“That is truly impressive, especially considering how young many of you were when you built this,” said Belle.
“Weel, we were raised to do for ourselves. Learned carpentry and learned the value of finding a book about it. My fither always said ye can find most everything in a book. People who ken how to do something often want to share their knowledge.”
“And Iain wanted it.”
He laughed. “Aye, I fear we had fallen into the habit of obeying him like we would our da. That annoyed us about ourselves, not him. After a few drinks, once in a while we would all decide he wasnae our da and the next time he told us what to do, we would say nay. Unfortunately, the next thing he wanted us to do was to give Mrs. O’Neal and her kids a place of their own inside the stockade.”
“And you couldn’t say nay.”
He shook his head. “She was so happy, and she cried. Most unfair. Plus, she said she would make us cake as a thank-ye.” He grinned when both James and Belle laughed. He looked at Robbie. “Are ye ready?”
Robbie nodded. “Nervous. Afraid the leg willnae cooperate.”
Belle patted him on the back. “It will. Just make sure you don’t keep standing and moving about if that leg lets you know it is tired.”
“Understood.”
“I will try to stay close, if you want.”
He nodded. “Might give me some added confidence.”
James halted the wagon in front of the door and helped Robbie get down. Belle got out of the back of the wagon and Geordie helped her collect their bags. As she started to put some down on the ground because Geordie’s arms were full, two young boys came bounding out of the house yelling the brothers’ names. Three older children came around the corner and waved at them. A tall man with red hair strode over and clapped Geordie on the back.
Just as she was being introduced to Iain, a pretty young woman with blond hair hurried over and then began a long series of introductions. Iain turned to offer Robbie a hand, only to stare as Robbie stepped over to the pile of bags and picked up his own, revealing his improved movement and his stronger hand.
“Ye didnae mention this in that tiny letter ye wrote,” Iain said to Geordie.
“He was still newly hurt from his fall, and we could only hope that fixing the bones correctly would help.”
As the rest of his brothers wandered out, Geordie introduced them to Belle, Abel, and Morgan. He continued to introduce them to the rest of his family as they made their way into the house. By the time they got inside and seated at the kitchen table, Mrs. O’Neal was setting out food and had a pot of coffee brewing. Belle was also deep in admiration of Nuala, Emily’s little girl, and the baby. Geordie broke up the lovefest and started to take Belle up the stairs, Mrs, O’Neal telling him what room he could have.
“She only told you one room,” Belle said and blushed.
“Weel, dinnae correct her. One room is all we need.”
Setting her bag on the bed, she said, “I really want some of that coffee I could smell brewing.”
“All right. And I want some of the food. And, I suspect the mob wants to ask ye a few things.”
Belle bit her lip and then sighed. “If I get the coffee first, I guess I can manage answering some questions.” She crouched down and ran her hand over the carpet at the side of the bed. “This is beautiful. Does someone in town make them?”
“Robbie made it. Remember, I told ye, he used to weave things. Think I even mentioned that he had done the carpets in the house.”
“You did. I remember now, but I never pictured this kind of work. I hope his hand gains the nimbleness and strength needed to get back to weaving. It is art, really. If he lived in Boston he could make some decent money with this skill.”
“Dinnae tell him that now. He might feel compelled to push himself too hard. It isnae just the weaving ability he needs to get reacquainted with, it is the art of it,” he said as he took her by the arm and started to take her back downstairs. “He hasnae got any grand dreams of becoming a fancy, rich mon, but he isnae averse to making a fine income. That was why we did so many tours of cider mills, even though he was in that chair that he hated for some of them.”
“At least he had the sense to use it when he needed it.”
When they walked back into the kitchen it was a lot more crowded than it had been. Matthew had collected his wife, Red, and all the children. Reid had arrived and he and Robbie were deep in discussion about the cider mill works Robbie had seen and the mixes he had tasted and heard about. When Belle returned to her seat near Emily, Geordie sat down and abruptly found himself the focus of his whole family.
“What?” he asked as he poured himself some coffee.
“How was the ocean?” asked Nigel.
“Beautiful. We stayed at Belle’s house, which is up a hill but on the ocean. Just have to get down the hill.”
“Walk down some stairs,” said Robbie, “which is where I stumbled and broke my already broken leg. Abel”—he nodded toward the boy—“called it my bad leg.”
