Page 66 of Long Live the King

“Goodbye my love, see you next week.”

Isla said, “Da, do not forget my present.”

“What will ye be getting for me?”

“Da, I am not going anywhere!”

“Ye will still hae a fine time — what I want for m’gift is a story. While I am gone I want ye tae decide what is the best thing ye did this week and when I return I want ye tae tell me the story of it. Good?”

She said, “Good, I already know what it will be, I am going on a surprise shopping trip with Beaty today.”

“What are ye getting on the surprise shopping trip?”

“I can’t tell you Da, because you won’t like it.”

He chuckled and muttered, “Och nae, Madame Beaty is getting another animal?”

Isla said, “Da, how did you guess?”

He sighed. Then said, “Thatmightbe yer best story, but ye never ken perhaps something even better will happen along.”

She hugged his head. “Good Da, I will tell you the best story.” Then she climbed down from the rail. But stopped on the bottom rung and lowered her brow. “But I want somethingbetterthan a story.”

“Of course, Isla, it goes without saying.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means, I ken ye verra well, ye like a present.”

“Yep, you know me perfectly.” She jumped to the deck and bounded up the deck toward the house.

Archie gave his father a last long hug. Magnus pushed Archie’s hair from his forehead and gazed into his eyes, nodding, telepathically conveying something like, “I’m proud of you.”

Then he kissed his head and Archie stepped aside so that Magnus could kiss Jack, who patted the side of his beard with a very wet slobber hand. “Da!”

Magnus said, “Aye, Jack, I will see ye in a week.”

He passed Jack to me, and kissed me one last time and then turned and strode toward the house with Haggis at his heels, to go.

I looked up at the guard on the roof, stationed there because Magnus, Lochie, and Quentin were leaving to go check on the kingdom.

We had had calm for a long time, I was growing used to it, it... it frightened me a little, to be so at ease.

CHAPTER 28 - KAITLYN

WHILE MAGNUS IS AWAY

Beaty took the bigger kids off in the afternoon to go shopping while Jack and Noah were napping and returned with a new chicken. Archie carried it nestled in his arms.

Zach protested, “We have a coop with chickens right outside!”

Beaty said, “Aye, but this is ahousechickie. I wanted herespeciallytae ride on Mookie’s back.”

I laughed. “To ride on Mookie’s back?”

“Aye, I had a dream of a beautiful bird and it was sittin’ on Mookie’s back and Mookie said tae me?—”

Zach said, “In your dream? He doesn’t talk to you all the time?”

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