Simon helped, as did the lasses. Charlie fetched whatever Elias needed. Osbert the reeve and Father Benedict helped keep Richard and Lily at the shop and away from the house, the west side of the house to be precise, where the lavender and delicate, white lilies-of-the-valley grew. Elias had seen the garden the day she brought him here. It was the perfect place.
Agnes also agreed to keep Cecily and Charlie with her for supper if he wished it. Elias asked the children what they wished to do. Cecily wanted to stay with Annabelle.
“With you,” Charlie told him.
Elias bent to him and smiled, glad to have his company. It would be a pleasant supper. Elias was happy to be a part of it and felt a bit foolish for it in the middle of such a catastrophic time. He should be afraid for what was coming. For what was here. These people he’d begun to care about because of Lily Bennett might all die. He might have to watch. They might have to watch him.
But all he felt was anger at the one who did this. The man who was alive in the shed. He would speak to Richard about it later. They were giving Walter the butcher the same herbal teas they’d given Bertram. What did they need Bertram for?
He hadn’t told Lily he’d had, in fact, escaped Father Benedict and followed her to the shed when she’d tried to speak to Bertram. He hadn’t wanted to intrude on whatever she had to say to him. He’d simply wanted to make sure she was safe near the bastard.
“Where do you want this chair?” Charlie asked him.
Later. Elias thought. Tonight was for them. He pointed down the narrow path between the colorful bushes. He carried the supper table out of the kitchen and followed Charlie. Simon was behind him with two stools. When he came to the desired spot, where the sunset would cast its crimson glow on the table, he set the table down, steadied it, and covered it with a clean plaid he had packed in his saddlebag. Charlie helped Simon carry out another chair and stool, while Annabelle carried a candle to the table. Agnes and Cecily helped him bring the food and ale out.
They tried to light the candle but it wouldn’t stay lit in the wind. Elias finally gave up and shoved a few sprigs of lavender into a cup instead and ran back to the house for another cup. He nearly knocked Lily over in the kitchen.
“Ah, good! Come with me. Wait, where is Richard?”
She pointed to his workshop at the other end of the house.
“Richard!” Elias called out.
“Elias, where is my table? Where are my chairs?”
“Ye will see, lass.” He smiled and then stepped around her and called for Richard again.
“I’m coming,” the old apothecary called out. “Why all the haste?”
Elias led them out through the kitchen and into the garden painted in rich, warm, golden hues. “Just a few steps more.”
When the table and chairs came into view, with Simon sitting on a stool with Charlie beside him waiting for them, Lily paused to walk backwards and looked at Elias. “You brought my kitchen outdoors?”
“Aye,” he told her with a grin.
“And cooked this meal for all of you,” Agnes told her as she passed Lily with the lasses and returned to her cottage.
Richard lifted his arm and patted Elias on the shoulder. “That was quite thoughtful of you, Eli, my boy. Was it not, Lily?”
She was looking at everything. She appeared a bit restless. It was good that she was smiling. Wasn’t it?
He told her about Simon helping, and all that Agnes had done and was still doing by taking care of Cecily for a few hours. She settled her gaze on Charlie then swiped a curl away from his face and smiled.
Richard went to him and covered Charlie’s hand with his. “We are happy you chose to sit with us for supper, Charlie.”
“This,” Lily began and looked at the table and the food set out upon it, and took a shallow breath, “this is one of my favorite places. I love being out here and now…” She looked at Elias and smiled and took a deep, shaky breath “Thank you,” she said to him and to Simon and Charlie.
Elias held out Lily’s chair first and then Richard’s, and then removed his mask. The others did the same. They toasted one another with cups of ale, and included Charlie and his dear departed mother. They did their best to put the sickness out of their thoughts. Lily was first to tell Elias that the supper he’d prepared for them was delicious. The fish was cooked to perfection and the Poivre Jaunet was heavenly.
Richard appreciated the flavors and the herbs Elias had used in the sauce but he didn’t care for the ginger. Some didn’t. It was an overpowering spice that stung going down. Elias had used a very small amount, but he patted Richard’s back and scraped off the sauce on his friend’s dish with his knife. Lily and Charlie enjoyed theirs and smiled while they ate.
Richard told Charlie to remember the taste of it and then told him what ginger can do for the body. Elias listened, too, pouring more ale and water for the lad.
They laughed when Simon told them about the time Elias was six years old and ran through the great hall of Lismoor naked. He defended himself by explaining that there were biting ants in his clothes.
They listened with awe when Charlie told them about the summer he was nine and his kin had gone to a nearby lake for refreshment and merriment. The summer his sister had nearly drowned. “There were many of us in the lake and no one had noticed that Cecily was drowning. But I did. I saw her go down and I swam to her as fast as I could and dove into the water to find her.”
Lily’s eyes widened when she caught Elias’ gaze. He could do nothing but agree in amazement as the lad continued his tale of saving Cecily’s life.