#Im at the part where theyre about to retrieve the two sisters and I know whats about to happen

[foxamongartist2]

Vektal every time he sends the unmated males to save the new women and one of them inevitably kidnaps one of the poor girls

[imagineclaireandjamie]

Come he’ll or high water is excellent can you please write more I love it 🥰 please thank you 🙏🥰🥰🥰👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Claire comes back to the past with Brianna and arrives at Helwater looking for Jamie—but must confront the Dunsanys first.

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven

Come Hell or Helwater - Part Eight

Rain pattered against the window while Brianna sat at the table in the corner with Isobel working through a set of simple mathematics problems. She didn’t have the heart to tell Isobel that she’d mastered both multiplication and long division two years prior. Instead she worked her way through them slowly, allowing herself the fun of observing the others in the room while they thought she was thoroughly engrossed by the numbers on the page.

Brianna had found soon after her arrival at Helwater that she couldn’t help but like Isobel—she couldn’t have borne pretending she was so far behind in her studies otherwise. But Isobel’s sweetness could become grating if not for the presence of her sister, Geneva. It was Geneva who knew exactly how to push Isobel’s agreeableness to the brink, to coax a few less-than-kind remarks out of Isobel—and then offer reassurance that she hadn’t been so unkind as to require begging anyone’s pardon.

There was more to Geneva that Brianna found mesmerizing, however. Quiet moments when she managed a glance at the older girl and it was clear Geneva didn’t realize she was being watched. In those moments she looked the way Brianna had felt when Mama and Daddy had told her the great and terrible Truths of her life—first, that Daddy wasn’t going to live with them anymore, he was going to live with his special friend, Sandy, and, just a short time after that, when her mother informed her that Daddy wasn’t her “real” father. From what Brianna could tell, it was partly Geneva’s parents who were causing her to look that way, but not because they were breaking up. No, the lady Geneva was going to be married soon and anyone could see she didn’t want to get married.

But that was why there were beginning to be so many extra people at the estate. They were guests visiting for the upcoming wedding. Several older relatives of the Dunsanys had taken to sitting with Lady Dunsany in the main sitting room while the younger guests preferred to gather in the drawing room. It was in the adjoining library that Isobel was giving Brianna her lessons but the door was kept open so Isobel might pop in and make her necessary appearances every so often. Brianna thought Isobel perhaps preferred the quieter library to the group in the drawing room.

Brianna enjoyed peeking up at them through the doorway. She could only see a portion of one setee and a fragment of the floor to ceiling windows behind but Geneva was partial to planting herself on that setee and as the bride to be, she frequently had company beside her—usually one of the two British soldiers who had startled her mother in the forest that day they’d arrived. The younger of those two often turned to glance through the same open doorway at her, which always made her flush and look down at her paper. Or was he looking at Isobel? Brianna peeked up to see Isobel looking flustered as well, no doubt aware of the soldier’s piercing gaze.

Even if Brianna could convince herself that the young man was paying his attentions to Isobel, all it took was Geneva seeing her sister’s blush to throw a wrench in Brianna’s plans of going unnoticed.

“Isobel,” Geneva called rising from the setee and floating to the door. “Aren’t you going to join us? As the sister of the bride it’s part of your duties to help me entertain my guests,” she teased with a playful giggle and glance over her shoulder. “John, Hal, won’t you help me coax Isobel into joining us?”

Isobel sighed but smiled at Brianna before pushing herself up from her chair at the table. “You’re doing wonderfully,” Isobel assured her. “Keep working on this set of problems and I’ll be back shortly to check your progress.”

Brianna nodded and then watched as Isobel glared at her sister who stood in the doorway with a satisfied grin on her face.

“Really John, you must ask Isobel about her latest obsession with playing governess,” Geneva continued, the conversation still drifting in for Brianna to overhear since the door between the rooms remained open. “It’ll be something to keep her occupied when she no longer has me around to entertain her.”

Isobel spoke too quietly for Brianna to hear but from Geneva’s subsequent, “Oh come, I’m only playing,” she assumed the young lady had rebuked her.

