I don't own or claim ownership of Monarch of the Glen or any of its characters, plotlines, etc., nor am I making money off of them.
They are the wonderful creation and property of BBC Scotland and Ecosse Films.
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Chapter 11:
Lexie almost burst out laughing as she approached the Mackay's cottage. Duncan stood at the doorway beaming as he proudly opened the door for his guests.
"Welcome to the Mackay Household!" he triumphantly proclaimed, adding a somewhat clumsy bow afterwards.
Archie and Lexie looked at each other, eyebrows raised.
"Why thank you, Mr. Mackay," Archie said, with a reciprocal bow. Duncan smiled, then stared expectantly at Lexie.
"What are you oogling at ya big oaf!?"
Duncan eyes grew wide. Clearing his throat he said. "Um...follow me...right this way," He disappeared into the house.
Lexie shot a puzzled glance at her husband.
"I think he was looking for a curtsy," Archie whispered bemusedly, following Duncan's lead.
Inside the kitchen Jess was putting the final touches to a meal that smelled absolutely ravishing. She turned shyly toward her guests. "The...uh...table is set in the next room if you want to..."
She was interrupted by the patter of small feet. Suddenly three figures rushed into the room and nearly knocked Duncan, Jr. over.
"Duncan!," they exclaimed, bombarding the boy with all sorts of news and offers of play.
The four parents laughed.
"It's time to go into the dining room, children," Jess finally said. The ensemble followed her as she entered to the dining room bearing a large, steaming bowl.
"Neeps and tatters," Archie remarked, a light shining in his eyes. "Looks excellent."
Jess blushed. "Eh, nothing like what Lexie used to make in her heyday."
Lexie laughed out loud.
"Archie could make toast and eggs better than I could. Nah, either you're a natural cook or you've been taking a few pointers from Ewan."
"Guilty as charged!" Jess said with a mischievous smile."
"Aye!" Duncan agreed. 'There's been a definite improvement in Jess's cooking since..."
He was stopped by a look from Jess.
"Right! Let's dig in!"
When dinner was finally over and they all had helped themselves to generous slices of Jess's homemade pie, Archie cleared his throat.
"Lex and Duncan, Jr. and I have an announcement to make."
Jess and Duncan sat up with anticipation.
"Now, this isn't exactly official, and I haven't broken the news to the others. So for now try to keep this to yourselves."
Archie glanced at Lexie, as if to gauge one last time whether he had her approval. She smiled nervously back at him.
"You both know that I went on a trip to Edinburgh yesterday. Well, when I was there, I was offered a position as an advisor to the Scottish Nationalist Party."
The Mackay's eyes grew wide as they worked out what this meant.
'So you'll be moving back to Scotland?"
Lexie nodded. "Well, Archie and I talked about it, and we think that it would be a good decision, yes."
"Are you coming back here!?" Duncan asked excitedly.
Archie glanced at Lexie.
"Well...yes...that is one possibility. It'd be up to Paul and Iona of course."
"Haha! That's great, isn't it Jess?"
Jess, who had been quietly brooding suddenly popped her head up. "Um...uh...yes...of course," she said with rather superficial enthusiasm.
"You'be able to see Cameron and Jess, and my wee bairns whenever you like. We'll al be one big happy family again!"
"Right," Jess said quickly, trying to change the subject. "The SNP? Is that what my old prof's roped you into? Doesn't seem very characteristic."
"No it doesn't. But I think, in all modesty, I may have a bit of a hand in that."
"Uncle Archie?"
"Yes Tom?" Archie said with a smile. Thomas the oldest of the Mackay children had a reputation for maturity and insightfulness far beyond his years.
"Doesn't the Scottish Nationalist Party want Scotland to split from the rest of the United Kingdom?"
"Yes, Tom, you're right. Amongst many other things, the SNP thinks that the Scottish people would be better off if they ruled themselves."
Jess joined in. "You see, the English have exploited the Scottish people, just like the Irish and the Welsh, and the Americans and all their other colonial subjects throughout the world. I mean, think about Austerity, or the War in Iraq, or the bedroom tax. In Scotland, the oppression is harder to see because we assimilated the most. We even joined in at times."
