Page 29 of A Scottish Island Summer

I swallowed; my new boots frozen to the grass in fear. What the hell should I do? Should I scream at it? Should I run? Would it chase me if I did that? Maybe if I yelled at it to go away, it’d do as it was told?

Nope. Something told me, by the way it was standing there, that it had the moveability of a brick wall.

It continued to eye me from under its impressive toffee coloured quiff of hair. It was like a game of who was going to blink first.

I felt like a frozen statue, but I knew I couldn’t remain there for the rest of the day. I blew out a cloud of terrified air and took a couple of short steps backwards. I didn’t want to turn away from it, in case it took one look at my big arse in the waterproof trousers and decided to use me as target practice.

But the animal took a couple of steps closer.

It was as though both my feet were trapped in treacle, stuck fast and unable to move. My heart was clattering against my ribs. ‘Logan,’ I squeaked. ‘Logan.’

But he couldn’t hear me. He was too far ahead now, his backpack bouncing against his broad back as he walked, his confident stride suggesting he was completely at peace.

Oh God, why the hell was I putting myself through this?! Was all this really worth it?

I decided to take another couple of steps backwards. Maybe the bull wouldn’t copy me this time. Maybe it would get bored and trot off.

But he wasn’t bored. He did the same thing again and moved on his hairy, heavy legs towards me. In fact, his muscly, furry pins jolted forwards a couple more steps than they had before. I watched with increasing dread as his hulking great hooves squashed the grass underfoot. He was getting ever closer.

‘Logan,’ I bleated a little louder. ‘Logan. Help me!’

Still, he carried on walking, the sea air carrying my voice into the ether.

Fear gripped me harder. This was useless. If I didn’t get Logan’s attention right now, by the time he came back, I could be at the mercy of this fur-clotted creature. Taking a ragged breath into the depths of my lungs, I opened my terrified mouth and screamed, ‘For Christ’s sake, Logan!’

At last, he spun round and spotted the Highland bull. He looked from me to the bull and back again. He held up one hand. ‘OK, Darcie.’ His voice was calm. ‘Don’t panic, OK? Everything’s going to be fine.’

‘Don’t panic?!’ I screeched out of the corner of my mouth. ‘I’m face to face with Skye’s answer to a T-Rex and you tell me not to panic?’

Logan ignored my petrified sarcasm. ‘Listen to me. I want you to just walk slowly towards me. Don’t run. Just take your time and walk away, OK?’

I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times, before shooting more fearful looks back over at the bull. ‘But turning my back on him⁠—’

‘Forget about him. Just focus on me. Don’t look back. Just look at me, Darcie. Take a breath and start to walk towards me.’

My rucksack felt as though it was a dead weight, compressing my spine. I couldn’t run, even if I’d wanted to.

I tried to move one foot but it was as if my head and limbs were refusing to engage together.

Logan noticed. ‘It’s OK. Nice and easy does it.’

I sucked in some air and the fresh, zingy salt from the sea hit the back of my throat.

‘That’s it. Just forget about everything around you, except me. When you’re ready, just walk towards me. OK?’

I blew out a frightened breath and nodded. Fighting the burning urge to look back and see where our friendly neighbourhood monster was now, I raised one boot and then the other. I took a series of tentative steps towards Logan. My breath felt like it was lodged in my chest, fighting to get out, with every deliberate step.

I did as Logan told me to, though. I kept my gaze fixed on him. He was straight ahead of me, all legs, shoulders and close shaven, dark brown beard.

‘Just keep looking at me,’ he instructed. ‘That’s it. You’re doing great.’

‘Is he following me?’ I whimpered; my limbs stiff with worry.

‘No, he isn’t. Just forget about him and keep going.’

‘He’s following me, isn’t he? You’re just saying that to lull me into a false sense of security.’

Logan rolled his eyes. ‘I promise he’s not following you. Just keep walking.’