Page 179 of Moon Craving

remove Una from her position. She kept hoping Una would settle to Abigail as her lady

and start acting accordingly.

In that way, she was very different from her mother, she knew. Sybil would have

had the woman thrown out of the keep and off her husband's lands for such behavior. No

question.

Abigail wondered sometimes if she gave Una so much tolerance because she

could not stand to be like her mother. Was her compassion good for the clan, setting a

positive example of tolerance? Or did her unwillingness to take direct action weaken her

position as lady and therefore the sense of stability in the clan?

She could not decide the answer to these questions and was wishing her sister

were there to advise her when a commotion caught her attention out of the corner of her

eye. She turned to see what was going on and stopped still to stare in shock.

Talorc and Barr were walking with a big, black-haired warrior wearing a dark blue,

green and pale yellow plaid. He had his arm firmly around a much smaller woman holding

a baby.

Abigail rubbed her eyes to make sure they were not deceiving her, but the same

glorious vision showed upon opening them again. Her brain might trick her into thinking

she'd heard her husband's voice, but this had to be real. She wanted it to be so badly, she

ached with it.

Abigail gave a glad cry when she allowed herself to accept the recognition of gold

and brown curls surrounding a beloved face.

Emily!

Abigail popped to her feet and rushed to her sister, dropping her little trowel, her

skirts flying. Emily was running, too, her expression mirroring Abigail's sheer elation.

Abigail threw her arms around the other woman, little one and all.

Kisses on her cheek and a one-armed hug that was hard enough to take Abigail's

breath told her it was true. Her sister was really here. Tears tracked down both their faces

as they grinned at each other.

"I worried I would never see you again," Abigail choked out.

"I knew God would not be so cruel, but I will admit I never considered he would use