“Here, ye read it, ye wasted enough time learnin’ t’ read,” she grumbled.

Sofia took a deep breath, biting back a reminder that she was taught to read by the same man her mother had refused, but now was not the time. Her eyes raced down the page, stopping at the laird’s seal at the bottom.

“Well, what’s it say?”

“We must quit by the end of May term,” Sofia whispered, counting the days left in May as she stared at her mother, her chest tightening. “But where are we to go?”

“We don’ have anywhere t’ go.” Whites of her eyes showing, her mother glanced around their cozy home, seeking an answer in some darkened corner. “But surely, the laird doesn’t mean us. It’s only the others—” Her voice resumed its harsh strength. “Your da will be in soon. Let’s get supper on,” she barked, “Haven’t you started the milking yet?”

Sofia took water to her seanair and he squeezed her hand, opening his mouth to thank her, but she put her fingers to his lips. “Don’t try to talk—you’ll only start coughing again,” Sofia begged softly. “Here’s some cheese. I’ll be back after milking. Try to eat? You need to get better, for me.”

He chewed the inside of his lip, his face nearly the shade of his sheets, and valiantly attempted to smile.

“Don’t leave me, Seanair, please,” she whispered, as he dropped off to sleep.
Her next letter from Rob seemed a lifetime away.

 

Sofia Gray, our heroine, has promised she’d wait… but has Robbie forgotten her? Find out in Somewhere Like Home.  Somewhere Like Home will be found in Follow Your Star Home, the Bluestocking Belles’ 2018 holiday anthology, now available on pre-order. Click the link for more information and preorder links!