SilverMoonLight (SilverMoonSaga Book 1) (7 page)

»So,«
said Sophie, »how are you doing?«

»I
miss my mother a lot, and the city too, sometimes,« I said hesitantly.

She
nodded with understanding. »When I came here, everything seemed so strange and
frightfully provincial,« she said. »I haven’t told you that we met in Paris,
have I? It was love at first sight.«

I
saw a wistful expression touch her features for a moment.

»I
was always quite impulsive.«

That
was easy to believe.

»I
came here with him when he found out his father was dying. My parents were
upset, but there was nothing they could do.«

As
she sat before me, clothed in a light-green kaftan and wearing her customary
clinking bracelets, I could easily imagine her falling for the charms of a
young Scottish adventurer in 1970s Paris, and he for her.

»When
we arrived here, it was a shock for me. No theatre, no ballet, no libraries.
But I was in love. And over the years, I’ve grown fond of the place. We used to
go to Edinburgh a lot; my husband was intent on showing me that there was more
here than just meadows, sheep and mountains. But even though I’ll soon have
been living here for fifty years, many people still see me as being exotic. But
the island is my home now.«

No
one would believe that Sophie was going to be seventy in two years’ time.

She
looked at me: »And I hope it will be the same for you.«

»You
know I’m happy that Ethan and Bree took me in,« I replied. »I didn’t know what
it would be like, living in a big family, so I was nervous.«

»And
how is it?«

I
shrugged. »Chaotic, loud, and, against all my expectations, kind of wonderful.«

I
fell silent, feeling Sophie’s understanding look rest on me.

»Now
I’m just hoping it will get properly warm. This constantly bad weather is
depressing.«

»Yes,«
she said, »and there’s only one thing that helps with that: reading, reading
and more reading.«

She
jumped up, dispersing the somber mood that had begun to settle on us.

»I
think you need something for your heart.«

I
nodded, unsure what she meant by that.

»Not
the kitschy trash that all the tourists read when they come here for the
summer.«

Her
hands fluttered through the air. I stayed silent and followed her through the
aisles as she stroked her hand lovingly over the backs of the books. I had no
idea what she was looking for.

She
pulled one out and passed it to me. I read the title,
Anna Karenina
, by
Leo Tolstoy. I had never heard of it. Reading through the blurb, I noted that
it sounded challenging.

»I’ll
tell you now,« she said, »it will make you cry. It’s a wonderful but terribly
sad book.«

She
walked on, then stopped in front of the Shakespeare bookcase. »
Romeo and
Juliet
you already know,« she said, seemingly more to herself than me. »Try
Othello
, and that should do you for now. You’ll have to tell me next
time whether you liked them.«

I
smiled. As if I didn’t always. It was the least I could do, especially as she
lent me the books; she had refused to accept even a pound from me. But I helped
her out in the shop to make up for it.

I
got my things together and thanked her. It was getting dark outside now.

»You
don’t have to thank me, sweetheart, it’s always a pleasure when you come to see
me.«

She
gave me a kiss on the cheek and I turned to the door, promptly stumbling into
the person entering the shop at that moment. It was Calum. He reached out to
steady me, shaking his head over my clumsiness. Then, as soon as he recognized
me, he let go right away.

But
just that brief moment was enough to make my arm burn like fire where he had
touched me.

»Calum,«
cried Sophie, »what a shame you didn’t arrive sooner. Emma came to have tea
with me.«

Without
turning to see his reaction, I hurried out of the shop. As I ran along the main
street home, I couldn’t get the ringing of the shop’s bell out of my head.

At
long last, the sun finally decided to let spring make its entrance.

»We’re
driving out to Loch Fada next weekend to go swimming. You’re coming too, Emma,«
announced Amelie, surprising me with one of her spontaneous ideas.

»Erm,
I’m not sure. Isn’t it still a bit cold for swimming outside?« I asked
anxiously. »The sun only started shining again a few days ago.«

»You
always think it’s cold! The lake will be about 50 - 55 °F,« she replied
impatiently.

I
shuddered at the thought.

»What
are you, a polar bear?«

»You
won’t go in the water anyway, so you can just lie down in the sun for a bit.
Maybe it might take pity on you and give you a bit of tan. I mean, if anyone’s
a polar bear then it’s you, you’re so pale,« she said, trying to convince me.

»Okay,
maybe I’ll come,« I said hesitantly, relieved that she wasn’t making a big deal
of my fear of water. »Who else is coming?«

»I’ll
ask around, and Peter will bring a few friends too. It’ll be really fun.«

Amelie
brought the trip up at dinner that evening.

»Emma
and I are planning to go out to the lake on Saturday with a few people. That’s
okay, right?«

»How
lovely. You’ll like it there, Emma,« said Bree. »And you’ll finally see some
more of the island. What time are you planning to set off?«

»I
think around noon or so.«

»Okay.
We’ll go to see the Evans with Hannah and Amber, then we can meet you at the
pizzeria in the evening. I can take a night off from cooking,« said Bree
cheerfully. She suddenly noticed my glum expression and added encouragingly »It’s
really wonderful out by the lake, Emma, I’m sure you’ll love it.«

I
just nodded.

On
Saturday, Amelie spent the whole morning packing together what she thought was
essential for a picnic. She brewed up several thermos flasks of tea and
ransacked the pantry for edible goodies.

