The Guardian by Diana Knightley
Four - Magnus
The following morn, Quentin, James, Fraoch, and I pulled carts of lumber, pipes, and equipment tae the river mouth, where we planned tae build a water mill, though James said its official name was a micro-hydropower system.
He had all the parts. We were going tae build it encased within a wooden house with a water wheel tae hide the machine within. Twould be verra efficient, James thought, the pump would be enough tae carry water tae the castle.
I dropped a spool of wire where we were buildin’. “Will it be good enough tae get water up tae the third floor?”
James answered with a long explanation about the varying river current and the strength of the pump and added, “We will have water up to the first floor at least.”
I joked, “Tis nae a full answer on whether I will hae water up tae m’apartments.”
He said, “Well, Mags, there is a possibility we’ll have water up to the second floor sometimes, and that’s definitely better than nothing.”
James clapped me on the shoulder. “And the good news is it will be warm sometimes too, once we install the heater.”
I groaned. “Warm only sometimes? Och, I believed the magic tae be more magical than this.”
James leaned against a crate. “The pump will be good enough to get water up to the castle, hopefully to the upper floors, but worst case scenario, we’re bathing in the kitchen. Eamag will love it. With the electricity we generate, we’ll be able to power the water heater. We’ll install it in the corner storeroom. Again, worst case scenario, we have to double up in the bathtub in the kitchen.”
Quentin, Zach, and I groaned.
It all seemed magic tae me, and tae the other eighteenth century inhabitants of the castle, but we told them, if we build this, ye will hae water without needin’ tae carry it. Warm water would be an extra benefit.
We placed tools out, James laid out the plans, and we made verra orderly rows of lumber, pipes, and coils of electrical wire. Twas one of the things about him, when he was building he was verra particular about how tae do it, and bossed us around a great deal, but we respected him because he was good at it.
Twas a fine day, the sky high and blue, the grass waving around us.
Sean and Liam stayed away while we got the pump set in place. Twas wet work and we were often in the water wading and hollering at each other over how tae do what needed tae be done.
Quentin waist deep in the water, shivering, his arms huggin’ himself, said, “While we have the men all gathered we should take another vote.”
I waded out of the water tae the shore with him following. “Och nae, Colonel Quentin, I daena want tae hear of it again.”
He shook all over like a dog. “Do we need a vote to decide to vote? Because I had to stand out there in that ice cold water and I think you should let me have a vote.”
“Fine, a vote.”
Zach said, “None of the women are here — we don’t give a shit what they think?”
“Daena matter, tis nae goin’ tae change my mind.”
Quentin’s teeth chattered. “Those of us who want to stay here, in the past, and live like this indefinitely, wet and cold and depressed, will vote ‘nae’. Those of us who want to fight, come up with a plan, make something happen, will say ‘aye’. We do this every few weeks, and so far no one has changed their mind, but in light of the new information, that the future is still like it was planning to be, that the raid on the vessels didn’t affect it, maybe we need to try something new.”
By now all the men were standing in the circle. James asked, leaning on a shovel, “Is this a secret vote? Because I do not want to go against Magnus.”
Quentin said, “Hell no, it’s not a secret vote, you need the power of your conviction. Plus, last vote, I was the single solitary vote aye, and he didn’t hold a grudge about it. He knows I’m just ready to make a move. Boss isn’t going to hold a grudge, he’s going to take our opinion under advisement is all, right Boss?”
“Aye, I will take it under advisement, tis good tae ken how ye feel.”
Quentin said, “Okay, all those that vote to make a plan, to go to the future, and seize back Magnus’s kingdom, at the very least make it safe enough that we can return to Florida, say ‘aye’.”
Quentin and James said, “Aye.”
Everyone else, when asked, said, “Nae.”
Quentin said, “Great, I hoped I’d be doing something besides building a pump house today.”
* * *
Sean and Liam came mid-afternoon tae help with the building. I took a break, picked up the binoculars, and directed them tae Ben Cruachan.
Fraoch came tae stand beside me. “Ye checkin’ the vessels?”
“Aye, because of this project I haena been able tae go there taeday. I ken they are hidden well enough, but I still hae tae check, I canna ease up.”
Fraoch said, “I ken, my eyes travel up the ben all the time. Tis a lot of pressure tae hae that many vessels.”
“Aye.”
He clapped me on the back, picked up a beam, and carried it tae James tae build the structure.