Iraced Dràgon through the dense underbrush. I caught up tae Archie and Ben, and rode right behind Chef Zach. I yelled over m’shoulder, “Fraoch, are they chasin’ us?”
He dinna answer.
I yelled, “Archie, pull tae the side! I want ye on m’horse! Ben get on yer Da’s!”
They pulled their horse to the side.
All around us men on foot or on horseback were barreling through the trees, running and stumbling and careening and passing us by.
I grasped hold of the boys’ horse’s reins. “Archie hold on, Zach, pull Ben tae yer horse.”
Zach dragged Ben from one horse tae the other.
“Now, Archie, cross tae me.” His face was streaked with rain, dirt, and tears as he dove intae my arms. After a quick hug I helped him turn and sit in front of me as Fraoch pulled his horse up beside us. “They arna followin’! But it looks like a storm behind us!”
“How many men did we lose…?”
“I canna tell.”
“Are they followin’?”
“It daena seem like it, but they are time travelin’, we hae tae go.”
Suddenly a man came crashing through the trees toward us, on foot.
Fraoch brought his horse between us, and said, “Och nae, tis William Wallace.”
When he saw who we were, Wallace dropped tae his knees. “Mag Mòr, I beg yer forgiveness…” He was out of breath, struggling tae speak. “I dinna ken… och nae!”
Fraoch said, “Lose yer sword.”
Wallace pulled his sword from its sheath and tossed it in front of him. “From this moment forward I will only draw m’sword for Mag Mòr, the rightful King of Scots.”
Fraoch asked, “What should we do with him, Og Maggy?”
I said, “Wallace, ye dinna cross the tent when given the chance — how dost I ken ye are bein’ truthful now?”
He said, “I will go back and fight, I will kill the man who ordered yer brother tae be killed or I will die fighting?—”
“Dost ye ken the name of this man?”
“Aye, twas Asgall, he is villainous and contemptible.”
Fraoch said, “And he has the ear of the English King...”
“Asgall is armin’ him.”
Chef Zach said, “Damn, that’s dire.”
I said, “I must get tae the castle.”
He said, “They are already headed that way. If ye let me come with ye, I will lay down m’life tae protect ye.”
I said, “Fraoch, what dost ye think?”
Fraoch climbed down from his horse, stalked over, and punched Wallace hard in the face.
Wallace fell over.
