The funeral service was simple. With no burial, they had only to go to the kirkyard where Callum had spent his last days. When they arrived at the gate of Greyfriars, Mari stopped outside. As a woman, this was as far as she would be permitted to go. But no women were there to wait with her. There were only soldiers. They filed through the gate—dozens of them. In her short time in Edinburgh, Mari’s life had been caught up in Callum’s. She had no women friends to stand with her or go back to prepare food for the dredgy, when the men would come back to feast and drink and remember. She longed for her childhood friend, Ellen. But she was gone, too. As the men filed in, a hand slipped into hers. Hughie stood beside Mari and listened with her as the pipes played for Callum and Duncan. Alex and C
