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The Cunninghams |
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Date: 01-21-09 Serious Family Talk The time had
come to finally call a meeting of his family now that they were all
in one place. Time seemed to slip away far too easily as life took
it up with challenges and everyday things. There was always one of
them not available, sometimes more. This night, however, the four of
them were not only in the lands but under the one roof. So after the
dinner was enjoyed, he asked them to meet with him
in his office at an hours time. No other plans were to be
made and only way it would be held off was if some huge dire
emergency came up. The family meeting was long overdue after finally
all being reunited. He was in the spacious room that had become his
office, standing in front of one of the windows looking out. Big man
blocked what little light was still offered as dusk was settling in.
Hands tucked behind his back, he was enjoying the sight of the snow
falling. The crackle of the logs burning in the hearth a backdrop of
warmth in defiance to the cold outside. It also gave him a moment to
let his mind go blank, so much had to be addressed and he knew no
prepared speech could touch it properly anyway. And so he waited,
comfortably attired in a woolen vest of dark brown over a tan poet's
shirt, brown pants and boots of a lighter shade. A passing glance was given his cousins-siblings before a nod, he took the moment to set his empty glass next to the bottle of potcheen. "You remember Da telling you of his brother that was lost at sea along with his wife and son, Broch?" Though posed as a question he knew from some of the lingering memories within his cousin's body that such had been. Those lingering memories had served him well in fitting within the body of his namesake and that of his father. "The lad survived and ended up on England's shores an orphan but with a will to survive. Around nine years old and with a cunning nature he managed. Slept in hovels, alleyways behind garbage bins. Some gave him coins but most food he stole. He became good at surviving and stealing that he attracted a man's attention that employed, using the term lightly, boys to steal for him. He offered shelter and protection, the latter being very questionable." Giving a wave of his hand as he could be here all night if got sidetracked to particulars. "He had been a good laddie up until fate changed his destiny, loved his parents and now bitter against the world and life itself for taking them from him. He grew into an angry man one with skills above the average. With this older man they stole from the elite as well the middle class. He sent Broch on his final mission to these very lands in disguise of an older, long lost brother of the Frasier Clan. He nearly got away with it if it wasn't for his lusting of women, a womanizer amongst all his other sins. He was killed but neither heaven nor hell didn't open up to him. There had been enough good to balance the bad and so he was offered redemption. He had to go back and help the Frasier family as an earthbound entity," another name for a ghost, "and save the little girl from an evil on the ethereal level. One he was upon himself and could fight there. He won that battle but that little piece of heaven he hoped for didn't come just yet. Instead he found himself back in the highlands of Eire in spirit form still." He decided not to tell the part on their brother trying to end his life for it was only a moment of anguish such an idea had come and not the true strength of the man. "It was here he ran into your brother Broch. A man discouraged after losing his family, brothers and sister and then his wife Maureen he had loved more than life itself. There is only so much a heart can endure in this life and his had maxed out. He could see the spirit Broch, his cousin who was a mirror image in looks although ten years his senior at the time of his death. He had been named after the lost uncle and cousin. The spirit
Broch helped him defeat another warring clan but your brother was
wounded very badly in this battle and couldn't be found for the
terrain it had covered. He had lifted from his body and Maureen
came to him. He was at that borderline between life and death, had
he the will to live he would survive. He didn't have this will
especially seeing his Maureen again. It was she that told him his
siblings were alive. He could stay and try to find you or, as a
higher suggestion was made by ones unseen even to me, he
could allow his cousin, myself, to take over his body and he
go with Maureen. I was asked to find you, to bring you together
once more as a family if I too accepted this rare offer. It would
give me back the life I should have led, to lead it out as he
would have done and one day collect that redemption offered,
earned this time in due course of living. Darkness fell like night
descends and when I awoke I was in excruciating pain. A woman had
come and taken me away deep into the woods to care for me until I
was well. Leaving the clan to think their Laird had
died, for in essence your brother had and I was not to stay as
Laird of the clan. It was to go to another cousin whom was
deserving to lead." They may well notice how his story went
from addressing the cousin as a third person to first person by
the end of the tale. "I am your cousin Broch in your
brother's body." He waited now with a held breath to see how
they responded. It could go so many ways but he was As
the saying goes, best to let sleeping dogs lie. I am not a threat
to them and would only help like I last had. I debated to tell you
all, for I could have just gone along as your brother and none the
wiser to the full truth of it. My conscience nagged at me enough I
felt it knew better that I was to tell you no matter the reaction.
