The Loch Ness Papers

by Paige Shelton

  Wyatt winked at me and then grabbed the bags from the turnstile. I led us and the three large bags out to Elias and his waiting cab.

  You might have thought Elias and my dad were long lost brothers. They were certainly cut from the same cloth—hardworking, loyal folks who put family first. I should have recognized the similarities earlier. It was no wonder I’d become so fond of my landlords. I was lucky to have such good men in my life.

  Elias took my mother’s hand and kissed the top of it as he told her what an honor it was to meet her. There was nothing forced or unnatural about the moment and I was duly impressed.

  “It’s such a pleasure, Elias. Thank you to you and Aggie for taking care of our little girl,” Mom said.

  “She is delightsome,” he said. “Aggie is looking forward tae our dinner this evening.”

  “Oh, I hope she’s not going to too much trouble. And you letting us stay in a guesthouse. Delaney has told us how wonderful they are. We don’t want to be an imposition,” Mom said.

  “We wouldnae have it any other way,” Elias said.

  “Wouldnae—oh, I’m going to love this accent,” Mom said.

  “I know what you mean. So,” I clapped my hands together, “are you three up for a little sightseeing, a small trip?”

  My family blinked at me.

  “Well, we’re a little tired,” Dad said.

  “I’m ready for anything,” Wyatt said, but I noticed his tired eyes too.

  “Yes. Perhaps we could nap a bit first,” Mom said.

  I remembered the jet lag I’d experienced. It was so enveloping that I thought I might fall down in the street once the adrenaline of meeting my new coworkers was tapped out. I’d slept for fifteen hours straight.

  “Well, maybe you could nap in the back seat of the cab?” I offered. “I’d like to take a small trip and today’s a good weather day. I think you’d enjoy seeing Loch Ness, and I don’t know how much time we’ll have later in the week.”

  Honestly, I was a horrible daughter. I should have let my family get to some beds, but when the thought of making this trip with them today had come to me yesterday, I couldn’t let go of the idea.

  “Loch Ness?” Dad said. “The monster? Nessie?”

  “That’s the one,” I said.

  Mom and Dad exchanged looks and I caught their you-only-live-once shrug.

  “I don’t believe in Nessie, but I’m certainly game,” Wyatt said.

  “All right,” Mom said.

  “Verra good,” Elias said.

  It wasn’t a huge cab, but it was big enough to wedge my parents and me into the back seat as Wyatt took the front passenger seat. Elias put two pieces of luggage in the back of the cab and then stacked and secured the other one on top. It seemed a dubious setup and I wondered if we should run the bags to the guesthouse before making the trip to Loch Ness. Elias didn’t seem concerned and I think he had ideal travel times in mind. Running back home first might put us in some thicker traffic.

  Only about three miles into our journey, as I was telling them about Norval Fraser, I felt the first head plop onto my shoulder. My mom had fallen asleep. I looked at my dad; he was out too.

  I couldn’t tell for sure so I quietly asked, “Elias, is Wyatt awake?”

  He looked at the passenger. “No, lass, he’s oot like a light. Ye remember the jet lag?”

  “I do, but I managed a trip to the bookshop first.”

  “Aye, I remember. It’s quite a journey though and they were delayed. I imagine they’re forgnawed.”

  “That must mean exhausted.”

  “Aye, lass.” He looked at me in the rearview mirror as my sleeping parents bookended me.

  I was transported back about a year, to when I’d first seen those eyes in that mirror. It had been a good year.

  “Should we run them back to the guesthoose?” Elias said. “I can take ye up tae Loch Ness by yerself.”

  I thought a moment. “No, they’d love to see it. I’d hate for them to miss it and I really don’t know when we’ll get the chance to go up again. We’ll let them rest on the way. We’ll wake them when we get there.”

  “Aye. Whatever ye say, lass.”

  EIGHTEEN

  I’d never been to Loch Ness either, and, as often happened in Scotland, the weather changed from nice to foreboding as we approached the loch. My family slept soundly through the pouring rain, and the tight two-lane-road journey. My parents had me well tucked in place. The seat belt kept my brother secure, but his head rolled back and forth with the curves.

