The House on the Shore

by Victoria Howard

  “Lachlan? Is that all right?” Anna gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

  “Yes, yes, of course,” he sighed.

  “In that case, if I may take the pickup, I’ll go home and collect my hiking gear. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Anna kissed him on the cheek and hurried out the door.

  Luke was checking the croft’s generator when he heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. He wiped his hands on an oily rag and strode round to the front of the croft in time to see Anna climbing out of Morag’s pickup. She rushed headlong towards him. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her.

  “I thought you and Morag were trading cars this morning.”

  “We were supposed to,” Anna cried against his shoulder, “Morag’s missing. We’re organizing a search party. I came home to change and collect the dogs. I thought they might be useful.”

  “Hey, back up.” He held her at arms’ length. “What do you mean, Morag is missing? I thought you said she went to pick her husband up from the train station.”

  Anna took a deep steadying breath. “She was supposed to, but she’s not been seen since she left the hotel yesterday afternoon.”

  “I see. What about the Land Rover? Anybody seen it?”

  “That’s the strange thing. If it had broken down, Morag would have left it at the side of the road and walked to the nearest house, assuming there was one. If there wasn’t, she would have stayed with the vehicle, no matter what.”

  “Did Lachlan call the police?”

  “They won’t do anything for forty-eight hours. Ewan’s called in the local mountain rescue team, but it will take them awhile to assemble and get here. Rather than wait, we’ve decided to organize our own search.”

  The fingers of his left hand curled under her chin and tilted her head to his. “I’m glad someone’s thinking on their feet. Sitting around waiting doesn’t help anyone, especially Morag. I know her friendship means a lot to you.” He gently brushed away her tears with his thumb. “Tell me what we need. If she’s out there, we’re going to find her.”

  “I hope so, Luke. If she was out all night in the storm God knows what state she’ll be in.” Anna shuddered as she thought about the possibility of her friend lying hurt. “It’s not going to be easy. It’s more than fifty miles to Fort William by road. That’s a huge area to cover, and if Morag abandoned the Land Rover and took to the fields, it could be even further. Are you sure you want to help?”

  “I’ll do whatever it takes. Now what do we need?”

  “Proper clothing and footwear to start with,” Anna said, glancing at his T-shirt and jeans. “Water and a first aid kit, there’s one in the bathroom. There’s a spare rucksack in the bottom drawer of the chest in your room. I’ve got two foil heat-retaining blankets, so we can each carry one. You’ll need a walking stick to search the undergrowth with. There’s a couple in the hall.”

  They hurried into the croft. While Luke changed, Anna made sandwiches and filled two flasks with hot, sweet tea. Then, taking the stairs two at a time, she hastily swapped her own clothes for a pair of thick denim jeans, a lightweight sweater, and walking boots.

  Luke threw the first aid kit into his rucksack along with an extra sweater and his oilskin. He sat down on the edge of the bed, laced up his boots and tried to piece things together, but came up with a big fat zero. He didn’t like the situation one bit, and the fact that Morag had been driving Anna’s Land Rover was all the more disturbing.

  The life he’d tried so hard to forget suddenly came flooding back. There had been that kidnap case he and his partner had been involved in just after he had joined the agency. They had searched for the missing teenager for best part of three weeks, before finally locating her body hidden in a disused well on property owned by her uncle. He’d interviewed the uncle twice, and although he couldn’t find any evidence linking him to the girl’s disappearance, his gut had told him the man was involved. Luke blamed himself for not following his instincts and finding her sooner.

  The sound of Anna’s voice calling him brought his thoughts back to the present.

  He checked the safety catch on his gun, slipped it into the specially designed holster in the back of his jeans and pulled on his lightweight jacket.

  The bar of the hotel was crowded when Luke and Anna walked in fifty minutes later. Anna recognized some of the faces. There was Mr. MacIver and the Fraser boys, and two of the farm hands from the estate. The Reverend Cameron had put aside his church duties to join the searchers. Even a couple of guests had offered to help.

