Lochlainneach

The Laird of Cìosamul

Featured Gaelic and Pronunciations:

- tha mi cho air-bhiorran (hah mee hoh ehr vihr-ehn) - I am so excited

- Nighean mo mhic (nee-yehn moh vihk) - my granddaughter

- A sheanmhair (ah shehn-eh-vehd) - grandmother (speaking to)

- Eubha (eeh-vah) - Gaelic form of Eve

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8 May, 1746

Castlebay, Isle of Barra, Scotland

Alasdair listened to the story of my journey over the last few weeks, nodding his head every now and then and asking questions. I told him about Culloden, and how Jamie had tried to send Archie and I through the stones, but it did not work. "It may no' have been the right day, I dinnae ken. I came through first on Beltane - the first of May - and it was the sixteenth of April," I had said to him.

"Ah, and the day has passed already. Is there another day, perhaps?" he asked me.

"Maybe Samhain... Cailean said he went through the stones near Berwick on Samhain," I told him.

"Then I'll get ye te the stones then. I'll see ye safe," Alasdair told me, taking a sip from a tankard.

"No, ye willnae! I'm no' goin' near those bloody stones again," I told him. "Ye dinnae ken how frightenin' they are... I cannae go through that again."

"I see," Alasdair replied. "The stones never called out te me, but yer father said they would scream. He never talked aboot what happened when he went through."

"I dinnae want te speak of it, either," I said to him, glancing down at Magda, who made a small noise in my arms. "This wee bairn... She isnae mine. I met a woman near Kingussie when I was travellin'. She was pregnant, and she died in childbirth. I would care fer her, but... I'm expectin', too." At this, Alasdair's eyebrows raised.

"Yer with child?" he asked, and I nodded.

"It'll be hard enough carin' fer Archie and this bairn," I told him.

"I'll see te her. There's a family near here, just lost their sixth bairn. They'll be glad te have one," he told me. "A friend of mine, Douglas MacNeil, and his wife have been tryin' fer years, but all their bairns seem te die."

"Mrs. MacNeil sounds like she'd be the perfect mother fer this wee lass," I said to him.

"So ye couldnae pass through the stones, so ye came here... What reason did ye come?" Alasdair asked me suddenly.

"Ye told me I'd always have a home with ye, and I lost mine... I thought perhaps, I would be safe here, as would Archie, and this weeun," I told him. "I also thought tha', maybe... my grandsire would accept me."

"He's had a lot of lads and lasses over the years claim te be his kin. I hope I can speak te him, get him te see reason. I believe ye are who ye say ye are, and I'm certain he will, too," Alasdair told me.

"Oh, Uncle! There ye are!" I heard the voice of a young woman exclaim, and both Alasdair and I looked up to see a young ginger-haired woman approach us. "Mam sent me te find ye. She says she needs help mendin' the roof."

"Tell her I'll be by tomorrow, I've important business te tend to," Alasdair said to her. "Oh, forgive me! Liúsaidh, I'd like ye te meet yer cousin, Catrìona Fowlis Fraser."