Page 5

“Tough luck, lasses,” he grumbled. “Captain says the motor may have died. We will have to dock at Achleith and wait for a coast guard rescue boat from Islay. I doubt ye make it to Ireland today. While the captain waits, I will take ye to Achleith so that ye dinna fall overboard from yer drinking. There’s an ancient ruin with an interesting rock that people on Islay believe is a home of the faeries.”

“Sounds good,” Jenny said and then looked at her girlfriends. “Does that sound like a celebration to you?”

“Sure,” said Natalie and stretched her arms out. “I’ll take any adventure before I have to go back to my happy, boring reality.”

“If we go back to Islay,” said Amanda, “Jenny’s having sex with some Highlanders.”

Jenny giggled and shook her head.

The boatswain went back into the captain’s cabin and with more whirs and low droning and stopping of the motor, he directed the boat towards the island.

When they finally stopped close to the island, Jenny realized there weren’t even any trees or bushes. Just green moss and cliffs and the lighthouse. The boatswain helped them into the dinghy and rowed them to the gravelly beach.

Once they stood on the firm ground, Jenny regretted her choice of flip-flops and the thin, floaty satin dress with patterns of bright, spring-green leaves and—a tribute to Scotland—violet flowers. Even in July the wind was cool, and it flapped her skirt around, leaving her short legs covered in goose bumps. She could feel every pebble and rock through the soles of her flip-flops. The four of them took selfies all together with the boat anchored several dozen feet away and the island looming over them like a giant cork head. She realized she’d forgotten her purse, which held her phone, back on the boat and felt strangely naked without it.

“Well,” Amanda said as she took another bottle of champagne out of her bottomless designer purse, “the mood is kind of a bummer. It’s an adventure, girls! Come on, let’s keep the party going.”

Jenny woo-hooed, and, despite the odd looks from her girlfriends, they were good sports and echoed her as Amanda popped the cork and poured champagne into four plastic glasses.

“To celebration!” cried Jenny as the four of them brought their glasses together high up in the air and drank.

Giggling, they made their way up the steep slope. The damn flip-flops slipped, and her feet threatened to slide out of them.

The top of the island was round and covered with moss and grass. The old lighthouse stood on the north side. Its white paint was chipped, and cracks ran between the brown bricks. Based on the broken glass of the lantern panes, it was probably not even functioning.

It was all so breathtakingly beautiful, the piece of land she stood on tiny compared to the vast sky and the endless sea. And her best friends were right by her side.

“I’m so thankful for you, girls,” she said. “And am so glad we’re on this adventure together.”

With her head spinning, Jenny hugged Amanda and Natalie by their waists. Amanda hooked her arm around Kyla’s shoulders and the four of them stood and breathed and looked at the sea around them. Seagulls squawked and wheeled over their heads.

“To many more adventures!” Natalie raised her glass.

“Hear! Hear!” the three of them echoed.

“Even if no one comes and we die here!” announced Amanda. “We’d die together.”

They laughed.

“Look, there’s that faerie rock that MacGrumpy talked about,” said Jenny, looking in the direction of the lighthouse.

When they turned to the rock, a strong wind blew in their faces, bringing the scents of sea and grass and lavender—which was strange as she hadn’t seen any lavender on the island.

It was a large, flat boulder sunken into the ground. Around it, Jenny could see other stones protruding from the earth, probably the remnants of some sort of an ancient tower. The rock itself had carvings that Jenny thought could be a river or something…it was hard to concentrate. What she found most interesting was the handprint.

“Oh, look!” said Jenny. “Someone is giving us a high five through that rock!”

They giggled. Jenny stepped closer to the rock and sank to her knees. Amanda followed her and gave a high five to the hand. Natalie giggled and did the same.

“I could almost feel someone high-fiving me back,” she said. “Thanks, man.”

“Or woman,” said Kyla and high-fived the hand, too.

“Oh look, let’s go to the other side of the island,” Amanda said. “Maybe there’s more stony body parts we can high-five.”

The girls walked away, but Jenny still wanted to give her own high five. When she put her hand over the rock, the carvings started to glow, and she stopped.

“Cool…” she mumbled, narrowing her eyes to try to see better. “What is that?” She looked over her shoulder. “Hey, girls! Come back! Am I super drunk, or is the rock glowing?”