

Annie sighed. “I've had it with all you stinky people. Before we do anything else today, let's get cleaned up. I've found a perfect spot to wash our clothes and have a bath.”

“Just what are we to wear when our clothes are drying?” Willie asked.

“Sacks,” Annie replied. “We'll wrap sacks around ourselves like skirts – or like kilts for you boys.”

“I don't need to wash,” Willie grumbled.

“Look at yourself! You're filthy. I can smell you from here.”

Willie inspected his blackened hands, slowly turning them over to see the dirt caked under his fingernails. “You've got a point.” He grinned, exposing fuzzy teeth. “But lassies go first.”

“Right, then.” Annie bundled up her sack. “Let's go, Katie.”

Startled, Katie looked up from where she sat on her blanket.

“It's alright, Katie.” Annie held out her hand. “It's not going to hurt a bit.”

Reluctantly, Katie put her hand in Annie's and let Annie lead her away. She glanced back to Alex, silently pleading for him to save her.

Craig waited until they were out of earshot. “She sure is a grubby wee lassie,” he said.

Willie snorted. “Speak for yourself, you grubby little boy.”

Craig shot him an angry look. “I'm not as dirty as she is. She looks like she hasn't had a bath in years.”

Alex passed away the time by whittling a comb from a strip of bark while Willie and Craig lazed about. The sun was high in the sky, and the stew had made them contentedly full. Waves lapped gently against the pebbly beach near their feet.

“Do you know what I would like right now?” Willie said, propping one dirty foot upon the toes of the other. “I would like an ice-cream sandwich bar.”

“
Ooh
,” Craig moaned. “You should not have said that.”

“With some whipping cream dabbed on top …”

“And I would like a chocolate sundae, with nuts sprinkled on top,” Craig said, lazily waving an arm at Alex. “Go get me one, will you?”

“Sure, no problem.” Alex picked up a rock and pretended to shake some nuts on top. “Is this enough?”

Craig nodded. He took the rock and used a short stick as if it were a spoon. “
Mmm
, you have no idea how good this is.”

“Where's my ice-cream bar?” Willie demanded.

“Coming right up,” Alex said, passing down another rock.

Willie nibbled on it. “This is a bit harder than the ice cream I remember – still pretty good though.”

“What is pretty good?” Annie's voice came from somewhere behind them.

Alex turned and watched a sack-clad Annie step into view, hair dripping wet. Behind her, an equally wet-haired Katie followed. She wore Annie's jacket like a dress, her hands poking out of rolled-up sleeves.

Annie dropped her bundle of wet clothes onto a rock, carefully adjusting her sack under her arms. “Just what are you boys doing?” she asked.

Willie held up his rock. “Having ice-cream bars and chocolate sundaes, of course; what does it look like we're doing?”

Annie rolled her eyes. She shook out her clothes, one by one, and laid them out flat. Katie's dress did not look clean, but it did look lighter.

“You know, that sack looks pretty good on you, Annie.” Willie gave Alex a nudge. “What do you think, Alex?”

Annie flushed and shot them an angry look. “Let's see how good you lads look in a sack.
Go
on, get going. And do a good job scrubbing out your underwear.”

Willie opened his mouth to retort, but his eyes fell upon Katie. “Very well.” He got to his feet. “No peeking.”

“Don't worry, you've got nothing worth peeking at.”

Katie looked up wide-eyed, first at Annie, then at Willie. She let out a little giggle.

“And how would ye be knowing this?” Willie demanded.

“I'm your big sister, silly.” Annie gave him a smug smile. “I know everything.”

“Too true,” Willie muttered, sack slung over his shoulder.

As Alex and Craig followed him around a bend, they heard another giggle from Katie.

The bathing area was a hidden pool set into high surrounding rocks. Water trickled down from a crevice.

Craig prepared to get undressed. “Don't look.”

“Dinnae be daft,” Willie said. “We're all boys here.”

“I don't care, don't look,” Craig insisted.

Humoring Craig, Willie and Alex turned their backs. Willie let out a giant whoop and leapt, fully dressed, into the
pool. He surfaced, spitting water into the air, and turned to splash Alex.

