“Would you like to go to the kitchens?” Gannon asked politely.
The thought of encountering Gertie was enough to persuade Mairin she could wait to speak to Maddie. It wasn’t as if she could do much of anything today anyway.
She turned in the direction of the keep and came to a stop and stared at the ruckus right in the middle of the path that split the cottages. Two older men were carrying on quite a spirited conversation, complete with shaking fists and fiercely worded threats.
“What on earth are they arguing about, Gannon?”
“Oh ’tis nothing you need to worry over, my lady,” Gannon said. “ ’Tis only Arthur and Magnus.”
He tried to steer her down the path, but she remained rooted to her spot as the men’s voices grew louder.
“Quit yer shouting you old goats!”
Mairin blinked in surprise at the woman leaning out her window hollering at the two men. Arthur and Magnus paid her no mind and continued their argument. It quickly became clear to Mairin that the dispute centered around the mare that stood between the two men, looking quite unimpressed with the goings-on.
“Who does the mare belong to?” Mairin whispered. “And why do they argue so fiercely over it?”
Gannon sighed. “ ’Tis an old argument, my lady. And they do enjoy a good argument. If it wasn’t the mare, it would be something else.”
One of the men turned and started to stomp down the path, shouting all the way that he was going straight to the laird.
Thinking quickly, Mairin stepped in his way and he pulled up just short of running right over her.
“Watch where you’re going, lass! Now step aside, if you please. I have business with the laird.”
“You’ll be respectful and mind your tongue, Arthur,” Gannon growled. “ ’Tis your mistress you address.”
Arthur narrowed his eyes and then cocked his head to the side. “Aye, so it is. Shouldn’t you be abed after your mishap?”
Mairin heaved a sigh. The news was all over the keep, no doubt. She had no desire to appear weak when she assumed her duties as mistress. She was already mentally calculating all that needed to be done. With or without Maddie’s aid, it was time she stepped into the running of the keep.
“Step aside,” Magnus declared. “You have the manners of a jackass, Arthur.”
He smiled at Mairin then and offered a sweeping bow. “We haven’t been properly introduced. My name’s Magnus McCabe.”
Mairin returned his smile and was sure to include Arthur, lest he use that as an excuse to start another argument.
“I couldn’t help but overhear you arguing over the mare,” she began hesitantly.
Arthur snorted. “That’s because Magnus has a mouth the size of a mountain.”
Mairin held up a hand. “Rather than trouble your laird over such an inconsequential matter, perhaps I can be of help.”
Magnus rubbed his hands together and cast a triumphant glance in Athur’s direction. “There, you see? The lass will determine who has the right of it.”
Arthur rolled his eyes and didn’t look impressed with Mairin’s offer.
“There is no right or wrong of it,” Arthur said matter-of-factly. “The mare is mine. Always has been. Gannon knows.”
Gannon closed his eyes and shook his head.
“I see,” Mairin said. Then she looked at Magnus. “You dispute Arthur’s claim to the mare?”
“I do,” he said emphatically. “Two months past, he became enraged because the mare bit him on the—”
“There is no need to say where she bit me,” Arthur hastily broke in. “ ’Tis sufficient to say she bit me. That’s all that’s important.”
Magnus leaned in and whispered. “She bit him on the arse, my lady.”
Her eyes went wide. Gannon issued a sharp reprimand to Magnus for speaking to his mistress in such an indelicate fashion, but Magnus didn’t look the least repentant.
“Anyway, once the mare bit Arthur, he became so enraged that he turned her loose, slapped her on the flanks, and told the ungrateful …” He stopped and cleared his throat. “Well, he told her not to bother ever returning. It was cold out and raining, you see. I took the mare in, dried her, and gave her some oats. So you see, the mare belongs to me. Arthur relinquished all claim to her.”
“My lady, the laird has already heard their complaint,” Gannon whispered to her.
“And what did the laird decide?” she whispered back.
“He told them to work it out between themselves.”
Mairin made a sound of exasperation. “That wasn’t particularly helpful.”
This would be as good a starting point as any to assert her authority and show her clan that she was a worthy mate to their laird. Ewan was a busy man, and matters such as this should be settled without pulling him into a petty argument.