One feature, however, had remained constant; their large, doe-like brown eyes that most girls would have been jealous of, let alone swooned over, replete with prominent, thick eyelashes. Theirs were eyes that spoke of trustworthiness, warm friendliness and an unspoken, almost canine loyalty.
‘Yous didnae get it the last seven times, so what difference is one more time gonnae make, boyo?’ Michael asked, rolling his eyes.
‘Michael!’ Aurora interjected with mock indignation, her eyes afire with playful delight. ‘No speaking in charades, how many times must I say it? You’re breaking the rules again! We shall have to devise some sort of wicked punishment for you if you continue to speak!’
Michael groaned and covered his face with his hands, injecting as much melodrama into the gesture as he could, then crossed his arms across his chest and huffed with exasperation while everyone else laughed heartily.
‘All right, all right,’ the big man acquiesced, ‘one more—’
‘No speaking, Mikey!’ William shouted jovially. ‘You know the rules!’
Another bout of laughter ricocheted around the group, and after it subsided, Michael put on the most serious face he could manage. He craned his neck, turned his feet to face outwards and began waddling around in circles. Everyone immediately fell about laughing once again.
‘You’re a bear!’ Paul cried. ‘No, no, a wolf, right?’
‘He’s a deer! Aye, our boyo’s a deer, he is, hahaha!’ William yelled with a guffaw.
‘I’d say he’s a majestic elephant, or no, no, a lion, king of all beasts!’ Aurora declared with unabashed glee.
‘Perhaps a tiger from India,’ Andrew ventured cheerfully. ‘Or one ay them armoured rhinoceroses they’ve got there.’
Michael stopped his act and groaned.
‘I’m a duck, fir Pete’s sake! Aduck! Are you all blind as wee moles or wha’?’
‘A duck? No!’ Aurora laughed, feigning surprise. ‘That’s the very last thing I would have guessed!’
‘You’re all horrid, awful people!’ Michael exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. ‘Tha’ there was the best duck impression any ay you has e’er seen, dunnae tell no fibs now! I’ll out-duck any duck on the pond, I’ll tell you tha’ much!’
‘Aye, you’d make a fine mallard, boyo!’ Paul said with a chortle. ‘A right handsome duck this Mikey would make, eh lads?’
‘What a fine idea!’ William exclaimed. ‘Although there is one wee problem, is there no’? A mallard’s head is green, but this lad’s head is as orange as a carrot! Andrew, Aurora, you two are the artists, run along an’ fetch your paints! Pauly an’ I’ll hold him down, an’ you twa can paint his head a lovely shade ay green! We’ll make a mallard out ay you yet, Michael!’
‘I shall fetch my paints at once!’ Aurora cried, leaping to her feet and giggling with glee. ‘What a splendid idea!’
‘You’ll have tae catch me first!’ Michael shouted, taking off at a sprint.
‘After him! Go!’ Paul whooped, springing to his feet to pursue Michael. ‘This is a duck hunt now! There’s the quarry, that big lumbering mallard bolting t’ward the old wall! Andrew, come on!’
‘Aye, I’ll get him, brother! You take the left, I’ll head right!’
Even the quiet, reserved Andrew was caught up in the happiness and exuberance of the moment, and he scrambled to his feet to join his brother’s pursuit of Michael, who was laughing with glee as he dashed across the expanse of green. William and Aurora laughed as they watched the twins running after Michael, whooping and shouting with joy as they went. From above, gentle warmth from the late afternoon sun drizzled down, the rays filtered through wispy cirrus clouds high in the sky, colouring the light in rich tones of amber, copper and gold.
‘It’s such a beautiful afternoon, is it no’, my love?’ William asked, slipping an arm around Aurora’s shoulder.
‘This light is incredible, William. I wish I’d had the foresight to bring a canvas and my paints. Oh that I could capture the beauty of this afternoon and preserve it forever!’
‘But Aurora,’ he said as she leaned her head on his shoulder, ‘if it was possible tae capture an’ hold the magnificence ay moments such as this, d’ye think tha’ we’d appreciate them as much? Perhaps the true splendour ay this moment isprecisely in its fleeting passing. We must celebrate the beauty ay it, because it’s like a spring blossom, or a butterfly that lives fir but one day an’ then dies. That ephemeral nature makes it more valuable than a pillar ay pure gold, dae you no’ think, for truly, it’s something tha’ no amount ay riches, nor all ay the accumulated wealth in all the world could purchase. It’s granted tae us solely by God’s grace, or Nature’s, but either way, it is a blessing tha’ cannae be replicated. It’ll be gone in a few minutes, ne’er tae return. Indeed, we may ne’er again see an afternoon ay this rich beauty, so we must appreciate it while it is here, for perhaps it’ll be the last time.’
Aurora stared into William’s eyes and cupped a hand under his chin, stroking the stubble there.
‘My poet,’ she whispered, her voice all heart, all soul, ‘my soulful, beautiful poet.’
William took her hands in his and caressed her skin with gentle fingertips as he spoke.
‘All that lives must die, Aurora. All beauty an’ joy an’ splendour must fade an’ crumble tae ruin. This is the one truth I know for certain: tha’ time is sure tae put an end tae all things, from those great mountains that crown the far horizon over yonder, tae the stream wi’ all its fish an’ frogs down at the bottom ay the field. All will be dry, lifeless dust one day. All things will suffer this fate eventually … all but one, though … fir inside us is something tha’ lives on long after our bodies ha’ gone back tae the earth whence they came. I know it Aurora, I just know it. There’s something else in here.’
A light of understanding and inspiration sparkled in
