Page 66 of Awakened By Time

“There’s nothing better than going to a game on a hot summer’s night.”

“I don’t understand.” Brenna was puzzled by this.

“It’s too difficult to explain. It’s too bad there’s nothing like it here in this time,” Sara said. “Do you have any good dirt on Logan?”

“I dinnae ken what ye mean. Logan was like any other lad. He was always playing in the dirt.”

Sara smiled at her misunderstanding, “That wasn’t quite what I meant, but I can just imagine what he must have been like as a little boy.”

“He was always with Dougall. They’ve been friends for many years. They’d go off on their horses and stay away from the castle overnight. Da would punish Dougall, but that never stopped them. They learned quickly though that Da wouldnae be angry with them if they brought back fish for the evening meal, or better still if they’d spied on our neighbors and then told him all about what they’d found.”

“I’ll bet they were cute,” Sara said.

Again, Brenna wasn’t sure what Sara meant, but she knew that the time they’d spent talking had taken her mind off of what was happening at the castle. They continued their conversation, laughing and enjoying themselves as they shared more stories about the men when they were lads.

* * *

Aknockat the door took the men by surprise. They drew their weapons as Dougall approached the door. “Who’s there?” he called.

“They’ve gone,” Hamish reported and Zeke breathed a sigh of relief.

“Come in,” Dougall said. “Logan go tell the ladies they can come down now.”

“They seem to have left on good terms with the laird,” Hamish said. “They were laughing and smiling as they said their goodbyes.”

“Hamish, welcome,” Helene said as the women and Logan came into the room. “Will ye stay and have something to eat with us?”

He looked to Dougall, who nodded, “Aye. I’d be honored.”

The women went into the kitchen and Zeke followed.

“Are ye going to help?” Helene asked.

“No, I just wanted to be sure you were all safe. I know Munro is gone, but I…” he looked at Brenna. He didn’t quite know what to call the pull that led him to follow her, but he just needed to.

“You don’t need to explain yourself,” Sara said. “We don’t mind the company. Do we ladies?”

“We willnae be able to speak freely about Zeke if he’s here,” Brenna teased.

“If yer going to stay, ye might as well make yerself useful. Would ye mind going with Brenna out to the root cellar?” Helene asked.

“Sure,” Zeke said.

Brenna joined him and he put his arm around her waist.

“Hey, you two,” Sara called after them with a wicked grin, “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She winked at Zeke, who shook his head and laughed.

“Aye. Mind what yer going for. Brenna ye ken what we need. No doddling.” Helene, hands on hips, looked from one to the other with one eyebrow raised. .

“We won’t be long,” Zeke reassured her.

He took Brenna’s hand and led her outside into the garden, where she took in a deep breath of fresh air.

“Finally, I have you alone for a moment. How long before Helene comes looking for us?” he asked.

Brenna giggled at this.

“Come here,” Zeke said.