Page 107 of Only a Breath Away

Zach sighed. “Love of my life, poor sweet Em,” he joked, “Sophie is from the future, so rescuing her wasn’t really looping, she was already out of time. It didn’t change anything to save her.”

Magnus said, “And whereas Master Cook wasna able, somehow m’mother was able tae do it. My thinkin’ is that the universe was too frightened of her tae argue.”

We all said, “Hear hear!” And raised our glasses.

Magnus said, “Lochinvar, does it make sense tae ye? Ye ken I hae a vast kingdom and a great deal of power. Ye understand why I daena want tae push it beyond that time? The greatest emperors in history hae lost everythin’ by spreadin’ their borders too far.”

“I daena believe it.”

Magnus said, “I will show ye the histories, ye will see. I daena want tae fight forever, I want tae rest and eat and sleep and enjoy m’life as well, and we already hae all we need. Ye will see, we will hae ye set up on some land and ye will see how it goes, there are plenty of battles tae keep ye busy and ye will be wishing for peace as I am.”

Lochinvar said, “I daena ken, I like a good fight.”

“I ken, I said the same when I was yer age, how about ye, Fraoch?”

“Aye, but now I prefer tae fish.”

Lochinvar jokingly sighed. “Och, auld man, all ye think about is fishing. Tis because ye canna fight?”

We all went quiet.

Fraoch raised his brow. “Ye askin’ tae fight me, Og Lochie?”

“Nae, Fraoch, twas just in jest.”

Fraoch laughed. “Ye ken, tis the first sensible thing ye said since ye got here. Ye ought tae remember, the men in this circle are yer betters, we are aulder and wiser and every one of us has risked his life for the other. Except Chef Zach.”

Zach said, “Hey!”

Fraoch laughed.

Magnus said, “Fraoch is only kidding, Chef Zach, he kens ye are the one keepin’ usallalive.”

Zach said, “Truth, and don’t you forget it.” Then he looked at Magnus and said, “So seriously, were my ears deceiving me? When the hell did you become a duke?”

Magnus chuckled. “I hae always been a duke.”

Quentin said, “Oh no you don’t, Boss. Is this like the safe house in NY that you have ‘always’ had, that I only just recently heard of? When the heck did you become a duke?”

“Lady Mairead has bestowed upon me a title, for cover, twas backdated tae the year 1600, and bears Queen Elizabeth’s seal. I believe m’mother went tae her directly for the title. They are great friends.”

Emma said, “And this is the first Queen Elizabeth? Holy smokes, there is so much there to ask Lady Mairead about, I want to know all of it.”

I said, “Me too, I have so many questions. But, for the present day — are we safe?”

Quentin said, “I declare us safe, we have some unanswered questions, like who pulled you through time, we will figure that out, but for now, we are safe. And since Beaty has asked me, once I made it home from this latest adventure, if I would please, pretty please, take some time off to vacation. I think that’s what I’m going to do, enjoy Maine for a minute.” He stared out at the dark lake. “Except what does one do on vacation in Maine?”

We all laughed, but agreed that we didn’t really know.

Hayley said, “I think what we’re supposed to do is stare out at the lake, but frankly that seems like it’s going to get old quick. I need a spinning wheel or a—”

Quentin said, “What you need is an AA meeting.”

“Yeah, will you come with?”

“Yep, we can go to one tomorrow, there’s bound to be one in Orono in the college town.”

Fraoch said, “When ye are returned ye can come fishin’ with me, Hayley, we can take Archie and Ben out with us.”

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