In the beginning 5

There I was in a strange house – hoping to hear a dial tone and all I was able to access was BT’s recorded message – I felt as if I could scream or cry or both for that matter. I ran back into the kitchen and outside – I wasn’t sure whether I should ride along the track or head back down to the main road and see whether I could see Johan and flag down a passing motorist – worried sick and very nervously I started making my way down to the road again . . .I kept a look out for our blue ford – but I could not see it neither could I see any other vehicles – when I was still too far from the road a car did pass but remembering what had happened last time I thought there was no point unless I could actually get into the road and make it clear I wanted them to stop and that I was just some damn tourist or something who wanted to wave to everyone. When I reached the gate I noticed that Johan’s bicycle was no where to be seen . . . .I gingerly opened the gate – almost ready to run at the first sign of anyone or anything . . .nothing happened - I walked back to where I had seen Johan’s bike lying on the road – no sign of it or of Johan for that matter . . .had he ridden off – surely not – he knew where I was headed – maybe that was why he had ridden off to keep them away from me – you would be surprised of everything that goes through your mind in those few split seconds – there was no trace of him – then I saw something that turned my heart cold – there was blood against a small young tree not far from where the bike had been lying -Oh God – John has been hurt – what has happened – if I had started to calm down – I had now taken of like a concord again and I was soaring above the clouds again. I heard the noise of an approaching vehicle and it was red – so I felt quite reassured . . .

In the beginning 4

There was no mistaking that mocking look that we had seen on the ferry – to make matters worse he we were on an open road – the only road and there this group of youth’s were in a vehicle and us on bicycles. We both stopped and looked at each other and then looked back the way the vehicle had been driving in – well there was no sign of them. I was not convinced and told John as much and I had managed to get a look at the other youth’s and I was now convinced the youths from Oban were in that car. I realised I was saying all of this all at once and Johan was holding up his arms saying calm down . . calm down. I started crying as it was just all too much for me. Johan took me in his arms and said once again – lets carry on and if there is any sign of them we can quite easily run off into the field. I think we should phone the police and tell them we have sighted the vehicle that was involved in the hit and run this morning. But we can’t say that – we didn’t actually see the vehicle. What we can say is that it is the two youth’s from this morning’s assault and then tell them we were told about the hit and run and the car they are in matches the description of the vehicle how does that sound? Oh yes, lets do that Johan – I’d feel much better if we told someone – I don’t feel comfortable at all a t the moment. Johan took out his mobile and I saw a flicker of concern cross his face. What is it? Mmm no signal lets see whether if we cycle another mile or so whether we can get a signal. This more or less decided matters for us as we now had to move on anyway – it shook us out of our inertia. There was still no sign of the car again anyway. So we set off with a purpose in mind and were making good progress – we heard a car coming up behind us but it was not them – I waved at them to stop and the family in the car waved back and carried on driving. I was close to sobbing now and Johan said come on keep that energy for cycling. We set off again and as we rode Johan would check for signal but still nothing. The road was fairly straight and we could see for quite some distance as the time went on – we began to feel more at ease – we passed a slip road to VVVVV and for a split second considered turning off but then decided that the best place to be was on the main road – a number of other cars passed us and we started to relax more and thought we were over-reacting again, letting our imaginations run away with themselves.

We stopped for a few minutes to have a drink and reassure ourselves things were fine and the police would be out scouring the island anyway so it would only be a matter of time before they were picked up anyway. We were just setting off again when I glanced back to see where Johan was and I caught sight of a light blue vehicle in the distance coming towards us – I shouted to Johan and he looked back – the car must have been speeding because the distance was dwindling very fast – Johan shouted at me to cycle towards the farm gate coming up on the opposite side of the road – I crossed over and had nearly reached it when I heard the roar of the engine behind us – I looked back and saw that Johan was crossing the road and was in front of the vehicle – I screamed to him and cycled for all I was worth – I jumped off my bicyle and was opening the gate when I heard the sickening sound of impact behind me – I was through the gate with my bike – I was shaking – I didn’t want to look back and I could hear the sound of the engine again as it seemed to be approaching me – I jumped on my bicycle and started peddaling furiously to take me away from whatever danger lurked behind me – I stole a glance back and saw johan’s bike on the side of the road – wheel still turning but no sign of Johan or the light blue vehicle. I did not wait around and cycled hoping that there would be a farmhouse up ahead.

