Quentin said, “No, lesser-knowns.”
James said, “We had to go up a narrow, steep stair and then a hand-over hand ladder to the top of Christ Church steeple.”
Zach said, “It was scary as hell up there, thought we were going to die. But we could see the whole city!”
Emma was typing and said, “That steeple is 196 feet, back in 1775 it was the tallest structure in the American colonies.”
James said, “No shit? Wow. Worth the sore shoulders the next day.”
Emma said, “What else did you do?”
“Basically that and taverns every night. There were so many toasts, every time you tried to take a bite of food, someone would clear their throat and begin one.” Zach stood and raised his glass. “‘To the rights of Englishmen — and more wine!’” He sat back down.
Fraoch looked at Magnus and cleared his throat. “Och, it sounds familiar, daena it, Og Maggy!”
We laughed.
James said, “They were partying like a Florida-boy after a Gator game and the next day they were back at the Hall, arguing tariffs like nothing happened.”
Zach said, “I wonder if we’re in the history books, we didn’t miss anything fun, we were part ofallof it.”
Quentin said, “We were responsible for a lot of drunk and disorderly, we kept buying them rounds. As the only sober person for miles I was worried I was going to have to lug Franklin home.”
James said, “Yet somehow they all got home, all showed up for work the next day.”
James, Zach, and Quentin raised their mugs.
I said, “These stories are just amazing, I’m so glad you went to do that. We should go visit a lot of historical moments. That would be fun.”
I looked at the kids. “What would you like to go see, anytime in history?”
Zoe said, “Disney World!”
We all groaned.
Lochinvar shrugged. “I would like tae see it, tis the one with the roller coaster ye rode, Og Maggy, ye were tellin’ me about it?”
“Aye, ye will like it.”
Isla said, “But Uncle Lochie, you can’t go without us.”
“Of course not, Isla, ye hae tae be there tae show me how tae do it.” He squeezed Ash’s hand. “When we go tae Disney World can we take all the bairns?”
“Of course.”
Isla clapped her hands. “We’re going to Disney world!”
I sighed. “That’s not entirely what I meant, yes, Disney World, sometime soon, but we have a few things to handle first. I was trying to be conversational — where inhistorywould you like to go?”
Lochinvar said, “The old west. Ye ken, the movie we watched?”
I nodded.
James said, “All my history dreams have already come true, I’ll go where Sophie wants to go next.”
She said, “I would enjoy seein’ the launch of a space ship tae the moon.”
James said, “Hot damn, great idea! Okay, we’ll do that as soon as Junior stops being such a needy boy.”
