Hearthstone Cottage

by Frazer Lee

  Alex moved to the window at the other end of the outbuilding, and Mike followed him. Looking inside, he saw Alex’s trusty old trail bike leaning up against his father’s older, rustier model. Mike recalled the last time they had rode the bikes out to the lake, and how much they had enjoyed the rough terrain that snaked through the woods.

  “Hey, do you think your parents might be here?”

  “Surprise visit, you mean?” Alex said. “No, they would have said something. They’re in Switzerland for the skiing – Mum would’nae miss that for the world. And Meggie’s still living it up in Thailand, far as I know.”

  Mike could almost hear Alex’s growing frustration amid the quiet of the yard.

  “Whoever lit the fire will have to come back at some point,” Mike said.

  “Aye, they will,” Alex growled, and Mike noticed his friend had balled his right hand into a fist.

  Hitting the stag had been stressful enough, but now that they were locked out, Mike felt the last wisps of his warm, smoky glow leaving him cold. They had just started retracing their steps around to the front of the house, when they heard Helen’s familiar voice calling out to them.

  “Boys! Boys?”

  Alex and Mike rounded the corner leading back to the front of the cottage to find the girls waiting for them on the front doorstep. Another figure was visible, walking down the winding track that led from the hill path to the cottage. She was wearing an ankle-length skirt and carrying a huge bundle of dry twigs in her arms. A Border collie dog bounded along faithfully at her side. Seeing the young woman’s shock of long, tousled red hair, Mike recognized her at once.

  “Meggie?” Alex called out. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’ve missed you too, big brother,” she laughed as she made her way through the gate and up the path. She put down her bundle of twigs on the front porch and gave Alex a hug. The collie barked his welcome and jumped excitedly at Alex, who looked a little taken aback at the sudden display of affection from both dog and owner.

  “When did you get back?” Alex asked, helping her with the twigs.

  “Oh, a few days ago,” Meggie muttered vaguely. She really was the stark opposite to her big brother. Then, looking around at the others’ faces, she said, “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”

  “Kay, this is my sister, Meggie,” Alex said, giving his girlfriend a proprietary squeeze.

  “Pleased to meet you at last,” Meggie said, smiling and shaking hands with Kay, who lurched forward to give Meggie air kisses, then awkwardly withdrew, settling for the handshake.

  “Mike you already met last time,” Alex went on, “and this is his girlfriend, Helen.”

  “Lovely to meet you,” Helen said to Meggie, keeping her hands to herself.

  Meggie nodded in reply. “And this unruly child is Oscar,” she laughed as the dog barked and ran rings around the legs of all the visitors. “Oscar! Behave!”

  “You could have left us the bloody key,” Alex said.

  “I just popped out for more kindling. Thought I’d get the place warmed up for you. Me and Oscar have been hanging out in the studio mostly, next to the electric heater.” Laughing at Alex’s stern look, she added, “You’re very welcome.”

  “We’re grateful, even if he isn’t,” Helen said. “A warm fire is what we could all do with right now, after the journey we’ve had.”

  “Traffic bad, was it?” Meggie asked.

  “Look at the bloody car, Meg,” Alex said.

  Meggie peered over the perimeter wall, and her eyes widened at the sight of the crumpled car. “Oh my goodness! What a mess! Is everyone okay?”

  “Kay’s still a bit freaked—” Alex began.

  “I’m all right.” Kay scowled at him.

  “What happened?” Meggie asked.

  “We hit a stag and—” Mike explained.

  “Technically the stag hit us,” Alex cut in. “And it did’nae get up again afterwards.”

  “Poor wee beastie,” Meggie said.

  “Poor wee beastie? Have you seen what it did to the fucking car? I doubt the insurance even covers it. Christ!”

  The dog barked as if in solidarity with Alex’s anger.

  “Okay, okay. Calm down. And you, Oscar! Hey, the damage is done, right?”

  Alex shrugged, frustrated. Meggie forced a smile at the others.

