Cold All the Way Through, But Warming

Hiking

AN: Well, what better day to post than St. Andrew's Day and Ana's birthday?

Watching Will don his kilt in our room was entertaining, if nothing else. It was a massive spread of plaid that he had laid across the floor, pleating it and passing a belt underneath it. Clad in only his shirt and knee high stockings he laid down and flipped it over his waist. He glared at me from where I was watching, "Ana, this isn't funny. It's a part of me, you know."

"Oh, I know." I mumbled from behind my fingers, trying to hide my smile. "I'm just enjoying the show."

He grunted as he secured the belt around himself. "Why in God's name I have to wear this, when you get away with that," He jerked his chin at my airsedh, once again pleated and secured around my shoulders. "I will never understand."

I extended a hand to help him up. "For once, I'm not the one wearing the most fabric."

"Lass," He surged to his feet, catching me around the waist and spinning me around. "I'll see all that fabric on the floor by the time the day is through."

I chuckled, placing a kiss on his lips. "Is that a threat or a promise?"

"Both." He laughed, setting me back on my feet. "Now, come on, we should get going before Reggie sees me in this. Next thing you know he'll be wanting to iron the damn thing." Will tucked the trailing sides of his plaid up around the skirt of his kilt as he made our way out of the inn and into town.

I glanced around the empty streets, seeing the thin gray light slowly beginning to make itself known. "Or is it because you don't want anyone to see you in your kilt?"

"Oh, they'd hardly care here." Will smiled, his boots tramping along the stone streets and quickly moving us through town. "Although in New York, well, I'm afraid not even you could get me to wear this there."

My own boots were struggling to keep up, my skirt allowing me to take a longer stride than I was used to. "Oh, come now. You can't keep this only for Scotland, I have to be able to see this at home."

His kilt brushed against my own plaid, we had gained the outskirts of the town where the buildings began to fall away and the fields took over. "Ana, you know the papers would love nothing more than to make fun of me."

"And you know I wouldn't allow that." I tossed back, shaking my head for emphasis. "We could hold a costume party and you could come as the Bonnie Prince, they can't say boo about that." His laugh echoed across the hills, which we were slowly making our way into. The land around Dalbeattie was truly beautiful, all rolling hills and forests. It was different from the few times I'd been out in the upstate forests, all of us society girls going out for fresh air and exercise away from the corrupting influence of the city.

The forests there had been small, almost manicured and maintained with their clearly defined paths and trails. It had even felt scheduled, with out governesses carrying picnic baskets behind us and all of us dining on china plates in a picturesque grove of trees. Here, the trees were huge and towered tall above us as we wove our way through the brush. What trail there was was only marked by the absence of said brush, and we were steadily gaining height as we zigzagged back and forth across hills. Eventually, Will paused. "Hear that?"

I paused briefly, my ears straining. "I think so, a waterfall?"

"Not quite, a brook fed from a spring." He grinned, starting up for the sound. "Come on, it's close." I held in a sigh of relief, climbing these hills was fast becoming tiring and it sounded as if this spring would be a good place to have a rest. We came across the brook shortly, it was shallow and burbled happily along its way down the hill. We followed it up, Will having to help me up the last bit. He grinned as we reached the spring, "Ah, here we are."