#tffr

“Mandy was upset that she couldna come,” Jem said, reaching down to pick up a small thin branch. They were half way to the creek, and Jamie was leading the way.

“Aye, she was,” Jamie agreed. “Yer grandma Claire will let her play in her garden though, she’ll be fine, I reckon. Sometimes ye need to do things just wi’ the lads,” he grinned down at them.

“When we get there, can we swim?” Germain asked. He was twelve years old now, and growing quickly. Even though he wasn’t technically Jamie’s own blood, the boy was likely to grow another foot or two, catching up to Jamie’s height.

“Aye,” Jamie nodded. “Tis a good day for it.”

The three of them trudged through the woods, every now and then pausing so one of the boys could pick up a fallen branch. By the time they reached the creek, they’d picked up several sizable branches, simply waving them back and forth.

“Will the two of ye tell me why ye’ve collected so many wee twigs?” Jamie asked, laughing as he looked between the two.

“We need the right branch to sword fight, Grandda,” Jem said plainly and brandished his “sword”, nearly poking Jamie in the chest.

“Ah,” Jamie said. Looking around, he spotted a decent sized branch, one as long as his arm and wielded it. “I dinna suppose ye lads would like a duel?”

Germain and Jem both faced Jamie, holding up their “swords”, grinning from ear to ear.

“I lived in Paris for a time wi’ yer Grandma, and duelin’ wasna allowed,” Jamie said and instantly regretted it — memories of his duel with Black Jack came to the surface, and the painful reminder of what happened next.

“But you dueled anyway?” Germian asked and tried to take a swing at Jamie who crashed his branch against the boys’.

“Aye, and I got sent to the Bastille!” Jamie said and lunged, knocking Germain’s branch out of his hand. “Pick it up again, lad.”

“Have you ever won a duel?” Jem asked, slashing his stick against Jamie’s.

“Many of them,” Jamie grinned proudly. “But I’m left handed ye ken,” Jamie waved his left arm, holding the stick. “And so I’ve learned to fight wi’ both arms, but I prefer the left.”

Jamie struck out with the stick, hitting first Jem’s then Germain’s. They “dueled”, spinning in circles until finally Jamie fell back on a log and both boys attacked. He was whacked on the legs and pronounced dead.

“I surrender!” Jamie shouted, throwing up both hands.

“Ye canna surrender if yer dead, Grandda,” Jem said matter of factly and then laughed.

Jamie sat up, wiping off leaves from his arms and then rose to stand.

“Have ye boys ever skipped stones?” He asked them.

“No, what is it?” Germain asked.

Jamie found the stone he was looking for, not too big and oval, smooth — perfect for skipping across the water.

“Tis a bit tricky, and works best on still waters, but ye’ll see a ripple,” he said to the boys and walked over to the edge of the water. In one sharp movement, he flicked his wrist and sent the stone flying over the water, making dents on the surface.

“Wow!” The boys said in unison.

“Ye want to try?” Jamie asked them and both boys nodded enthusiastically. “Och, we need to get the right kind of stone. One that’s smooth and flat.”

“Like this?” Jem asked, holding up a stone.

“That’ll do,” Jamie nodded.

Once Germain found a stone that was suitable, Jamie knelt down in between them, showing them how to skip the stone. He did the motion of flicking his wrist over and over again, explaining how it was important to have the right angle to make it ripple across the water.

“Go on and give it a try,” Jamie told them.

Germain went first, and the stone simply drifted down to the bottom of the creek. Jamie put his hand on the boys shoulder, squeezing it firmly. “Ah, dinna fash lad. It took me weeks of practice when I was yer age.”

“My turn,” Jem said, and doing as Jamie had told, flicked his wrist and surprisingly the stone bounced once before sinking below. “I did it!”

“Aye!” Jamie shouted, smiling as he patted him on the back. “Tis a start to be sure. All it take is repeating what I taught ye over and over again, and in no time ye’ll both be able to skip stones.”

“Can me and Germain stay here and practice a little longer?” Jem begged, tugging on Jamie’s arm.

“Aye, but I’m stayin’ too,” Jamie rubbed his hand over Jem’s head. “I dinna want to leave ye boys out here alone. No’ wi’ the wild beasts that have been runnin’ around lately. Keep practicing, I’ll go and find me a nice tree to sit by.”

“Okay,” Jem said before racing off with Germain in search of more stones.

Chuckling to himself, Jamie picked up a small stick by his feet and made his way over to a nearby tree that would give him clear vision of the young boys. It wasn’t that they weren’t capable of taking care of themselves to be left alone — God knows that Jamie got up to all kinds of things on his own at their age. But, it was dangerous out here, and Jamie didn’t want to risk anything.

Pulling out his knife, Jamie began to whittle the end of the stick he hand in his hands. He wasn’t trying to make anything, mostly just sharpening the end of the wood.

The boys shrieked and hollered from across the creek, now taking turns to jump across from one side to the other.

A rustle of leaves came from behind Jamie, and he turned to see Claire walking towards him, a wrapped up lump in her hands.

“I thought you boys might get hungry,” she said and dropped the lump onto his lap. Claire took a seat beside him, crossing her feet at the ankles.

“Thank ye, Sassenach,” Jamie said and kissed her. “I would have come in just now, but the lads wanted to stay a wee bit longer.”

“It’s alright,” she said and took his hand in hers. “I wanted to see you anyways.”

“Cause tis been so long,” Jamie smiled and kissed her again. “How is wee Mandy? No’ too upset she couldna come along?”

“No, she was fine once I let her practically roll around in the dirty,” Claire laughed. Jamie reached up to touch her cheek, wiping off a bit of dirt. “Guess I was rolling around in it too.”

“Would ye be up for rollin’ around wi’ me later?” Jamie’s brows rose in question and that earned him a smirk from Claire.

“Surely not in the dirt,” she chuckled.

“Dirt, leaves, grass, anywhere I can have ye, Sassenach,” Jamie said softly.

Jem and Germain had spotted their grandmother and came running over, now soaked from the knee down after jumping in the water.

“You can’t keep clean can you?” Claire observed, reaching up to wipe at Jem’s shirt.

“Just a bit of muckin’ around, aye lads?” Jamie stood up and helped Claire to her feet. “We should get back before the sun sets.”

“I’ll race you!” Germain said to Jem and broke out into a run.

Jamie laced his fingers through Claire’s and together they made their way back to the ridge, watching as two of their grandchildren raced ahead.

“Is that what you were like as a boy?” Claire asked him.

“Aye, somethin’ like that,” Jamie smirked. “Twas how me and my brother played as lads. And later how me and Ian got on.”

“I suppose Jem and Germain behave more like brothers,” Claire remarked.

“Just like Ian and I,” Jamie said and Claire’s grip tightened on his arm. “I forget sometimes, ye ken.”

“I know,” Claire said and they stopped on the edge of the house, the boys having gone inside already. “It’s so nice to have Jenny here with us, but that means that she’s not there, not with Ian.”

Jamie’s head fell against Claire’s and he wrapped his arms around her waist. “The bond ye share wi’ yer brother will never leave ye, just as sure I am about the moon stayin’ high in the sky.”

“Of course,” Claire affirmed him. “And you’ll always have those memories, of your brother Willie and of Ian, no one can take those away.”