AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sure enough, Anya was at the top of the hill, walking down to the glen where they kept the sheep penned.
Elspeth shook out her skirts, gathering herself. With one last rub of her hands, she cleared her mind of these stolen dreams as surely as the dust from her fingers. Then she smiled, happy with any interruption if it meant seeing her friend. Especially now. Even though Anya bore no resemblance to Aidan, Elspeth felt somehow closer to him for sight of his sister.
“What brings you—oh!” Elspeth chirped at the sight of the young boy who raced from behind Anya. She’d brought Duncan. “It’s your boy!”
“Aye,” Anya said, returning her smile. “If he’d be still for but a moment, I’d introduce you. ”
But apparently nine-year-olds didn’t stand on ceremony, because Duncan simply raced up to Elspeth and, skidding to a halt, asked, “What are you doing?”
Elspeth couldn’t help but laugh at his intensity. With freckled cheeks panting for breath and bangs that’d turned reddish brown with sweat, the boy looked nothing like Anya.
“Why, I’m feeding the sheep, naturally. ”
“What are their names?”
“Their names. ” She put her hands on her hips, con sidering. “Let’s see. Why there’s Juliet, and Imogen, and Miranda is just there …”
Elspeth conjured a name for every last one, Duncan hanging on her every word. He frowned when she’d finished. “Don’t you have no boy sheeps?”
“Don’t we have any male sheep?” she repeated, gently correcting his grammar. She sighed. Didn’t they indeed. Her father hadn’t thought so far as to purchase them a godforsaken ram, so set he’d been on the prospect of milk, cheese, and wool. “Why no. They’re spinsters, every last one. ”
“Like you?”
“Duncan, a bhobain!” Anya cried in a breathless gasp.
But Elspeth only laughed. Nobody knew better than she about her marital status. “Oh, it’s fine, Anya, really. ”
Duncan put his hands on his hips, looking defiant. “Well, that’s what Auntie Bridge called her. ”
“Well your aunt Bridget best mind her tongue. ”
One of the sheep bleated, calling Duncan’s attention back to the flock. He tore a handful of grass and tried to feed it. “Will they never marry?”
“The sheep?” Elspeth tilted her head, considering. “Why, I think not, actually. Particularly not the one you’re feeding. That one’s Artemis. She’s very wise, and brave too. And she’s chosen not to marry just any silly old ram who ambles into her pasture. ”
“Won’t she get lonely?”
She tapped her finger on her mouth in exaggerated contemplation. “I suppose she does. Sometimes. But she has her oats to occupy her. And she enjoys meeting new people, like you. ” The sheep nudged Duncan’s hip, smelling the remnants of what she imagined were probably crumbs from a bit of food he’d hidden in his pocket. “But this way, Artemis has the freedom to graze where she likes. Wander where she likes. ”
“Does she wander? What if she doesn’t come back?”
“That’s a risk, isn’t it? She’s not wandered off yet. Though I suppose one never knows. ” Elspeth smiled widely, and looked at her friend to share in the moment.
Her smile froze. Anya’s gaze was restless, scanning the horizon from beneath a furrowed brow.
“Duncan, would you please do me a favor and get one last bucket of oats from the feed shed?” Elspeth pointed across the glen. “It’s just over there, near the cottage. Don’t you know, if you feed a sheep from your very own hand, you’ll have a friend for life. ”
He grinned. “Oh, aye, straightaway,” he said, and raced off.
Anya was looking uneasily at the trough, now empty of oats. “Were those from …”
Elspeth knew her friend was nervous at the prospect of running into the neighboring farmer. “Aye, we get our feed from Angus’s farm. But don’t fret. ” Stepping closer, she put a soothing hand on Anya’s sleeve. “He’s nowhere about. The man works harder than a plow horse. Rare is the sight of him setting foot off his own lands. ”
Though Anya sighed and nodded, she still appeared upset.
“But whatever is the matter?” Elspeth asked. “You mustn’t hold back. I can see the trouble on your face. ”
“Oh, Elspeth. I have horrible news. ” Anya wrung her hands in front of her.
