“Aye,” he grinned and pushed his mug forward. “A bit more of the coffee for me.”
“Of course.” She poured a little from her jar, screwed on the lid, and returned it to her bag. “We need a sugar field and coffee fields too. There is not enough. I’ve seen the kitchen store rooms.”
I said, “I’ll add that to the list.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it all up here.” Hayley tapped on her forehead. “So what today? When are Zach and Emma leaving?”
Magnus said, “This afternoon after we shew them the castle and we might walk tae the river. I think twill be safe enough if we stay near the castle.”
Hayley called to Ben as he ran by, “That will be fun, huh Benny-boy? See the fishies?”
Later, as we walked, we fell into groups: Magnus with all the men except James who stayed behind to help Sean, and the women walking together with the kids. I let Hayley tell Emma about things, because she had been living here longer than I ever had. She had fully embraced it, and this was where she would be living, forever. To me it was simply Magnus’s family home.
Emma was enchanted by everything, though she kept a wool wrap across her nose, because as Zach said, “It’s fucking ripe out here.”
I remembered being here about this same time of year and the scent of grass and wheat and baking bread had filled the air, instead of this horrible cesspit. I was relieved to reach the stables, they smelled better. “I hope it doesn’t get any warmer. If that cooks much more we’ll get dysentery from the smell.”
Magnus glanced up at the sky. “On the morrow twill be warm as the top side of a mucag lyin’ in the August dust.”
Fraoch grinned, “Och, will be warm enough tae turn that mucag tae bacon, we will only need tae—” They both noticed Beaty’s eyes wide with horror as she put her hands over Mookie’s ears.
Fraoch bit his lips to keep from laughing.
Magnus said, “M’apolgies Madame Beaty.”
She said, “There is nae need tae apologize, King Magnus. I daena take offense. I do like tae partake of pork, but please daena say it within the hearin’ of Mookie, he is verra sensitive.”
Magnus nodded.
Fraoch said, “Twill be warm as a boilin’ pile of excrement on an August afternoon.”
Quentin said, “In the words of my friend, James, hot as shit, y’all.”
We laughed.
Magnus and I showed them details of the castle: the earl’s favorite window; we stuck our head in at the chapel; the walls that were rebuilt after the battle. At the stables we introduced the boys to the horses. Ben was nervous, but Archie loved horses and we had to pull him away to go from the stables to the riverbank.
As we walked, Magnus, Quentin, and Fraoch tightened their hold on their weapons. I understood, Magnus wanted this to be a normal day, showing his son the river of his youth, taking his wee’un to the water — but this wasn’t an ordinary day. It was a day of uncertainty. The possible danger seemed over, but was it?
The grass was thick and tall. Our steps raised little bugs. The midges were out in force. We waved our arms from the onslaught. Hayley said, “Adding to list: mosquito netting. Moving to first place, above mattress and watch.”
She then added, “fire logs and more coffee, plus some seeds.”
Fraoch turned around, checking behind us. Magnus watched the woods. Their nerves heightened.
Quentin walked backwards behind us, bringing up the rear, mindful of the surroundings. He asked, “Wish we brought the ATVs, Fraoch?”
Magnus asked Fraoch, “Ye like the ATVs?”
Fraoch’s eyes glinted merrily. “Aye, Og Maggy, I like tae drive them.”
“Ye drive them? From the front? With steerin’?”
Fraoch said, “Aye, I hae driven one, verra fast. Ye haena driven one yet?”
Magnus said, “Nae, I haena.”
From the corner of my eye I saw him chew his lip. My guess was he would try to drive one by the end of the day.
“I hae driven a car though, tis bigger.”
“Och, how much bigger?”
“Verra much and twill be faster too, if ye ken how tae go.”
“Och.” Fraoch stared off into the distance. I wished I could get Fraoch to draw what he thought a bigger car would look like. It probably would have been hilarious.
The field sloped to the trees at the edge of the riverbank, and there was a rocky shore and shallow water. Isla wanted to nurse so I sat on a large rock and