The Cryptid Files (4 page)

A large number of salmon migrate through Loch Ness to their breeding ground. The eels in Loch Ness travel even farther – all the way to the Sargasso Sea. The loch is no stranger to visitors.

About half an hour later, they came to the small village of Drumnadrochit and the site of the official Loch Ness visitors' centre. Her father slowed the car, but didn't stop.

‘We'll do that too,' he offered, before Vanessa could ask. She could see a sea of green Nessie teddies hanging outside the shop. This time, they held red bagpipes. Above them a large billboard carried an advert for the Express Loch Ness Monster Boat. 3D sonar on board, it said, followed by a huge exclamation mark. Vanessa hoped her father wouldn't suggest that – she'd hate it. She'd much prefer to take a small quiet fishing boat out on the loch and get the real atmosphere that way.

As they approached the village of Fort Augustus, Vanessa's spirits soared. One, two, three, four, five. Five locks and a swing bridge! And this was where they were staying.

‘Look at those lock-gates!'

‘Why such interest in lock-gates all of a sudden?' Alan sounded surprised.

‘Well …' Vanessa hesitated. She had never shared her theory with anyone about how Nessie had got into Loch Ness. ‘Well, Mum and I thought that the locks might have something to do with it.'

‘With what?' Ronan piped up.

‘The explanation for how Nessie got here. You see, a very long time ago, the Great Glen fault line ran from the east coast of Scotland all the way across to the west. This meant that the lochs, including Loch Ness, were actually linked to the sea. One of the main theories is that when that connection closed off, about ten thousand years ago, Nessie became trapped in Loch Ness.' She stopped. They wouldn't be interested.

‘And?' Luke prompted her. Vanessa was surprised. She had thought that Luke was listening to his music. Now, she noticed that one of the ear pieces was out and lying on his shoulder.

‘Well, there has always been the problem that in order for a Nessie species to survive and evolve over ten thousand years, there would need to be quite a big number of Nessies breeding and a lot of fish for them to eat. Whereas I think, well we thought …'

‘Go on.' Her father glanced in the mirror, his face eager.

‘Well, it's possible that Nessie did come from the sea, but not ten thousand years ago. I think she's a deep-sea mammal that got trapped by following salmon migrating through the Caledonian Canal into Loch Ness.'

‘Hang on. I thought you said that the access to the sea had been closed off ten thousand years ago,' Luke pointed out.

‘Well, yes, it was, but it was opened up again when they built the Caledonian Canal linking Loch Ness to the sea through a series of lock-gates. There are twenty-nine of them in total, and that means fishing boats can cut across Scotland from the Irish Sea to the Atlantic without going around the top. And – this is what clinches it – the locks and the canal were finished in 1822, which just happens to be around the same time people started to see a monster in the loch!'

Luke got it. ‘So, you mean there isn't a whole bunch of them, breeding away and evolving? There's just this one lonely monster who got trapped?'

‘Exactly. And that's why I'm interested in the locks,' she added. ‘You see?'

‘Not a bad theory, even for you, Vanessa,' Luke said mildly.

Vanessa dug him in the ribs with her elbow, without bothering to look at him. She enjoyed the gasp of pain elicited.

‘We're here.' Alan slowed the car in front of a pair of ancient wrought-iron gates.

He edged the car through the narrow opening and into a steep drive that was lined by trees. Vanessa could see the stone cottage at the end. It was implausibly beautiful, the most beautiful house she had ever seen. She knew exactly how Hansel and Gretel had felt stumbling upon the gingerbread house. Three small windows nestled in the roof looking over the loch. A climber with white flowers bushed over the door arch and there was even a small white cat waiting by the front door. Vanessa looked down the slope of the garden to the water's edge where a wooden bench perched on the edge of the loch. She was entranced.

‘Catch, Vanessa,' Ronan shouted playfully as he turfed her bag out of the boot onto the driveway. The cat didn't move as they approached the door and merely stared back at them with the occasional flick of her ear. They rang the bell and waited. It opened slowly to reveal a small woman with grey hair and twinkling eyes. It was too much. Vanessa felt as if she had been unwittingly trapped in a fairy tale.

‘Welcome, welcome, come in, come in. You must be starving after that long journey. I've scones and tea made.'

