Isla giggled.
He said, “Wait until the snorin’ starts.”
Hayley on her back beside him said, “There will be no snoring, I will send you out to sleep in the rain.”
“Och nae, I hae tae snore, I hae been fightin’ a fire, a dragon battler, everyone kens ye snort and cough after…” The kids laughed.
He raised his head. “The louder ye snore, Archibald, the more valiant ye are.”
He added, “Dost ye agree, Jack?”
I whispered, “Jack fell asleep already.”
Fraoch said, “Tis fine, I will tell him my joke in the morn, Jack will laugh and laugh.”
Hayley said, “You should be asleep too. Wheesht, my love, orI’mgoing to go sleep in the rain.”
He rolled onto his back, groaning and making a big fuss. “Och, I am verra glad ye brought me on this terribly romantic journey, Og Maggy. I am more damp and dirty and uncomfortable than I hae ever been in my life.”
Magnus said, with his arm thrown over his eyes. “Och, this is nae true.”
We all quieted.
Then Fraoch’s stomach growled. “And now I am hungry,” he whispered, “m’bean ghlan, where did we put the cooler?”
She pulled a bag over. “Aunt Hayley has a box of cookies, who wants some?”
Magnus, Archie, Fraoch, and I said, “Me!” Everyone else was asleep already.
Hayley passed a stack of Oreos to each of us. “Should I put one beside Isla?”
Magnus said, “Nae, rats.”
We all groaned.
Magnus and I washed ours down with the last of his beer. Hayley passed Archie and Fraoch her water bottle.
Hayley said, “Everyone is in a pretty good mood considering how much you went through today.”
Magnus said, “Ye mean me?”
She said, “Yup. You.”
He took a deep breath. “I am surprising ye by how well I am taking my sister’s crime spree, m’uncle being murdered, the rain foiling my plans, Birk stealin’ our vessels, John putting my brother in the dungeon, and a fire near burning down my castle?”
She said, “I’m surprised you are not murderous.”
Magnus said, “Fraoch, dost ye hear how yer wife is speakin’ on me?”
Fraoch said, gruffly, turned away as if going to sleep, “Aye, she forgets that even though ye are fully murderous, if ye hae cookies tae eat, tis hard tae stay in a bad mood. But ye will get yer revenge, ye canna let that stand.”
“Aye. It winna stand. Birk is a dead man?—”
We all completed his often repeated threat, “He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Magnus said, “But that is just something I will hae tae do, in the meantime, life is tae be lived — tis not just the cookies, Fraoch. Tis also that my family is rid of the Earl and his cruelty and I own Balloch, there is much tae be in a good mood about.”
Then he rolled over onto his back. “Och, this is uncomfortable.”
