They watched her for a moment before John asked quietly in Gaelic, “Do you think they’ll let you stay?” Euan shrugged and replied, also in Gaelic, “I don’t know. I hope so. I want to be with my children.” “And their mother as well?” John asked. Euan looked at Callie, who was looking out the window at the bonfire. “Aye,” he said. “More than anything. Seeing her again made me realize…” He gestured with his hands and John nodded in understanding. “She’s the heart of your heart,” John replied. “If you get another chance with her, don’t ruin it.” Callie heard the conversation but was too distracted by her own thoughts to remember enough Gaelic to decipher any of it. She was nervous, worried, angry, and afraid. The future for herself and her children was being decided for her, never mind that this was the twenty-first century and not the twelfth. She wondered if she could pack up and leave, but where would she go with two small children and no skills of any use anywhere except in the wilderness or on a farm?
