Page 146 of Long Live the King

He smiled, a weakened smile. “We hae gone further back, past the date, Og Maggy, we are in 1285, we did it.”

“Thank God.” My eyes misted with the relief. I drew a muddy arm across my face.

We sat as if in a daze. “Now what?”

My stomach growled. “Dost ye hae the strength tae jump tae the right day? We need some food.”

“As long as I daena hae tae use the Trailblazer again, I can do anything.”

It took me a long time tae get the Trailblazer stored away and longer still tae find my vessel in my sporran and tae decide how tae set it. “Come here.”

“I canna, ye come here.”

I rolled over so that we were side by side and put out my arm. He wrapped his arm around it. “Ye got yer bag?”

He kicked his leg and dragged a bag closer and laid his thigh across it. “Got it.”

I pulled my bags close, held ontae Fraoch’s arm, and worked the vessel on my stomach, pantin’ from the effort of raising my head tae look down on it.

I laid my head back in the dirt. “Fraoch, we are jumpin’.”

“When—?”

“Now — hold on.”

I awoke first, damp and cold, and nudged Fraoch’s ribs. “Wake up, Frookie, yer snorin’ is infuriatin’ me.”

“I am not snorin’, I daena snore,” he mumbled with his eyes closed.

“Then ye ought tae awaken, there is a buzzsaw cutting logs under yer head.”

“Hayley shoves me over, tis the polite thing tae do.”

“I am not yer wife, I daena hae tae be polite.”

He grumbled as he sat up.

“I am grateful ye came, thank ye. We hae survived it. I am verra hungry.”

“Yer welcome, I am hungry as well.”

A verra faint bird twittered.

He said, “Dost ye want me tae hunt it for breakfast?”

I chuckled. “Nae, we daena need songbird, we need tae get up and begin walking t’ward Stirling castle.”

“We ought tae stop in at the first pub we see, I daena want tae be disgustingandhungry when we arrive at the castle. I will be argumentative.”

“Tis Scotland, we ought tae be able tae find a pub within a stone’s throw and someone tae argue with so ye will be spent of it.”

We came upon a village almost as soon as we left the woods, twas verra small, but there was a tavern. We had stopped speaking and were trodding, exhausted and weak, and Fraoch mumbled, when we were just yards away. “Och, I daena ken if I will make it. If I collapse, go on without me.”

“We are too close, I would hae tae drag ye, cause I winna return for ye. We will both die out here within sight.”

“Och, ye are bellyachin’,fine.”

We continued until we came tae the door and entered intae the dim room.

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