The Cryptid Files Read online

  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.

  CHAPTER 8

  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.’

  CHAPTER 9

  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.

  CHAPTER 10

  On 15 June 1965, Detective Sergeant Cameron was fishing on the shores of Loch Ness. He saw a whale-like object between 20 and 30 feet long moving against the current. Other people witnessed the same event; it lasted nearly 40 minutes and is one of the longest incidences on record.

  The party was well under way when Vanessa returned to the kitchen. Nobody noticed her coming in from the garden. Some of the guests were gathered around the Aga discussing how best to cook crabs. Lee was sitting at the table laughing with two implausibly old men. One had wrinkles all over the top of his bald head ending in folds of skin at the back of his neck, while the other had a head of white hair and a beard that would have put St Nicholas to shame.

  There was a whiff of madness in the air, she thought; this was no average gathering. Maybe she could slip away up to her bedroom with her book and say she wasn’t feeling well. She certainly felt nauseated at the thought of spending the evening with Lee’s friends and family.

  Before she could take another step, the sound of scraping on the floor under the kitchen table was followed by a blur of red hair which flew through the air and landed hard against her chest. Vanessa stumbled backwards, banging against the kitchen door amidst the cries of the rest of the party, who had suddenly noticed her. Mayhem ensued. Barks, shouts, laughter. Rolling onto her side to stop the beast from licking her face, Vanessa lay in a foetal position with her hands covering her face until someone dragged it off. She liked dogs, but not that much.

  ‘Stop that, Daisy, behave yourself,’ a man with a thick Scottish accent shouted, as he dragged the dog off her by the collar.

  Vanessa sat up as quickly as she could, noticing that it was the bald one who’d spoken.

  ‘Well, I must say, she likes you.’ He smiled down at her, before offering her a hand up.

  ‘Stupid dog should be put down,’ the one with all the hair grumbled crankily.

  ‘No, no, she’s fine, honestly,’ Vanessa said, suddenly afraid that he really meant it.

  ‘She’s an Irish red setter. We brought her to dinner because we thought you might like to meet a fellow countrywoman,’ the bald one explained.

  ‘A witch’s dog if you ask me,’ the hairy one grumbled. ‘Should be douked like the witches themselves.’

  ‘Hush now, you’ll scare the child with that kind of talk.’

  Vanessa’s face lit up.

  ‘What’s douking then?’ she asked the hairy one.

  He paused, taking the measure of Vanessa before he explained.

  ‘In the old days, if a woman was accused of being a witch, she faced trial by douking. They would tie her thumbs and toes together and then strap her to a special stool. Then she’d be held down under the water. If she drowned she was innocent, but if she survived she was a witch.’ He stopped, watching her closely.

  ‘So what happened to the witch then?’

  ‘Why, she was burned at the stake of course.’ Not a flicker of a smile or a trace of amusement crossed his face while he delivered the line.

  Vanessa wished she could think of something clever to say, but her mind was reeling and she was lost for words. Maggie was suddenly beside her, an arm around her shoulder.

  ‘Well, that was quite an introduction, Daisy.’ She put her other hand on the dog’s collar. ‘Let’s put you out during dinner and then I’ll introduce everybody properly.’ As she turned away, she winked knowingly at Vanessa. ‘It’s a bit of a mad house around here at times.’

  When they were all seated, Maggie served the crab with a little pot of hot garlic butter on the side. Vanessa examined the prehistoric-looking creatures and the instruments of torture which lay beside each plate – a cracker to break the shell and a long hook to get the meat out of the claws. She had never eaten crab before. Looking across at Ronan and Luke’s bewildered faces, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

  ‘Any tips on how to do this?’ she said to Maggie.

  The bald man had been introduced as Maggie’s lifelong friend and neighbour, James Mackay. He was married to the very tall and severe looking woman who hadn’t yet spoken. The other brother, Pat Mackay, was not married and not likely to be, given his dour manner, Vanessa thought.

  ‘Let me show you, lass,’ James said.

  Soon shell was cracking and flying in all directions across the table, much to the children’s amusement. Dipped in the warm butter the morsels of crab meat were like nothing Vanessa had ever experienced. She noticed that Pat didn’t touch his
crab.

  ‘Vanessa reminds me so much of you, Lee, when you first arrived. A determined and meticulous crab-eater too.’ James smiled across at Lee.

  ‘I think Vanessa’s a natural, actually.’ She looked encouragingly at Vanessa, who didn’t acknowledge her, but bent further over her plate.

  ‘Remember how stubborn Lee was?’Pat added grumpily. ‘She would insist on throwing the remains into the loch.’

  ‘For Nessie,’ Vanessa said appreciatively.

  ‘Why, that’s exactly what she would say too.’

  ‘Have you ever seen her, Mr Mackay?’ Vanessa asked hopefully.

  ‘Nae. Absolute rubbish. Total nonsense of course!’ Pat said quickly.

  ‘Oh, don’t mind him. He wouldn’t believe in his own mother if he hadn’t seen her every day for sixty years.’ James grinned cheekily at his brother. ‘Lots of us ’ere have seen strange things over the years, as did our parents before us.’ His gaze settled on Lee before he said quietly, ‘It’s always when you’re least expecting it. Isn’t that the truth of it, Lee?’

  Vanessa felt the jolt. She hadn’t thought about Lee seeing Nessie, that she might have known the secrets of the loch before her. She looked across the table at Lee’s open, friendly face and, hoping not to catch her eye, Vanessa waited for her reply. Lee looked thoughtful as if she was about to share something important when Ronan spoke.

  ‘So how does this creature breathe? If she has to come up to the surface for air, she’d be seen all the time.’

  ‘Well put, lad,’ Pat egged him on.

  ‘There are caves down there,’ Lee answered, ‘places with pockets of air. It’s nearly 1,000 feet deep in spots, you know. But what if she has gills as well as being an air-breather?’

  ‘That’s a believer talking for sure,’ Pat said dryly.

  ‘No, the lung-fish can breathe in and out of the water, so why couldn’t others adapt?’ Lee became animated as she turned on Pat.

  ‘And if you’re going to start that stuff about sea creatures not surviving in fresh water, you’re wrong there too, Pat. Bull sharks have adapted to the fresh water of Lake Nicaragua. We’ve seen the occasional seal in Loch Ness. Admit it. Hell, even salmon come up river to the loch. So why not Nessie?’