No Great Mischief

As they grow older, Alex’s brothers begin to wander further from their home, searching for anything to satisfy their interests. When they get into trouble, the extended clann Chalum Ruaidh steps in to help them. The stories filter back to Alex and his grandparents via intermediaries and are often third- or fourth-hand. Occasionally, Alex will see them. They will wind down the window of their car and ask him questions. They also leave cuts of meat from hunted deer and moonshine beside the back door of their grandparents’ home.

With his grandfather and Grandpa, Alex remembers learning about Scottish history and tax returns. His grandfather recounts the aftermath of the battle of Killiecrankie, picturing the wounded and the traumatized. His Grandpa prefers to remember the warriors positively, as victorious men returning joyously to their homes. As Grandpa celebrates his tax refund with a beer, he insists that Alex’s father is a “good man.”

Alex recalls a trip to his sister’s house in Calgary, which happened two years ago. She married a petroleum engineer named Pankovich and they are well-off. One year, she and her husband rented a car and drove around Scotland, visiting the places clann Chalum Ruaidh had described in their stories.