“It is the curse of younger siblings to always be tormented by the older,” John remarked, lightening the mood even as he too scolded Geneva.

Brianna set her pencil aside and leaned forward over the table, straining to see if she could catch a glimpse of them but they must be standing near the fireplace. The rain outside was unrelenting in a spring that was already slow about taking root. That was one of the things about this time that Brianna found most frustrating and quietly terrifying—how cold it was without proper, modern heating and how afraid she was that she would get too close to the hearth or that she’d knock over a candle and go up in flames.

“I know Isobel’s attempts to improve the poor child arrive from the best of intentions,” Geneva assured the others and Brianna could hear the eye roll in her tone. “I just think that when it comes to the staff and their families, it’s not our place to interfere. They have their lives and we have ours.”

“And the fact that their livelihood depends upon our whims doesn’t matter?” Isobel challenged more vocally, clearly surprising the others.

Brianna rose from her seat and tiptoed closer to the door to hear better and maybe sneak a better angle through the door so she could see them while remaining hidden in the shadows. If she was truly lucky, there’d be a mirror on one wall that would let her watch their reflections—she couldn’t remember if there was a mirror in the drawing room though.

“So long as they’re paid for their services, I’m not sure I understand to what you might object,” the older one—Hal, Geneva had called him—said gently.

“They require decent pay to support their families,” Isobel agreed, “and sometimes they’re compensated in other forms—for instance, housing or their meals—but what about their other needs, especially for their children? Is it not our duty to guide them towards being productive members of society where their parents are either lacking the means or the opportunity?”

“And what makes you think the Mackenzies are lacking the means and opportunity?” Geneva countered. “Did you ask them if they wanted it when you asked for their permission? Shall we ask the little lady now?”

Brianna panicked for a moment as she heard Geneva’s footsteps crossing toward the door but her instincts quickly kicked in. She started walking for the door herself and nearly collided with Geneva.

“Sorry,” Brianna muttered, backing away. “I was just coming to ask Miss Isobel if she might excuse me to go help my mother. Miss Isobel should be spending her time with your company, not with me just now.”

“I don’t mind at all, really,” Isobel insisted but Geneva made a dismissive gesture, keeping her eyes on Brianna.

“The child is quite right, don’t you agree, John? It’s terribly rude of Isobel first to ignore your presence and then to ignore her young charge’s. If she had a nursemaid, we might turn her over to so she doesn’t inhibit her mother in her work. Should we engage one for her, Isobel?” Geneva asked, looking over her shoulder at her sister. “Would that be more of the means and opportunities that our hired servants are lacking? I suppose we’ll just have to keep an eye on her ourselves then. Come child,” Geneva turned back to Brianna with an overly sweet smile. “Join us in the drawing room and we’ll try not to bore you too terribly.”

Brianna stood her ground, staring expressionlessly at Geneva.

“Geneva…” Hal said quietly, stepping toward her.

“Quiet little thing, aren’t you,” Geneva murmured, her attention still fixed on Brianna. “Do you speak at all?”

“I’m ten, not two,” Brianna replied, unamused even as the color began to rise in Geneva’s cheeks. “And my mother always told me if I didn’t have anything nice to say I shouldn’t say anything at all. I’d rather spend my time somewhere I can have a conversation. Thank you, Miss Isobel, for the lesson. I’ll see myself out.”

Brianna kept her ears pricked for their reactions as she turned on her heel and went to the table to retrieve her things before exiting through the door at the side that led to the servant’s passage and from there down to the kitchen. She heard one stifled chuckle (Hal) and Isobel’s gentle, “You were the one who provoked her.”

The sound of a slight commotion drew most of the others back into the drawing room—a footman announcing the arrival of another guest.

“Daniel,” Hal exclaimed in joy. “It’s a miracle you made it in this weather. You ought to have stayed at your inn until it cleared.”