  “Let’s get you all into the warm, eh? We can have a nice cup of tea.”

  “That sounds great,” Helen said. “Bring the rest of the bags, will you?” she said to Mike.

  He nodded and headed back to the car to retrieve the rest of their luggage. Pausing to watch Alex and the others as they entered the cottage, he realized that Meggie hadn’t even said hello to him.

  * * *

  A warming fire crackled in the grate with the fresh wood that Meggie had added to it. Smoke swirled into the wide, dark flue above, casting flickering shadows on the old hearthstone, which lay like a toppled monolith in front of the fire. The impressive stone mantelpiece and supports were fashioned from the same weathered stone.

  Mike breathed in the smell of the burning wood. It was sweet and earthy, an olfactory description of the cottage he stood in. He remembered being intoxicated by the smell of the hearth on his very first visit to the cottage. It smelled like home, somehow. The months since he’d last stayed there had done nothing to diminish the effect. In fact, if anything, he felt more drawn to the old place than ever. He settled into the old armchair and took a warming sip of tea.

  Alex, ever the hunter-gatherer, was unpacking their food and stowing it away in the open-plan kitchen cupboards. Kay was already rifling through the bookcases, which were filled to bursting with an eclectic mix of local guidebooks, paperback fiction, and elderly hardback editions of shooting, fishing, and sporting almanacs. Helen had generously made a pot of tea for everyone, while Meggie tended to the fire, leaving Mike in the position that came most naturally to him – sitting comfortably on his arse, watching everyone else do the work. He savored another sip of tea from his mug and sighed contentedly. Despite their earlier tangle with the stag, he now felt sure this was going to be a good break for all of them.

  “Looks like the Cheshire cat, that one,” Meggie said as she fed the last of her wood to the fire.

  Mike looked over to her but found she had her back to him. The firelight made her red hair dazzle. She was evidently talking about him, not to him.

  “Aye, never happier than whenever other folk are doing all the hard labor,” Alex said.

  Mike lifted his mug of tea in a mock toast. “Cheers,” he said.

  “On your feet, soldier,” Helen said before draining the last of her tea. She popped her mug on the kitchen counter and walked over to their luggage. “Help me carry these upstairs. I’d like to get unpacked before we all get too settled.”

  “Why don’t we settle first? We are on hols,” Mike protested.

  “I hate living out of a suitcase,” Helen replied, “and you’ll never get unpacked if you don’t do it right now. If you think I’m going to—”

  “All right, all right,” Mike sighed. “No need to mother me.”

  “I think your mother would disagree with that,” Helen countered, eliciting sniggers from Alex and the others. “Come on, get up off your arse and help me with these.”

  “Shall we?” Kay said to Alex, tearing her attention away from the cottage’s makeshift library.

  Alex nodded and grabbed their bags from the pile.

  Meggie stood up from the hearth and smoothed down her skirt. Tucking a long strand of red hair behind one ear, she said to Helen and Kay, “I’ll give you the tour. I have a feeling you’re going to love your rooms. Did my brother show you any snapshots?”

  “Of course he didn’t,” Helen replied.

  “Bloody men,” Meggie muttered as she led th
e way aloft.

  Alex went up first with his and Kay’s bags, followed by Mike. The staircase was narrow and turned a sharp left toward the top, making it difficult to carry the bags without knocking against the walls.

  “Try not to demolish the place on the way up,” teased Alex. Reaching the landing, he added, “Bagsie the master bedroom,” before quickly ducking inside with his luggage.

  “I guess that leaves spare bedroom number two,” Mike said. “If you don’t mind?” he added, nodding to Meggie.

  “Oh, no, not at all. I already took the single. Oscar’s happy to share.” Meggie winked.

  “What are those?” Helen asked, pointing at a series of wooden carvings hanging above each bedroom door.

  Mike looked up to see they had been carved into a series of runic symbols – four for each room. He didn’t recall seeing them on his last visit. Probably Meggie’s artwork, or her mum’s.