"Aye." Everyone looked in surprise at Lexie, never known to be much concerned with politics.
"I remember my teacher's saying that Glasgow used to be the British Empire's second city. Cargoes from all the colonies flowed into it's port. Scottish bankers and merchants helped fund the great colonial enterprises around the world. And the famous explorer David Livingstone grew up in Blantyre down in Lanarkshire."
"But, just because someone encourages oppression doesn't mean they aren't a victim of it as well," Jess responded.
"Ah, no offense, but I don't buy it," Duncan said dismissively. "I'm a Braveheart man any day, as anyone 'round here will tell ya."
Jess nodded amusedly in confirmation.
"But," he pointed to a large reddish ensign, with a union jack in it's upper left corner, displayed prominently on the dining room wall, "My granddad died fighting for that flag. My Uncle Angus, risked his life over and over, defusing bombs in basements from Dundee to Dover. I mean, that's gotta count for something right?"
"Yes, of course it does," Archie said. As you know my father Hector, and Golly, and Paul all served in the British military. And my mother's English through and through. Our peoples-the Scottish, the English, the Welsh and Irish-we go back along ways. And no one's asking us to be sworn enemies. We could be friends, allies. Just look at the Americans. They split from us, and our two countries are best pals..."
"Unfortunately..." Jess muttered.
"We can remember our common heritage, while looking to our future."
Lexie smiled at her husband.
"You sound the part already," she said admiringly.
"But what about the economy, money...those type of things," Duncan said, still not convinced.
" I mean, you can't very well build a country on sheep and grouse."
"It's grice," Lexie whispered.
"Aye...grice..."
"Well there's the oil revenues. The seabed all around Scotland's chock full of petrol. Right now all that money's going to companies like BP, based down in London, or even America. Most of the tax revenues go into London's coffers."
"Aye," Jess said hesitantly, uncomfortable with the idea of a Scotland reliant on dirty and non-renewable fossil fuels.
"There's also tourism. I mean look at this place. How do we keep afloat? I mean, there's no petrol here."
Archie nodded in agreement. "Believe me I had them look when they did the geological survey. Not a drop in the whole place."
"Sometimes not even in the land rovers," Duncan quipped.
Jess rolled her eyes at her husband. "And though the English say they won't have a currency union with an independent Scotland, when push comes to shove the financiers in London will force them to change their tune," she added.
Duncan shrugged and smiled.
"Call me a daft fool, but I'm still not really convinced. I guess it's too big of a change for me. I say try to make changes from the inside, not chuck it all and start from scratch."
When everyone had finished dessert and it was starting to get late, Archie and Lexie rose to leave.
"We'd better turn in," Archie said.
"Aye," Lexie agreed. "Thanks for the dessert Jess, it was delicious!"
The pair helped clean up and then headed for the door, accompanied by Duncan and Jess.
"Any sign of Golly?" Lexie asked Duncan.
"Haven't seen him since right before dinner. He seemed a bit upset, some kind of argument with Paul or something."
Lexie shook her head sadly. "I hope everything's right. Is it just me or does Paul seem not himself recently."
"Seems fine to me. A bit stressed maybe, but you know how it is, being laird and all." Lexie grinned. "Don't remind me!"
Meanwhile, Archie was saying goodnight to Molly, the Mackay's youngest. "You coming back Uncle Archie?"
"We'll see honey," he said.
He looked up at Jess standing nearby. "You know Duncan's right Jess. If we do stay, that means we'll be able to hang out more. I mean, we are technically brother and sister now."
'Don't remind me,' Jess thought.
"We could get together soon if you like, maybe catch a mobile cinema down in the village with our families if you like."
Jess suddenly looked very uncomfortable.
"I don't know Archie. I mean it's always so hectic around here, what with the kids and me taking over most of my dad's duties as ghillie..."
"Oh, right, of course," Archie said. "You know, just a thought." With that he headed out the door trailing Lexie and Duncan Jr.
"Well tha' was nice," Duncan declared, watching admiringly as the family walked out of sight.
"Hmm," Jess said. She walked back towards the kitchen, and began hustling the kids off to bed.
To be continued...
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