  Fortunately, Elias was an excellent driver and his windscreen wipers and lights were in perfect condition. My family slept through a torrential downpour that curtained the passing hills and villages. At least the unruly weather meant they weren’t missing much of the scenery, always better appreciated with clearer skies.

  When I first moved to Scotland, the image in my mind of the legendary loch was something round, a tub of beautiful blue water for the monster I didn’t believe in. It didn’t take long to learn that the loch was actually a long stretch of dark, peaty, unwelcoming, and deep fresh water, its depth plunging down not far from the shore. Along each shore were some hotels and homes and places like Wikenton, where some villages still existed. I shared the results of my research, so Elias knew how to get to what was left of Wikenton, but he wanted to make a stop first.

  I’d seen pictures of the Urquhart Castle, but I didn’t expect Elias to take us to a spot where we could see its stone remains. When he pulled off the road to a hidden graveled nook, I was glad the rain had lessened enough that I could see out the windscreen and across the loch to the castle. Topped off with dark clouds—even though many of the stones were lost to time—the sight spoke to me in the ways Scotland always did: fierce and loyal, just like Elias and my dad.

  “Do ye want tae get oot and take a look?” Elias asked me.

  “Well. I would like to, but I’m not sure I can get out. Though I should wake them up anyway. I mean, it is Loch Ness.”

  “See if ye can climb over them. If they wake up, then it’s meant tae be. If they sleep, I’ll bring them back later in the week.”

  I smiled. “They’re so cute, huh?”

  “Aye.” Elias smiled too. “They are happy tae see ye, but they’ll be even happier when they’re rested.”

  “All right, here we go.”

  I crawled over my dad, and he didn’t wake up even a little bit. Elias plucked me out of the cab, and we both peered back in at my family.

  “Do you think they were drugged?” I asked.

  Elias laughed. “No, lass, don’t ye remember how ye felt when you first arrived? They’ll feel better after a wee snooze.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Come along. They’ll be fine. Let’s take a quick walk tae the shore afore the rains come again. Aggie and I love this place. Years ago, I came up here a time or two with some mates. We stumbled upon this fishing hole and stayed, told each other our lies. I brought Aggie when we first met and it’s a tradition that we have tae stop whenever we’re in the area. Ye and yer sleeping family are now part of the tradition.”

  “This is a great view of the castle ruins,” I said, pleased that it was barely raining anymore.

  “Aye.” Elias rubbed his chin. “Ye’ve heard of King Arthur?”

  “Yes. In fact, more than usual as of late.”

  “Aye? Well, there are many rumors about where Camelot might have been located if it really was a place…”

  “This is one?”

  “No, but it’s rumored that Guinevere spent a night here. She ran from Arthur and Lancelot tae talk tae her father, who was the king of Scotland. She stayed here for the night but went back home tae her husband. If she was here, she probably spent a stormy night in a drafty castle, reminding her that perhaps Scotland’s weather wasnae as lovely as Camelot’s.”

  “Really? I’ll be.”

  “What is it?”

  I shook my head. “Sometimes things come in
groups. You know when you start focusing on a number or something and you start to see it everywhere? That’s what’s going on with King Arthur right now. He and Camelot have come up a lot lately.”

  “Aye. Weel, if he was real, this country was his home … Arthur’s Seat is another rumor, for a visit from the king and his knights.”

  “I heard that recently too.”

  Oh, to know for sure. It wasn’t a bookish voice, just a wish that spoke inside me.

  “See, we would set up some chairs right there and throw oot lines into the water,” Elias continued as the water lapped in and came almost to my toes.

  I stepped back. “You said you weren’t a believer?”

  “No, lass,” he said, but I heard the hesitation.

  “What?”

  He looked at me with a half smile. “Dinnae tell Aggie, but I just dinnae ken for sure. If she thinks I have any doubt at all, I might never hear the end of her ideas.”

