Treasure of the Celtic Triangle by Michael Phillips Read Free Book Online Page A

if I could have if I had been less self-absorbed.”
    “I don’t know whether that is true,” said Steven. “People are different. Not all men are capable of that kind of thing. Percy is fortunate, but he might not have been able to talk in the same way to your father either. We take the fathers we are given. We have to find God in them as it expresses itself in their own individual ways. I learned to see God’s fatherhood in my father, though I do not believe he once spoke a word about God to me in my life.”
    “It’s amazing to hear you say that,” rejoined Florilyn. “That’s exactly like something Percy would say.”
    Steven laughed. “I take that as a great compliment. But look, there is the Cnychwr cottage ahead. We seem to have made it without rain.”
    As they approached the stone house, Steven looked over the flock of sheep in the field next to it with a curious expression. They were full of wool and ragged looking. They should have been shorn long before now.
    Two dogs came bounding and barking out to greet them. Steven jumped down and let them get used to him before allowing Florilyn to dismount. “Wait for me just a minute,” said Steven. “I’ll go tell them we’re here. Then I’ll hold the dogs away for you.”
    He ran toward the cottage as a girl of eleven or twelve came outside to see what the barking was about. Steven spoke with her a minute then returned to Florilyn. “The girl says both her parents are sick in bed. I’m going in to talk to them. Do you want to wait here?”
    “No, I’ll go with you,” said Florilyn. She dismounted, and the two walked to the cottage and inside.
    They made their way through a large open kitchen into a dim sitting room. From there the girl led into the single small bedroom off the sitting room, which they all shared. There a man and woman lay in a large bed.
    “Stevie Muir, so it’s you, is it?” said a voice weakly from the darkness. “Arial said it was you.”
    “It’s me, Kynwal,” answered Steven. “She says you’ve been sick.”
    “It’s laid us both on our backs,” added a woman’s voice in barely more than a whisper.
    “Hello, Lilybet,” said Steven. “I’m sorry to see you after so long under these circumstances.”
    “We heard you and your mum’s gone to the manor now,” said Mr. Cnychwr. “We hear that you’ve been made factor. I always said you was meant for bigger things. So it’s Lady Snowdon’s rent you’ll be wanting, I’m thinking.”
    “That is why I came,” said Steven. “And to tell you of the change. I wasn’t sure you’d heard.”
    “We knew all about it, Stevie. But I’m afraid I’ve nothing to give you. I’ve been down near a month. Then Lilybet come down with the evil thing after me.”
    “He’s just got weaker and weaker,” said the woman. “I took care of him as best I could. But then came a day when I couldn’t stand up myself. My legs just wouldn’t hold me. We’d have surely died if Arial hadn’t been here.”
    “I didn’t have the strength to shear the sheep,” said Kynwal. “Even if I had, I couldn’t have got the fleece in to market.”
    “Don’t you worry about it, Kynwal,” said Steven. “Lady Snowdon will be more concerned for yourselves than your rent. We will see what we can do. What about food—do you have what you need?”
    “Isn’t much either of us can eat. No appetite, you see. No strength even to eat. But Arial’s keeping the two cows milked, and there’s always plenty of eggs. This time of year we’ve got apples and a few vegetables.”
    “Good. Well then, we will be on our way. We have a long ride back ahead of us. But I will send Dr. Rotherham out to see you as soon as possible.”
    “Don’t bother the doctor, Stevie. We’ve got no money to—”
    “We need to get you two back on your feet. Don’t you worry about the doctor.”
    Seemingly for the first time, Mrs. Cnychwr noticed the figure standing behind Steven in the shadows. She was hardly able