I had been cycling for a short while when I saw a building up ahead and increased my effort to get there so that I could get to a phone and contact the police – I was frantic not knowing what had happened – whether Johan was seriously hurt – where the blue car was – everything was going through my head I just didn’t know what was happening and why it was happening – how could things have changed so much in the space of a few hours???

I arrived at the farm house and jumped off my bicycle running straight to the door – shouting as I ran – Help! Help! – I knocked at the front door not wanting to just barge in but my anxiety was getting the better of me particularly as there was no answer – I tried the front door it was locked – I ran round to the back door and hammered on that (if there was someone inside – I might even be scaring them now) as well – no answer. I Panicked – I wasn’t sure what to do now – I had been convinced it would be a simple matter arrive here phone the police end of story. I wondered if I should break in – it only took a few seconds and I was looking for something to help me to get into the house. My eye was caught by a metal rod lying on the side of the road and I rushed towards it and picked it up – it was not something I had done before – I went round to the backdoor and smashed the small window above the handle in the corner – I slipped my hand through and the key was in the door – I turned it and was inside the house. I looked around – everything seemed fairly neat and orderly inside I walked through to the hallway and there about half way to the door was a phone on a sideboard . . . I rushed across and picked it up . . . imagine my horror when I heard a recorded message saying that the account was overdue and that only incoming calls would be allowed . . .

In the beginning 3

We decided to put the incident behind us and we both thought that the disturbing affair of earlier on might be upsetting both of us and actually making us paranoia now. We decided to forget about the whole thing and laughed about the way our imaginations had run away with themselves. We put it all firmly behind us and made for downstairs where we had stored our bicycles as the boat started docking in Craignure.

We joined the rest of the cyclists pushing our bikes out of the hold onto tot the car ramp and watched as the rest of them rode off. We decided to have a coffee before leaving the town on our journey. The town had quietened down again after all the hustle and bustle from the ferry before we set off again. We were not far out off town when a police car lights flashing and siren blaring came speeding past – hurtling down the road – in the direction we were headed. This was followed shortly thereafter by an ambulance – we thought we had had our fair share of them already. Well about two miles down the road the traffic had been completely stopped – but we managed to crawl past - we presumed that there had been a accident – as sometimes happens. Due to the nature of the roads there is not much option other to close the road until such time as things have been sorted out. We cycled slowly on passing cars – which had long ago been switched off – it can be a lengthy business. When we arrived at the front of the queue we were horrified to a wrecked bicycle lying on the side of the road. It always hits home more when it is another cyclist as you realise it could have been you. We struck up a conversation with the driver of the first car who said he actually seen it happen. It was the damndest thing it was almost as if the car driver had done it on purpose and then he had just driven off – being an island they will get him – looked like a bunch of youth’s, in a light blue escort. I walked around the side and there was the cyclist lying in the road – I couldn’t see how serious it was but they had not yet moved him and then I saw another body on the road but this had a blanket over it – so there had been a fatality. I walked back to John in a daze – somehow things were not going exactly as planned. Our plan was to catch the last ferry from Fionnphort and spend the evening camping near the abbey – south of the village actually. That would allow us to get up early and start the day at the abbey.

We were quite shocked by the accident – you take things for granted and most of the time motorists are very careful and tolerant of cyclists. And in part I think just scared of the trouble they would be in if they knocked one of us down. But here was someone killed and another person obviously seriously injured and the motorist still at large having driven off – John said that we didn’t know that they may well have handed themselves in at a local police station – I asked him how many police stations did he think Mull had – I’d be surprised if it had more than 1 – but of course I didn’t know. We mad ourselves comfortable in a grass field under the shade of a large tree – I had my book out and started reading although I must have dozed off as the next thing I realised John was gently shaking my shoulder. Come on sleepy head – the road is clear again – I glanced across and true enough the traffic had started flowing again.