  “I’ll keep it to myself.”

  “Let’s just say that I wouldnae be surprised. I’ve seen things and wondered. ’Tis a mysterious place tae be sure.”

  In fact, the water and the surrounding countryside weren’t the stuff of storybooks, at least those with happy endings. It was a beautiful place, like every other place in Scotland I’d seen, but more menacing. Maybe it was the dark clouds or the dark water, stretching far and long. Maybe the decrepit castle remains deepened the drama. I tried to imagine Norval’s life as a little boy.

  I searched the water for a head, or a tail, or something that might look like a monstrous creature, cartoonish or not. A shape in the water caught my attention, but it only took a moment to realize it was a piece of driftwood.

  I saw nothing suspicious.

  “It’s beautiful in a very powerful way. Not like the ocean, but still commanding,” I said.

  “Aye. Commanding. I like that.”

  We watched the water as a tourist boat passed by. Many of the rain-cape-clad passengers had their phones or cameras up to the windows around the middle of the boat. I wanted a ride like that someday.

  A cold spray hit my cheeks and I shivered.

  “Ready tae go?” Elias said.

  “I think so,” I said.

  We turned to step away from the shore and Elias took my arm as we made our way through a slightly more exuberant wind and the slippery gravel. Halfway to the cab, we heard a splash. It was distinctly a splash, not the lapping water, not a strange wave that might have come ashore, but a definite splash.

  In unison, we turned back to look.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked Elias, though I knew he had.

  “Aye,” he said doubtfully as both of us scanned the water.

  “It was like something … someone jumped into the water, right?” I said.

  “Aye, but it could have just been … something else.”

  “What?”

  “I dinnae ken. A fish?”

  “That would be one big fish.”

  “Aye. A big fish. That’s what it was.”

  “Okay.” I scanned the water again. “Would there be a fish that big here? It was a big splash.”

  “Aye. There must be. Or, if we heard what we think we heard, the water would be disrupted where it happened. We might be mistaken.” Elias was trying to explain the sound to himself just as much as to me.

  “I don’t know. That’s some pretty active water. Evidence might be hard to see.”

  Elias lifted and replaced his cap and then rubbed his chin. “Let’s get back tae yer family.”

  “Right.” But I couldn’t take my eyes off the water. “Elias, you don’t think. I mean, is it possible that a monster exists and knows when it’s being talking about? Maybe knows how to tease its hunters?”

  Elias pursed his lips and then rubbed his chin again. “No, lass, that’s not possible.”

  “Of course,” I said a good long moment later. Finally, I turned my attention from the water and we made our way back to the cab.

  Gregory, Sylvia, and Wyatt Nichols were still sound asleep. I crawled back to my spot without disrupting anyone. I checked their noses for air movement and was relieved they were still breathing.

  “Do you think their necks will be okay?” I asked Elias when he got into the cab.

  “I think so. Might be a bit sore when they wake up. I wouldnae rouse them, lass. They’ll be fine.”

  “It seems I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

  Elias chuckled. “On to Wikenton?”

  “Please,” I said, just as both of my parents rested their heads on my shoulders again.

  NINETEEN

  We thought we were headed in the right direction, but we weren’t finding the correct turn. Because of a poor Internet connection, I couldn’t search on my phone as we drove. We pulled off the main road next to the loch three times before we discovered the right road. The rain had stopped again, or I think Elias would have turned us around and taken us back to civilization instead of inside the overgrown cove.

  Elias steered the cab around too many alder trees to count. We knew we’d made it to Wikenton when we came upon the old painted sign, hanging with one side of a broken chain. But we could still see that, in maroon paint over a weathered white background, the sign said: WIKENTON.

  “This is the place,” I said.

  “Not much of a place.”

  As we traveled along the inner curve, we came upon a small house that looked lived in, and well-loved with peeling, whitish paint. However, the red door looked like it had recently seen a fresh coat and it shone even under the clouds above.

  “Do ye think that’s where she lives?” Elias asked.

