Triallaire

Nightfall

Featured Gaelic and Pronunciations:

Mo nighean loidsear (moh nee-yehn loy-cheh) - my sweet lass

Thig an seo (hig ahn show) - come here

Bi làidir (bee lah-cheh) - be strong

Bi crodha (bee kroh-uhd) - be brave

Mo leanaban (moh yehn-ah-behn) - my babies

↞~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~↠

25 September, 1751

Cill Míde, Ireland

CAILEAN POV

For the last few days, Cailean had been stirring up trouble throughout Ireland, spreading rumours of the appearance of the Black Fowlis away from Cill Míde in hopes of luring the English away from there. He hid in the woods until nightfall, having been watching the English that were camped outside of his house closely. Climbing up into a tree, Cailean fired a pistol, alerting the English to a presence in the woods. "Go have a look, then!" shouted one of the soldiers to the other two, and two of them went towards the woods. Once they had passed, Cailean leapt down from the tree, running towards the back of the house as quickly as he could. Finding a candlelight in one of the rooms upstairs, Cailean scaled the tree outside of it until he could lightly tap on the window. The window opened, and Saoirse's capped head popped out, letting out a gasp when she saw her husband outside balancing on a branch.

" Ist! Ye'll alert them," Cailean hissed at her, and she stepped aside to allow him to climb into the room. Once Cailean was inside, Saoirse threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Oh, thank Mother Mary yer alive," she said quietly, and Cailean returned her embrace, kissing his wife's blonde hair before breaking the embrace to kiss her for real. He hadn't seen her since February, and holding her in his arms now, he wanted her badly .

"Ye've no idea how much I want ye, but there's no time. We have te leave," Cailean said to her, leaving the bedroom to find another window to spy on the English.

"Leave? Wait, Cailean! Where are Catrìona and Jamie?" Saorise asked him, following him with a lit candlestick.

"Jamie took her back te Scotland. Someone saw us and identified us as the Jacobite criminals te the English, tha's why they're here," Cailean replied, moving towards one of the bedrooms, where the children were sleeping.

"Jacobite criminals?" Saoirse asked as she followed him.

"Aye, didnae I tell ye? I'm the Black Fowlis," Cailean told her. "Jamie is Red Jamie and Catrìona is the Red Witch."

"Um... No, that's somethin' ye failed to mention," Saoirse replied. "What are ye doing? You'll wake the children!"

"We're goin' back te Barra. I promised Cat I'd see her children there," said Cailean as he entered the nursery. Archie, who evidently had been awake, poked his head up the moment the door opened, flooding the room with light, and he gasped.

"Uncle Cailean!" Archie exclaimed, jumping out of bed and running to his uncle to hug him. "Are Mama and Da with ye, too?"

"No, laddie, but we're goin' back home te see Grandda, isnae that great?" Cailean said to him as Archie pulled away from him.

"But... But Mama..." he said, starting to sniffle, and Cailean quickly wiped his tears from his eyes.

"Dinnae fash, laddie, ye'll see them soon. Daddy had te take Mama te a different place. Ye want yer Mama safe, dinnae ye?" Cailean asked him, Archie sniffled and nodded. "Tha's a good lad, no tears, now. As yer Da said, ye have te be strong fer yer wee sister, and yer cousins, too. Yer the auldest. If yer cryin', so will they, so chin up and be strong, all right?" Archie nodded again as Cailean affectionately squeezed his shoulders. "Good lad. Get dressed now, a ghille ruadh , while I wake yer sister and cousins." He kissed Archie's red curls before moving next to the bed that contained Brèagha.