We allowed the traffic to clear and we climbed on our bikes and were on our way again. We had allowed plenty of time for the cycle as it included some mountainous terrain and we did not want to have to push things – we were more than ready to take it at our leisure and had packed a picnic for consumption along the way. But we had obviously not factored in any major stoppages other than for our lunch – having said that John was a keen amateur photographer – I think if he devoted enough time to it he could actually be very good at it. He seemed to have a knack for seeing a photograph before actually taking it – in other words what it would come out like. He was quite meticulous about where he wanted me to stand sometimes – moving me right & left forwards backwards etc., until he was quite happy and I must say I had seen a few gems already.

We soldiered on and had discussed stopping but decided to push through to Fionnphort were if need be would could relax before catching the next ferry and could always have our food onboard – what we did not want to happen was for us to miss the ferry and have to stay on Mull instead of Iona as planned. The roads were not too busy and we were lucky with the weather, as I had said. It was still quite warm and very pleasant cycling conditions within no time at all we were approaching Bunessan – cycling along a long level section of road. We road through the village and were about 10 minutes outside of it when we saw a car approaching from the other direction. It was a light blue ford escort – there was no mistaking who was driving it either it was the same youth who had been sitting on the ferry the one that had been laughing all the time. As the car approached we could see both the occupants as well as the fact that the vehicle had sustained some damage on the front left hand side. They turned to look at us and there was no mistaking the malevolence we could feel from their stares.

In the beginning 2

We stood around waiting for the ambulance to arrive and within a short space of time we had a whole crowd of people standing around looking and asking what had happened. In this time a police patrol vehicle had appeared as well as a traffic unit which was now blocking access to this part of the promenade. The whole thing was now creating a small scene and the woman who had been assaulted was now sitting on the pavement – with a blanket around her whilst we were still waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

The woman was in her late forties and we heard that her name was Mairi – she had been walking along the waterfront when two youths had attacked her for seemingly no reason at all. She said they had been acting strangely and had followed her for a short while before trying to snatch her handbag – when she had held onto it one of the youth’s had started battering her. And that was when we had arrived on the scene and John had jumped off his bicycle to assist her and ward off the two youths. A police constable came across to us to take our statements and whilst he was doing so the ambulance arrived. As the first aid staff helped Mairi to the ambulance she insisted in coming across to us and shaking John’s hand – she asked us what our names were and then allowed herself to be guided into the back of the ambulance. In not time the ambulance left, we gave our statements and the crowd dispersed. The police had taken our names and addresses and informed us that they might be contacting us in the future to assist with the enquiry.

We realised that we did not have much time left as we hurried back to the ferry terminal and in fact were only just in time to board the Caledonian Macbrae ferry ‘Isle of Mull’ before is set sail for Craignure. We sat on deck basking in the sunshine looking back towards the shore as we sailed out of harbour. We hadn’t had much time to discuss what had just happened and I turned to John and said that he could have been hurt he shrugged and said that he wasn’t prepared to stand by as the woman was assaulted. The police had also thanked him for his intervention and had shared with us that this was becoming an all too regular occurrence especially on the waterfront with tourists and visitors to Oban being targeted. The officer had said that they were becoming more and more brazen and were now not afraid to attack tourists in front of other people in the middle of the day.

It was strange how fast it had all happened as they had ridden along the waterfront – one minute admiring the view and the next finding themselves caught up in the whole event. John had never previously expressed much of an opinion about crime and I had not really thought that I would become involved in anything preferring to probably just mind my own business and avoid anything like that – sometimes though you are just thrown into something and this is what had happened with us here – no prior warning and then in the middle of something. I wasn’t sorry we had helped in fact I felt quite proud of john and how he had instinctively reacted and went to the woman’s assistance. I somehow felt reassured by the whole incident a sort of an unwritten confirmation in who I thought John was. A living testimony to some sort of higher ideal for which we all strive.

