Fatebound

Chapter Five ~ Ghosts

"If you keep walking like that, you might bump into a tree."

Brea jumped out of her skin as she looked up at at the Miranda.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you, you ok?" She asked.

Brea nodded.

"Here, you look freezing." She said as she once again handed Brea her jacket.

"T-thank you but you don't have to do that."

Miranda smiled. "Please, I insist." She replied.

After that there was silence for a while, before the mysterious boat woman finally broke it with her curiosity.

"So... why did you decide to come along for the tour when you're so scared of ghosts? Unless of course it was my charm that compelled you to join us?"

She gave a mischievous grin and Brea couldn't help but to crack a smile at her antics.

"I actually didn't know that you where going to be the tour guide tonight..."

Brea couldn't help but to marvel at how similar her and her mothers adventures in Skye had been so far. After all, they had both met tour guides at the start of their journey in Skye, and and if Brea was being honest, she wasn't sure if she would be able to keep this particular tour guide off of her mind for the entire rest of her stay.

"I dabble." Miranda replied with a grin and a shrug."

"So you wouldn't have wanted to come if you had known?" She asked with a small pout, and for the first time since Brea had met her, she actually picked up on some nervousness under the amusement in her voice.

"No!"

Brea rushed.

"I-I mean no... not at all."

The other woman's smile returned instantly as Brea began once again to blush up a storm.

"So you would have wanted to come along even more than... if you had known that I would be here?"

She added, hopefully.

Brea could have sworn at that point that her face was on literal fire.

"P-Perhaps." Brea concluded.

"But anyway..."

She quickly tried to change the subject.

"There's another reason why I came here tonight... and I think, well I hope that you might actually be able to help me with it."

Miranda shrugged.

"Ask away."

Brea bit her lip and sighed.

"I came to Skye... specifically to look for someone. He was a tour guide here once but I haven't got much else to go on."

Miranda nodded.

"Well, I've lived around here for a number of years now, so if his still here, I'd probably know him." She replied, waited a beat and than added, "Boyfriend of yours?"

Brea chocked on her own spit as Miranda stopped to look at her with concern.

"N-N-No! Not at all. His... His my father!"

Brea could have sworn that she saw the woman's shoulders drop down in relief at her answer, had she perhaps not wanted Brea to have a boyfriend?

Well... she had made it rather abundantly clear that she was into Brea, what with all of her flirting and all, but the issue was that Brea was a hopeless romantic. She certainly wouldn't be looking for a one-night fling, and she didn't really know yet if this woman was simply toying with her, or if she truly wanted something more.

"I see."

Miranda replied.

"Do you know his name at all?"

Brea sighed as she shook her head. Miranda took note at the sad expression she held and her slightly slumped shoulders.

"Sadly no. But I know that he ran tours around here in the late nineties."

Miranda cringed and sighed.

"Unfortunately I wasn't around here then...But there are a few older guides still running tours in Skye, I'd recommend asking them next."

Brea's ears pricked up at that.

"Do you know where I might be able to find them?"

She asked.

"Easy. I can introduce you, if you'd like?"

Brea couldn't help but to smile as she stopped and looked the Miranda directly in the eyes.

"Thank you Miranda. That would mean a lot to me if you could."

Miranda couldn't bring herself to look away once Brea had stopped, and for a split moment Brea could have sworn that she saw her eyes battle through a range of different emotions before she finally turned away, her usually cheeky grin reappearing almost instantly.

"No problem, like I said before, if you need a guide around these parts, I'm your girl."