At the top of hill near the gate, Oran was greeted by his little sister Grainne, who threw her self into his arm's, with a whoop of delight.
“Oran, we thought you dead, with the raiders on the lough and all the alarms coming and going, Ma spent all night crying and moaning about you. She will be so happy. Look at that big scratch on your face, is it sore. Where did you spend the night? Maél your Ma is in our hut; Lugh so is yours, they have been as bad as ours, howling their heads off. Lugh your Da has gone off in a curragh to meet with men from Brena, to find out what they can don' know where Ferdi and Kian are they were here last night ".

As they entered the gate, the woman gathered around a fire at the centre of the enclosure let out a great shout of welcome, "Quick!Aoife! Boann! Come quick it's the boys back, Eta, quick their back, safe".
Quickly they where surrounded by women and children, patting and pulling them, barking dogs and great shouts of laughter filled the air, as excited questions were shouted out. "Oran did you see the raiders? Where did you spend the night? Did you hide in the woods? ".
Oran's Mother pushed her way into the circle and pulled him into a hug. "Oran I was so worried we did not know where any of you boys, were till Grainne here told us you were away out on the lough, then when the warning came and we all had to leave, it was bad not knowing if you were all safe".
Beside him, he could see Lugh caught in a tight hold by his Mother, Maél was sandwiched between his mother and his sisters.
"Lugh, I thought you dead, when the alarm was raised and we had no news of you, we feared the worst, are you both all right ". She turned to Oran whom she also hugged in a tight squeeze.
"I am so glad to have you both back here safe". Tears pricked the corners of her eyes; she brusquely said, "It has been such a long night, waiting for news of you both. Where have you been? You must be hungry, come inside, and tell us all that happened? ".
In the main hut seated side-by-side, a grinning Grainne brought warm water to wash their scratches.
"Oh Lugh it was awful not knowing what to do, most of the men where out in the woods watching after the alarms came. We had no idea of where you all would be. Did you hide in the wood all night or where you still on one of the islands? Look at the state of you ".

Aoife bent and touched the cuts on Oran’s face and ran her fingers through the tangled mess of his hair.” Would you look at the state of you ", she said as she dabbed his cuts with warm water and washed the mud and blood away , leaving a long thin scratch and a bruise from where he fell against a stone in the rush from the rath. " Grainne bring me the witch-hazel it is the small bottle, you know the one mean and some strips of linen," she said as she turned her attention to another cut on Oran face. “You boys need a bath by the look of you, I'll see get the kitchen to put the big cauldron on to heat, you need some clean clothes these are all torn, you must have done the some scrambling through the brambles".
Boann was filling some bowls with some delicious smelling stew. "This will revive you, you must be starving, two days with out food you must be famished," she said as she passed the bowls to the boys. “There is barley bread, I have sent Eochy to the bake house to get some, he will be here soon"
Between mouthfuls, Lugh quickly recounted their adventures of the last twenty -four hours. "So Laogh sent us into the woods so we don't know if it was a raid or what “he was saying with his cheeks stuffed,” We met Diarmund at the ford at he was off to meat with Laogh so will hear later what happened there. Have you seen Ferdi and Kian, do you know, where has my Da has been sent? Diarmurid was going north to Dun Mor, so I suppose we have to wait till all the scouts have returned with the news".

He stretched out his legs and yawned. "There is not much I can do till they all get back, we all could do with a sleep; there was not much rest last night", he yawned again, stood up,
"I need some sleep before the scouts come back, thank you for the food, Mother I'll be back to see you later". He stood up, bowed in respect to the women who had served him food and left the hut, heading for his bed and sleep.