  “I don’t see any other houses,” I said.

  I glanced along the cove’s curve. There were only trees, no other structures.

  “Wait, I see something over there,” Elias said as he looked across to the other side of the curve.

  I had to squint, but I thought there might be a structure over there too, painted light blue.

  “Let me knock on this door and see. Maybe we’ll get lucky,” I said.

  I wedged myself out of the cab again and followed a cobblestone path to the front door. I looked over my shoulder once to check the water for monsters, but the water was mostly hidden by the trees. However, it felt like something whispered on the back of my neck. My imagination was in high gear.

  Considering that Ava had told me she didn’t like to talk on the phone, I assumed she might be hard of hearing. I knocked on the red door with a little extra force.

  “Coming,” a male voice said from inside.

  As the door swished open, I was greeted by a bushy gray mustache and the pipe underneath it. When the smoke reached my nose, I sniffed once. I couldn’t place the scent but I thought it pleasant.

  “’Elp ye?” he said, though I couldn’t see his lips at all.

  “Hi, I’m … well, I’m looking for Ava,” I said.

  “She’s ’cross the way. The blue hoose,” he said as he began to close the door.

  “Uh, okay…” I said. I didn’t want to let him go yet. “May I ask you a question?”

  He might have frowned. “Aye?”

  “Well, have you … have you lived here a while?”

  “All my life.”

  “I’m Delaney.” I stuck out my hand, which he shook, though I didn’t think he wanted to. He didn’t offer his name. “I’ve recently become friends with Norval Fraser. He’s in Edinburgh now. Do you know the Frasers?”

  He shrugged and took out the pipe. “I havenae seen a Fraser in nigh on forty years, but aye, they lived over there.” He nodded to his right. “But their house is long gone, taken by a wicked winter storm. ’Twas empty at the time, so no one was hurt.”

  “Oh, that’s good. I’m sorry about the house, though.”

  He shrugged again.

  “I, uh, Norval’s very into the monster, Nessie,” I said. If he hadn’t heard already, I didn’t want to be the one to tell him about Gavin or Nor
val’s involvement in that tragedy.

  “Last I heard, Norval Fraser was certain his father was taken by Nessie herself.”

  “Yeah, he told me that story. What do you think about that?”

  Another shrug. “Anything’s possible.”

  I smiled. “Have you seen Nessie lately?”

  He cocked his head. “Lass, are ye sellin’ something?”

  “No, not at all.” I sighed. “Norval asked if I would take over his work, his search for the monster. I’m trying to figure out if I should.”

  “Weel, I cannae tell ye what tae do, but Nessie willna show herself tae ye if she doesnae want tae. She picks and chooses.”

  “She’s real?”

  I know he smiled now because I could see it in his eyes. “I’ll never tell, but, lass, I really dinnae think that Norval Fraser’s father Leopold was taken by the monster. He ran off with another woman. If I remember correctly her name was Flora, not Nessie. Ava can tell ye aboot Flora if ye ask nicely. She knew everyone.”

  “Great—thank you for your time. I’ll head over and talk to her now.”

  He continued. “I dinnae ken if she’s back. Her son picked her up this morning. She cannae hear all that well, so go on inside and just yell her name. It’s what everyone does.”

  “Go into her house? Without knocking?”

  “Aye. She never hears the knocks. If she’s not there, no harm done.”

  “Okay.” I nodded. “Thank you again.”

  “It’s the other house, the blue one,” I said as I peered in at Elias and my still sleeping family. “I’ll walk over. Meet me there?”

  My mom stirred. I held my breath, hoping she’d open her eyes. Instead, she mumbled something incomprehensible and then snuggled her head back into my dad’s shoulder.

  “I’ll meet you at the hoose.”

  I set off on the short hike and was quickly rewarded. Amid more alders was the ruined remains of one structure that might once have held three different businesses. This must have been the small downtown. There was no glass left where windows used to be, and vines snaked in and out of the openings and over the outside of the entire roofless structure.