pul ed the sleeves over her bloody wrists, his gut knotting
when he heard her try to stifle another hiss. “Al your little
heathens are safe at home with your mom and aunt,” he
quietly continued as he tossed the blouse into the woods.
He raised a hand to the back clasp on her bra, only to
break into a sweat when he saw the angry bruise covering
a good portion of her right shoulder. “You’l be back with
them by sunrise, I promise.”
“I don’t want them to see me like this,” she whispered,
holding the unfastened bra against her breasts.
“They won’t, lass. I’l have ye right as rain before we leave
here. But I’m going to need your cooperation, wife, to let
me heal you.”
She lifted her head to final y look at him. “H-how?”
He smiled. “By kissing away your boo-boos,” he said,
partly to piss her off but mostly because he was serious
about touching every inch of her trembling body.
She looked down at her lap, but not before he saw a
slight scowl tug at one corner of her swol en mouth, and
Duncan took his first ful breath since he’d heard Peter and
Jacob shouting from the boat out on the fiord.
“Where … where’s Chris?” she asked, glancing at where
he’d been standing.
“Right here, actual y, only four hundred years in the past.”
She looked up, this time with a hint of a smile as she
pressed a trembling hand to his cheek and sighed. “You
can be a real bastard like that sometimes,” she said,
dropping her hand and snuggling against him with another
sigh. “Okay, husband, you may start kissing away.”
Epilogue
Peg stood at the end of the Inglenook road, undecided who
was going to burst into tears first, her or Duncan or Mac.
Wel okay, the men might not actual y cry, but they definitely
weren’t looking al that big and strong and unkil able at the
moment. But having barely survived this ordeal twice
already and knowing this time would be even worse, Peg
had al her pockets stuffed with tissues.
Hel , even Hero knew something was afoot.
Olivia seemed to be the only one who didn’t look as if
she were attending a funeral, instead appearing eager to
have the whole matter over with so she could get to the
Drunken Moose for some cinnamon buns. Yeah, wel , the
woman would be wearing a different expression six years
from now. But then, Peg thought with a sigh, she’d be
wearing the same expression herself for the fourthtime.
She real y, real y needed to have a little talk with
Providence, because she real y didn’t think she could go
through this a fifth or sixth time.
“Mom,” Jacob whispered, tugging on Peg’s sleeve. He
held up his other hand to her. “Maybe you should keep this
in your pocket today, ’cause you look like you need it more
than me.”
Peg dropped down to one knee and closed Jacob’s
fingers over the smal , smooth stone Duncan had given him
last night when he’d tucked the boys into bed, which was
identical to the one he’d handed Peter. “Thanks, sweetie,
but I think you better take it with you. And if you get even a
little bit scared today, you reach in your pocket and close
your fist around your very own piece of home.” She pul ed
the straps of his backpack together to press them against
his chest and smiled. “Remember Duncan said that rock is
fil ed with very powerful magic because it came from deep
inside our mountain, and that al you have to do is close
your eyes and picture swimming in the warm water pool
when you’re holding it, and you’l start feeling right as rain in
no time.”
“But don’t forget to take it out of your pocket first,”
Duncan said thickly, having also dropped to one knee. He
brushed a hand—that Peg noticed was shaking slightly—
over Jacob’s hair. “You’re going to be fine,” he murmured,
even as Peg wondered if he was trying to reassure the boy
or himself.
She saw her husband suddenly stiffen then quickly stand
up, his gaze shooting down the main road. He scooped
Peter up in one arm, then reached down and helped her
stand before he scooped Jacob up in his other arm. Mac
was also holding Henry, Peg noticed just as she heard the
rumble of the school bus climbing the long grade that
crested a quarter of a mile down the road.
“Quick, everyone,” Olivia said, pul ing a camera out of her
pocket. “Al of you stand together and I’l get the bus in the
picture with you when it stops.”
Everyone dutiful y moved to the opposite side of the
Inglenook road as directed. Peg pul ed Charlotte and Isabel
in front of her as she tucked herself up against Duncan’s
chest between the twins. Sophie held Mac’s hand as he
held Henry in his other arm, and Hero trotted over and sat
down in front of everyone—only facing the main road
instead of the lens.
“Wait. You need to be in the picture, too,” Peg said. “Trip
the timer and set the camera on the hood of your truck.”
Olivia snapped one quick shot, then rushed around the
front fender of Mac’s SUV. She set the camera on the
hood, then leaned down to align it, pushed a button, and ran
over to tuck herself behind her daughter against Mac’s
side. “Smile, everyone,” she said just as the school bus
ground to a halt on the main road, sending a bil owing cloud
of dust toward them.
“Duncan,” Jacob said. “You got to let us down ’cause we
got to get on the bus.”
Peg took a fortifying breath and turned, reaching up to
take Peter away from him. Only Duncan stepped back, his
grip on the boys tightening. “I’ve got them,” he growled
thickly. “You’re not supposed to be lifting anything heavy.”
Peg looked down to hide her consternation as he turned
and very slowly walked to the school bus, stil carrying the
twins. And then she took another deep breath when
Charlotte slid her hand into hers.
“You’l be okay, Mom,” her daughter said as she started
leading Peg toward the bus. She gave her a squeeze as
she tilted her head up with a smile. “I’m not real sure about
Duncan, though.”
Peg pul ed her to a stop, then grabbed Isabel’s sleeve to
stop her, also. “What am I going to do al day without the
boys stuck to me like glue? And you two,” she said,
smoothing down each girl’s pretty new jacket. She tucked a
strand of hair behind Charlotte’s ear to expose one of her
shiny birthstone earrings. “We had so much fun together
this summer out on Bottomless and hiking the mountain.”
Charlotte patted Peg’s arm, smiling crookedly. “We’l be
back this afternoon, Mom. And don’t worry; Isabel and I wil
keep an eye on Pete and Repeat.”
Peg bunched Charlotte’s jacket in her fist. “You don’t let
anyone at school cal him Repeat, you understand? If you
hear them, you go tel the principal.”
“Mommm,”Isabel said, pul ing Peg along. “Duncan’s
waiting at the door for you to kiss the boys good-bye.”
“Oh. Oh! Peter, Jacob,” she said, rushing to them. She
pul ed each one down and gave them each several loud
kisses. “You both be good, you hear?” she said, gripping
their arms as she valiantly held her tears inside. “I promise
I’l be right there at Ezra’s store waiting to pick you up off
the bus this afternoon.”
“Mommm, good-bye,”Peter whispered tightly, eyeing
the children on the bus eyeing them.
Only instead of setting them down, Duncan walked right
up into the bus behind Sophie and Isabel and Charlotte,
fol owed by Mac carrying Henry.
Olivia slid her arm through Peg’s with a laugh. “Wouldn’t