The Wellspring (Kaitlyn and the Highlander #12) - Diana Knightley Page 0,114
care they don’t give anything away, and we’ll get Mookie, too, maybe one of those puppies you’ve been wanting.”
“A puppy for Mookie? Och, we will need a kitten for the puppy, and we will need a cow for the kitten tae ride on.” She grinned. “Dost ye see how it will go?”
Quentin leaned over, horse to horse and kissed her. “Oh I see how it will go, I see.”
I said, “I hate to say it, but little Zoe won’t sleep for much longer, we should ride so she can get down from the sling.”
Magnus kept looking around at the big mountains surrounding us.
“Whatcha looking at, my love?”
He looked at the mountain behind us and then turned back around. “I had forgotten how much I missed living in a place where the land bows up tae the sky.”
I looked around. “Me too.”
“We are verra small and inconsequential. I used tae want Archie tae live in a land where he was big and important. The son of a king, but I hae changed m’mind. I like the feeling of being small in the landscape. Tis a good reminder of our place in the hierarchy of the world.”
He smiled. “I am likin’ this, tae be in these woods, on this trail — did ye ken this trail is the same that I traveled with m’uncle Baldie? The verra same. Sean and I would share a horse.” He smiled over at the boys. “Perhaps tis okay tae be smaller than the land, nae a god, nor a king, but tae be a man. I think it will be good for us, mo reul-iuil.”
We came through a lush green pass, beside a babbling stream, and there, laying before us, the castle.
Kilchurn.
High stone walls and at one end stood the broad tower. The early afternoon light shone from behind the castle, casting a shadow on the grey stone. A mist rose from the loch around it, green hills ringing the horizon. The colors of Scotland under a bright blue sky, stone grey and grass green and sky blue, crossing and weaving.
“Och, she is a beauty,” said Fraoch. “And ye can tell the loch is full of iasg. I will stand in the boat and pick them up out of the water.”
Magnus joked, “Ye can tell that from here?”
“Ye can smell it.” He turned to Archie and Ben. “Dost ye smell the fish?”
Both the little boys shook their heads and giggled.
He said, “Och, maybe ye daena have the nose for it, but ye can hear it, the little faint sound of the loch fae, singing, ‘Fraochie, come tae the glistenin’ edge, hold out yer arms,’ the fish will jump right intae them. I will show ye on the morrow.”
Magnus chuckled. “I told ye, she is the best loch in Scotland.”
Fraoch’s face fell and he shook his head sadly. “Och, ye are always wrong, Og Maggy, tis nae the best, Loch Leven is the best. There, the iasg daena just jump intae yer arms, they jump right intae yer mouth.” He opened his mouth and pretended to catch fish dropping from the air, then chewing and gulping. The boys laughed and laughed.
He continued, “And dost ye ken what they have on Loch Leven?”
Magnus asked, “Nae, what dost they hae?”
“Eilean a’Chomhraidh, an island for discussin’.”
Quentin drew his horse closer. “What in the world is an ‘island for discussing’?”
Fraoch said, “Say ye want tae discuss somethin’ with someone—”
James said, “Like you and Mags discussing which loch is best?”
“Aye, exactly like this. We would be sent out tae the island with whisky and a fishin’ pole and we would hae tae finish our discussion afore we could come home.”
James laughed, “What about weapons?”
“Nae weapons, but as ye ken a dirk daena count as a weapon, tis just yer dirk, ye hae tae hae it. Sometimes only one man returns from the—”
Hayley said, “Careful, Fraoch, little ears are listening.”
He glanced around at the boys and at Isla, now waking up, stretching, and looking around. “Most of the time the men come home from the island with an agreement among them, tis verra civilized and kind.”
Quentin said, “Man, I can see fifteen ways that could go wrong.”
Magnus said, “We will make a pact now. We will enjoy a time on Loch Awe, and then ye will take us tae Loch Leven. If we canna come tae an agreement on which loch is best, we will go tae the island tae discuss.”