  “They’re Haelu charms, aren’t they?” Kay interjected.

  Meggie looked impressed. “You know your folklore, I see. Yes, they are. It’s an old tradition in this neck of the woods to hang these up around the house, especially over the thresholds.”

  Mike looked at the charms, mesmerized. He reached out slowly and took one in his hand before recoiling as if a sudden shock of pain had jolted through his arm.

  “Ouch! It bloody burned me!”

  He looked at Kay’s shocked expression and couldn’t help himself. He cracked up laughing. Alex punched him playfully on the arm.

  “Dick,” Helen said. “Almost had us going there.” She nudged Mike aside and took a closer look at the charms.

  Mike grinned, noticing that she didn’t touch any of them.

  “What’s their significance?” Helen asked Meggie as her eyes scrutinized the charms. “Do they mean something specific?”

  Meggie pointed out each symbol in turn. “The Anglo-Saxon meaning is ‘health’, ‘wealth’, ‘luck’—and that one on the end there means ‘blessings’.”

  “I like them,” Helen mused. “Do they sell them in local gift shops, or museums round here?”

  “You made them, I reckon, eh, Meggie?” Mike said.

  Meggie chuckled. “Oh, no, I couldn’t make those. They’re very old. Maybe someone is making copies. The old crafts are certainly coming back. You’d have to try eBay.”

  “Not that you’ll have any luck getting online here,” Alex said.

  Helen had already unlocked her phone screen. “No wi-fi?”

  Mike shook his head, smirking at Helen’s growing look of horror.

  “Nobody told me there was no bloody wi-fi.”

  “Welcome to the wilderness,” Meggie giggled. “There isn’t even a landline.”

  The sound of her mirth was infectious, and they all shared a laugh.

  * * *

  Unpacked and settled in, Mike and the others sat around the fire, which roared in its grate beneath the fireplace. The golden light flickered across the impressive mantelpiece. Mike followed the line of the flickering light and noticed that the mantel’s supports and the slablike hearthstone appeared to be fashioned from the same weathered rock.

  “That fire’s lush,” breathed Kay, the light dancing in her eyes. “The hearthstone looks really old. Like someone lugged a chunk of Stonehenge all the way up here.”

  “From Salisbury? No need,” Meggie said with a smile. “Plenty of local rock in these mountains. All the houses in the village are made from the same stuff.”

  “Grub’s up!” called Alex from the kitchen.

  Mike followed his nose to the conservatory. The most delicious wafts of hearty beef stew guided him in to land at the big, old dining table. The others soon joined, and Alex made a show of popping the cork on a bottle of cava.

  They each helped themselves to a steaming bowl of stew and passed around a wooden chopping board laden with crusty bread. Mike delved in before the others had even finished dishing up, and caught Helen’s look of admonishment as he did so.

  “What?” he asked through a delicious mouthful of food. “It’s not like anyone’s gonna say grace.”

  He wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve and took the glass that Alex offered to him.

  “A toast,” said Alex, and they all raised their glasses. “To still being alive after hitting that bloody stag.”

  “And to still being alive after our fricken finals,” Kay added.

  They all clinked glasses, and the first drinks went down quickly enough for Alex to have to pour refills before his stew had even had time to cool down. Finally he sat down and tucked in while Mike helped himself to seconds.

  “The view is just stunning,” said Kay. “I could never get tired of it.”

  Mike looked out over the loch. The conservatory windows gave a widescreen view of the landscape. Dark clouds drifted overhead, the gaps in between them directing dappled light onto the surface of the water. The sun was setting behind the mountains, turning the sky a ruddy shade of orange.

  “It can get lonely out here, but there’s no shortage of inspiration for painting and sculpting,” Meggie said.

  “So, you’re an art student?” Helen asked.

  “Was. I went to Glasgow School of Art.”

  “When did you graduate?”

  “I didn’t. I…took some time out to travel.”

  “She bloody well dropped out is what she means to say,” Alex said.

