Dyna joined them from the periphery of the clearing. “I checked the bodies. I don’t see any sheriff and I don’t recognize any of the dead men.” Then her eyes fell on Els, who’d taken Joya back into his arms. “Oh, poor Joya.” She moved next to her and pushed the hair back from her forehead. “Lass, you saved John. He’s here and he’s hale thanks to you.”
Dyna’s eyes filled with tears, something he rarely saw. “Bastards,” she whispered.
Els stared at Joya again, smoothing her hair back and kissing her cheek. “Joya? Wake up, please. You did a fine job protecting John.”
She never flinched.
Els said to Da, “We’ll take her back to the inn. We still have two chambers, but ’tis not busy. They have others if we need them.”
His sire said, “We’ll gain another chamber or two. We can squeeze into the space for one night. But we must take care of Joya and John, though I think the wee one will suffer less for what happened this eve than your grandsire. He’s not used to fighting anymore, but he did well.”
“Aye, Grandpapa’s Grant whoop is the best.” Els couldn’t believe how ably he’d fooled the enemy.
His father patted his shoulder and held Joya while Els mounted. Once he had her settled on his lap, he told his sire, “On the morrow, I go after the sheriff.”
Da glowered at him. “Els, don’t do anything stupid like going after him alone. We’re here to help you.”
Els didn’t know exactly how it would happen, but he was certain of one thing.
The bastard would pay with his life.
Epilogue
Alex travels to visit his great-grandbairns again…
Dinner ended and his grandfather stood from the table and said to John, “Are you ready, laddie?”
John laughed and jumped off the bench, his face staring up at his great-grandfather with absolute delight. “Ready,Seanair.”
Grandsire stopped next to Emmalin and asked, “May I hold Ailith for a bit?”
“Of course,” she said, handing over the smiling cherub.
The big man picked up the wee lass and said to John, “Over by the hearth. There’s a package tied with ribbons by the chair. Open it for me, please.”
Alasdair, Els, Joya, and Emmalin walked over to stand behind the man, watching John open the package. He untied it and unfolded the fabric wrapping as carefully as a wee laddie could. Reaching in, he pulled out a twined set of parchment paper painted in various colors, a vibrant scene of a castle on the front.
John looked up at hisseanairwith wide eyes. “What is it?”
Grandsire said, “’Tis a book. And you need to learn about storybooks.”
Alasdair and Els both gaped wistfully and said in unison, “Grandmama’s storybooks.”
Joya and Emmalin both broke into peals of laughter, watching the big warriors simpering over their beloved grandmother’s storybooks.
Alexander Grant turned to his grandsons and winked at them. “I have instructions from a sweet woman above.”
Then he turned to John, positioned the two siblings on his lap, and began the story of the beginning of Christmas at Clan Grant, the two bairns spellbound.
The Scot’s Pursuit
Book 3
When Kyla goes missing, it brings too many memories back for Alex…
Chapter Five
The view of Alex Grant from his grandson, Alick. Branwen is speaking
