The slipper appeared again, followed by a skirt-clad leg. Then Sophia’s mother stepped through the portal. She brushed the mist away like puffs of smoke and stopped as she entered the land of the fae. She looked around, crossed her arms beneath her breasts, and just breathed. She looked from hill to dale, from the church to the cemetery, from the Assembly Hall to the rows of houses she could see in the middle of town.
“Welcome home,” Grandfather said. He couldn’t rise. He was simply too overcome by emotion.
Sophia’s mother stopped and stared at him. “Papa?” she asked.
“Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me,” he said with a self-deprecating chuckle.
“Of course, I recognize
you,” she said, as her eyes welled with tears. But then she looked back toward the mist. “What shall I do about the others?”
“What others?” Sophia asked as she stepped forward. Her heart leapt. “Do you mean Ronald?”
Ronald stepped up to stand beside her mother, his hand holding on to a slim arm. Lady Anne stepped through the portal and into the land of the fae. She looked around at her surroundings, taking them in quickly. The sun shone off her pretty blond hair, and she smiled broadly when she saw Sophia and ran toward her. Sophia swept the girl into her arms and spun in a circle with her.
Lady Anne pulled back and looked at her. She bent her head and whispered to Sophia, “My papa is in the mist. And your papa is in the mist.” She covered a giggle. “And they don’t have any clothes.”
“No clothes,” Sophia repeated.
“They traded their clothing for passage,” Ronald explained.
“How gallant of them,” the oldest of the Trusted Few said.
The mist began to thin. “We had better find something for them to wear before the mist dissipates completely.” Sophia snapped her fingers at a serving maid, who ran toward the house.
Sophia started toward the mist. “Ashley?” she called. She was dying to see him, to put her arms around him.
“Sophie?” he returned, but it sounded like he was fathoms away.
“Walk toward my voice,” she urged.
“I’ve been walking toward your voice since the day I met you,” he said with a laugh. “But in this instance, it’s better if I wait for some clothes.”
“If you don’t wait, I’ll have to call him out,” her father called back. “Can’t have my little girl seeing him naked.”
Ronald whistled a tune softly as he kicked a stone with the toe of his boot while looking askance at everyone.
“Shut it, Ronald,” both men called from the fog.
“Wrap yourself in the fog,” Sophia called.
“What?” they both called back at the same time.
“It’s magical. It can be whatever you want it to be. So, grab it and wrap it about yourself.”
***
Suddenly, both men appeared from the mist, wrapped in fog from the waist down. “You do know how to make an appearance, don’t you?” Sophia teased as she walked toward Ashley. He nodded quickly toward her father and made eye motions at her, as though beseeching her to greet her father first.
Following that cue, she went to her father and held out her hand. “Papa,” she said, as she squeezed her hand in his. But he suddenly dragged her into his arms and hugged her quickly, then set her away from him. He looked down at his own naked chest.
“I believe we’re a bit underdressed,” he said.
“A wee bit,” Sophia confirmed with a laugh. She turned to look at Ashley, but her father caught her chin and turned her back. “That’s a bit too intimate for me.” He held up both hands as though in surrender. “I’m willing to give on a lot of things, but this is not one of them.”
Suddenly, Margaret appeared with clothing for them both, and held it out to Sophia and her mother so they could give them to the men. Sophia tossed a shirt to Ashley, winking at him as she did so. God, he loved her. And he couldn’t wait to touch her. It had only been a day since he’d held her, but he felt like it was a lifetime.
He stepped back into the mist, donned trousers that were a bit too short, and pulled a shirt over his head. After he tucked it into his trousers quickly and stepped back out of the mist, he ran to Sophia and pulled her into his arms.