The Cryptid Files Page 4

  ‘Too far-fetched for my tastes. That’s all.’

  ‘I thought it was some kind of long lost dinosaur,’ James remarked, but before Lee could answer, Pat cut in.

  ‘Well, if it’s a cold-blooded dinosaur it’ll be bloody cold in that loch.’

  ‘True, except there has been a turnaround by the scientists there too,’ Lee said with a smile. ‘Most now say that dinosaurs were, in fact, warm-blooded, so that means she could survive in the cold water. If she is a dinosaur, that is.’

  ‘Pah! See, it’s all rubbish, even the scientists keep changing their minds.’ Pat sat back and crossed his arms across his chest.

  ‘What do you think it is, Lee?’ Luke asked.

  ‘Well, the most popular theory is that it’s a plesiosaurus – that’s a type of aquatic reptile.’ Lee spoke to Luke directly. ‘And while most plesiosaurus fossils have been found under marine conditions, some have been discovered in places that were fresh water, particularly in rivers and estuaries. So they might well exist in salt and fresh water.’

  ‘Yes, but what do you think?’ Vanessa asked abruptly. She blushed to her roots as all eyes turned to look at her.

  Lee tilted her head slightly to one side and regarded Vanessa coolly; pausing as if she was deciding how to answer.

  ‘I think she’s probably a deep-sea mammal – a type of whale that’s evolved to deep water – with a long eel-like neck, flippers …’

  Alan spoke up: ‘I think it’s unlikely that there’s a species of whale that we haven’t discovered, given the amount of research these days.’

  ‘Well, until recently, nobody had ever seen the giant squid that lives in the deep,’ Lee replied. ‘They were the stuff of storybooks until this century, and even now we’ve only got a dead one that washed up. No one has ever seen it alive.’

  ‘True … but a new species? That seems a bit of a cop-out, surely?’ Alan could not resist a chance to cross-examine, but Lee continued unfazed.

  ‘There are new species of things being discovered all the time, Alan. Think of the coelacanth, a fish they caught alive this century which had been thought to be extinct for sixty-five million years.’

  ‘And how about those sea urchins that turned up on eBay recently? Scientists are now saying that they are a new species.’ Vanessa couldn’t resist joining in. She glared at her father, just to let him know she was still angry at him and that she hadn’t forgiven him. She just wished that she didn’t sound as if she was siding with Lee.

  ‘I heard about that,’ Lee said excitedly. ‘Isn’t it amazing?’

  ‘Well, I think you might have to be in your line of work to get excited about that one!’ Alan smiled at her in an indulgent way.

  Vanessa suddenly realised that she had no idea what Lee did. But there was no way she was going to ask Lee in front of all these people. No way on earth.

  ‘Where are you off to next?’ Ronan clearly did know.

  Vanessa racked her brains to remember some clue she might have dropped.

  ‘Finnish Lapland. It’s interesting but could be tricky. The reindeer are in trouble up there.’

  Vanessa was taken aback. That wasn’t at all what she had expected.

  ‘Normally they eat the bark off the trees, but food is becoming a real problem for them now that the Finnish government are giving out logging licences to anyone who pays enough.’

  Vanessa knew she was staring at Lee. She bit her lip hard before asking, ‘So what exactly are you going to do?’

  ‘I’m a zoologist; I work for Greenpeace. I’ll be collecting evidence and assessing the impact with other scientists. Then, we will try to arrange talks with the government officials and get them to change their policy on it. It doesn’t always work,’ she added with a laugh, ‘but we have to try.’

  Vanessa, who couldn’t help feeling impressed, glanced down the table at her father. He was gazing steadily at Lee and the pride in his face struck at her heart.

  Vanessa leaned over to Maggie, who was sitting beside her, and said quietly, ‘Daisy is going mad outside, Maggie. Will I go and try to calm her?’

  ‘You do that, dear,’ she said kindly. ‘Her bark is torture isn’t it!’

  Touching Vanessa’s shoulder, she added, ‘You take your time lass, the pudding has been slow-baking in the oven all afternoon, another few minutes will make nae difference at all.’

