The Ghost, Greyson, Maeve [funny books to read TXT] 📗

wee dog went exploring and trapped himself down in a pit in one of the caves.” He grinned, still staring down at his knee. “Luckily, the tiny scamp’s crying alerted its mother. One of our best dogs at herding cows, horses, or children. She saw to it that we found her pup.”

“It wouldha died if ye hadna found it.” Keigan’s wide eyes showed his heart and soul invested in the story. But then his fair brows drew together. “Did the dog bite ye? Is that what happened to yer knee? Surely, a pup couldna do that much damage.”

Magnus’s jaw tightened. When he lifted his gaze to Keigan’s, he gave a sheepish shrug. “When I jumped down into the pit to fetch the wee mongrel, a rock I didna see foiled my landing. Twisted my knee something fierce and knocked me on me arse.” He shrugged again. “Then we both had to be saved.”

Keigan laughed out loud, then clapped a hand over his mouth. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m certain that hurt verra much.” He granted Magnus a braw smile. “But I am proud ye tried to save the puppy.”

Brenna turned away and stared out the window. What sort of man told such a thing on himself when he couldha just as easily made up a story to save his pride and claimed Evander to be a liar?

“Aye, well…I couldna verra well leave the poor thing there to die, now could I?” Magnus once more stood, stretching to his full height. He opened the door and shouted at Evander, “Fetch wood and some water from the burn. Then ye can come inside.”

“There’s still plenty in the keg. I filled it from the rainwater barrel,” Brenna said. Did the man not see the wooden cup floating so near the top? “And the wood ye brought in earlier is just now dry enough for the fire. If he brings in more, it’ll be soaked all over again.”

Magnus closed the door with a decisive thud. “Evander needs a wet walk through the woods. Dinna worry. He can stack the wood over there and sit on it ’til they both dry out.”

“Ye are a stern taskmaster, sir.” She returned to wiping the chipped plates that were already clean, chiding herself for speaking her thoughts in a manner that might be misunderstood as friendly teasing. Never would she consider such light-hearted banter. Not with the man who had helped her sister destroy all their lives. But trapped inside with this frustrating beast who had so far shown no despicable behavior was making it a chore to treat him with silent disdain.

He moved to the window and uncovered it to watch Evander’s progress. “The lad is of an age where he feels the need to test the waters a mite too much for his good. Like a young buck challenging the old stag.” With a satisfied nod at the soaked young man, he continued, “He’ll learn, and I daresay my lessons are a great deal kinder than some.”

“Can I go help him?” Keigan asked. “I dinna care if’n I get wet.”

Entirely too many days of rain had worn on them all. It wouldn’t hurt the lad, and it wasn’t like everything wasn’t damp as could be anyway. Brenna tilted her head toward the door. “Off wi’ ye for a bit. Dinna get close to the steep banks alongside the stream. It will be swollen with the rains and swifter than the devil. And the ground could give way before ye know it.”

As soon as he had charged out the door, she realized her error. Here she stood alone with the man she had wished dead more times than she could remember. From the look on his face, he found the situation as uncomfortable as she did. “My sister defended ye, saying ye traveled to earn yer way. A sword for hire. How do ye expect to raise my Keigan if he chooses to live with ye as yer son?” With the boys outside, now was as good a time as any to find out all she could.

“Should he accept me as his father, my mercenary days will be at an end.” He idled his way around the fire, hands clasped behind him. “There’s always room for another sword to guard the keep.” A faint smile deepened the dimple in his cheek. “I’m nay too proud to join the MacCoinnich guards.”

“Ye mentioned caves.” She resettled her stance as though spoiling for a fight. “How do ye expect to keep a nosy wee bairn from making the same mistake as that pup?”

“Why…I would tell him he best not go there without me.”

That error in his thinking caused her to snort. “Ye think just because ye say a thing, he will obey it without trying ye?”

“He does what ye tell him.”

“Most the time, he does what I tell him,” she corrected. “That’s after years and years of scolding and smacking his bum for him. Dinna be fool enough to think he willna test ye to see what he can get away with.” She stretched to peer out the window in search of either lad. “He might seem an angel, but let me tell ye, there are times aplenty when his wee horns knock his halo askew.”

The wind chose that moment to switch directions and gust through the open window, dousing the table and tossing loose thatching from the roof across everything in its path.

“Saints alive! I had hoped to leave it open for a bit of fresh air.” Brenna hefted the window’s makeshift shutter back in place and wedged it shut with a stick of wood. Drying her face and arms with her apron, she turned, then froze in place. Astonishment struck her mute.

Magnus had already pulled the table aside, cleared away the soiled dishes, and wiped all but a few of them clean. “Have ye a bit of bark or something I can scrape this mess into?” he asked without looking up from slaking the debris to one corner of