Page 15 of Proven By The Highlander (Highlander Forever #15)
CHAPTER 15
A nd so she rode, as the darkness gathered in closer and closer and the lights of the Keep dwindled behind her. She did pass a cottage with a pleasing glow in the window and smoke rising from its chimney, but she pushed on, wary of slowing down in case there were men from the Keep already in pursuit. She knew, too, that she’d have to be careful not to run into the search party who were pursuing Caelan. Something told her that if they found her on the road, they wouldn’t be likely to invite her to join them. So she kept a sharp eye out for other horses and travelers on foot… but most of her attention she reserved for the shore of the Loch.
Nessie was nocturnal, she knew that much from talking to Nancy. It made sense to hunt for fish around this time, when there was still the fading light of the sky to see by… and from what she’d gathered about sightings of the creature, she was most often seen close to shore at around this time, where fish were likely easiest to catch. A creature that large likely spent a lot of time fishing, she reasoned. She wished she’d had time to raid the kitchen for something to lure the creature with… hadn’t Nancy said something about Nessie having a fondness for roast chicken? But no… the point here wasn’t to find the Monster, it was to go to where the Monster was likely to be, and hope that Caelan had come to the same conclusions.
Night had well and truly fallen, the stars bright against the midnight blanket of the sky. Leanne was grateful for the thick woolen cloak around her shoulders, and for the warmth of the horse beneath her, but even then she could feel the cold biting at her exposed fingertips and at her face. She’d been riding for what felt like hours, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen any signs of civilization. Beside her, the shore of the Loch kept changing, occasionally giving way to high cliffs that overlooked the water below, before sloping back down to sandy or rocky beaches. She’d passed a few jetties, jutting out into the water… but there was absolutely no sign of that long, sinuous neck extending from the water.
She was considering giving up hope when she heard the distant sound of splashing up ahead, different in character to the rhythmic sloshing of the waves against the shore, sounds she’d all but tuned out at this point. Frowning, she slipped down from the back of her horse and looped the reins over the branch of a tree, then moved cautiously ahead on foot, trying to breathe quietly as she did. Up ahead, the road curved and twisted, giving way to a small inlet, a cove that was clearly popular with fishermen in the area, judging by the handful of signposts she saw, and the tangle of abandoned fishing line she almost tripped over.
Fish… that was a good sign. She moved carefully down the gentle slope toward the shore, narrowing her eyes in a vain attempt to peer through the shadows. Her mind kept playing tricks on her, convincing her that every fallen tree or shadow was a sign of Nessie, lurking in the darkness. She got close to the edge of the water and began to edge her way around the cove, hoping against hope…
There. Leanne hardly dared to breathe as she heard the unmistakable sound of splashing, as though something huge was moving stealthily in the water. She waited for as long as she could before turning, agonizingly slowly, toward the sound… and then fought hard not to whoop in triumph as she saw the unmistakable shape of a long, slender neck sticking out of the water. The creature must have been treading water in the mouth of the cove — her attention was not on Leanne, the graceful arch of her neck suggesting that she was staring intently at the water just in front of her. Leanne watched her for what felt like hours, surprised by how still she was… the great shadow of her bulk beneath the water seemed more like a rock with each passing moment. Only the glinting of her dark eyes suggested that she was anything other than an inanimate shape in the water…
And then, frighteningly quickly, she struck. Her head dove into the water so smoothly that it barely made a sound — just the low splashing sound that had first drawn Leanne’s attention as she rode along the shore. As quickly as she’d struck, the creature’s head was back out of the water… but Leanne could see that there was a fish clutched in her jaws. She watched, spellbound, and delighted, as the Loch Ness Monster crunched up the fish with evident enjoyment, wishing she had a notebook to jot down some observations. The creature clearly had sharp teeth, for example, judging by how easily she tore into the body of the fish. Nor did she seem particularly concerned about spitting out the fish’s scales or bones… a strong digestive system, then.
She moved cautiously toward the creature, her feet sinking into the soft sand by the water’s edge, hopeful of getting a closer look while she was here. She’d almost forgotten why she’d come so far in the first place, so entranced was she by watching the creature in its natural habitat, going about its regular activities. When she reached the edge of the water, the creature turned to look at her, and she froze for a wary moment, wondering if this had been a terrible mistake.
“Hi,” she said softly, and though it was a gesture that the creature would have no way of understanding, she lifted up her hand in a little wave. For a long moment, the creature was still… and then, with a low, throaty sound, she saw it come gliding toward her. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as Nessie grew closer and closer, almost as close as she had been that night in the lake… she turned her face up, smiling at the way Nessie arched her neck to slowly lower her head. Those dark eyes, glinting in the moonlight…
“I wanted to thank you,” she said softly, feeling a little silly for speaking to the creature but unable to help it. “For saving my life the other night.”
The creature gave her no answer, simply gazing down at her with those soft eyes. Could she understand her? she wondered From the way the other women had talked about Nessie, they weren’t sure exactly how intelligent she was… but they did think she was a Fae creature, and those were more than capable of human intelligence. As if in response to that thought, the monster huffed again, lowering her head a little closer. She could see the creature’s nostrils dilating and grinned as she realized she was being thoroughly sniffed.
“I’m looking for my friend,” she told her now, warming to the creature’s presence. “He thinks you hurt his brother. But I don’t think you did, did you?” Nessie blinked her dark eyes, as if registering the question. “No, you wouldn’t do something like that. You’re a friend, aren’t you? If you saw someone fall into the water, you’d help them. Like you helped me.”
Another rumble, that strange sound that was somewhere between the howl of a wolf and the keen of a whale. But something was wrong. She saw the creature’s neck lift a little, the head recoiling as the creature’s attention was caught by something behind Leanne. And before she could turn, she heard the unmistakable sound of heavy footprints, heard a shout, and felt someone seize her around the ribs and physically lift her from the ground, hauling her backwards. She shouted in fear, then felt a hand clamp over her mouth as her unseen assailant carried her rapidly backwards, up the slope and away from the cove.
The last she saw of the Loch Ness Monster was the creature’s head, disappearing swiftly into the water with a low, worried roar. At least no harm had come to Nessie, she thought, adrenaline surging through her body as she struggled with her assailant to no avail.
Though whether or not the same could be said for her — that remained to be seen.