SilverMoonLight (SilverMoonSaga Book 1) (18 page)

He
didn’t even look at me. Of course not, what had I expected? His fingers, tensed
around his fork, were unnaturally white. It was clearly uncomfortable for him
to be sitting so close to me. The realization angered me, even though that was
the last thing I should have felt. I should have been glad that he was ignoring
me.

Calum’s
presence threw me completely off guard, and I lost any appetite for my lunch.
Bryan and Jamie weren’t making it any easier with their loved-up whispers and
hand-holding. Amelie and Peter didn’t even notice, talking excitedly about the
forthcoming school trip. When the bell rang and Calum jumped up, I breathed a
sigh of relief. The tension between us had been too intense. As I headed off to
biology with Amelie, she finally took notice of me. »You look pale,« she
commented.

»Because
of Calum,« I said. I looked at her unhappily, annoyed at myself for blurting it
out like that.

»You’re
not over it, are you? You were acting strangely this morning too.«

I
shook my head.

»Why
didn’t you say anything about it during the holidays?« she gave me a
reproachful look.

Mr.
Barkley entered the room, his expression making it clear that he wouldn’t
tolerate any chatting or whispering. He wasn’t the kind of teacher to be messed
with. Amelie would have to be patient, and I had time to think up some idiotic
excuse for why I hadn’t said one word for the entire holiday about how much I
missed Calum.

The
first few days of school were more tiring than I had expected, and the time
passed so quickly that I barely had time to think before the weekend. Only the
last few hours of Friday seemed to drag out mercilessly, so I was glad when I
finally got into the car with Amelie and we drove home. The evening was filled
with preparations for the school trip. I had no idea why, but Amelie never
seemed to tire of packing and re-packing her backpack.

»I
can’t decide,« she moaned. The selection of a bikini had obviously become a
matter of national importance.

»Amelie,
you’re not seriously thinking of swimming in that ice-cold lake?«

I
looked at her in disbelief—she must have lost her mind. In response, she
laughed and threw the tiny scrap of material she called a bikini at me. I
grimaced in mock exasperation and left the room. We were off camping for two days,
for heaven’s sake; it’s not like it was three weeks in the Caribbean. All I had
packed was a tracksuit for sleeping in, two pairs of jeans, two T-shirts, and a
thick pullover. I wasn’t even taking a swimming costume.

Amelie
and I would be sharing a tent. Peter had successfully managed to avoid sharing
one with Ethan.

»Dad,
it’s bad enough that you’re the headmaster, I don’t need to spend the school
trip sharing a tent with you as well.«

Bree
and the girls had tried to hold back their laughter. Ethan, although indignant,
had eventually given in.

On
Saturday, I woke up earlier than usual. I had plenty of time; it was only just
getting light outside. It looked like it would turn out to be a beautiful day.
I burrowed down under my duvet and closed my eyes, sinking into my favorite
daydream: Calum and me standing in front of the house. He was holding me in his
arms, kissing me softly on the lips. When the sun began to stretch its warm
beams into the room, I stood up and went into the bathroom. Amelie was already
there, brushing her teeth and hopping around to the music blaring out of the
radio.

»Hey,
sleepyhead, hurry up!« she called out, her mouth full of toothpaste. She was a
fine one to talk.

»I’m
always ready before you anyway,« I replied, stepping under the shower. It would
be the last one I’d get for the next two days, so I washed my hair thoroughly.
Despite taking the time to do that, and just as I had expected, I was at the
breakfast table before Amelie.

Ethan
got increasingly agitated, calling out for her several times before she finally
clambered down the stairs with her huge backpack in tow. He stared at her,
dumbfounded.

»Amelie,
where are you going with that monstrosity? We’re only going camping for two
days, if my memory hasn’t failed me.«

»I
couldn’t decide what to bring. And besides, I have no idea how the weather’s
going to be.«

She
had no chance of getting away with it. Ethan sent her back upstairs with the
strict instruction to unpack at least half of her things.

»We’re
leaving in five minutes,« he said sternly. »If you’re not back down here by
then, we’ll go without you and you can stay here with Mom and the twins.«

Five
minutes later, she came downstairs sulkily with a significantly smaller piece
of luggage. Peter and I grinned at each other; we knew Amelie could never stay
mad for long. And we were right, for by the time we climbed onto the bus, she
was bright and cheery again.

I
breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Calum get onto the second bus. The
knowledge that he was coming too erased my biggest fear about the weekend. I
didn’t care about anything else. Well, almost anything; Valerie had made a
beeline straight for him as soon as he arrived.

The
journey took over three hours. Tim had managed to sit next to me, having
already spent the whole week hanging around me. His constant presence was
gradually starting to bug me; I had to find a way to put him off, but just
wasn’t sure how. Everyone on the bus passed the time telling stories about the
holidays, while I tried my best to ignore Tim.

