AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dorothea’s mouth twitched into a smile, and it was breathtaking and overwhelming and utterly mesmerizing. “Is this an adventure?”
“An adventure?” Sarah repeated, feeling puzzled.
Dorothea nodded. “I remember Mama reading stories about adventures, about people who go on quests and do heroic deeds.”
Sarah chuckled. “Well, I don’t know about heroic deeds, but if you ask me, this is definitely an adventure. We are going out into the world, to places we’ve never seen before, to meet new people and see new things. Yes, to me, that is an adventure.”
“It is exciting,” Dorothea remarked, then paused. “But it’s also a little frightening.” She met Sarah’s eyes. “Will I like the place we’re going to? What’s it like there?”
Sarah shrugged. “Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve never even been there myself. It will be a new place for the both of us.” She tugged an errant curl back behind Dorothea’s ear. “Perhaps we can help one another fit in there and come to feel at home. What do you think?”
Dorothea nodded eagerly. “I’d like that, Auntie Sarah. I’d like that very much.”
“Well, then it’s agree—”
A sudden cry of joyous delight echoed to their ears from up ahead, and they both flinched. Sarah’s arms instantly held Dorothea tighter as she lifted her gaze, trying to see what had happened.
A little ways down the road, where it sloped to a higher point, Keir had pulled Scout to a halt and he and Augusta were staring down at something Sarah could not see. Still, the look upon their faces held joy, and Augusta was looking back at them, waving her little arms, beckoning them forward.
“I suppose we better catch up,” Sarah murmured, then spurred Autumn onward, and together, they galloped up the small rise. “What is it?” she called out to the other two as they neared. “What did you—?”
The words remained locked in Sarah’s throat as her eyes found the far horizon and then the churning sea below. The sun glistened upon the waves, their sound now drifting to Sarah’s ears, a soft, even gentle murmur, still a good distance away. And yet it was mesmerizing, whispering to her of something unknown but meant for her.
“The sea!” Dorothea exclaimed in awe, as though she had spotted a fairytale creature, her little hands clutching Autumn’s mane as she stared ahead. “It’s beautiful!”
Keir chuckled, looking from the girls to Sarah. “Ye’ve never seen it?”
“Not like this,” Sarah murmured, torn between looking into Keir’s eyes and watching the beautiful rhythm of the sea. “Not quite like this.”
“What now?” Augusta demanded, craning her neck to look up at Keir. “Do we need a boat?”
Keir nodded. “Unless ye can walk on water, lassie, or perhaps sprout wings?” He looked questioningly from Augusta to Dorothea, brows raised.
With her eyes wide, Dorothea shook her head. “I wish I could,” she whispered, still mesmerized. Then she blinked. Her eyes settled upon Keir. “Can we go down there?”
Keir nodded, and the joy that came to the girls’ faces made Sarah’s heart sing. As much sadness as these two had already known in their short lives, there was still happiness to be found, happiness to contradict everything that had gone wrong thus far.
While the two horses might have been able to pick their way down the steep slope to the beach, the carriage could not. Therefore, they were forced to take the longer way around, following the road that slowly narrowed and turned into little more than a trodden path. With each step they took closer, the sound of the waves grew louder until it became an almost deafening echo against their ears. Still, it was soothing somehow, and Sarah felt drawn toward it.
Nestled into a small cove, they found a cluster of houses, which could not rightly be called a village. Still, it looked utterly picturesque. An almost bewitching lightness filled the people Sarah saw going about their work, tending to boats and seeing to repairs.
Dismounting, they led the horses by the reins as they approached the house situated farther from the others near a dock. “Is this where the boat is?” Augusta asked, her feet unable to remain still. “Is this the right place?”
Keir laughed. “These people have small fishing boats they use; however, none are big enough to transport all of us and the two horses.” He smiled at Sarah, and she was relieved to hear that, of course, Autumn and Scout would not be left behind.
“We need a bigger boat?” Augusta asked, her gaze narrowing as she swept it along the beach. “I don’t see a bigger boat.”
“Heavens!” A raspy old voice called from behind them. “If it isna Keir MacKinnear!”
Almost as one, they turned around and found themselves facing an old man with a thick bushy beard while his head sprouted not a single hair, his bald head glowing in the sunlight. He stood a bit hunched over, his thin body appearing rather fragile, his eyes the palest blue Sarah had ever seen.
“Angus!” Keir exclaimed and strode forward, then he embraced the man warmly, almost knocking him off his feet. “’Tis good to see ye!”
Angus looked up at him, a wide, rather toothless grin upon his weathered face. “Have ye finally found yer way home, lad? Took ye some time! We thought ye got lost down there!” Then his gaze shifted, and he looked past Keir at the rest of them. “Ye seem to have brought an entire household, dear lad.” He slapped Keir’s arm good-naturedly, a deep chuckle rumbling in his throat. “Dunna mind me saying so, but ye’ll cause a bit of a stir!”
Keir nodded knowingly when they all turned at the sound of the carriage drawing to a halt nearby. Mr. Garner swept his gaze over the stretch of beach, the minuscule village as well as what he might suppose lay beyond. Then he jumped down and opened the door, offering Kate his arm to help her alight from the carriage.
Angus chuckled. “How many more are coming?” He grinned up at Keir. “I assume ye wish for me to send word to yer father. Looks as though ye be needing a boat.”