  A pale-faced Lachlan stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ewan in front of everyone. Ewan banged his heavy fist on a table and the room fell silent.

  “If I can have your attention, everyone. I want you to work in pairs,” he told them. “No searching on your own. We don’t want anyone else getting lost. Katrina, would you hand the maps round, please? Thank you. Morag was driving Anna MacDonald’s old Land Rover. You all know what it looks like.”

  “Aye, more rust than Land Rover!” Mr. MacIver said. His comment gathered a few nervous laughs.

  “Well, just in case you’ve forgotten, let me remind you. It’s pale green in colour and has a red hood.” Ewan pointed to areas on his map. “If you’ll follow along, you’ll notice that each area I’ve marked covers two miles. For those of you searching the village, make sure you knock on every door; check every byre and garden shed. The rest of you will use the road as your reference and search it, and the fields and moorland either side, up to a distance of half a mile. Morag could be anywhere between here and Fort William.”

  Anna put up her hand. “Morag’s been out all night. She’ll be cold and wet, and probably very scared.” she said, trying, but failing, to hold back her tears. “Make sure you carry extra clothing or a blanket, as well as water and a hot drink.”

  “Okay, folks. Time isn’t on our side,” Ewan said, pinning his map to the wall. “There are short wave radios on the table. Please take one on your way out. I’ll stay here with Lachlan and act as co-ordinator. It’s now eleven thirty. I suggest we meet back here in five hours. Agreed?”

  Everyone in the room nodded and said yes. Anna glanced at the map in her hand, and then turned to Luke. “We’ve got a section of the road from the hotel to the crossroads,” she said, shouldering her rucksack and turning to leave.

  “Anna, if you have a moment,” Ewan called. “I think it best you and your friend search the estate, rather than the road.”

  “But...I—”

  Gently, he took the map from her hand and replaced it with one of the estate. He looked at Luke for support.

  “Anna, I know what you’re thinking. You and Morag are good friends. It’s bad enough that she’s missing. I don’t want you to be the one to find her, not if she’s—”

  “She won’t be!” Anna cried.

  Luke took Anna by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “Ewan’s right, sweetheart,” he said, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Trust me; you couldn’t live with that kind of pain.”

  “But—”

  “Come on,” Luke took her hand and led her out of the hotel. “You know the estate pretty well, where’s the best place to start?”

  “The stables and outbuildings, they’re closest to the road. And there are numerous cottages and bothies.”

  “All right, we’ll start with the cottages. Tell me, was there a special place you used to meet, a place that only you and Morag knew about?”

  “You mean when we were teenagers?”

  “Yes.”

  “We always met in the village, at the croft, or at her parents’ home. Why?”

  “Sometimes when people are scared,” Luke replied, “they go to a place where they felt happy and secure.”

  “But Morag had no reason to feel unhappy or insecure. She was happy and eager to see Lachlan.”

  “I know. I just want you to think where she might go, if she were, that’s all.”

  Apart from giving him directions, Anna hardly spo
ke until they stopped outside an abandoned croft. She climbed out of the Land Rover and held the door open for the dogs.

  “Ensay, Rhona, seek—find Morag!”

  The two dogs eagerly circled the cottage, sniffing every bush, every rock, before returning to Anna, and sitting at her feet. Luke walked up to the door of the cottage and tried the handle. The door was firmly locked.

  “Stay here,” he said, before disappearing round the side of the squat building.

  A few moments later, the front door opened.

  “Before you ask, I climbed in through the kitchen window.” Luke stepped aside to let her in. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s lived here for quite a while.”

  “It used to be Sandy’s croft. He was the ghillie, but he left earlier in the year.” The front door opened directly into the sitting room. It was empty apart from an old sofa and an armchair. The room smelled of damp, and mice had taken over, removing the stuffing from the chair for a nest.

  “I’ll check upstairs just in case, but I think you can cross this one off the map.”

  “Would you mind if we left the Land Rover here and continued on foot?”

