A BREATH IN TIME. Susan and the Scotsman.

Chapter 1

Twisting my bottom lip between my teeth, I was lost in thought. You see, here I was, deciding whether to hit the confirm button or not on my Mac Pro. I glanced back at the screen, the picture of a cottage, laid on a hill, surrounded by hills and lochs. Whilst the sun shines down and casts everything in a warm inviting glow.

For 3 months, I would be renting this 2 bed, 2 up, 2 down cottage, covered in ivy with flowers surrounding the building, I instantly fell in love with the Disney cottage and its thatched roof. Covering my eyes with my left hand I hit enter. My screen beeped, confirming the booking, in less then two days, I would make my getaway to the Scottish highlands.

Two days fly by in a blur, I had my suitcases packed and transport ready, I glance around my apartment for the last time, well at least not for 3 months, or maybe more if I decide to stay on. It all depends on my mindset, with a heavy sigh I grab the handles of my suitcases and head out of the door before locking it quickly behind me.

The driver of the taxi, hops out and offers to take my luggage, and carefully places them into the trunk as I climb into the backseat. Along the way I find out his name is rowen, he has a fiancé back in Scotland, called Clare, I was his final passenger, as he had decided to stay in Scotland, due to Clare being heavily pregnant.

After what seemed like days, but in fact was actually one day, we reached the lowland of Scotland. The small houses and shops were all cast in darkness, he drove me to the local station, where we were met by a big, burly Man, who had a thick course beard that reached the top of his chest. It was brown with tints of ginger and he had a farmers cap on, his ginger hair poking out at the sides, his green waist coat over the top of what appeared to be a white cotton shirt, and tanned corduroys. His wellingtons reached his knees, coated with a thick layer of mud.

He greeted us with a tight smile and a stiff nod as rowen and the burly Man exchanged hands with my luggage, rowen explained that the man was called hamish and he were to take me to the cottage. So with our last goodbyes I climbed up into the green, mud caked Land Rover, and continued on my way to my new home for the next 3 months.

He was a quiet man, the silence lay heavy in the air, I had been watching the houses and shops dissolve until the only scenery was dark hills and bodies of water reflecting the moon on its eerily still surface.

Whipping my head around towards Hamish, I pondered over my question for a minute. "Hamish?.... are there any tourist attractions or anything around my cottage?...." after a moment of silence he grumbles, "If your looking for a tourist attraction.... something to romance over, there's always McKenzie Keep."

McKenzie Keep? "Is there a story behind that? Like... is it in ruins? Was there a battle? What happened to the people that lived there?" Hamish let's put a deep chuckle before he replies. "Well there's a story... and the story that goes is.... once there was a fine laird by the name of Rowland McKenzie, he was strong, young and fierce, he had a lot of allies but one.

That one was said to be a snake in the grass, he envied Rowland and everything he had, the snake wanted what he had, so he made at every attempt to grab it, it ended with Rowland on his knees in front of the snake, his whole clan had been slaughtered except the women and the young girls.

They were either sold or raped by the snakes that were working for the snake, after the men had fallen, along with Rowland they burned down the castle, and it's been said that his ghost haunts the Keep, looking for his revenge!"

My eyes widen at his words. I scoff internally at the idea of ghosts roaming around a broken Keep, but nonetheless, my heart went out to Rowland, thinking he could trust this friend of his, but being turned upon, watching your fellow clan members, slaughtered, beaten and raped, was not something I could easily envision.

To my surprise, Hamish continues with a different tale, "about thirty years ago, I dropped off another young woman, at the cottage, she was a writer, and she had come to see if she could write some Scottish warriors into her book, she had come to envision the scenery and atmosphere, I told her about the Keep, she got curious, so one day she ventured up there, and three weeks later, when Colleen, that's the old lass that rents out the cottage, went to go get the key, she couldn't find hide nor hair of her, all of her belongings were there, dirty dishes in the sink, but she was gone.."

With that said, silence followed, my first thought was where did she go? What happened to her, what made her just up and leave, and leave every one of her items back at the cottage? Hamish informed me that the police and local residents searched for months for her, the whole country was, it eventually went global because she just vanished into thin air without a trace.

My thoughts were interrupted, by the land rovers tyres screeching to a halt. Peering over the dashboard, the headlights illuminated the cottages front door, the image that appeared on my screen just only a few days ago, stood proud and tall in front of my very eyes. I let out a weary sigh and thanked the heavens, not that I was bored of Hamish's company, but the thought of a hot steamy bath, and a welcoming bed, beckoned me.

I clambered out of the car, along with Hamish, after collecting my luggage he sets it down on the front step, he hugs me and wishes me a safe stay, also warns me not to go wandering off into any crumbling towers, chuckling at his joke, I wave farewell and prepare to enter my new home.
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The pic at the top is of Susan, if you want to you can actually just imagine what she looks like instead.