“If he did that he might not have arrived in time at all,” Geneva declared, brushing away the awkwardness of being put in her place by a ten-year-old girl. “The way it looks now it could rain through the next fortnight and my wedding’s one week away. He knew I’d never forgive him if he wasn’t here.”

“Always said Gordon was like a brother to me so I see it as my brotherly duty to make sure everything stays on schedule,” a new voice chimed in.

“Well you might’ve been as a brother to Gordon but you’ve hardly been a brother to either of his sisters,” Geneva objected with a laugh. “You haven’t written a word to either Isobel or myself in over a year.”

Brianna snuck one final peek through the door to the drawing room.

John, the soldier who had come walking through the field with her mother that day, was the only one watching her as she made her exit.

“Bree,” Claire gasped as her daughter barged into the cottage, dripping wet from her brief run through the rain from the main house. “For heaven’s sake, what are you doing here? I was going to fetch you back after your lesson was finished. You’re soaked to the bone.”

“Well you might wind up back there later treating their latest guest. Sounds like he rode a ways through the rain and I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes down sick from it,” Brianna said, shaking her hair like a wet dog.

“Sassenach,” Jamie called from the cottage’s back entrance. “Do ye have anything hereabouts we could eat? Thought it might be nicer to have our midday meal alone together rather than trek through the muck to the main house. And as Bree’s occupied there with Miss Isobel…”

Claire cleared her throat loudly soon after he began and spoke over him, “We’re in here, Jamie. Bree’s just got back too. We hadn’t addressed the subject of lunch yet.”

Jamie came around the corner, his face pink and dripping with the rain that had soaked his hair.

“Bree,” he said with a smile. “Is it wet enough for ye out there? I ken I must look and feel like a half-drowned cat.”

“Well it is raining cats and dogs,” Brianna remarked without enthusiasm.

“Why don’t you fetch some dry things from your trunk and change in our room,” Claire offered.

“I suppose we won’t be using it after all,” Jamie whispered in her ear as he brushed a kiss against Claire’s cheek.

“I had brought a leftover side of ham from the house after tending the cook the other day,” Claire continued, ignoring Jamie, “and there’s cheese I had set aside as well. We’ll see what kind of meal we can make with that and maybe it will let up enough tonight for a larger meal with the others at the main house.”

When Brianna had closed their bedroom door behind her to change, Claire turned into Jamie’s arms and stood on her toes to give him a kiss.

“When the wedding’s over and their guests have gone home, things will calm down enough that we’ll have a little more time for ourselves,” she whispered, pulling away from him as his hands drifted down to her backside. “Not just the two of us, but the three of us.”

“Except for when we have time just the two of us to get back to work on making that three of us into a four, aye?”

“Aye,” Claire smiled and blushed. “Though by my watch we’ve spent a fair bit of time working at that already.”

[caredogstips]

Niki Taylor gets honest on her near-fatal gondola accident: ‘The world wasn’t done with me yet’

All-American girl Niki Taylor was one of “the worlds largest” in-demand supermodels of the 90 s, but her life would forever change on April 28, 2001.

The 26 -year-old single mother was journeying in a friends vehicle in Atlanta when operator James Renegar ran off the road and punched a practicality spar. According to police, he apparently seemed down at his cell phone before losing verify of his 1993 Nissan Maxima.

Taylor, who was wearing a seatbelt, initially seemed to be unhurt, until she knowledge severe abdominal suffering. By the time Taylor arrived at Grady Memorial Hospital, she lost roughly 80 percent of her blood. Her liver had been cut in half by the accident and she flatlined twice.

Still, she was determined to stay alive.

I wanted to get back and investigate my twinned sons, Taylor told Fox News. They were very young at the time, 6-years-old. And they werent allowed in the ICU unit. My mama placed photos on the ceiling[ in my hospital room] of my teenagers, my hounds, family members and sidekicks. I just recollect believe, I had to get better. I gotta witness my boys.

The now-4 2-year-old was also thinking about her younger sister Krissy Taylor. The two simulations were inseparable until Krissy died in 1995 at age 17 from a uncommon, undiagnosed mettle condition.