  It was a relief to be outside, away from them all. Vanessa breathed in deeply and stared out into the blackness. The air smelled foreign to her. The vegetation, sweeter than at home, made her lightheaded. Surely the water was unnaturally still? Vanessa walked down to the edge where Daisy was barking furiously. She pulled at her collar, but Daisy shook her off and continued barking with an urgency that unnerved her.

  ‘Silly mutt, there’s nothing out there,’ she said uncertainly.

  They stood at the edge of the loch for a few minutes more, Daisy barking, Vanessa searching. But no matter how hard she strained her eyes, Vanessa could see nothing at all. Tired now, she bent down and wrapped her arms around Daisy’s neck. The dog stopped barking for a second, pleased with the attention and licked her face. Then she turned back to the loch and barked again.

  Vanessa stood up slowly; she’d have to go back in and face them all again. She peered along the bank to the left where she thought the abbey at Fort Augustus should be, but it was too dark to make out except the outline of trees. Tomorrow she would explore it with Daisy and then go out on the loch in the wooden fishing boat Maggie had talked about. Not with Lee, though. She would have this adventure on her own.

  CHAPTER 11

  In Drumnadrochit in the year 1880, E.H. Bright and his cousin saw a dark grey creature with a long neck come out of a wooded area, waddle to the water’s edge and then plunge into the water.

  It was ten o’clock before Vanessa stirred the next morning. She lay on in bed feeling very relaxed. The mattress was so much softer than her one at home and the crisp white cotton sheets were pure luxury.

  She let her eyes travel slowly around the room, taking in every detail – the polished wooden floors; the pretty wash basin; the table and chair, both painted apple green, that were positioned in front of the window. It looked so inviting, a perfect place for her to do some sketching. She used to draw all the time when her mum was alive. They would take sketchbooks and charcoals with them everywhere. She thought of the terrible charcoal of Nessie on the file cover and smiled wistfully. She would give anything, absolutely anything, to have her mum here for even a minute or two.

  There was a soft knock and a pause before Maggie put her head around the door.

  ‘Good morning, dear, did you sleep well?’

  ‘Great, thanks. The bed’s so comfortable; I’m finding it hard to get up.’

  ‘Well, why should you? You’re on your holidays, stay in it as long as you like. Why don’t I bring breakfast up to you?’

  ‘Maybe I could have it at that little table there. I was just thinking about sketching the view, actually.’

  ‘Well, why not?’ Maggie must have seen the uncertainty in Vanessa’s face. ‘You’ll need something to draw with, and on, of course.’

  She pulled open a door on the opposite wall, revealing a cupboard lined with shelves and full of small wooden boxes and books. Resting on the floor were piles of canvases of all sizes.

  ‘Here we go.’ Maggie pulled out a box filled with charcoals and then flicked through a sketchpad to check that there were some free pages. ‘You get started and I’ll get breakfast. I won’t ask you what you want; it will be a Highland surprise!’

  ‘Thanks, Maggie. I love it here,’ Vanessa said suddenly, surprising herself. She was rewarded by Maggie’s smile and the kindest of looks. ‘By the way, the rest of the family are heading of on a fishing trip with Lee to one of the rivers nearby. Do you want to join them or would you prefer to explore a little yourself round about here?’

  ‘Oh, yes, explore, please. That’s exactly what I want to do.’

 
‘We are minding Daisy for a few days while James has gone to Glasgow. Maybe you could take her for a walk for me.’

  ‘Are all the Mackays gone away, then?’ Vanessa asked.

  ‘No; Laura, his wife, rarely goes out. It's enough that she comes here occasionally for dinner. And Pat simply refuses to walk “the beast”, as he calls her.’

  ‘I suppose she might be a bit hyper for him.’ Vanessa laughed. What a strange bunch they were!

  ‘You could take Daisy for a walk to Fort Augustus where the locks are. It’s only a couple of minutes along the road.’

  ‘Isn’t that the abbey where the monk saw Nessie?’

  ‘Aye, that’s true. It’s in ruins now, but the cloisters are still lovely. Take your sketchbook. Mind you, it will be hard to get Daisy to explore it with you. She’s highly strung at the best of times and she hates that place.’

