He was gone a moment later.
I held the book in my hands, interest in The Fairy Lover story and the old man getting the best of me. I opened the pages of the leather-bound Legends and Lovers book, eyes scanning the faded paper in search of a copyright date. The printer’s name was listed as J. McKnabb, Inverness Press.
I pulled out my notepad, scratching down the name next to the others from the graveyard before closing and tucking it back into my pocket. I nestled between the two big dogs on the couch, Legends and Lovers in hand, and I began to read.
Fable
I woke with a jolt. One giant paw was wedged into the crook of my neck, a wet nose in my ear. “Move over, would ya?”
The dog with the most gray hair peppered in his muzzle groaned loudly. I laughed back at him, sliding my book closed and pushing myself out from under the dog.
A slow headache throbbed behind my temples from the last few hours of being curled up with Thing One and Thing Two on the couch. I’d read to chapter two in The Fairy Lover, as far as I could remember. I blinked away the sleep in my eyes and moved to the wide windowpanes that overlooked Dunvegan. White puffs of clouds clung to the farthest reaches. A shiver raced down my spine when a dark shadow moved at the edge of the loch then.
I set the tattered copy of Legends and Lovers on the nearest end table with the pages spread open, following the streams of early light through Leith’s hallways. I turned the corner, jumping back a step when I nearly ran into the wide expanse of Keats.
“Came over to tell ye I was headed in’ta Kylemore if ya need anything.”
I placed a hand over my heart, apologizing quickly. “I’m sorry, you caught me off guard. I can’t believe I slept all night on that couch between those two dogs.”
“Shoulda kicked those old fur bags off the furniture. I try, but they just help themselves as soon as I’m turned around.” I smiled, hearing the soft padding footsteps of one of the dogs behind me now. “Get on outta here.” Keats tapped one on the hindquarters as it passed him. The dog didn’t seem to pay any attention to him.
“Shoulda woke ya, but ye looked so peaceful I couldn’t bear’ta.”
I was drawn to the warmth that illuminated Keats’s eyes as he spoke. “Thank you for stopping to ask if I need anything. I don’t, but you’re kind to offer.”
“Jus’ what folks do around here.” He moved into the kitchen, opening the pantry and perusing it with his gaze. “Don’t eat much, do ya?”
I shook my head. “I got caught up in that book last night, I guess.”
“Travel musta stolen your wind.”
I nodded. “I was just going for a walk if you want to join me.”
“Not today, lass.” His voice was gentle but clipped.
I nodded. “Well, see you later, then.”
He grunted in response. “Should be back aught noon.”
I hummed a reply so he knew that I’d heard him before slipping out the doors. The dogs trotted at the tree line on the other side of the graveyard. Veiled in clouds was the jagged crag I’d passed on my way in yesterday. I imagined discovering that at some point, whenever the mist and clouds cleared.
My feet pulled me toward the calm loch, rugged shore dark with the ever-present damp that clung to the granite faces of the rocks. I moved easily down the dewy path that edged one side of the graveyard. My feet worked quickly as I crested a small hill sprinkled with heather, the lapping waters of Dunvegan new on my ears.
“This is so beautiful.” I paused to take it in. Where the small white thatched fisherman’s cottage usually sat was now shadowed in darkness, the early stretches of the predawn light unable to penetrate the dark woods that flanked all sides.
I continued my walk down to Dunvegan, determined to dip my toes in the cool water at least once a day while I was at Leith.
Gratitude washed over me as I thought of the mess I’d left behind in America. My indecisive and often rebellious nature had me shifting my degree at the University of Ohio twice in the last year, my revolving circle of friends hard to depend on and becoming even more frustrating to talk to as my studies became my only priority. My parents hadn’t questioned my change of plans—from prelaw to evolutionary biology—much at first, but the less I answered their messages and the more I talked of applying to programs out of the country, the more they’d expressed doubts.
Sitting at the edge of Dunvegan Loch made it all worth it, though.
I dipped my toes into the water. Smooth lake stones in a rainbow of colors spread along the shore as I stepped farther into the loch. My skin adjusted to the cool water as it lapped at my ankles. I took a few more steps, enjoying the way the chilly rush invigorated every cell in my body. I stepped deeper into the water until it reached my thighs. The rocks under my bare feet were smooth and shiny, like tiny gemstones glimmering under just the right angle of morning sunlight.
A faceted stone caught my eye, and I bent, attempting to grab it without submerging more of myself beneath the water than I had to. The stone was out of reach, so I paused, attempting to kick it to a shallower depth, when the currents shifted around me. I groaned, ready to abandon my hunt for the stone altogether, when another, even stronger current pushed against my legs and caused me to stumble with an incredible lack of grace right back into the same spot I’d been hunting for the stone.
I blinked once, attempting to catch my bearings before the current washed against my thighs again, a warm wind behind it causing the water immediately surrounding me to whirlpool with gathering strength. Fear worked its way into my throat as I tried to gasp for air when my feet slipped against the wet stones. I’d been marveling at their shiny uniqueness just moments ago, and now the tiny gems might prove to be the death of me.
“Help!” I gulped, struggling against the force of the current. A soft boom of thunder shook the atmosphere before the cloud above Dunvegan and Leith lit with static electricity. My heart pounded with anxiety as I struggled to lift my arms and fight the current back to shore. The force of the water pulled me away from the shallows, my lungs starting to beg for air. I gathered all my strength, forcing my head above the rough waters a final time and gasping for the largest breath I could gather.
With my lungs bursting at the seams, I slipped under the waves and sliced through the whirlpool, determined to reach calmer currents closer to shore. Keeping my eyes open, I moved away from the darker shadows at my back and swam for the brighter shades of stones that decorated the shallow shoreline. I searched frantically for any pattern of stones that might unlock the path I’d taken in from shore, but they all bled together in color and shape. From my new perspective, they were all the same.
My eyes landed on the purple stone I’d been hunting for earlier. It lay just out of my reach, and I could see now upon closer inspection that it wasn’t a stone at all, but some sort of jewelry piece. The dull sparkle of the amethyst gem was now clearly nestled in the divot of a soft white stone. It looked like the type of pendant a Viking invader or gypsy traveller might wear. With my lungs beginning to scream for oxygen, I swiped at the piece. I couldn’t tell if I’d caught it or not because the flurry of darkness my disturbance created in the water shaded everything.
My entire vision now black, I spun in place, eyes searching frantically for shore. My lungs began to split apart fiber by fiber as they pleaded for more air. I screamed inside my head, struggling to push off the ground with my feet because of the slippery film that lay like invisible carpet on the colorful stones.