»Amelie,
are you planning to feed a whole army or something?«

She
shook her head moodily and continued to rummage around. I opted to retreat to
my bedroom and figure out which bikini or bathing suit to wear. I decided on a
dark blue sports bikini and also packed a large beach towel and my bathing
suit. It was about 70 °F. outside, which was warm for mid-May, out here on Skye
at least. I hesitated, debating whether I really wanted to get undressed
outdoors in temperatures like these. Even the thought made me shiver. But I
didn’t want to be a party-pooper. By noon my mood had sunk even further, but
Peter and Amelie didn’t seem to notice when we drove off at twelve on the dot.
We took a short detour to pick up Jamie.

»We’re
meeting the others by the lake,« Amelie had said secretively, without revealing
who ‘the others’ were.

»Peter,
are you going to tell me who’s coming?« I asked, turning around to look at him
and Jamie, who were in the back seat.

»Amelie
and I both told a few people. I reckon Aidan will definitely be there. Apart
from that, I’m not sure.«

None
the wiser, I gave up with the questioning. I hoped it wouldn’t be too boring.
And if it was, then I had
Othello
with me. It was always good to have a
book that you could hide or immerse yourself in, regardless of what was
happening around you.

After
a half-hour journey, we reached our destination. I had seen very little of Skye
so far, and hadn’t expected something as beautiful as this. The surface of the
lake was shimmering in the sun, reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. It
was surrounded by green, softly sloping hills, reaching up to the bright blue
sky.

»It’s
beautiful, isn’t it?« said Amelie, coming over to stand next to me.

»We’ve
been really lucky with the weather,« Jamie added. »Come on, let’s unpack and
get straight in the water.«

There
was no proper beach, so in order to get to the water you had to clamber over
numerous small rocks. The meadow was saturated with little yellow flowers and
the scent of spring was in the air.

»Where
are the others?« I asked, looking back over at the road.

»Oh,
I’m sure they’ll be here soon,« called Amelie.

We
fetched our blankets and picnic baskets and found a spot close to the shore.
Amelie and Jamie were just undressing when two more cars arrived. I looked
around and put my hand up to shield my eyes, blinded by the sun.

Two
boys I recognized from the swim trial got out of the first car, along with two
girls I didn’t know. From the second car emerged Marc, Aidan, Valerie, and
Calum.

At
the sight of Calum, my heart dropped into my stomach. Great, so now he would
soon know that I was not only clumsy, but a milquetoast too. He would probably
die laughing at me. Now I knew why Amelie hadn’t told me who was coming. I
looked around and saw her grinning at me. The others came over and everyone
greeted each other. Valerie didn’t leave Calum’s side for a moment.

As
soon as the things were all unpacked, everyone ran into the lake, yelling with
excitement. I stayed behind. And so did Calum. We stood there on a rock,
staring out at the water. I debated what I should do. For the first time ever,
my nonsensical fear of water seemed really foolish. But why hadn’t he gone in
with the others? At that moment, he stepped closer to me and the air between us
began to vibrate. Could he feel it too?

»Why
are you afraid of the water?« So he did remember. Why was he deigning to speak
to me now, of all moments, I wondered grumpily. But his question hadn’t sounded
unfriendly in any way.

I
shook my head and sighed. After all, the worst he could do was laugh.

»I
can’t explain it. I’m afraid of deep water, the dark, monsters...take your
pick.« I didn’t care anymore, he could think whatever he wanted.

»Well,
you should be afraid. Of monsters, I mean.«

Now
he really was making fun of me. I turned around to look at him. As usual, his
intense gaze nearly made me lose my balance.

»You
can save yourself the witty commentary,« I said, trying in vain to make my
voice sound proud.

I
had to show I wasn’t one of the stupid girls who worshipped him, falling at his
feet whenever he deigned to say a few words to them.

All
at once, the expression on his face changed. He raised his eyebrows and looked
at me in surprise. Then he turned around and walked back over to the picnic
blankets.

I
watched him go, unsure what to do. There was no way I could go over and sit
next to him now. Maybe I had overreacted? I bit my lip in confusion.

I
carefully felt my way down the little crag. Surely I could manage to at least
put my feet in the water. With these temperatures, my main concern should
probably be whether my toes would freeze. I sat down on the rock and paddled my
feet in the water. This wasn’t so bad, I thought, slowly lowering myself
farther in. After a brief moment, I felt sand beneath my feet. Relieved, I
straightened up. The water only came up to my knees, and wasn’t as cold as I
had expected.

Suddenly,
there was something else there, grabbing for my calves. I froze and started to
tremble. It wrapped itself around me; something slimy, long and repulsive. I
wanted to scream, but I couldn’t make a single sound. The trembling
intensified—all of my fears were becoming reality.

Calum’s
voice tore me from my shock. »Emma, what’s wrong? Come out! Take my hand.«

I
couldn’t move.

»Em,
come on. All you need to do is turn around. I’ll pull you out.«

His
voice calmed me. I slowly turned around, looking straight into his concerned
eyes. I held out my hand and he pulled me from the water as if I were a
feather. He held me a little way from him and looked searchingly into my face.

»What
happened?«

»Something
grabbed at me,« I stammered.

»That
was algae; they’re all over the rocks. Why did you go in the water? You were
only just saying you were afraid.« He shook his head at my stupidity.

I
was still struggling to slow down my breathing.

»Come
on, let’s go into the sunshine; you’re totally confused.« His tone sounded more
sympathetic now.

He
laid his arm protectively around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. His
touch startled me even more; it was as if electric shocks were coursing through
my body. He must have felt it too, for he immediately pulled his arm away.

»Here.«
He handed me a towel and I wrapped myself in it, relishing the sudden warmth
around me.

As
he poured me some warm tea from one of the thermos flasks, I crumpled down onto
the blanket, not trusting myself to look at him. I laid my head on my knees.

»Where
does the panic come from?« he asked. He sounded curious.