Alasdair left the forge room then, motioning for her and Tal and Megan to follow him outside.

Tal didn’t let go of her and Megan, and he caught Uen when he ran up and brought him along.

It was a good thing she had Tal near her when she got outside, because Jaelle stood there hugging a woman her age that Deirdre felt certain she had never seen before.

As soon as Jaelle saw that Deirdre and her family were well, the strain left her face and she gestured excitedly to the stranger.

“This is my friend Lauren. She’s from my time. Alasdair brought her!”

Deirdre waved, unsure what to say.

Tal waved as well, but he kept heading to the main door of the broch, and Deirdre agreed. They needed some privacy to get to know their daughter. She blissfully allowed Tal to tug her toward the broch, gazing into Megan’s lovely face and vaguely aware of Jaelle and her friend talking to each other excitedly.

Lauren sounded pleased with herself.

"Yes I'm still in touch with John and Jeffrey. In fact, Jeffrey asked me only last month of I wanted to get back together. Can you believe that?"

Jaelle sounded amazed.

"Lauren, that's wonderful!"

Lauren tsked.

"Ha! Maybe it is wonderful, but I told him no, absolutely not."

Jaelle sounded as if she didn't know where the conversation was heading when she'd been sure she had.

"But I thought you wanted to be with Jeffrey?"

Lauren was laughing now, a deep gut laugh that said that she was wiser now after living under a misconception for years.

"I wanted to be with Jeffrey for the same reasons you wanted to be with John. We both saw how that turned out. No way am I going to hang around and see if Jeffrey pulls a Drest. We don't need John or Jeffrey anymore. Didn’t you say that yourself a year ago?"

Now Jaelle sounded like she felt sorry for her friend and needed to make sure her friend understood something important.

"Yeah, I did, but Lauren, I had the helmet John left behind, that would allow me to time travel." And then she sounded a little bit hopeful. "Or did Jeffrey leave something behind that you could use to time travel too?"

Lauren had moved over next to Deirdre as she stood at the door of the broch waiting patiently for Tal to quit visiting with Lossio.

Lauren must want to see the baby.

But having only just been saved from certain death, the baby was very precious to Deirdre. She could only bring herself to turn around so that Lauren could see where Megan was cradled against Deirdre's chest.

That will have to do. A glimpse is better than nothing.

But then Deirdre noticed that Lauren wasn’t looking at Megan at all.

No, Lauren was looking down toward Deirdre's right thigh. More specifically, she was looking at something that dangled against Deirdre's right thigh. The spot where Deirdre had automatically sheathed Galdus after Alasdair calmed the sword and saved everyone.

Alasdair's voice was so reasonable, so matter-of-fact. So nonthreatening and with such a sound of peace and reassurance in it.

"Wull Deirdre, by all accounts ye are finished adventuring with Galdus. Ye hae a wonderful life ye hae made for yerself here: a loving husband in Talorac, two beautiful bairns in Uen and Megan, and more wonderful bairns tae come in the future. Ye hae a good friend in Nyla, a loving extended family in Breth and Jaelle and their bairns, and a whole clan — nay, ten whole clans plus some Gaels — who hae accepted ye and who look up tae ye and respect ye as a warrior. The Picts hae even managed tae make the Romans buy peace, and I assure ye that peace will last the rest o yer lifetime — if only just.”

Alasdair smiled at her, and his face was patient and kind.

“Sae unhitch Galdus from yer belt. There we go. Hold him out in front o ye. That's right. Let Lauren here hae Galdus for company."

And that’s what Deirdre did.

!

Jessica and Catherine’s friend Lauren sure was big on Scotland. She had gotten their boss to move the company’s demo here, and now she was spending a thousand pounds on handmade cloaks for the three of them to wear on a tour of the nearby ruins. Did she expect to be greeted there by kilted highlanders, or what?