The Scot's Angel - Keira Montclair Page 0,44
kitchens and help Cook prepare more meat pies.”
Thorn moved over and whispered in her ear. “Before you do that, would my betrothed mind a short stroll this eve? The snow is quite beautiful, and it calls to me.”
“Aye,” she said, leaning against him with a smile.
He helped her don her mantle and scarf, then found his own. Just before they left, Dyna called out to them. “Where are you two going in this weather?”
“Just for a stroll. The snow is lovely and ’tis quiet and magical at night. We won’t be long,” Claray said just before they closed the door.
They moved across the cobblestones and out through the gates. He waved to the guards, indicating they were going to the small hill a short distance away.
Once they climbed the hill, she asked, “Thorn, do you believe ’twas really Grandmama and Grandpapa who helped me in the storm?”
He thought for a moment, wishing he could truly suspend his disbelief and tell her wholeheartedly that he believed her grandparents had come back as angels to watch over her. But he couldn’t.
“I’d like to think so, but ’tis hard to imagine it…”
She stopped and turned to him. “Then how did I find my bag? And who made the fire?” She squeezed his hands, a gentle gesture imploring him to believe what she’d told him.
He wanted to be a believer. He truly did. But it didn’t make any sense. If angels interfered in human life, then where had they been when he and Nari were lost in Edinburgh? Wouldn’t his own mother have tried to guide him?
A sound came behind them and they both pivoted, surprised to see Dyna and Derric, Connor and Sela, Jamie and Gracie, Chrissa and Drostan, Jennie, Kyla and Finlay all gathered behind them, more streaming out through the gates.
Claray looked from face to face and asked, “Is something wrong?”
“Nay,” her father said, carrying her mother.
“We all felt compelled to come out here,” Sela said. “We’re not sure why, but I was anxious for some fresh air.”
“I was pushed,” Dyna added, glaring at her husband. “Really pushed by a strange force.”
Derric drawled, “If you weren’t so stubborn, you might not have been pushed, but you didn’t wish to believe what your parents and aunts and uncles were all trying to tell you.”
“Then why are we here, wise arse?” Dyna asked, but then she froze, her gaze fixed on something coming up the hill. A quick glance revealed a large number of horses headed their way, cresting the hill in the dark. Who had come so late?
“Why are you here? Did something happen?” Connor called out as the group approached them.
Thorn recognized Loki the moment before he yelled out, “Are you all out here to greet us? If so, you have many to greet. The Ramsays caught up with the Drummonds, who caught up with the Menzies and the Camerons. And I caught up with Mama and Papa, Braden and Cairstine, Roddy and Rose, and Daniel and his family. They were all coming up the mountain at the same time. The snowstorm didn’t pass near them.”
Behind Loki and Arabella and the others from their clan came a group in blue plaids. Logan rode with Gwyneth, and behind them was a sea of Ramsay plaids. Thorn was especially excited to see Gregor and Linnet, along with Merewen and Gavin. He hadn’t seen them in a long time, and Gregor still held a special spot in his heart.
Logan said, “I brought Alasdair, Emmalin, Els, and Joya, too.”
He recognized Connor’s Uncle Brodie and the group from Muir Castle. Beside them was Roddy and Rose, Daniel and Constance, and the visitors kept coming. The Drummonds, the Menzies, more Cameron’s. He didn’t know them all, but they were all smiling in the light of the bright moon.
When had they ever seen so many sunny days and clear nights? It had a magical quality.
Thorn’s mind went back to Claray’s declaration of being watched over by angels. Someone clearly had been watching that large group come up the mountains safely.
Once they all drew up close, Logan whistled and everyone quieted. He said, “I think I know why we came.”
“Why?” Connor asked, speaking the question on Thorn’s lips.
Logan pointed to a spot just beyond where Thorn and Claray stood. “That old goat is still trying to haunt me.” A smirk crossed his face, and everyone followed his gaze.
“Oh my God,” Dyna whispered as she grabbed her husband’s arm, pointing with her free hand.
Thorn looked at where she pointed, and