  “Good idea. We can cover all the ground in between as well as the buildings.”

  By two-thirty the rain clouds had pushed away to the east, and although the sun was yet to put in an appearance, the temperature had risen considerably. After searching four abandoned crofts, Luke suggested they take a break. They sat down in the shelter of a dry-stone wall. The dogs lay on the grass nearby. Luke opened his rucksack and offered Anna a sandwich from his lunchbox. She shook her head.

  “You need to eat, Anna.”

  “I can’t. I’m too concerned about Morag.”

  “At least have a drink.” He popped the tab on a can of soda and handed it to her.

  “Luke, what if we don’t find her?”

  He grasped her hand firmly. “We will. It might not be today, or tomorrow, but I promise you, we will find her.”

  Anna’s face said she wished she could believe him, but deep down he knew she didn’t.

  Throughout the afternoon they continued to search, the two-way radio Luke carried remained silent. Dejected, they returned to the hotel shortly before six. Anna dropped her rucksack on the floor and slumped into a chair, the dogs at her feet.

  Ewan raised an eye at the two collies, but said nothing. He didn’t have the heart to tell her to take them outside.

  “Did you find anything—anything at all?”

  Luke shook his head. “Nope, not a sign. What about the other searchers?”

  “They’ve not found anything either, although not everyone has reported in yet.”

  “Has the mountain rescue team arrived?”

  “Unfortunately, they’re dealing with a nasty incident in Glencoe. A party of missing school children, I believe. Once that’s been resolved, they’ll be on their way here. Until then, we’ll have to manage on our own. I’ll get Katrina to bring you something hot to eat and a bowl of water for the dogs. Anna looks done-in. You should take her home after you’ve eaten.”

  Anna opened her eyes at the sound of her name. “No! I’m not leaving, not until we find Morag.”

  Luke frowned. “Anna, sweetheart, Ewan’s right. You’re worn out. You need to rest.”

  “Luke, please. I won’t go home until I hear something positive.” She wiped away a tear that had rolled down her cheek.

  “Look,” he said gently, putting an arm around her shoulder. “Why don’t you stay here with Ewan? I’ll go out again and have another look round.”

  Anna leaned against his warm body and let exhaustion wash over her.

  “Perhaps I will rest for a while, but only so I can search again tomorrow.”

  “Good girl,” said Ewan. “Dinner won’t be long. Katrina!” He bustled off in the direction of the kitchen.

  After dinner, Luke left Anna in the bar. He took the dogs and re-joined the search party. When the light began to fade, they abandoned the search for the night and returned to the hotel.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The following morning, summer roared back to the Highlands. Thousands of midges took to the air, nibbling at every warm-blooded being in their path. With temperatures in the seventies and smothering humidity to match, the search party met at eight. Despite a sleepless night, and against Luke’s wishes, Anna joined the Fraser boys and everyone in the hotel bar for the briefing.

  Ewan held up his hands. “Quiet everyone! Quiet please! Thank you. Sadly, yesterday’s search found no trace of Morag, or the Land Rover. I suggest we continue as before, fanning out from the village. Agreed?”

  Luke was the first to offer an opinion. “You’ll be wasting time. We should confine our search to the road and surrounding area.

  “Bloody foreigner,” Angus Murray shouted from the back of the room. “Who do you think you are, telling us what to do?”

  The Reverend Cameron joined in the argument. “Aye! It’s fifty miles, man! There are only twelve of us. It would take us a month to cover that distance.”

  Luke’s voice was calm and commanding. “I’ve been involved in searches before. We need to concentrate on the road. The Land Rover might be lying in a field or gulley. I suggest those of us with cars drive out to given points and start our search from there. That way we’ll cover the ground quicker. As Morag hasn’t been seen since Saturday afternoon,” he said glancing at Anna and taking her hand in his, “we have to presume she’s hurt, and hope she’s with the Land Rover.”

  “You can’t make those assumptions. She could have amnesia…and have wandered off,” Jamie, the elder of the two Fraser boys suggested.