We sat around chatting and planning the rest of our day and discussing our timetable. We were about half way across when John asked if I would like a cup of coffee or hot chocolate – knowing full well that I would never willingly turn down an offer of a cup of my favourite hot chocolate. He walked off leaving me on deck basking in the sun. I was sitting there for a while when I had the distinct impression that I was being watched – I can’t really explain the sensation but it was just some sort of sixth sense – I turned around and in the far corner I caught sight of someone with a hood on turning away and then hurrying off towards the stairs – he proceeded to go down the stairs and disappeared from sight. I don’t know why but I was feeling distinctly uncomfortable and was a bit upset by the time John returned – he in turn seemed to sense something was wrong and when I told him – he insisted that we walk across to the stairs. We looked around but couldn’t see anyone that resembled the person I had seen. There were a group of youths on the benches at the foot of the stairs fooling around as kids do but no sign of the boy I had caught sight of. We turned around and were walking away when I was hit on the shoulder by a small orange or mandarin – I spun around but the kids all looked as if the were still fooling around and we couldn’t see anyone who had obviously thrown it. We decided to leave it and walked back to where we had been sitting – but this time keeping a wary eye on our backs as we were not going to allow it to happen a second time. One youth wh seemed to be slightly bigger and older than the other kids seemed to be just sitting there and smiling in a half mocking way – almost as if he was laughing specifically at us. Of course it could just have been my imagination but something about him bothered me. When we were safely back in our seats I mentioned this to Johan and said that he had noticed him as well but that he had also thought that after the events of earlier on his imagination was running away with itself. He said that he had found it quite strange and co-incidental that both of us noticed this same boy. So much so that he decided to go and take a photo of this boy – with his digital camera – he told nme to stay there and he walked around to the far end of the deck to approach from another angle. I kept a nervous watch over him as he circled around appearing to be taking random photos of the scenery of Mull as we sailed towards our destination. I saw him pause and even at this distance I could see him tense up as if he had seen something that had shocked him or that he really did not believe that he was going to see.

When he came back to me – he said you’ll never believe who our smiling pawpaw was talking to. I said I had no idea and then he told me that he wasn’t completely certain but that he thinks that it is one of the boys that attacked that woman – one of the boys that he had chased off this morning and what’s more he was wearing a grey hooded tracksuit top which would be or could be the same person that I had noticed watching me earlier on.

In the beginning

They didn’t really know each other having just met a few weeks ago and yet there seemed to be a bond between them – they felt comfortable with each other. John wondered though whether this was normal or whether he was perhaps making more of it than actually existed – he didn’t really give it too much thought at all really – it sort of passed through his head with remaining there for very long – but it was a thought that he had. Mary on the other hand was very much more of a romanticist – not that she was now hearing wedding bells or anything like that – it was just that she felt as if she had known John for a long long time.

They had accidently bumped into each other at Starbucks – which was in Waterstones in Sauchiehall street – she went there at least once a month to have a leisurely look at any new books that were out and generally bought the Observer and read that over a cup of Latte or two. He had popped in to find a book that he had seen reviewed in the Guardian – the week before – ‘The incident with the dog . . .’ – having found it he had started browsing through there other books and had eventually felt the urge for a cup of coffee. Being a Sunday early afternoon – the store was quite busy and he had glanced up to see Mary, cup in hand, looking around for a spare seat. There were none and he was almost finished and had said as much to her – she had thanked him and sat down to share his table – there had been a nervous silence between them and they had both started to say something at the same time – they had both burst out laughing and from that moment there was a shared intimacy.

They had taken an immediate liking too each other – met for coffee the following Sunday – he had phoned her during the week – they had chatted – she had thought he was phoning to say he couldn’t make it but he had merely phoned to say he would be a little late as he had to drop something off at a friends before he would be able to come to Waterstone’s. They had progressed to the movies by the next week and dinner and theatre the week thereafter. They had taken the next step – he had stayed over at her place but slept on the couch – this happened 3 times before they finally ended up in bed together and that had been two weeks ago. So all n all the relationship was in its infancy.