Loch
Ness was truly showing off its best side as we climbed out of the bus. Clear
and blue, the lake shimmered in the sunlight. All at once, everyone busied
themselves with preparations for the camp. I barely had a chance to look around
and give the scenery the attention it deserved, for Amelie was already heaving
our sleeping bags and air mattresses into my arms.

»Come
on, it’s tent-pitching time,« she called as she marched off.

Unsurprisingly,
our tent ended up right next to Aidan’s. A few moments later, Calum appeared,
and the two of them began to set up their modest sleeping quarters.

»Amelie,«
I hissed, »I hope you’re not thinking of sneaking into Aidan’s tent tonight?«

She
blinked at me innocently.

»Emma,
the things you think of. Although, now you mention it, it’s not such a bad
idea.« She shook her head with a laugh and turned her attention to the tent
poles while I carried on blowing up the air mattresses.

»It
might be a good opportunity to make up with Calum,« she whispered into my ear. »A
clear night, the starry sky, the two of you alone in a tent...« She gazed up at
the sky theatrically. My cheeks promptly reddened at her words, something which
didn’t go unnoticed.

»Don’t
you dare,« I said angrily, biting myself on the lip.

»Well,
it seems like I need to give you guys a jump start,« she responded with a
laugh, not paying any attention to my enraged expression.

Once
our tent was up, she sauntered over to see Aidan. I shoved our things into the
tent, crept inside and tried to calm down.

After
a while, Ethan called us all over. He wanted the group to walk to Urquhart
Castle together, some old castle ruins which were right by the lake. According
to his story, they had been destroyed and rebuilt many times. When we got
there, I needed a moment to catch my breath, for we had walked at a pretty fast
pace. The teachers were clearly keen to tire us out. Seventy-two students had
come on the trip, and if I knew Ethan, he wouldn’t want to risk there being any
excess energy tonight.

In
spite of its decaying state, the castle was easily accessible to visitors. The
ravages of time and destruction meant that only the walls were still standing,
but we clambered down into the old dungeon, where some of the boys were lying
in wait for us and scared us half to death. Amelie and Jamie ran out screaming.
After that, we climbed up to the look-out platform of the East tower, which
seemed a little safer. The view over the woods, mountains and lake more than
made up for the demanding walk. When I looked down from the tower, I could see
Calum beneath us. Valerie stood next to him. I bit my lip. He laid an arm
around her shoulders and pointed out to the lake. My heart sank.

Amelie
followed my gaze.

»What’s
Calum doing? Showing Valerie the Loch Ness Monster?« She giggled.

I
wasn’t in the mood to laugh.

»You
shouldn’t take it to heart, Emma. It didn’t work out between you guys. It
happens.«

What
could I say to that? She was right. I laid my forehead against the cold stone
of the castle wall and took a deep breath. I had to pull myself together and
try to forget him.

»Is
everything okay, Emma?« Calum’s concerned voice rang out next to me. He reached
gently for my shoulder, making me turn to face him. My skin burned like fire at
his touch. I stared up at him in shock and he abruptly let his hand fall. How
had he gotten up here so quickly? I hadn’t even noticed that Amelie was no
longer next to me. Staring into his blue eyes, it took me a while to answer.
Valerie was behind him, eyeing me with a sneer.

»Yes,
everything’s fine,« I stammered, pushing past them and running down the steps.

After
we got back to the campground, some people were brave enough—or rather, stupid
enough—to venture into the ice-cold lake. Amidst the cheers of the onlookers,
they descended into the water and made a few attempts to swim. But none of them
held out for long, rushing back out and wrapping themselves in their towels.
Even Amelie went in, albeit only to her hips. Just watching gave me goose
bumps.

A
little later, we turned our attentions to preparing the evening meal. We were
having a barbecue, something which represented an organizational challenge.
Eventually, we agreed that the boys would do the grilling, while the girls
prepared the meat, bread and potatoes. A few people collected wood so we could
start a bonfire later.

Jamie
and I wrapped a huge mountain of potatoes, one by one, in aluminum foil. Tim
sauntered over to offer his help. To my annoyance, Jamie immediately pressed a
bag of potatoes into his hands and he sat down next to me, much too close for
my taste. I responded monosyllabically to his attempts to start up a
conversation. Then we started the fire. Once the coals turned from red to
white, we shoved the potatoes into the hot ashes. With a heavy heart, I thought
back to my hikes with my mother. As I sat there next to the fire, I tried to
suppress the tears building up in my eyes. I took a deep breath and looked
around for Amelie.

Calum
stood nearby, looking at me. I couldn’t read the expression in his eyes, but it
wasn’t his usual angry stare. He just looked frustrated.