Her soft Scottish accent and kind words drew them in and they all but fell through the door in a heap.

Loch Ness researcher, Adrian Shine, has said, ‘If monsters exist, then science, a mainstay of our conventional wisdom, has ignored the most exciting wildlife mystery in the British Isles. If there are none, then over a thousand people including doctors, clergymen, MPs, civil dignitaries, not to mention a saint, may have lied; unthinkable. Alternatively, they were sincerely and unshakably mistaken; even more worrying!'

The hall was narrow and they all stood in a clump in the middle of it, not sure how to proceed.

‘Oh, in to the left, children. I've set a fire for you.'

It wasn't a cold afternoon, but the flames flickering in the grate were a welcome sight. The room smelled of something familiar and when Vanessa looked around, the room she saw pots brimming with lavender. She didn't remember ever having seen lavender plants indoors, but she did remember the fragrance well because her mother used to spray it on her pillow when she couldn't sleep. She used to think that it was like a magic potion because it worked on her so quickly.

Vanessa left her bag against the wall and sat down in one of the armchairs in front of the fire, curling her long legs under her like a cat. She liked it here already.

‘Cream and jam for everybody?'

‘I'll help you,' Vanessa offered spontaneously, standing up again from her chair.

Her father smiled at her, pleased to see that she was making an effort.

‘Well, that would be kind, thank you, dear.'

The tea ceremony took about fifteen minutes and while the boys ate heartily and chatted on, Vanessa found herself getting sleepier. Perhaps it was the effect of the lavender. She opened her eyes with an effort, to find the elderly woman gazing directly at her.

‘Come on, Vanessa. I'll show you your room and maybe you could have a short rest before supper.'

Vanessa's legs felt like lead as she mounted the stairs. Her room was one of the rooms to the front with the window looking over the loch.

‘It's gorgeous, thank you. And it looks out over the water.'

‘Maybe you'd like to go out on the loch tomorrow morning?' The old lady gazed out of the window. ‘It's always most beautiful first thing,' she added. Before Vanessa could answer, she continued on, ‘We'll ask Lee when she comes back. She's out on the loch at the moment. She always takes the boat out for an hour or two when she arrives home, especially if she's been away for a while.'

23 April 1960 was a day that changed Tim Dinsdale's life. He filmed an object in Loch Ness moving at about 10 mph with his cine camera. An aeronautical engineer, Tim gave up his job and devoted the next twenty years to investigating the Loch Ness Monster. In 1966, the Royal Air Force studied the film and came to the conclusion that it was a living object rather than a vessel or submarine.

Vanessa waited until the door closed before she lay down on the bed and buried her face in the pillow. She sobbed quietly, her head and heart were aching and she felt sick to her stomach with the disappointment. How could he do this to her? He hadn't mentioned Lee McDonald again after their argument. How sneaky to have her show up here rather than at the airport! No doubt everybody else knew all about it. Luke or Ronan might have warned her.

She dug her hand into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out her shrunken head. Holding it close to her face calmed her, but with it came an overwhelming fatigue. Crawling under the covers and pulling them up over her head, Vanessa closed her eyes and begged her mother to help her out of this one.

She ignored the light tap on the door and didn't lift her head when she heard someone come quietly into the room and across to the bed. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She felt the hand rest lightly on the back of her head, and then gently stroke her hair. She pulled at the bed cover so that she could see out. Peeking through the fringe of lashes she saw the tweed skirt of the old woman. Was she Lee's mother? Neither of them spoke, and Vanessa shut her eyes again, letting the gentle strokes soothe her, just like her own mother had.

When Vanessa woke, the room was in darkness. The sleep had refreshed her and she felt back in fighting spirits. Turning on the bedside lamp, she saw that there was a small basin in the corner of the room. The water from the tap felt ice cold as she patted it onto her face. Feeling much more alert, she looked around for her bag. She wanted to brush her teeth as well. Damn, it was downstairs in the sitting room.

The fire was still blazing, but the room was empty, except for the white cat curled up on the chair closest to the fire. Stroking its back distractedly, Vanessa looked out of the window into the garden. It was getting dark but she could make out two figures on the bench at the end of the garden. Alan and Lee were sitting one at each end. Not close at all. Was that for her benefit, she wondered?