  CHAPTER 12

  On 26 May 1934, Brother Richard Horan from St Benedictine’s Abbey at Fort Augustus had a very clear sighting. He was working near the abbey boathouse when he heard a noise in the water and looked up to find a creature with a long, graceful neck and seal-like head staring at him. Three other people watching from different positions also saw the same thing.

  Vanessa followed the road down the hill into the village. She could see the two spires of Fort Augustus Abbey ahead. Daisy kept straining on her lead, dragging Vanessa off the road and at one point almost into a ditch. But as Vanessa came up to the metal gate into the abbey grounds, she was glad she had brought her – snooping around was far less suspicious if you had a dog in tow.

  She pushed the gate, but it didn’t move. She pushed hard again and it rattled loudly. It was then that she noticed a large padlock on the inside. Maggie had said it would be no problem to explore the abbey, but now Vanessa felt unsure. Would she have to climb through the gaps or go over the top? What if there was a cranky caretaker on the other side with a shotgun?

  All she could see from the road were the spires; the buildings themselves were hidden by trees. It was frustrating to be this close and not see anything. As she stood there, trying to decide what to do, she felt a prickle creep across her skin along the back of her neck and shoulders. It was a strange, but not an unpleasant sensation. It wasn’t fear she felt, more like excitement, and she suddenly felt an extraordinary longing to be inside the abbey.

  Daisy must have been feeling something too, because she started to whine and push herself up against Vanessa’s legs.

  Vanessa put her head against the bars of the gate. They were just wide enough to squeeze her head through. The rest of her body followed easily enough. But Daisy wouldn’t follow. Although perfectly able, she simply refused to move.

  Vanessa remembered a small bread roll she had in her pocket. She held it out through the bars, just out of reach, and it did the trick. Daisy’s greed got her through the gate, but Vanessa realised she was going to have to drag her every inch of the way to the abbey. Unless …

  She spotted a garden bench amongst the trees. Just the thing! She tied Daisy to the arm of the bench. She could finish the bread roll in peace, while Vanessa went on. Thank goodness she had picked it up in the kitchen on her way out. It had been intended as emergency rations, something to eat when she got to the abbey.

  Vanessa watched enviously as Daisy gulped it down. She herself was starving. She hadn’t eaten a pick of the breakfast Maggie brought up to her. Salty porridge followed by sliced fried black pudding and kippers – what a combination! It had been a nightmare getting rid of it all. The porridge had ended up being washed down the sink, the pudding had found its way into Daisy and the kippers into the loch for Nessie.

  As she walked on, Vanessa pulled out the small map that Maggie had given her with the markings for the various buildings of the abbey. Straight ahead stood the monastery with its tower looking out over the loch. The cloistered gardens were directly behind it; to the right stood the old church, and on the left the old school with the remains of a clock tower. She heard a bark in the distance. It didn’t sound like Daisy, though, and, anyway, it seemed to come from the wrong direction.

  The air was still and smelled unusually sweet. What wild plant gave off such a strong, sweet fragrance, she wondered. It made her feel almost dizzy. There was something familiar about it, but she couldn’t remember what. She moved towards the left, hoping to go around the buildings to the front to get a view of the loch, but a couple of times she reached a dead end and had to turn back. She kept going until she saw boat masts ahead. They must be moored in the canal. Maggie had told her the Caledonian Canal was along here by the abbey. The boats were probably waiting to get through the lock-gate to go south to Loch Gairns.

  Using the boats as a marker, she soon came to the canal, and then she followed it along towards the loch. Just at the point where the canal met the loch, she came to a pretty little stone tower with a white-painted roof. It didn’t have an entrance, though, or not that she could find, which seemed a bit pointless. Vanessa sat on the bank and let her feet dangle above the water. The view across the loch was breathtaking. There were large mountains on both sides and a light wind created shadows and ripples along the surface. She watched the water for any movement, any sign at all of Nessie. Wouldn’t it be great if she just appeared now, with nobody else around and in such a beautiful place!

