Scotland

Chapter 2

Malcolm had been riding for a while now. Snow covered him and his brother. He was freezing cold, but he knew he had to keep going. Tears ran down the five year old's cheeks as the cold hit him. His legs were very cold. Angus let out a loud wail that Malcolm barely heard over the blizzard. He looked down. The baby looked at him unhappily.

"I know." He muttered. He opened his coat a little and pressed Angus against his warm chest. Then he immediately closed the coat again. It was so damn cold here. His fingers trembled through the gloves, Petra had knitted for him.

"Come on, Gretsch!" He shouted, trembling. The young horse ran a little faster. But it was too cold for the animal too. Malcolm froze pathetically when, after two hours, they still saw nothing but snow. Malcolm's stomach growled angrily and his body trembled. Angus was crying in his coat. Malcolm tried to ignore him, even if his heart ached when he heard his brother cry.

"I know you're cold, Angus." He muttered. "You're not the only one who is cold." They trotted a little further until it was so snowy that you couldn't see anything. "Damn it." Malcolm grumbled. But soon they arrived at a ruin. Or at least that's what it looked like. Pretty deserted. Malcolm steered the horse there and dismounted. He knocked on the wooden door, but no one answered, so he went inside. Everything here was deserted and looked old. But there was still furniture here. Not like Malcolm was used to, but still. He opened the door again and brought the horse inside. The blizzard wasn't too bad here. He put Angus on the table and then tried to light the fire, just as his father had taught him to do a few weeks ago. Malcolm sniffed and rubbed his hands together. The fire started to burn. There was a lot of wood in the house. It looked like someone had recently lived here. Everything was in pretty good shape and it didn't snow in here. Afraid of intruders, Malcolm slipped a stick into the handle of the door. Nobody could come in. Malcolm took the saddle from the pony and took the provisions to the fire. He laid the fur on the cold floor in front of the fireplace and sat down. Then he hugged Angus. The horse was lying a little further back. Angus was still crying. Malcolm brushed the tears from his cheeks.

"Stop crying, Angus. We're alone. You can't change that." Sighed the older boy and pushed a stick into the fire. He warmed up a little and held Angus close the whole time. When it was warm in the room, he began to take off his wet clothes and hang them over the chairs so they could dry. He ran naked through the small house, which didn't matter anyway, since he was alone. Then he undid the fur that was wrapped around Angus. Angus cried. Malcolm sighed.

"Why are you crying? Are you hungry?" Angus was now lying naked on the fur and moving a little. He was a month old now. Malcolm put Angus on his lap and opened the saddlebag. There was milk there. He took out the bottle and unscrewed it. Then he held it to Angus' lips. The baby swallowed a little and then cried again.

"Please stop crying." Malcolm wailed and put the bottle by the fire so it could get warm, because the milk was pretty cold. He lay down on the floor and held Angus to himself. Angus was crying softly. Malcolm stroked the baby's back.

"Sh. We ... we can do this together, okay?" He kissed Angus on the forehead. "Somehow we can do it." He whispered softly and rolled around his brother to keep the baby from freezing. Angus whimpered softly and pressed himself against his brother's bare skin. "We just have to make it through." Malcolm muttered. "I'm your only chance, brother." Malcolm whispered, caressing Angus' tiny chest. Angus squealed, giggling. Malcolm smiled. He got up and wrapped a small diaper around Angus in case the smaller one had to pee. At some point they both fell asleep. When they woke up, the blizzard had stopped, but it was still cold and Malcom added wood to make it warmer. He dressed Angus, and then himself. They had to move on. He saddled Gretsch, got up, and rode on. He hugged Angus tightly. The sun shone brightly down on the snow, which reflected strongly. The two brothers rode through the night until they were frozen and could see the castle on the horizon.

"We did it, Angus." Malcolm whispered.