“Gabriel,” she said imperiously. “Be kind to the ducklings. That’s right; be very gentle. Gentle…nay!Donotkick them!”
Gabriel hadn’t made contact with the duckling but his move had been naughty, naughty enough that Margaretha grasped him by the arm and pulled him away from the ducklings. Terribly unhappy, Gabriel began to wail as his mother came to his rescue and took him from his grandmother.
“It is nearly the nooning meal,” Vesper said, wiping the tears from her son’s face and trying to soothe his crying. “Please bring Gavin. I believe they both need to eat and then rest for a time. Gabriel is only naughty when he is tired.”
Margaretha cocked an eyebrow at the whimpering child. “Gabriel is naughty when he believes he can get away with it,” she said, patting the little boy on the cheek. “Val was much that way. He will outgrow it.”
Vesper simply grinned, carrying her child out of the fowlery as Margaretha followed with the equally unhappy Gavin. Both boys wanted to stay and play with the spring babies but their mother and grandmother had other ideas.
A gentle wind blew through the grounds of Holystone and Vesper tried to distract her crying son, pointing to the birds, the sky, and even the soldiers who were repairing a provisions wagon near the front gates. The castle was too small for agatehouse but it did have an abnormally tall wall around it, great protection against the marauding Scots who occasionally made their way this far south.
But those instances were rare. In all, Holystone had been a beautiful place to live and Vesper was very happy here with her children and with Margaretha. But one thing was obviously missing.
Her husband.
Val had been in Ireland for almost two and a half years, the longest years in Vesper’s life. She’d known him so short a time before he departed that, in some ways, he was like a dream to her, something from her memory during one of the most turbulent but happiest times in her life. Nightly, she closed her eyes and tried to picture his face or hear his voice, but with time, those memories had faded. It was difficult to remember what he looked like or the sound of his voice, but that didn’t matter– her love for him was just as strong as it had ever been. Time hadn’t been able to erase the powerful bond between them.
Every time she looked at her boys, she could imagine what Val looked like. Sometimes, they would smile in a way that would jog her memory and she would think how much they looked like him. Margaretha commented on it constantly. Ever since Val had left for Ireland, they had been companions. And they had become very close with each other. Vesper couldn’t remember much of her own mother and Margaretha filled a big void for her, something she appreciated deeply. Yet, as far as a fatherly void, she’d never really had one.
McCloud had been with her all along.
“Why is my grandson weeping?”
Coming from behind the wagon that the soldiers were repairing, McCloud appeared with a tool in his hand. He’d been helping the men level off the broken wagon but Gabriel’s crieshad lured him away. He tossed the tool aside and headed for Vesper as she tried to soothe her grumpy, weepy son.
“It is time for his nooning meal and a nap,” Vesper told her father. “There is nothing wrong with him that food and sleep will not cure.”
McCloud wasn’t convinced. He pulled Gabriel out of Vesper’s arms and began to rock the boy, singing to him and gently swinging him around to distract him. Gabriel’s cries turned to giggles as McCloud turned circles with him in the bailey. Vesper couldn’t help but smile; her father was really quite good with the boys, attentive and kind. This was the man she’d remembered from her childhood before poverty and hopelessness had turned him into someone else.
She knew that now.
But she almost hadn’t. She had no contact with her father until after the twins were born and, even then, it had been at Margaretha’s insistence. Vesper had spent months after the birth of her boys in a depressed state and she’d lamented more than once the loss of her father and how she missed the chance to forgive him when he’d begged it of her.
At first, Margaretha hadn’t been sympathetic. But over time, she encouraged Vesper to ease things with McCloud, especially now that he had grandsons. So, Vesper had sent a missive to him all the way in Durley. She had told him of the births, and of her life, and McCloud’s reply had been to come to Holystone to see his grandsons. Not even a bad winter that year could have kept him away and he appeared one evening, nearly frozen to death, demanding to see his grandchildren.
He never went home after that.
Now, McCloud was a fixture at Holystone. The relationship with Vesper that had been so terribly damaged by his lies had slowly been repaired. It had taken time for him to earn her trust again, and Margaretha’s trust even, but he’d work hard atit. He was fully aware of what he’d nearly lost. Nowadays, the father/daughter relationship was better than it had ever been and Vesper was grateful for his presence. He was a very wise man and, many a time, he’d give her comfort and advice on Val’s long absence. Slowly but surely, more trust– and a stronger relationship– was built.
Therefore, she appreciated moments like this because her life could have so easily been different. As McCloud entertained Gabriel, Margaretha walked up leading Gavin by the hand, Gavin was rubbing his eyes and whining. Margaretha picked the boy up, soothing his irritation.
“The cook says that it will rain later today,” she said. “More’s the pity. It has been a beautiful two days since the last storm. Any more rain and I shall become waterlogged myself.”
Vesper glanced up to the sky with not a cloud in it. “I do not know how she knows, but she is always correct,” she said. “This has been a very wet spring.”
The five of them began to move towards the keep, a squat, square-shaped structure that was powerfully built. Holystone didn’t have a great hall but the entry level of the keep was one big chamber that served as their hall. The spinster sisters kept it very clean, with no dogs and a thrice-daily sweep. This hall was their destination since that was where they ate their meals.
“I am weary of so much rain,” Margaretha commented as Gavin struggled to get out of her arms. “It is unfortunate because when the weather is good as it is now, the children can run and run until they collapse. When they are kept inside the keep because of the weather, I am not sure who goes more insane– me or them.”
Vesper grinned. “Summer will be here very soon and then they can run outside to their heart’s content,” she said as the steps to the keep came near. “But I do hope Val returns homebefore they are too much older. I had so hoped he would get to see his sons when they were small.”
They’d wandered to the subject of Val’s absence, which was a frequent subject these days. Vesper’s longing for her husband had been intense and they were all aware of the fact.
“His last message to you said that he had hoped to come home soon,” Margaretha reminded her. “That was back in March. It is quite possible that he is already on his way here.”
“And it is equally possible that Henry will keep him in Ireland,” McCloud said, putting Gabriel on his feet because the boy was squirming so. “I have heard the soldiers speaking of what is happening in Ireland and they say that Henry has taken on a large-scale building project of many castles to keep the Irish lords at bay. Val and I were in France for four years before we returned to England, so it is possible that Val will spend more time in Ireland.”
Vesper didn’t like that thought. But she knew her father was only being pragmatic about the situation. Still, there were days when she didn’t want to be pragmatic. She wanted to take the boys and travel to Ireland to find her husband. It was tragic that her children hadn’t even met their father yet, something that very much hurt her heart. He was missing out on so much of their lives.
