Chapter 1

Looking up from checking the oil in the truck I see my wife Meg locking the door behind her. "All set?" she asked bouncing down the steps.

"Looks that way." I reply climbing behind the wheel ready to start the trip.

This was to be our last big adventure before she entered residency at the local hospital while I took up teaching history at the university. The back seat held our dogs and the trailer was packed with our personal gear, all four of our horses, my portable forge setup, Building tools as well as Meg's leather working and fletching tools. We were on our way to a new living history village depicting life in the late middle age Europe that was in its infancy. I was to be the resident blacksmith as well as helping with the building and helping with 'martial' exhibitions. Meg was to be our leather worker, give demonstrations of various methods of making bows and arrows and be our resident medic if anyone was hurt of became ill. We had started out on what would turn out to be the trip of a lifetime...

At this point in our tale I should probably introduce myself and my companions. My name is Alan Ward. I'm a 28 year old soon to be history professor. My thesis was a study of metal working advances in the high middle ages. I'm 6'2" tall and 240 pounds with Dark brown hair and green eyes. My wife Meghan Ward is 26 years old and scheduled to begin her residency in emergency medicine this fall. She is 5'6" and 125 pounds with long red hair and green eyes. Meg is one of the rare redheads that can tan rather than suffer through the "freckles growing closer together" reaction to the sun. Our traveling companions include our dogs Max, Emma, Bonny and Janie. The dogs are all black mouth curs. While a fairly young breed they are great hunting and watch dogs. The Horses are Rorschach, Midnight, Blackie and Shadow in honor of the black coats that are part of the Friesian breed standard. Rorschach our stallion and the three mares are all purebred Friesian horses each over 15 hands while the stud horse is over 16.

Meg and I met our freshman year at university, to say it was love at first sight would be a lie. At 17 I still had not grown to my full height and 'husky' was used to describe me more than once. Looking back I know I made a pretty poor impression if I was noticed at all. Meg on the other hand was one of the most beautiful girls in the class. Many thought her a bit 'stuck up' though it was more a case of her being preoccupied with her studies determined to maintain her academic scholarship. At the beginning of the second semester we found ourselves members of the same study group for a philosophy class. During the semester she somehow decided I wasn't such a waste of time and we became close friends. I don't doubt that my "Freshman Fifteen" the weight often gained by new students being a loss of 15 pounds while gaining a couple inches of height to a tad over 6 feet hurt much. While not thin, I was getting more and more solid as I worked out in the school gym at least 4 times a week. I learned that Megs parents had been killed by a car wreck the previous summer and that she was determined to go to med school and specialize in Emergency medicine. As we had become close friends, near the end of the spring semester I asked her what her summer plans were to find that she didn't have any or really anyplace to go after the loss of her parents. I invited her to spend the few weeks between spring and summer semesters at my Uncle Jack's ranch outside of town. I'd lived with Jack for as long as I can remember my parents lost in a boating accident when I was a baby. The break came and went and we each took one class during the summer. I took a course on blacksmithing that filled an art elective while Meg took a botany course that focused on herbal medicine. As summer turned to fall I asked Meg if she would consider staying at the ranch and saving the money the dorm would have cost her for med school. As our sophomore progressed we both became involved in the SCA as well as the local western martial arts club. She became interested in archery and bow making while I developed a love of the axe, spear and sword. As time progressed our friend started asking when the wedding was or referring to the other as our 'boyfriend/girlfriend' etc to our confusion. As we drove home from a WMA training class the Bonnie Raitt song 'Something to Talk About' came on the radio causing her to turn to me and ask "What do you think? Do we risk our current relationship in hopes of something better or do we maintain the status quo?"