Page 109 of Only a Breath Away

I said, “Do you think it needs to come down?”

“I daena ken, tis just something tae go up and see tae. We daena hae tae do the work, as we are on vacation, but we ought tae think about the work we arna doin’.”

I laughed.

He said, “I went up there once with yer grandfather, twill be good tae see it again. I like tae ken about the family history.”

Emma said, “Speaking of family history, crazy that Joe was studying Mag Mòr and that history is not there any more. Your brother’s father-in-law almost wrote a book about you! But now that’s been overwritten, completely, as if it never happened.”

Hayley brushed her hands together. “One more loose end, done. We’re actually getting kinda good at this mind-warping time travel.”

Isla was almost asleep in my lap, Zoe was fast asleep on Emma’s. Ben and Archie were leaning on their dad’s arms, tired from the day.

Magnus clapped a hand on his thigh. “I am verra bothered by one important loose end that still remains. I canna stop thinking about it. Now that I ken the timeline is stable, I think tis a sign, I ought tae go find Haggis.”

We all looked at him blankly.

He said, “Ye ken,Haggis,m’dog.”

I opened and closed my mouth. “But what about… you just got home, we…”

He put his face into a comical frown and made Archie giggle. “But Haggis is the greatest dog in the history of dogs. He has been lost in the thirteenth century, without a friend, and—” His eyes widened. “What if he befriends someone else, like that scoundrel William Wallace?” He growled, “We hae tae rescue him fast, I promised him that he would get tae come live on the beach in Florida with Archie and Ben and Isla and Zoe. I mean tae live up tae my promise.”

Archie clapped. Ben sort of woke up and mumbled, “A dog?”

Archie said, “We’re going to go get the dog.”

Isla, almost fully asleep on my lap, raised a little hand in the air. I whispered, “Did you hear the word dog?”

With her eyes shut she nodded and then went quiet and just like that was fast asleep again.

Magnus said, “I canna leave him behind.”

“But what if…what if he’s not there?” I chewed my lip. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I met Haggis, he seemed great, but he is seven centuries away. What if he’s not there, couldn’t we find another…? Ugh. I don’t like arguing against this, to talk sense into you. I sound like an ass.”

Magnus shrugged. “Ye daena hae tae sound like an arse. Ye daena hae tae argue. Ye could accept that this is m’way. I am loyal and I mean it when I make a promise.”

I chuckled. “Listen to you, you didn’t even want a dog.”

“Aye, and I dinna want a family of brothers either, and look how many brothers I hae.”

“Kinda my point. I know you love Haggis, but he wasn’t there when the time bridged. He’s probably not around there now — what if we found a dog here, in this time? We could…”

Magnus grasped my hand and stroked the back of it. “Kaitlyn, Haggis found me in the deep forest of Scotland in the year 1290. He was at my side through many battles. We lived in a tent on the side of a battlefield, drenched tae the skin, and had tae huddle taegether for warmth. I canna leave Haggis behind. I must go back for him.”

“You promised him?”

“Aye, I promised him, I hae tae live up tae my promises. Or I ought tae learn nae tae make them so earnestly.”

I sighed, “Well, I would never want the lesson to be to make fewer promises, less earnestly. It’s one of the greatest things about you.”

Fraoch said, “I will go with ye, Og Maggy. It daena make sense tae do it but if a madman goes on a folly, who am I tae argue? Ye daena get tae be a madman alone.”

Hayley said, “Your brother is going to do something crazy and you would follow him into it?”

“Och aye, I hae tae, he’s got a sling on his arm, he needs me! Besides, we might nae find Haggis, but we will hae a Fraognus adventure.”

Hayley laughed. “Is that your ‘ship’ name?”

---