Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“What if she chooses poorly?” he asked.
“We will teach her well and she will choose well,” Flora said with confidence. “Just as I did.”
Torin grinned. “That is because you chose an exceptionally wise man.”
“Aye, and without even knowing it,” she said with a chuckle and scooped up the basket of nettles.
Torin kept an easy pace as his wife walked alongside him through the woods to return home.
“Now, Alina, listen well so you know,” Flora directed her daughter, who turned wide eyes on her mum and remained silent. “That tree—” She pointed to the one Alina had asked her da about. “Is an oak, a mighty sacred tree here in the Highlands that helps us in many ways and which you will learn all about. The violet blue flower you pointed to is a bluebell and, along with the wind flower, are the first to blossom in the spring in the Highlands. If you are lucky enough to spot a white bluebell, then it is where a fairy has been.”
Alina clapped her hands and twisted her head to look around. “See fairy.”
“Fairies only show themselves to those who they choose,” Flora said.
Torin loved that his wife had come to learn about the Highlands and its myths and beliefs and that she was passing them on to their children along with her own learned knowledge.
Flora pointed up. “The clouds—”
“Pretty,” Alina exclaimed, tossing her head back to stare up at them and Torin quickly tightening his hold on her.
“Aye, they are pretty, Alina, but you must learn that when they change colors, light to dark gray, they warn us of a possible rainstorm or snowfall depending on the season.”
Alina raised her head and clasp her da’s cheeks in her tiny hands. “Snowballs.”
Torin smiled, having taught his daughter how to make and throw snowballs this past winter and having had a wonderful time with her.
Flora carefully plucked a plant from the basket she carried. “This daughter,” she said, waving it at her. “Is a nettle. The young sprouts are the best and make a good brew as well as a delicious soup. It also is a plant that helps heal various discomforts or illnesses, but Iona will teach you about that.”
“Wah dat, Mummy?” Alina asked, pointing.
Torin smiled as his wife continued to explain in detail and with patience everything his daughter pointed to. He even had come to learn things he never knew. One thing he did know, was positive about, was that he had not only a chatty wife but a chatty daughter as well and he loved them beyond belief, and he loved—to his amazement—to hear them chatter.
The end… but don’t miss Fia’s story
The Legendary Highlander