She could hear noise coming from another room down the hall. Ronan's voice rose over the rest.

‘Can I have a go at picking one up?'

Vanessa followed the sound, turning in to the doorway of a large kitchen which had a long oak table in the centre. She counted quickly: it was set for nine people. Ronan and Luke were standing either side of the old woman facing the Aga cooker. On the floor stood a huge black bucket filled with crabs.

‘Maggie. Please. I won't let them nip me. Just show me how to do it again.'

Maggie, indeed! All very cosy.

Vanessa hesitated at the door.

‘Vanessa, come and help us. I need someone who can chop the garlic finely for the garlic butter sauce. Someone I could trust with an extremely sharp knife.'

Holding the tip, Maggie held out the handle of the knife in Vanessa's direction. Vanessa could see it was a gesture of trust and that she was being asked to do the same. Trust me, Maggie's eyes said. They were kind and warm, and Vanessa went with her instincts, joining her by the stove. Did she trust herself with the knife? Vanessa thought wryly.

‘I've just been telling the boys to call me Maggie, Margaret is so formal. I never liked the name anyway.'

Vanessa smiled despite herself. There was nothing at all formal about this small, chatty woman.

Twenty minutes later, the salad and bread on the table, the door bell rang.

‘Oh, that will be the Mackays.' Maggie moved slowly to the hall to answer the door. Vanessa glared viciously at the boys, waiting for her moment.

‘Vanessa, will you get Lee and Alan for me? We must eat the crab fresh from the cooking pot, there's no other way. That door takes you to the garden, dear. Gently now.'

Vanessa was unsure whether Maggie said it because the back door was sticking as she tried to yank it open or because she knew Vanessa was in a right temper.

She followed the stone pathway as it meandered down to the water front. Halfway down, she stopped. What would she say?

Before she could think of anything Alan turned around. ‘Did you have a good rest, Vanessa?'

The question, delivered in such an easy tone, made her rear up. She all but spat the answer back at him.

‘The dinner's ready when you are.'

She stood silently, glaring at him and ignoring Lee.

They rose as one and they made their way up the garden. As they approached, Vanessa made her move, willing herself not to cry.

‘Could I talk to you before you go in?'

Her father, evidently hoping that this meant a truce, stopped beside her. He put his hand lightly on her shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile, while Lee took her cue and continued up the garden.

She waited until the kitchen door closed and then shrugged his hand off.

‘How could you do this to me?' When he didn't answer straight away, she rushed on. ‘You could have told me at some point on the way that she was coming, even worse, that we were staying in her house. I hate you, I'll never forgive you for this. You know what I think of her!' Her voice was shrill and she shouted the last sentence.

‘Come down by the water's edge and we'll talk, Vanessa.' She didn't move, but he walked on himself. When she finally joined him, he said quietly, ‘I didn't tell you because I knew you'd make a scene and refuse to come.'

‘Damn right,' she said bitterly.

‘Which would be a terrible pity, because I know how much Loch Ness means to you and that staying right on the loch would be really special.'

‘Well if you knew that, why do it this way? Why couldn't we come on our own and stay in a B&B like we normally do?' A lump formed in her throat suddenly and she swallowed hard to stop the tears coming.

‘Because Lee is a good friend and she asked us to come and stay with Maggie.'

‘No. She asked
you
to come and stay with Maggie.'

‘No, she asked us all actually.'

‘Well, what a lovely family outing, complete with Lee's mother rather than our own!' Vanessa said it in the most sarcastic tone she could manage.

‘We are here as a family, Vanessa,' her father said calmly, ‘and by the way, Maggie is Lee's aunt.'

Vanessa stared at him, amazed to find that she felt relieved. Why did an aunt not sound as bad to her?

‘I suppose Luke and Ronan knew all about Maggie.'

‘No, I didn't say anything to them either.'

‘You're mean and dishonest and you should be ashamed of yourself,' she whispered bitterly. ‘How could you have forgotten Mum so quickly?'

‘Quickly?' Her father said faintly. ‘Oh, Vanessa, I'll never forget; how could I? She was my wife, my best friend in the whole world, but I can't help that she died. It's been the longest, loneliest time of my life.'

‘Well, it's not exactly been a picnic for me either,' Vanessa said brutally, and she turned on her heels and stomped up the path to the house.