“Cannonball!” Alex bellowed. He took two big steps, leapt, knees tucked up, and kerplunked next to Willie.

Craig abandoned his plan to get undressed and ran to the water's edge. “Is it cold?” he called out.

Willie swept an arc of water at Craig. “Feel for yourself.”

Craig squealed and jumped back. “Don't do that!”

Willie removed his trousers underwater. He smacked them down hard on the surface, first on one side, then the other. “Die … die!” he shouted.

Craig was finally waist-deep in the water. “How do we get clean without soap?” he asked.

Alex looked up from scrubbing his shirt between his hands. “We don't – we only get rinsed off, but it's better than nothing.”

Willie motioned for silence. “What was that?” he hissed.

“What was what?” Alex tried to follow Willie's line of vision.

Willie pointed to a ridge. “I thought I heard something over there.”

Willie and Alex climbed dripping from the water to retrieve their bows. Craig sank further into the pool and glided under some overhanging rocks.

Alex hastily wrapped himself in a sack. He was sure no opponent would take a skinny, naked boy with a crossbow seriously.

Clad only in his underwear, Willie tiptoed towards the ridge, longbow drawn and ready. Alex hesitated, thinking they should go the other way, away from the sound. But he
couldn't leave Willie advancing on his own. Alex tensioned the crossbow, inserted a bolt, and reluctantly followed.

Willie flattened himself against a boulder, then slowly crept around it, his arm trembling from the effort of holding back the bowstring. He whispered hoarsely, “On the count of three, ready? One, two, three …”

They leapt past the edge of the boulder. Alex landed in a crouch and swung his crossbow back and forth. There was nothing except more rocks, cliffs topped by forests, and a shoreline stretching far to the south.

Willie relaxed his bow. “There's nobody here.” He sounded disappointed.

Alex placed his bow down on the rocks. “It's a good thing too; my sack was about to fall off!” As he spoke, the sack did indeed drop to his feet.

Willie hooted. “He would have fallen down laughing. He would have been laughing so hard, he wouldn't have been able to put up a fight.”

Alex stood naked, fists on his hips. “And what would have been so funny?”

“I surrender.” Pretending to be the enemy, Willie rolled on the ground in convulsions of laughter. “Don't shoot, I surrender.” He wiped tears from his eyes.

“That was very funny, boys.” The voice came from up above them.

Willie and Alex frantically scrambled for their bows.

“Settle down, settle down” came the voice again. “Don't ye hurt yourselves.”

“Sir Ellerslie!” Alex was delighted to see the familiar figure perched on the ridge.

“It is I.” Sir Ellerslie landed with a soft thud next to them. “Ye lads need to learn a thing or two about stalking. Two quick arrows would've been the last of ye both.”

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked, hastily tying his sack.

Sir Ellerslie winked. “Scouting, m'lad.” He waved to Willie. “Hello. Would ye be any relation to wee Craig? I do see a bit of resemblance.”

“He's my younger brother.” Willie slowly released the tension on his bow. “But I think you're mistaken: there's no resemblance.”

“Indeed! So there are lots of ye McRaes wandering through these dangerous lands then. And how is that wee rascal, Craig?”

“Oh, fine – he's probably shaking with fear behind some rock right now. We may have trouble finding him….” Alex looked around in bewilderment. “Now, what did I do with my crossbow? Didn't I leave it –”

“Hands up!” came a squeaky shout from behind them.

Shocked, Alex raised his hands, as did Willie and Sir Ellerslie. Slowly, they turned around. Craig was pointing a drawn crossbow at them. He was shaking with fear and struggled to keep the weapon steady.

“Craig!” cried Alex. “It's us … and Sir Ellerslie.”

Craig lowered the bow. “Sir Ellerslie?” A smile spread over his face. “I'm so glad it's you. I thought we were captured.”

“Nae, it was you who captured me. Well done, m'lad. There's no many who can say they've done that.”

“It seems, Sir Ellerslie,” Alex said with a mischievous smile, “that you still need to learn a thing or two about stalking.”