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"Can he write, Sassenach?" Jaress

"Write? Write what?" I asked in surprise, but he was already reaching past -desk he carried when traveling

"Love letters?" Ja down at er, who caught it neatly in his arms, even as I yelped in protest "But perhaps before ye coht oblige me wi’ the tale of how our er stood stock-still for a ave Jaun while the camp was set up, paused to eat supper, and then taken up the task again It was tiresome work, and very slow; the fractures were mostly healed, but his hands were very stiff, sore, and aard He had dropped the quill a dozen tier-joints ache just to watch hi out a pan with a handful of rushes and sand, to find Brianna locked in mortal combat with her son, as arched backward like a bow over her ar fuss that makes even devoted parents er’s shoulders draw up toward his ears at the racket, but he went doggedly on with his writing

"What is the matter with you?" Bree demanded crossly She knelt and wrestled Je to ht

The diaper in question washalfway down the little boy’s legs Jeon, had wakened sun-dazed, cranky, and in no ed and put to bed

"Perhaps he isn’t tired yet," I suggested "He’s eaten, though, hasn’t he?" This was a rhetorical question; Je, and he had bits of eggy toast in his hair

"Yes" Bree ran a hand through her own hair, which was cleaner, but no less disheveled Jem wasn’t the only cranky one in the MacKenzie family "Maybe he’s not tired, but I aonslopes So had I

"Leave hio have a wash, why don’t you?" I said, nobly suppressing a yawn I picked up a large wooden spoon and waggled it alluringly toward Je backward and forward on his hands and knees, e the spoon, he stoppedsuspiciously

I added an eround near hih; he rolled onto his bottoan trying to pound the cup into the dirt with it

Bree cast ratitude, scra down the slope to the small creek A quick rinse in cold water, surrounded by dark forest, wasn’t quite the sybaritic escape that a fragrant bubble-bath by candlelight ht be--but "escape" was the important word here A little solitude worked wonders for a mother, as I knew froodliness, having clean feet, face, and hands definitely improved one’s outlook on the universe, particularly after a day of sweat, grime, and dirty diapers

I exa, fire-starting, cooking, and pot-scouring, my own outlook on the universe could stand a bit of improvement, too

Still, water was not the only liquid capable of lifting one’s spirits Ja into my hands, and sat down beside hean donn," he said softly, s at me as he lifted his cup in salute

"Mrant furave;inte,’ if it isn’t whisky you’re drinking?" The liquid in the cup ine--and a nice one, too, rough but with a good round flavor, redolent of sun and grape leaves

"I canna see why not," Jaood health, after all"

"True, but I think ‘Good Health’ urative one, at least with so survives the experience of drinking it, Iin a yet, Sassenach"

"I didn’tfor another sip "Oh, that’s nice I was thinking of those three iment" The three in question had been found blind-drunk--in one case, literally blind--by a sentry, after having indulged in a bottle of so-called whisky, obtained froeon, and ere camped next to theht to deal with the matter, as best I could All three ht in one eye and another plainly had h privately, I had ent he could have been to start with

Jaed Drunkenness was a si a seo, a chuisle!" he called, seeing Je off on hands and knees toward the coffeepot, which had been left to keep hot between the stones of the fire-ring Jeer by Toed hi, to Ja for a response, parked the child on the ground and handed hi craftily frorandfather to the fire

"Throw that in the fire, a chuisle, and I’ll smack your bum," Jamie informed him pleasantly Je drah