The Wellspring (Kaitlyn and the Highlander #12) - Diana Knightley Page 0,44
planned.”
“I will return that day with the Trailblazer in hand.”
“I winna be here tae meet with ye.”
“Tis fine, Magnus, ye hae tae remember that in most things I find ye unnecessary.”
“Except in the ruling of a kingdom.”
“Aye, tis up tae ye tae brandish the sword, that is why I said, ‘in most things.’”
Twenty-eight - Kaitlyn
At Least a Year has Gone By, Three Weeks Since Magnus was Last Home
Sunny and Cynric and Hurley were saddled and waiting beside the house. Archie and I had been watching out the door all day, being patient was freaking hard. We knew we were looking for a storm, that he would be announced, but also, we couldn’t help peering, pacing, excitedly dancing, waiting for that moment when we would see the storm arrive and with it —
The sky darkened.
Fraoch said, “I am headed tae the beach!” He thundered down the boardwalk.
The kids and I rushed around in circles, suddenly confused about the plan we had discussed for weeks now, “He’s here! He’s here!”
Then we raced out to get the horses.
Archie climbed onto Cynric. I lifted Isla onto the back of Hurley, “Careful, hold on!”
“Mama say hold on.” She hugged her chubby arms around Hurley’s neck and nestled her cheek into the mane. “Hold on.”
I led the horses from their place beside the deck across the wide undulating dunes and before the final rise, handed Archie his reins.
He rode Cynric over the dune, yelling, “Da!”
As Isla and I crested the dune, she began to yell, “Da! Da!”
She was waving so hard I had to remind her, “Hold on Isla, hold on.”
Magnus was beaming, “Och! Ye haena ridden up tae me on the horses afore, tis a dream come true!”
Archie dropped into his arms, hugging him around the neck. Isla, when we approached, threw herself from the horse into his arms. I hugged and kissed him. “Welcome home, Highlander.”
“Thank ye, mo reul-iuil.”
Isla nestled her face in his shoulder. “Da da!”
He asked me, “How many vessels? I think there are fifteen all taegether, two in the vault, four that I hae—?”
“Twenty-three.”
“Och,” he said, simply, shaking his head, then, “Ye haena brought me the horses afore, what are we tae do?”
“We are going for a ride!”
Fraoch said, “Dost ye need anything else?”
“Will ye carry m’bags tae the house? M’bairn want tae ride, I canna refuse them.”
Fraoch said, “Aye, they hae been plannin’ it all day.” He loaded Magnus’s bags up on his shoulders to lug to the house
I climbed on Hurley and Magnus put Isla on Sunny and climbed up behind her. “Are ye holdin’ on, wee’un?”
“Aye, Da!” she said and I thought my heart might burst as we all rode down the beach.
The sky was a brilliant blue, the weather was cool, the sea grass waving, like some scene out of a movie, the handsome father returned from his kingdom in the future and horse riding with his kids and — who was I kidding, none of this had ever happened in the history of the world. Magnus was unprecedented.
One of the many things I loved best about him.
Magnus said, “Ye are riding verra well Archie, hae ye been practicin’?”
“Mammy and I ride every day!”
Magnus beamed at me.
We rode down the beach for about an hour and then returned home. It was Isla’s longest ride, but she was happy the whole time to have her da’s strong arms around her. He was home now.
Our lives had become this for over a year now: missing Magnus for weeks, celebrating him when he came home, spending as much time as we could, saying good bye again. It was the worst thing ever, but also something that had to be done.
I thought of it like being a military wife, being alone much of the time, and thank God for my family around me, supporting me — then bam, he was back.
When he came back we had adjustments to make. First, was the thrill of seeing each other, then the sometimes tedious listening to what we each missed. Our lives going on and on without each other — it was hard to be interested in his kingdom, because I hadn’t been there in so long. It was difficult for Magnus to hear all that he missed.
Eventually, we would have to go with him, especially now that Isla was getting so much bigger.
That night almost all of us were sitting around the living room waiting for Chef Zach to announce yet another ‘welcome home Magnus’ dinner.