Let Me Be Your Hero Read Free Page B

kettle.”
    “All I said was, I lied.”
    “Aye, and how will I be finding myself a way to argue aboot that? I canna chastise ye for lying since ye have already admitted it.”
    “Ye will think of something, I ken. Come now, we must start back if we are to arrive afore them.”
    They started up the path, Claire going first and Kenna falling in behind her, the angry thrust to her chin saying she was still searching for a way to let the steam off the kettle.
    At one point the path dipped where the trees thinned, and they caught a glimpse of the boat as it went around the rocky promontory that rose out of the deeper water. Wild roses and honeysuckle climbed the rocks to tangle with the flowers and ferns that grew in the crack. To the side where a small inlet lay, the water was smooth and still—it reflected like a mirror, the beauty of the island hanging over it.
    From a short distance away came the sound of laughter, which cut through the silence like a crackle of static, and Claire felt a sudden stab of loneliness thatshe did not quite understand. Her father and brothers left for Stirling two days ago and were due home on the morrow, so she should suffer no loneliness for them in such a short absence.
    Yet it was such an odd sensation that she thought about it for a while—until she decided it was really more a feeling of loneliness, mixed with an odd sort of longing. That was followed by a horrible thought that suddenly occurred to her. Losh! What if she was having a glimpse into her future? And what if that meant she would go to her grave, a shriveled, innocent old maid?
    The thought was so horrifying to her she immediately pushed it aside, said a quick prayer and thought upon something more pleasant—dark hair, and the bluest eyes that ever graced a bonny face.
    Aye, she did not know the cause of these strange and new feelings, but she had a strong feeling as to the cure.
    Fraser Graham had caught her eye, but she feared it would never go beyond that, for he and his brothers would stay for a time at Grahamstone Castle, and then they would return to Monleigh Castle, on a promontory that met the North Sea. So very far away.
    If only there was a way to keep Fraser and his brothers nearby, then perhaps there would be time enough for them to be together, and to become, each to the other, too dear.

Three
    O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you. She is the fairies’ midwife…
    And in this state she gallops night by night Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love.
    William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English poet and playwright.
    Romeo and Juliet (1595), act 1, scene 4
    A fine meal was served, but no one paid much attention, for the best part of the evening was the friends they shared it with.
    They were all settling into the wine and verbal exchange that follows dinner, when Claire heard a commotion in the outer rooms and wondered what the noise was about. That is, until she heard a booming laugh.
    No one laughed like her father, and it was a pity, for Lord Errick had the most marvelous, magical laugh, and when anyone heard it, they knew immediately they were missing some wonderful part of life and wanted to participate.
    His laugh was infectious and so endearing to her, for it brought back the memory of her childhood when she would go into the library and interrupt his work, and he would laugh and put her on his knee. He would tell her the story of how laughter came into the world, and how the first laugh was the sound of Adam’s joy when his first child was born, and how the laugh traveled across the room, until it bounced against the wall and shattered into millions of pieces. And when he heard the sound, God sent the angels to gather up all the pieces, and they gave one to each new child that was born, so there would always be joy and laughter in the world.
    To Claire, that endearing laugh meant her father and her three brothers had returned from Stirling—a day earlier than she expected them. The