Page 36 of Highlander's Wild Lass
“How’s it—”
“We’re here!”
“Daenae start without us!”
Celestia and Auralia looked beyond Anthony and Sebastian. The men turned to see Chester and Hugo running towards them, bonnets on their heads and bows in their hands.
“Ah, good, they’ve come,” Auralia said.
“We would have been sooner, but we were lookin’ for Celesita,” Hugo said.
Celestia exhaled. “I told ye both, I came right into yer room and said Auralia and I were goin’ to pick flowers.”
“Oh,” was all Hugo said.
“Ye daenae like to listen, do ye?” Auralia scolded mildly.
Hugo stuck his tongue out at her while Chester said, “Cellie, yer alright with us goin’ with them?”
Celestia nodded. “Of course.” She then gave Anthony a serious look. “As long as they make sure to take care of ye.”
Anthony hooked an arm around Hugo’s shoulders and pulled him close. “I’ll take care of them as if they were my own.”
Auralia looked exuberant next to Celestia, while Celestia only gave a patently false grin and said, “Good luck with them.” She turned her gaze to Chester and Hugo. “Be careful and thank them when they’re done with ye.”
The men moved from the path to allow Celestia and Auralia to pass, and once they were gone Chester and Hugo’s lesson began.
Not too far off the path, they found a small clearing with some rocks sprinkled about, but mostly green grass and large trees with wide trunks.
“This is a good spot,” Anthony said, surveying the land.
“Aye,” Sebastian agreed, dropping the basket of arrows against one of the larger boulders. He fumbled in his sporran for a moment and pulled out a piece of coal.
“What is he doin’ with that?” Chester asked Anthony.
Anthony peered down at him. “He’s goin’ to be markin’ targets on a few of the tree trunks. Some low, to help ye with pickin’ off small animals like hares and pheasants. Then a mark high enough to be a deer, and then even higher—if he can reach it—to get an eye for pickin’ off squirrels and other birds.”
Once the targets were drawn, Anthony let the boys have at the arrows. “See if ye can land an arrow in any of the nearby trees.” He wanted to see what their natural instincts were.
Hugo took to the bow easier than Chester; he was the stronger of the two, burying an arrow into a nearby tree. Chester eventually got the hang of it, and it became clear that Chester had the better eye. He landed two arrows very near each other at the base of another tree.
Next was arm placements and adjusting fingers and arrows to ensure a steady flight path. Then came targeting. Once again Chester showed that he was a natural marksman. Anthony saw the rivalry sparking between the twins with Hugo getting a bit flustered that he was not as precise as his brother.
Anthony knelt on one knee beside Hugo. “Daenae allow yerself to compare yer skills to yer brother’s.” Hugo peered at him from the side of his eye, trying not to look like he had been found out. “Ye have much force behind yer releases. Just brace yer middle and focus just a bit longer on the target.”
“Aye,” Hugo muttered, docking another arrow.
* * *
The round kitchen table was covered with the flowers that Celestia and Auralia had picked that morning. The chairs had been pushed against the far wall, so they were out of the way as they assembled the wreaths. The only one seated was their father, who had been eager to help them this year.
“Ye seem excited for this year’s Beltane festival,” Celestia commented, reaching for the small yellow buds of a gorse tree cutting.
“It should be a good one, I always love watchin’ the men jumpin’ over the smaller fires or runnin’ across the ones that have been smolderin’ for hours,” Auralia answered.
Brannan gave a throaty laugh. “I never did that back in my day. I always thought the men who did to be quite… harebrained.”
“Da!” Auralia exclaimed with wide eyes and a big smile. “I daenae think they are—they’re brave.”