  Vanessa turned to look across the lawns in front of the monastery and tried to work out exactly where the monk and his friend had stood when they saw Nessie. She stood up then, and walked towards the building until she found herself almost under the tower.

  She was beginning to feel a little strange in herself now, and tired too. Suddenly, a huge black hawk glided out from behind the tower, soaring high above her. She watched in awe – its movement was so graceful. But then the hawk swooped right down towards her, flying terriflyingly close to her head. She ducked, clutching her hair. Was he attacking her? The bird circled, getting ready to come at her again, when Vanessa heard a deep rumble and the sound of bubbling water behind her. She spun on her heels, her heart fluttering in her chest, her breathing suddenly shallow. Before she could register anything at all in the water, a film fell across her eyes and she crumpled to the ground.

  Turning on her side, she tried to protect her face. Something was licking it. It took her a while to register that it was Daisy, and that Maggie was stroking her hair, talking to her. For a split second, she imagined she was back in the kitchen at the dinner table, but as she rolled onto her back, she saw the spires of the abbey again, and remembered. How long had she lain there?

  ‘You’re white as a sheet, lass. What happened to you? You must have been out cold for ages. I got worried and came after you. Daisy was the first one I found, barking like mad.’

  ‘Oh, Maggie, I am sorry. She wouldn’t come any farther so I thought …’

  She stopped, suddenly aware of a grinding pain above her eyes as she sat up.

  ‘Headache,’ she muttered and struggled to her feet.

  ‘We’ll call Doc Morris when we get back. He can look you over.’

  ‘I’m fine, honestly. It was just … hunger. I sometimes feel light-headed on an empty stomach.’

  ‘You can’t be hungry after that monster breakfast, surely?

  She’d blown it now. ‘Oh, well, a little. I have a huge appetite,’ she said lamely.

  They started to walk back towards the gate again, Maggie linking Vanessa’s arm through hers, while Daisy pulled hard on the lead.

  ‘Double rations tomorrow for you then, my girl.’ Maggie was clearly puzzled at the thought that her famous Highland breakfast was not enough to satisfy this slip of a girl.

  CHAPTER 13

  Alex Campbell, a water bailiff on Loch Ness for many decades and a local correspondent for the Inverness Courier, saw the monster many times. In May 1934, he said ‘a strange object seemed to shoot out of the calm waters almost opposite the Abbey boathouse’. He reckoned that the head and neck stood about 6 feet above the water and the
body, a large rounded hump, was about 30 feet long. It was like no animal he had ever seen before.

  It was dark, pitch dark, when Vanessa opened her eyes with a start. What had woken her? She listened, straining to hear any noise at all. The silence in the room was almost like a physical presence, something heavy and breathless. Vanessa didn’t move, her arms felt rigid by her sides, her neck taut. She waited until her eyes started to adjust to the dark.

  Gradually, she could make out the window that looked out over Loch Ness, but farther from the end of her bed than she had remembered. Was it always curved at the top? She peered harder, trying to focus. The window in her room had four small panes, didn’t it?

  Her legs felt wobbly when she put them over the side of her bed and stood up slowly. She walked towards the window and reached out to feel the glass. But there was none, instead she felt a light cool breeze flutter about her hand and she drew it back to her chest as if nursing a pain. Turning to look back at her bed, she found instead four rough stone walls and a staircase in one corner. Her bed was gone.

  Panicked now, she looked back out through the open arch to the water. She was sure it was Loch Ness, but where was the red boat, Maggie’s rowing boat? Tense and alert, her eye caught a dark shape to the right on the grass below and she leaned forward to try and make it out.

  Blinking hard and nervously, she watched the shape move slowly towards the water’s edge. All of a sudden, it made sense to her: she was looking at the dark robes of a monk and his head was covered by a cowl. The figure stopped, he seemed to be surrounded by a small pool of light that came from beyond him. She found it hard to drag her eyes away, but she let her gaze dart out beyond him to the source of the light in the water. Previously an inky black space, she watched as the blackness lifted in one spot. Light seemed to be coming from beneath the water and rising to the surface. Gradually, the light became stronger and then a little more coloured, dull green and brackish yellow, luminescent.