  “It’s possible, I guess,” Luke responded. “But somehow I don’t think so.”

  “I think Luke’s right,” Lachlan said, his voice resigned. “Morag’s hurt and unable to seek help. We would have found her otherwise. We should do as he suggests and not waste time arguing.”

  Suddenly Anna felt weak. On the verge of fainting, she pushed her way past Luke and the other searchers, and made her way to the ladies’ room. Barely able to stand, she splashed cold water on her face, and then looked into the mirror. The woman who looked back was pale. And guilty. She couldn’t forgive herself if anything happened to Morag. She had to summon the strength to find her friend. Morag had always been there when Anna needed her, and now Morag was in need somewhere out there. Anna would not let her down.

  Revived, she threw the ladies’ room door open and bumped straight into a man.

  Alistair Grant.

  His face blanched.

  “Anna, this—what a surprise,” he spluttered. “How are you?”

  “Not well and in no mood to talk right now, Alistair,” she said. “I have to help with the search.”

  “Search? What search? What on earth are you talking about?”

  “The search for Morag McInnes. She’s missing.”

  “Who? Morag McInnes, missing? Since when?”

  “Since the day before yesterday. She was supposed to collect her husband from the railway station, but never arrived.”

  “But isn’t that her vehicle in the car park?” he replied, looking over his shoulder.

  “Look, I haven’t got time to explain everything now, but Morag borrowed my Land Rover. Heaven knows where she is.”

  “Well,” he stammered, “you should search the estate, of course.”

  “Thank you, but we’ve already done that, and found nothing. Are you all right, Alistair? You sound breathless, and your hands are shaking.”

  “Oh, my, look at the time! I’ve just remembered…you see…I’m expected…I have to…uh—” And with that he turned and sprinted from the hotel.

  Anna stared as the door squeaked back and forth on its hinges. What was all that about? She’d known him for years, but had never seen him act like this.

  “Who were you talking to?” Luke asked, cutting into her thoughts.

  “Didn’t you see? It was Alistair Grant. He was acting ver
y strangely, as if he’d seen a ghost.”

  “Honey, everything about that man is strange. We’re ready to go. Are you coming?”

  “I’m ready. We must find her. We’re going to find her,” she said, picking up her rucksack. “Alive!”

  “I pray we do, lass,” Ewan said, joining them in the hallway. “I pray we do.”

  With the search now focused on the road and its environs, Luke could no longer protect Anna from what they might find. At Ewan’s suggestion, and accompanied by two other members of the search party, they drove down the glen, and left their vehicle in a lay-by some miles west of Home Farm. The plan was for them to make their way towards the farm, with Anna and Luke searching the surrounding moorland and occasional field, while the other pair concentrated on the road.

  “We will cover the ground quicker if we work either side of the road,” Anna suggested.

  Luke studied her face before replying. There were dark circles under her eyes and her skin had lost its rosy glow. She moved woodenly, as if each step took all her strength.

  “Quicker, maybe. But this way our search will be more thorough.” He took her hand, his fingers warm and strong as they grasped hers. He could see her composure was little more than a fragile shell.

  “I suppose you’re right,” Anna said, taking comfort from his touch.

  He kissed the top of her head. “That’s my girl. Now, call those dogs of yours and let’s get started.”

  Anna held a sweater, previously worn by Morag, while the dogs familiarized themselves with her scent. “Ensay, Rhona. Find Morag!”

  The two collies set off at a trot, quartering the rough terrain, their noses pressed to the ground. Luke and Anna followed more slowly, searching every crevice and bush.

  After two hours, they stopped to rest. Anna took a bowl and bottle of water from her rucksack and gave the dogs a drink. Luke opened his pack and was in the process of pulling out a can of soda when the two-way radio he carried crackled into life.

  “Luke? Anna? Can you hear me? Over.”

  Fearing the worst, Luke’s expression sobered. “This is Luke. Anna is here, too.” He hoped to God the other man took the hint and chose his words carefully. “Go ahead. Over.”