  “Bit harsh, brother mine,” Meggie said softly. Then she blushed a little. “I might go back and finish my studies….”

  “If Pa and Ma cough up for another year’s fees, eh?” Alex laughed sarcastically.

  “Where did you travel?” Kay cut in, elbowing Alex in the arm and throwing him a cautionary look.

  “Thailand mostly,” Meggie replied. “I was at a yoga retreat for a while, and I took some art classes to keep my brush-hand in.”

  Meggie glanced at Alex, her eyes twinkling, and rose from the table. She began gathering up everyone’s dishes.

  “Oh, no, I’ll do that,” Helen offered.

  “No, you guys relax. I’ll do the washing up. We can take turns each day after that. So don’t worry, you’ll all get your chance,” she laughed, carrying the dishes to the sink.

  “Even you,” Helen said to Mike.

  “Hey, I’m a dab hand at…air-drying,” Mike replied, provoking laughter from the others.

  As the laughter subsided, Mike saw Kay glance over her shoulder. She leaned in close to Alex and lowered her voice, almost to a whisper.

  “Hey, you shouldn’t be so hard on your kid sister like that.”

  “She’s no kid; she’s twenty now. My folks were absolutely bloody furious when she dropped out of college. Even more furious when she went cap in hand to them for more money to go gallivanting off halfway around the world.”

  Kay elbowed him again, making him lower his voice.

  “Come on, I’m just joshing with her. She knows that.”

  Mike watched Meggie in the kitchen. She didn’t look like she knew Alex was joking. Far from it. As she worked on the dishes, scrubbing them hard beneath the trickle of hot water from the tap, he saw her blink something away from the corner of her eye. He felt sure she must be crying in silence over there all alone. She must have sensed him staring at her because she turned and looked straight at him. He felt his arms turn to gooseflesh at her blank look, like she was staring right through him.

  “Jesus!”

  Mike jolted at the sensation of something cold and wet brushing against his right hand. He looked down and saw Oscar sitting right next to his chair, tongue lolling out of the corner of his mouth.

  “Blimey, you’re jumpy,” Helen said, smiling at Mike and then getting up from her chair to fuss over the dog.

  Kay looked troubled. She folded her arms and shivered. “It’s hard to f
orget the look in that poor stag’s eyes.”

  “Aye, and it’s hard to forget we totaled the bloody car,” Alex said.

  Mike could tell that Alex was trying to make light, but the annoyance in his friend’s tone was evident.

  “Another drink, anyone?” Alex asked, holding aloft the empty cava bottle. “We made light work of this one. Something a wee bit stronger next.…”

  Alex sloped off to investigate the bottles of spirits on the sideboard.

  “I’ll chuck another log on the fire,” Mike said. “It’s getting chilly in here.”

  Chapter Three

  Mike savored the peaty scent of the single malt whisky that Alex had poured for him. It tasted earthy and good. The afterglow of the drink warmed his throat and stomach. He felt almost content and was confident he would achieve full contentment after another stiff measure.

  The fire crackled on in the hearth, making flickering shadows dance across the rug and the pale walls. Mike wondered how many nights had been spent like this in the crofter’s cottage, sipping whisky next to a roaring fire after a hard day’s toil. Helen and the others were milling around in the kitchen, checking out the tourist leaflets that Alex’s parents kept stacked up next to the vegetable rack. He ambled over to the table to join them, placing his hand on Helen’s shoulder. She took it in hers – her hands were always cool to the touch, the opposite of his – and squeezed it before continuing her chat with Kay and the others.

  Just then, the clouds parted, allowing a brilliant shaft of moonlight to appear. It shimmered, silver-white on the black surface of the loch. The moon was full and so bright that it caught the attention of everyone in the room. The conversation subsided as they each gazed out at the beautiful sight of it. Mike supposed they had all become too used to the light pollution in the city. It certainly felt like he was seeing something they all took for granted for the first time, standing there in the conservatory.