Something about honesty and the right to know the truth. I have
many memories of before the clan uprisings that separated you
all. Some are more hazy than others and near all of those on
Maureen are wiped out other than how true and deep his love was
for her. I feel I can say on your brother's behalf that he loves
you all and will always, hoping you can understand that it was his
time to go and be where his heart was. Each of you will hopefully
one day have the kind of love your brother had. Each of you will
have your own lives to live and know that there is life after
death, perhaps even moreso than living in this temporary
condition." -e- |
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Date: 02-03-09 Dinner Bet She
finally got around to preparing a dinner for Broch. And the Dining
room at the Thistle provided the room she needed. She was already
there, had been for a little bit to make sure everything was all
set. Two tables had to be pulled together and there was a lacy
tablecloth spread over each. What took the longest was setting the
food out. She promised a dinner, which should have been a simple
matter. She promised a dinner, but surely he didn't expect to walk
into a grand feast. There were platters all over the place. Salads,
soup, quail with pepper sauce, veal, chicken and vegetable dishes in
the mix of breads and a few items for dessert. There were candles
lit, too. She'd finished placing the silverware and she checked the
champagne, in a bucket of ice, to make sure it was chilled enough
for a decent taste. Satisfied, now it was just waiting. She wore a
dress of crushed velvet, a shimmering emerald green that laced up
her back. It wasn't full, if anything, it gave way to more of her..
shape than anything else she owned had. Her hair was down, wavy and
swept behind her shoulders. She paced the floors, nervously, as she
waited. "One
o' a goddess, t'ere bae nae Earthly dessert tae compare." He
waited for her to draw the plates closer. The hand that still rested
at the back of her neck had fingers stroking in against the skin
below until she leaned forward and allowed to slip down her back.
Thumb in against her spine in a soothing way before settled around
her hip. He planned on continuing the meal same as they had started
out. So he would be offering her the next bit of food, accepting
bits from her and sharing the champagne as well. "Aye, we dae.
Means time taegether fir I never consume m'meal tae fast, but
savor." Usually, in the reality of it, implying more as was the
usual between them. There were the exceptions when on the run after
an enemy to eat quickly when they could. "Iffin I become fat,
yea best 'ave a plan fir me tae work it off." After all,
if she made him fat it would be her duty. Ah, but the implications
once again and steadfast where his eyes upon hers as waited her
response. -e- |
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Date: 02-14-09 Valentine Broch was
sitting at a table near one of the front windows. Lazed back in his
chair while he enjoyed a tankard of ale after a good meal. Dressed in
a ribbed tunic of dark green over a cream color poet's shirt, black
pants and leather boots cuffed off just below his knees. Hair was tied
back even with the warrior braids intermingled, a neater appearance.
On the table was a fine crystal vase holding a dozen red roses, ferns
and baby's breath. A red bow of satin whose tails curled down to rest
over another box wrapped in red. Fire crackled in the hearth coupled
with the only other sounds of the cuckoo clock over the mantle ticking
away and Alex putting away the clean glasses to hang over the
bar. -e- |
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Date: 10-26-09 Gifts
Purchased |
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Date: 10-26-09 |
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Teaghlach
Manor |
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before
making her way to the window to peer out again. A stranger might think
it an early celebration of Thanksgiving, and in a way it was. Every time
her brothers returned from a dangerous job, she celebrated and this time
even more since Broch had gone with them. The moon was plump and full
tonight, illuminating the estate with silver and she smiled and offered
her silent thanks again. |
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Date: 11-12-09 Finally
to Court |
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Date: 11-15-09 Sharing
Good News |
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Date: 11-17-09 Tracking
Down a Friend |
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Date: 12-11-09 The
Visit |
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