Page 35 of Highland Getaway
Their conversation moves on to other members of the village and the damage their houses apparently sustained in the last big storm, and I listen idly as I browse the little stall, eventually selecting a particularly fine turnip, and a couple of leeks, which Ian assures me will keep until I get back home, after which I’ll be able to make a fine soup with them; or even something called a ‘clapshot’ that I don’t dare ask about.
I nod confidently, then, with their permission, shoot some more video of them both serving customers, and chatting about village life, for what Sabrina will surely think is a nice bit of local colour when I edit it into an Instagram Reel later.
‘I know you don’t think he’ll see you,’ I say as I’m preparing to leave, ‘but I honestly think you should come up to the hotel and ask to speak to the Laird about getting his nephew to start buying his stock from the village again. You never know, he might listen.’
‘Aye, and Ian here might grow wings and fly,’ snorts Izzie.
‘Just have a think about it,’ I tell them both. ‘Wouldn’t it be worth it? Not just for you two, but for the rest of the village, too. There must be other local businesses that could benefit from working with the hotel?’
‘Aye, there’s plenty,’ says Izzie. ‘It’s just a question of getting someone up there to listen to us. Maybe if I made one of my persuading potions?’
‘Now, Izzie, we’ve talked about this before,’ says Ian quickly. ‘Remember what happened with the church minister?’
Much as I wish I could stick around to hear the end of this story, I’ve been standing here chatting for much longer than I meant to, so I leave them to argue it out between themselves, and with my bag of vegetables in one hand and my toiletries in the other, I make my way back to the harbour, still buzzing with the pleasure of shopping, even though it was for vegetables rather than clothes.
Still, shopping is shopping, and I’m just wondering if there might be time to pop into one of the little gift shops I spotted earlier before the bus leaves, when I reach the harbour and stop abruptly in my tracks, realising there’s something different about it: or somethingmissing about it, rather.
No.
No, this can’t possibly be right.
I’m at least ten minutes early.
But the bus is gone.
Chapter 14
‘Do you believe me now?’ I say a short while later, as Hunter’s Land Rover pulls up at the harbour and I jump into the passenger seat, shooing Stevie out of the way first. ‘Theyhateme, Hunter. All of them. Well, at least one of them. Why would they have driven off without me if they didn’t?’
‘Now, there’s nothing to suggest they left you behind deliberately,’ Hunter replies, checking his mirror before pulling out onto the main road. ‘I’m sure there must be some explanation. You didn’t get stuck somewhere again, did you? Because, no offence, you seem to have made a bit of a habit of that.’
‘I didn’t get stuck anywhere,’ I reply, annoyed. ‘I was just at the market; there was nowhere to get stuck. And I was definitely at the pick-up point on time, Hunter. I was evenearly. They just drove away and left me. Come on, thathasto have been deliberate. Even you have to admit that.’
‘The driver wouldn’t do that,’ says Hunter. ‘He wouldn’t dare. It’s more than his job’s worth to leave a guest behind.’
‘He probably didn’t even notice I wasn’t there,’ I say glumly. ‘That happens to me a lot.’
‘I find it hard to believe anyone wouldn’t notice you, Rosie,’ Hunter replies, his eyes fixed firmly on the road, so I can’t tell if he means this, or if he’s just trying to cheer me up, but either way a blush colours my cheeks. ‘And I can’t imagine why Sabrina and co. would want to leave you behind on purpose, either.’
‘You obviously never went to an all-girls school,’ I reply, reaching over to pat Stevie on the head as he nudges at me with his nose for attention. This wolf-dog is more like a puppy; and he’s really growing on me. ‘Women can be absolutely brutal to each other, trust me. And they don’t even need a reason for it, either.’
My shoulders thrum with tension at the thought of all of the other things I’ve been deliberately left out of, and I have to force myself to relax them.
‘Well, in this case, they definitely don’t have one,’ says Hunter gallantly. ‘Unless it’s something to do with the vegetables. What are you planning to do with those, by the way? Are you going to make soup?’
‘Oh!’ I look down at the turnip on my lap, and the leeks poking out of the top of my brown paper bag Ian gave me. ‘No, I bought them in the village. I don’t actually know what I’m going to do with them – Ian said something about a “clapshot”? – but the people selling them were so nice I wanted to buy something. Can you believe the hotel doesn’t buy any local produce at all? Apparently, everything comes from giant wholesalers down in the Central Belt. Isn’t that wild? It’s so they can save money, Izzie says.’
Hunter glances at me curiously.
‘What else did you find out from Izzie and Ian, whoever they are?’ he asks.
‘Ian’s a farmer,’ I tell him, picking up the turnip so I can admire it. ‘Although he’s worried he might have to sell up if things don’t improve for him soon. And Izzie is a witch. A green witch, I mean,’ I add quickly, as the Land Rover swerves towards the side of the road. ‘She makes things from natural ingredients. Here, smell this.’
I pull out some of the little bottles I bought from the market and thrust one under his nose.
‘It reminded me of you,’ I say without thinking.
The car swerves again.