Happy birthday my sweetened sister #KrissyTaylor #missingyou #sistersforever

A berth shared by Niki Taylor (@ nikilovesu) on May 15, 2017 at 8: 47 am PDT

I couldnt imagine my mother losing another daughter very, she remembered. That was always in the back of my mind. I had to fight. And “the worlds” wasnt done with me yet.

It took over 100 gangs of blood to save her life. And Taylor, who had modeled since age 14, applied her successful occupation on hold to recover and undergo innumerable surgeries. However, her point was to survive.

I wasnt thinking about work at the time, she showed. I had a lot of scars. My form was very different. I was just happy to be retrieving. I had to take a long time off to get healthy again. It took times before I appeared 100 percentage[ better] because I likewise had to get back surgery and get rods in my back. So that was another couple of years. But I was also with my sons. I got to fall in love again. I had more children. That was my focus, my family.

Laughing through the weekend with this gang

A post shared by Niki Taylor (@ nikilovesu) on May 20, 2017 at 5:55 am PDT

And even while Taylor healed, she impeded meditating who saved her life.

Every night after my accident, I was going to bed, during my recovery, thinking ‘Whose blood do I have inside me? ‘ she spoke. Because I wouldnt be here if it werent for all of their units of blood I lost half of my liver I precisely stopped gues, If I didnt have this blood, theres no way physicians could have done this surgery, theres no way they could retained play-act surgery after surgery I just wanted to know who was that person who rolled up their sleeve and “ve given me” a second chance at life.

While it took more than 300 blood donors to provide the blood Taylor needed to survive, she had the chance to meet 15 of those “superheroes” through the American Red Cross in 2013. They arrayed from ages 18 -6 0 and were all of different ethnicities and backgrounds.

I got to look at them in their eyes and hug them, she remembered. There was one person who yields every three months, there was a high school student who afforded for the first time it was such significant opportunities. And medical doctors who performed surgery on me during those first 24 hours was there with his harbour too.

@swimsuitsforall “re giving me” life with seductive swimsuits , no matter what age, determine, or sizing. #SummerIsHere #SwimsuitsForAllSummer17

A pole said that he shared Niki Taylor (@ nikilovesu) on May 18, 2017 at 8: 06 am PDT

Since her near-fatal car accident, the mother of four is happily causing their own families while pursuing modeling again. In May, she appeared in Swimsuits For Alls summer 2017 expedition alongside plus-size modeling Ashley Graham and singer Teyana Taylor in a Baywatch-inspired getup. It was her first swimsuit safarus since the 90 s, one that she called nerve wracking, but empowering.

I feel like Im the healthiest Ive ever been in my whole life, she held. I feel like Im in great figure. Yes, I still have the scars to remind me that “peoples lives” was saved. But I still have a lot of work to doing in there Im grateful exactly to be doing everything Ive done.

But Taylors work isnt only recognized in front of a lens. Shes too a proud booster of the American Red Cross and has tirelessly inspired her fans to donate blood, especially during the summer months. She said there is a shortage in the summer due to potential donors traveling on vacation.

Nationwide, approximately 36,000 blood donations are necessity each and every day. Thank you to all who generate! Pledge your help w/ @nexcare @redcross #giveinspires #sponsored

A berth shared by Niki Taylor (@ nikilovesu) on May 23, 2017 at 7:38 am PDT

On June 14, recognized as World Blood Donor Day, she participated in the ninth annual Nexcare Give Campaign, which offered specially designed bandages as a button of honor to donors nationwide.

As Taylor continues to pursue her feelings, shes aware the modeling nature has a completely new look these days. Back in the ‘9 0s, suns like Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, and Stephanie Seymour regulated the runways. Today, the mode vistum is run by It-girls, like the Hadid sisters and Kendall Jenner, among others.

Its crazy how many followers they have on social media, supposed Taylor. Thats where its at, thats where its headed. And theyre sumptuous Im merely glad I get to be a part of it was better, at 42 years old!

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