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I pursed my lips and flipped the cover open, giving careful time and attention to the publisher’s information before closing it and sliding it back to Graham.
“It pains me to say this, Agnes, but it seems it’s a proper book. At least one publisher deemed it so.” I shrugged. Fair was fair.
“Och, you lads always side together,” Agnes complained.
“I side with the truth, Agnes,” I said, and Graham bumped his fist against mine.
“If that’s the case, then why are you refusing to accept what’s happening in this town?” Agnes asked. Her words hit like perfectly aimed arrows, and I winced. Even Graham, usually up for any and all banter, turned away to wipe down the bar. Notably, he was wiping a bar where no patrons sat, and I hated knowing how difficult business had become for my friends.
“Because if the Kelpies, and the Order, are real, then where does that leave me?” I asked, the words bitter on my tongue. Graham straightened and turned, surprised that I spoke of this. I never, and I meannever, spoke about the mysterious myth that clung to our village like a sticky spiderweb.
“In what way are you meaning?” Agnes’s voice was soft, and she leaned over to bump her shoulder softly against mine. We’d gone to school together, growing up playing on the banks of the same loch that had claimed my mother’s life, and I knew she loved me like her own brother.
“I don’t know how to fight this,” I admitted, a long breath escaping me as my stomach knotted. It was the first time I’d ever admitted that I couldn’t handle something when it came to helping the village. I’d made it a point of honor through the years to be the go-to man to help however I could. But this? This was bigger than my skills. It would also mean unlocking all the emotions that I’d neatly boxed away and shoved deep into a shadowy corner of my soul when it came to my mum.
“But—”
“If, by chance, this is all real, don’t you see? Where this leaves me? I don’t know how to change it. I hate…and I mean this one thousand percent…hatewhat is happening in our town. Do you think I enjoy looking around the pub and seeing it empty like this? Or not seeing tourists stopping to buy gifts at the local shops? I love this place. I love our people, and Ihatethat I can’t fix this. And what’s worse? Is that…ifI admit this is true, then I’m going to have to question everything I’ve thought to be true about how my mum died. And Ican’t. I feel like I just can’t go there. Because where does that leave me? At least if she drowned, I can make sense of it. Drowning happens. It’s a normal thing that happens. If…” My voice broke, and Agnes leaned closer but didn’t say anything. Graham slid a dram of whisky across the bar. “If...a Kelpie isactuallyresponsible for my mother’s death…how do I even process that? How do I avenge her death? The Kelpies aren’t real. What? I turn into a doddering old man rocking on the corner screaming about water horses killing people? It’s mad. I can’t go there.” I took down the dram of whisky in one gulp, not caring that it wasn’t proper. I needed to feel the burn down my throat to stop the tears that threatened.
“Lachlan.” Graham leaned over the bar forcing me to meet his eyes. “I say this to you with nothing but love for you in my heart. You’re like a brother to me. And I loved your mum as well. You’re stuck on the point ofhowshe died, and it’s stopping you from accepting or grieving the fact that shediddie. And in doing so, you are hurting our town as well as potentially putting someone else in harm’s way.”
The whisky roiled in my stomach, and I clenched my fists. I wanted to punch him, someone,anything. I hated this feeling of being out of control and was uncertain how to proceed.
“The thing is, Lachlan? Wedoknow how to fix it,” Agnes added. I turned to her, a comforting blanket of anger settling over my shoulders, but before I could open my mouth, she put her finger to my lips. “Wheesht. Let me speak.”
“Och, I like this dominatrix side of you, Agnes,” Graham said, lightening the mood.
Agnes shot Graham a withering look before continuing. “As you know, I run a bookshop and have come across many interesting things in my research. Including some historical documents about the Order of Caledonia, which I believe once belonged in MacAlpine Castle. I haven’t given them to you out of fear of you tearing them up due to your complete stubbornness. However, if you would step back and ask for help for once, I’m available.”
“Have you been talking to Hilda? This sounds like something that she would set up,” I asked.
“Of course, Hilda and I talk about this. As does everyone else in the village. It’s only you that nobody talks to about it, Lachlan. Don’t you see? Look around.” Agnes gestured to the empty pub. “It’s right in front of your eyes.Everybodyis talking about this. We all believe in the Kelpies. And now everyone in Scotland believes that this town is cursed. Whether it is true or not, does it matter? The belief itself is enough to hurt people. And that’s what’s happening right now. And nobody can talk to you about it because you throw a fit like a child throwing all his toys out of his pram.”
“Surely that’s not the way to get me on your side.” I glared at Agnes.
“Well? Being your friend and allowing you to be stubborn and turn your back on help hasn’t done anything, so now it’s time that you listen,” Agnes said, and then drained her cider.
“Tell me about the Americans,” I said, the request almost getting stuck in my throat. Agnes released a small sigh of relief, and I couldn’t bring myself to look at her or Graham. Their words hurt, not because they weretryingto hurt me, but because they were true. I was stubborn, and the evidence was around me. For years the curse of the Kelpies, the rumor of a truth stone, and the Order of Caledonia had clung to Loren Brae. No matter how much I invested in the tourism campaigns for the village or held events like the Highland Games. Like the weeds that Archie pulled from the gardens each spring, the myth was pervasive. For a while, it had added to the town’s appeal, until recently when things had changed. Now the otherworldly shrieks in the night, which I tried to convince people was the wind over the hills, were turning tourists and villagers away. No longer was the myth a draw. It was now a drawback.
“I liked them,” Graham surprised me by saying. “Sophie is not only good-looking but I suspect she’ll be up for a bit o’ banter. She seems smart.”
“And the friend?” I asked.
“He seems smart too. Dry humor. Sounds like he’s a professor of history, which might be handy.”
“Is that right?” Agnes perked up. “Is he handsome as well? Not that it matters of course, I am much more cerebral than to only be focused on looks,” Agnes sniffed at Graham.
“I suspect he’s far more interested in Graham than you,” I said, and at her crestfallen look, I found that I could smile. Graham preened.
“And another one felled by the mighty Graham,” Agnes growled.
“I can’t help that my charm is far reaching,” Graham protested. “Jealous are you, darling?”
“No, I’m just in awe that you can hold your head up under the weight of that ego of yours.” Agnes gave a saccharine smile. A bell went off from the kitchen, signaling our food, and Graham disappeared into the back.
“If... if I’m correct,” Agnes said, her tone gentle. “The arrival of Sophie, our knight in shining armor so to speak, would be the beginning of restoring the Order. If that’s the case and you choose to accept the hand that you have been dealt? Then the time has come. Wecantake action. And we can protect the truth stone, protect our people, and rebuild our village. But it starts with you, Lachlan. Nobody else. Everyone is too scared to say something to you and instead they’re leaving or closing their business. You don’t want to rule like that, do you?”
“I’m not even a ruler,” I pointed out to Agnes as Graham came out carrying steaming bowls of soup. “I don’t even have a title. I haven’t even been voted into power. I don’t know why I have to be the one to lead this charge.”