»Emma,
you have to keep an eye on the fire, remember?« Tim piped up, tearing me out of
the silent conversation I was having with Calum.

The
long walk had made me hungry, so when the time came I eagerly sat down with the
others to eat, peeling the floury potatoes from the foil and slathering them
with butter and salt.

For
dessert, we had marshmallows. Peter and a few of the boys had untiringly
sharpened a load of twigs, so everyone had one. I loved the sweet, warm,
stickiness of them. A rare silence descended as everyone focused on roasting
their marshmallows for exactly the right length of time.

Ethan
took the chance to speak up:

»Now,
of course I don’t want to miss the opportunity to tell you all about the legend
of the lake.«

Everyone
groaned, but he wouldn’t be deterred.

»I
know, I know. I’m sure most of you have already been here with your parents, or
that you’ve at least heard the stories. But it can’t hurt to hear them again.«
He fell silent for a moment and looked around to make sure everyone was paying
attention.

»The
legend of Nessie goes back to an encounter with the monster in the year 565.
Back then, Saint Columba saved the life of one of his people out on the lake.
The monster had killed one man and was in the process of trying to devour
another. Then Columba made it flee by painting a cross in the air and saying
some holy words. Unfortunately, we don’t know what they were.«

As
Ethan told the story, it was silent all around us but for the crackling of the
firewood. When he paused, a few of the girls started to giggle, upon which he
gave them a stern look. Letting my gaze wander, I saw Calum’s eyes burning into
me from the other side of the bonfire. It took all my efforts to tear my gaze
away from him, and even then I needed a few minutes before I could concentrate
on the story again.

»It
was another thousand years before the next reported encounter with the monster
of the lake. Clearly, Columba gave it quite a fright.« He smiled. »But from
then on, there were regular reports about strange appearances in and around the
lake. The most famous photograph is from the year 1934, clearly picturing a
monstrous creature with a long neck and small head. Later, however, the picture
was revealed to be a fake. In 1971, a Benedictine father from the Fort Augustus
monastery observed some unusual happenings. He reported suddenly seeing a
strong movement on the surface of the lake, which, moments before, had been as
smooth as glass. Then a black neck appeared, around two to three meters long, followed
by a hump. The beast rose up, then plunged down into the depths again. After
this report, more and more people came to visit the lake. Everyone wanted to be
the first to take a genuine photograph of the mysterious monster. But so far,
no one has managed to prove Nessie’s existence.«

Ethan
fell silent.

At
first, no one said a word, then he was barraged with questions.

»What
kind of creature is Nessie supposed to be?« asked a red-haired girl whose name
I didn’t know, even though we were in the same sports class.

»There
are various theories about that, Maria,« said Ethan. »Nessie is often described
as being a gigantic sea snake. Apparently, she’s similar to a long-extinct
dinosaur which lived around a hundred and eighty million years ago and which
had a long neck, small head and tiny fins. So the description could fit.«

»If
Nessie really exists, how could she have survived for so long?« asked Tim.

Ethan
nodded. »That’s a good question. It can’t possibly be one and the same animal,
so it must have reproduced. But then again, if there were several of them, you
would expect them to be sighted more often.«

»It’s
all just a load of nonsense if you ask me,« interjected Brian, who sat opposite
me with his arms around Jamie.

»And
why’s that?« asked Amelie in interest.

»Why
would the descendent of some long-extinct animal have survived in Loch Ness, of
all places?«

»That
doesn’t answer my question,« said Amelie haughtily.

»Well,
what do you think such a big animal could feed on in a lake like Loch Ness?«
responded Brian, countering her question with another.

I
was surprised by how seriously everyone was taking the subject. It could only
be a myth, surely. Having said that, I’d once thought that about the
shellycoats. I wondered what else might be true after all.

»Bryan’s
right to be skeptical,« said Ethan, re-joining the debate. »The lake doesn’t
have the right conditions to enable a reptile of that size to survive. But
because of the depth of the lake, it’s just not possible to explore right down
to the bottom, so it will always remain a mystery.«

»My
father thinks that unusual fish like sturgeon are mistaken for the monster, or
that it’s just pieces of wood floating on the surface of the water,« said
Jamie.

Amelie
gave a scornful sigh.

The
discussion became ever more heated as everyone debated whether Nessie was a
myth or a reality. Before long, two opposing sides formed, discussing their
viewpoints among one another.

»Has
anyone ever heard of the shellycoats?« asked Maria out of the blue.

I
twisted around to look at her. I saw a few people nodding, but most just looked
at her blankly.

»Tell
us about them, Maria,« Amelie encouraged her.

I
looked over at Ethan. His lips were pressed into a thin line.

»My
Grandmother used to tell me stories about them,« she continued. »Apparently,
one of my ancestors was seduced by one of them and lost her mind.«

»What
are they?« asked Jamie with curiosity.

