Stefan's eyes lit up. "My father gave me the name after his grandfather."

William leaned just a little closer. "Tell the truth o' it, are ye the Viking we could not find after the attack?"

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Have they not caught him yet?"

He ate the noon meal with them, told of his months of slavery and tried to be patient while his clothing dried, but it was growing more difficult by the minute. At last he could stand it no more and stood up. "I must see her or I will go daft."

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William laughed. "I dinna expect ye to make it this long. Dress and I will get the horses. Do ye still ride without a saddle?"

"I prefer it."

"So do I, not that we can manage to save enough for fine saddles, what with the tithe the way it is. We…," he was still talking after he walked out the door.

William's plaid was too short for Stefan, so he opted to put his damp Limond kilt back on. He was almost finished lacing his shoes when Andrina came back inside and noticed the calluses on his knees. He stood up, kissed her lightly on the forehead, touched the baby's cheek and smiled. "'Tis only from hard work."

In two short days his life had changed from exhausting labor to freedom and riding a horse bareback felt good. He followed William out of the small courtyard and turned down the path toward the village. "What caused the cottage to burn?"

"We dinna know. Jirvel and Kannak were in the village when I first saw the smoke. I am not afraid to say my heart stopped. By the time I got to it, I could not have saved either o' them had they been inside. It burned quickly and very hot. Even the oak tree next to it burned."

"Did others come?"

"Aye, but by then all we could do was keep it from spreading."

"And ye dinna know how it started?"

"Nay. Jirvel swore the fire in the hearth was put out afore they left. But then, an ember might have blown out on the floor. I've seen that happen a time or two when the wind blows hard enough."

Stefan changed the subject. "Have ye seen the black stallion?"

"The gift from God, Jirvel calls it? Nay, no one has seen him since he helped Kannak escape. She talks about it often, but then she talks about ye constantly."

"I think about her constantly too."

"Love…it will either kill us or cure us…o' what, I am not quite certain." William laughed and kicked the side of his horse. "Come on, Stefan, yer love has waited long and hard."




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