He and Roger and Ian had—puffing, gasping, and cursing in Gaelic, French, English, and Mohawk—carried the big slab of serpentine meant for the hearthstone down from the Green Spring the day before. It leaned now against the chimney, waiting.

The bottom of the stone was smeared with dirt and rootlets, and I saw a small spider emerge from a hollow, venturing an inch or two, then freezing in bewilderment.

“Wait,” I said to Jamie, who had sat back on his heels and reached up toward Bree, waiting with the black chisel in her hand. He lifted a brow but nodded, and the children clustered round me to see what was the holdup. I picked up the edge of my apron and attempted to move it under the spider without frightening it. It promptly ran straight up the stone, leapt off into thin air, and landed on Jamie’s shirt. He clapped a cupped hand over it, and—still with raised brow—stood carefully, walked to the outer edge of the half-framed room, and, removing his hand, took hold of the hem of his shirt and flapped it vigorously between the studs.

“Thalla le Dia!” said Jemmy.

“What?” said Fanny, who had been watching this byplay with openmouthed wonder.

“Go with God,” Jemmy said reasonably. “What else would ye say to a spider?”

“What indeed,” said Jamie. Patting Jem on the shoulder, he once more knelt by the open hearth and lifted a hand toward his daughter. Rather to my surprise, Bree kissed the chisel as though it were a crucifix and laid it gently in his hand.

He also lifted it to his lips and kissed it as though it were his dirk, then laid it gently in its burrow and scooped dirt over it with his left hand. He sat back on his heels again and looked deliberately from face to face. It was only the family present: ourselves, Brianna, Roger, Jem and Mandy, Germain, Fanny, Ian, Rachel, and Jenny, holding a sleeping Oggy.

“Bless Thou, O God, the dwelling,” he said,

“And each who rests herein this night;

Bless Thou, O God, my beloved ones

In every place wherein they sleep;

In the night that is to-night,

And every night;

In the day that is to-day,

And every day.

May this sacred iron be witness

To the love of God and the guarding of this house.”

The solemn attention of the assembly lasted for roughly five seconds of silence.

“Now we eat!” Mandy said brightly.

Jamie laughed with everyone else, but broke off and touched her cheek.

“Aye, m’annsachd. But no until the hearthstone’s laid. Stand back a wee bit, out of the way.”

Brianna snared Mandy and moved her well back, gesturing Jem, Fanny, and Germain into a similar, though reluctant, withdrawal. The men flexed their shoulders and hands a few times, then at Jamie’s signal bent and seized the stone.