»Watermen,«
interrupted Ethan. »According to legend they’re beautiful, irresistible
creatures who lure virgins into the lake and leave them there to drown. Either
that or they leave the woman behind, lovesick. A woman who has fallen in love
with a shellycoat can never fall in love with a man. She dies of a broken
heart. That’s how the legend goes.«

»I’m
sure Maria would have told it more romantically,« pouted Amelie. »Beautiful and
irresistible, sounds good to me.«

At
that moment, there was a loud noise. It had come from the lake. It sounded as
though something large had plunged down into the water.

A
few girls screamed out in shock. The boys jumped up and ran over to the shore.

I
only half-followed what was happening, for I was looking at Calum. He had
jumped up too, but he didn’t go over to the lake. He looked shocked, frozen to
the spot. Then he turned around and went to his tent.

Once
the commotion died down, Aidan and a few other boys fetched their guitars from
the tents and began to play. Calum didn’t re-appear. I watched sadly as couples
cuddled up and listened to the music. Before long, the crackling of the fire,
gentle murmuring and music began to make me sleepy. As I stared into the fire,
my eyes gradually began to close. My legs wobbling a little, I stood up and
went over to the tent, just managing to creep into the sleeping bag before
sleep overcame me.

In
the middle of the night, I woke up with a start, rubbing my eyes. Had I heard a
scream, or had I just been dreaming? It was pitch black in the tent. I reached
out for my mobile, struggling to find it in the darkness. Turning it on, I saw
that Amelie wasn’t lying next to me. I groaned; it wasn’t hard to figure out
where she was. But then where was Calum? I tried to push the thought from my
mind.

I
tried to go back to sleep, tossing and turning on my air mattress. But sleep
had slipped away from me now, so I crawled out of my sleeping bag and unzipped
the tent, creeping out quietly. The embers of the fire were still glowing, so I
was just about able to see. I straightened up and looked around, then walked
over to the bonfire. All of a sudden, Calum appeared in front of me.

I
was so startled that I almost fell backwards. Concern washed over his features.
In seconds, he had a grip of himself again, and glared at me angrily.

»Emma,
what are you doing out here at this time of night? Go back in the tent,« he
ordered, in a tone that would clearly tolerate no argument.

»You
can’t tell me what to do,« I responded moodily. Who did he think he was? He
took a few steps towards me, leaving only a few centimeters between us. In his
anger, he looked even more beautiful than usual. My heart started to pound.

»You’ll
do what I say. There’s no way I’m going to let you creep around the campground
tonight. Where were you going, anyway?« His eyes narrowed.

I
didn’t want to let him off easily. What was he playing at?

»Calum,
I can do whatever I like. I can’t sleep so I wanted to walk for a bit.«

»You
were going to see Tim, weren’t you?« His voice vibrated with accusation.

I
looked at him in outrage as a curt response danced on my lips. Where did he get
his crazy ideas from? I shook my head; a dangerous glint in his eyes stopped me
from being too petulant.

»Go
back to your tent right this minute. If you don’t do it voluntarily, I’ll tie
you up in there if I have to. And believe me, Emma, that’s not an empty threat.«

All
of a sudden, his words no longer sounded angry, and the color of his eyes
changed in seconds from icy to a warm sky blue. My resistance melted under his
gaze.

I
turned around to head back to my tent, but I still wanted to retain some pride.
So I strutted off with my head held high, then promptly stumbled over the
nearest tent peg. Before I could fall, Calum was there to catch me. He held me
tightly, too tightly. My heart was doing somersaults and I was sure he would be
able to feel it. Then, as quickly as he had appeared alongside me, he let me
go. Stunned and embarrassed, I crawled into the tent and buried my face in the
sleeping bag. Would it ever stop? What I really wanted was to rush back out
there and throw myself into his arms. But he would probably have thought I was
completely crazy.

Before
I fell back to sleep, an absurd thought occurred to me. How had he gotten the
idea that I wanted to go to Tim in the middle of the night? I remembered the
look on his face when he had accused me of it. Was it possible that he was
jealous? The butterflies in my stomach stirred. But it was pointless, I had to
forget it.

When
I woke up again, the sun was shining through the tent. Amelie was next to me,
sleeping soundly. I hadn’t even heard her come back. I ran a comb through my
hair and got dressed, then crept out of the tent. I wasn’t the first early
riser; a few were already running around the camp in swimming trunks or
bikinis. They couldn’t seriously be contemplating going in the lake? The sun
was already shining, but it wouldn’t have warmed the water even remotely, and I
was cold even in a T-shirt. I contemplated fetching my jumper from the tent,
but didn’t want to wake Amelie. Then I saw Calum, standing not too far away and
staring at me. Had he spent the whole night outside?