" Actually my name is Nancy .....but everyone calls me Nan."
"I really like that...Nan...it's straight forward and to the point. My name can be either a girl or a boy's name...but it is traditional in my family for the first born son to be named Gillian...it's after one of my distant ancestors that saved our people from a treacherous lord in our lands many centuries ago... or so I've been told..." he looked very thoughtful like he was replaying an experience from his childhood in his head.
They had almost come to the edge of the woods. Nan glanced away from Gillian (to give him time to think) looked into the woods, and for a fleeting moment thought she saw some one or some thing dart behind a tree.
She must have reacted because Gillian immediately said, "What's wrong?"
"Oh I thought I saw something move on the edge of the tree over there.....", she pointed.
"It was probably nothing." She looked at him and smiled. Then looked back toward the woods...hoping to see it again? Or was she, really hoping that she'd see nothing...
Gillian turned toward to the wood edge and said ...
"Or maybe, ... it was one of my FAMILY members spying on US!" , loud enough for anyone close by to hear. Suddenly there was a rustling sounds in the woods, like someone moving deeper into the trees very quickly.
He looked at her sheepishly.
"Family members? Spying....why?"
"It seems when ever we move or I find a new friend my family has to know everything about what I'm doing...it's quite annoying to me." he shook his head and his face flushed slightly.
"Oh...never mind...my family is quite nosey too...I guess it's because they care about us...eh? I'll be questioned by them sooner or later too about every move I make outside their watchful eyes." she giggled and looked into his bright blues eyes. He looked into hers and his face softened and he smiled.."yeah, ...I suppose your right."
They fell into a long conversation and walk for what must have been hours, along the edge of the woods and soon were at the base of the hillside where the bonfires were the night before. It was nearing dusk, Nan was facing the woods and Gillian had his back to it as he talked about things in general. Where he'd been, what he'd learn and experienced and such.
Nan started to see strange flickerings of tiny lights inside the now darkening woods. One here and another darting in and out of the trees over there. Then two or 3 in a group flying around at eye level, ... against the dark between the trees, they really shone bright, for being so small. Gillian must have seen her distraction, stopped talking and turned around to look.
"I didn't think we had fireflys here...I never seen them before..." she said unconsciously almost under her breath.
He saw something too, but didn't let on. Then looked at the horizon and the now setting sun.
Gillian said, "Oh dear.... look how late it's gone. I should start to walk you back now. My parents will be asking for me soon, I have a family meeting tonight, we need to discuss our individual tasks for Spring."
His face flushed slightly again as he turn with her to head back to her croft.
His evening of blissful alone time outside his normal circumstance, was quickly coming to an end...
'How am I ever going to explain my family to her?....' he thought, 'well I suppose it will come to me when I need it.' He fell into a deep thought.
As they walked on...
Nan was now thinking about her own family and how much she had grown very fond of Gillian in such a short period of time. She kept looking up at his beautiful hair and eyes than down at the ground. Her head was swimming in thoughts. They both were silent for the longest time as they made their way back.
As they approach the bottom of the last knoll suddenly they started to talk very fast and desperately like they were trying now to make up for the lost time, knowing their time together was quickly coming to a close.
"When do you think we can see each other again?" Nan said with a slight sadness in her voice.
"I don't know...I will have shed loads of tasks handed to me tonight. It could take me days....maybe weeks to complete them..." he shook his head and said again, "...I don't know..."
Nan looked very, very sad while he was saying this, and looked down at the ground....for a minute Gillian thought she could be crying.
"It won't be that long..." he didn't sound very convincing...but still held on to the hope that this would brighten her thoughts...it did little to help.
"I'll have loads of chores too for the next wee while, meself...it's just that time of year isn't it? So, ....how long to you think it will be?" she was trying hard, not to sound to needy.
He wanted with all his being to comfort her, ... he put his hand gently under her chin and raised her face up, look into her eyes again. and said, "And, .... once the hard work is done I'll have more time...and...."
He stopped mid-sentence looked far away, then back at her with the grin of a little child.
"Listen,...I have a brilliant idea..." he grabbed her by the shoulders and said, "Why don't we leave each other notes and communicate that way and until we can meet up again?" he was feeling a bit clever now and pleased with himself, he smiled broadly.
"But, where could we put them...we'd have to have a spot to leave the notes...right?" she was excited at the prospect of this....it was all ....a bit romantic. A secret meeting place....just her sort of thing.
They chatted about this furiously and came to an agreement.
Each day they would write a note and answer the others note...they would leave them in the crook of a bottom branch in this ancient Rowan tree, under the moss that grows there. This old tree grew alone on the moor...close to where they had first met. So with their plans lay firmly down they parted that night...
he gave her a light kiss on the cheek and she was off to her home where her parents waited.
She was still in a dreamy state when she opened the door to her house.
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