Page 56 of A Keeper of Time

“Evanore called me Joseph. I’m sure she’d be surprised to know it was my real name.” His eyes were alight with the humor of it.

Edna couldn’t help but laugh. “Joseph it is then. Help yerself to whatever food suits yer fancy.”

“I’ve never sat at a table like this before,” he said. Edna watched as he scanned the table deciding what to take. He slowly loaded his plate with one of everything that was within his reach. Edna filled his goblet with ale and delighted in watching him enjoy himself.

“Have ye found another one to adopt,” Angus whispered in her ear.

“I believe so,” Edna replied.

He put an arm around her waist, pulling her close enough to plant a kiss on her cheek. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from ye, love.”

“Oh, no!” Edna put her hand to her lips.

“What’s wrong?” Angus asked, his voice filled with worry.

“William!” She looked over to Joseph who was completely unaware of anything going on around him.

“Who’s William?” Angus asked.

“The cat. Joseph did ye see William?” Edna asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Joseph replied between forkfuls of food.

“She took him with her. Poor baby.” Edna could cry. She wanted to take William with her. He’d been such a help and it was clear Evanore didn’t really want him. “I just hope she takes good care of him.” Edna’s mood went from happy to sad in the blink of an eye.

“Maybe he escaped. We’ll search for him before we go back home.” Angus assured her. “Will that make ye happy?”

He was so sweet and thoughtful. How could she not smile about that? “Aye. We’ll look.” For William’s sake she hoped he had escaped, but that brought a whole new set of worries. If they couldn’t find him how would he survive?

***

After everyone had eaten their fill they gathered together around the fire. Edna instructed Maggie to once again contact those stuck in San Francisco so they could all speak to their spouses.

With the fire blazing, Maggie went to work while everyone else sat around her.

“Maggie?” Zeke’s voice and face appeared.

“Zeke!” Brenna shrieked.

She was so excited that Dougall had to hold her back so she wouldn’t burn herself in the fire.

“Brenna! Are you okay? I miss you so much.” His voice was strong, his happiness at seeing his wife coming through clearly. .

“Zeke! I want to come home. It’s been so difficult without ye.”

“What’s going on? Is it any clearer why we’ve been separated?” he asked.

“It’s a long story, Zeke. She’ll tell ye all about it when she gets back home,” Maggie interrupted. “Are Ashley, Jenna and Sara there?”

“Yes. Ladies!” he called. “I think you’ll want to see this.”

Shrieks of joy erupted from all of them as they spotted their husbands gathered around Maggie.

“Cailin!” Ashley cried.

“Ashley, love! I miss ye. We’ll be together soon I hope,” Cailin said.

“When?” Jenna asked.