There was still a thrill and excitement in seeing, touching and a playfulness with each other – there was a certain familiarity as well – not a taking each other for granted but almost a knowledge of the others desire for more than what they were giving at that time . . .

So here they were early Sunday morning – sitting on the train to Oban – each reading their own book – stopping now and again to share something or just look across and smile at each other. The train wound its way first along the Clyde and then through the hills winding through and alongside various Loch’s. They had decided to take the ferry across to Craignure in Mull and they were going to cycle to Iona. John had said that it was on his list and Mary had said it was time to start addressing his list. It was surprisingly clear and unseasonally warm for April – but they weren’t complaining. They had packed some lunch and had a fair idea of how much time they had for the cycle – looking around at the Abbey, lunch and an afternoon snooze be fore it was time for the last ferry & then train back to Glasgow. John stayed in Partick and Mary was not far from there in Anniesland.

They both had their own flats and thus far moving in together had neither been mentioned or discussed – a fair amount of sleeping over and living in each others flats was taking place but that was as far as it had gone. Mary was quite a studious person with regards to cleanliness but John had a far more relaxed approach and did not lose any sleep over the odd garment lying around or dishes in the sink and she was learning to relax a bit more in this regard. He always said it will take care of itself so no reason sweating it – and he didn’t. Don’t get me wrong – his place was neat and tidy – but occasionally you might arrive there and there were a few things lying around – within a few minutes the place would always be acceptable. She had chastised him once or twice but he had made it clear he didn’t enjoy that – found it quite maternal and had laughed about – but she had detected a slight hint of irritation and had made a mental note to avoid doing that again.

As the train pulled into Oban they let other passengers disembark before removing their bicycles from the racks and pushing them onto the platform – the ferry leaves just around the corner and they never even climbed on their bikes – deciding to push them around the corner. There were a group of cyclists who were obviously going camping as they had the saddle bags and gear – we nodded to them as we pushed our bikes past to get to the ticket office. There was a queue and we waited for about 10 minutes before purchasing our tickets. We then decided to take a slow cycle along the pier and around the corner whilst waiting for the ferry to arrive. We were just passing the restaurant when we heard shouting and saw someone being assaulted – John jumped off his bike and rushed to the woman’s assistance and the two youngsters who had been jostling her ran off – I had to stop John as he was all for chasing after the two youths whereas I had said that he should leave them be.

Carrington

It was a really special day for me – you see it was my wedding day. Marie and I had been married that afternoon and this was the start of our honeymoon. The wedding reception had gone well with everyone seemingly enjoying themselves. It was still going strong when we slipped away 2 hours ago. We had had the option of staying in the hotel where the reception was being held but we opted for a small rural hotel – not small enough for us to be the only guests – but small enough to be intimate and cosy.

The management had sent up a bottle of champagne and a small basket of assorted chocolates. We had sat down in front of the fire not saying much – eyes twinkling, comfortable with each other and generally just enjoying the moment. We were in no hurry we wanted this evening to be special.

About an hour later – Marie yawned and we decided that it was now time to go to bed before it became any later. I went into the bathroom and changed into my pyjamas. Marie smiled as I opened the sheets and she herself slipped into the bathroom. I adjusted the lighting and climbed into bed. I glanced at a magazine as I heard the bath water running. Then something caught my eye. I saw a movement out the corner of my eye. There in front of the fire in of the seats was a man sitting – he looked as if he had just come from a fancy dress party as he was dressed in a period costume. He was holding a goblet which he raised to his mouth. I was speechless and before I could say anything, the door opened, and a woman walked / glided into the room. She approached the man and kissed him on the cheek and seemed to look straight at me, in a mocking way, whilst doing so. The man stood up and they embraced in front of the fire. Then I saw the woman fumbling and suddenly she produced a knife, she held it in her hand, which was behind her back, hidden from the gentleman. All of this was unfolding before me – it was as if I was watching a film - I was still in a state of shock. As I watched she suddenly stabbed the man repeatedly in the neck. I let out a gasp of horror as the man sank to the floor and the woman dropped the knife as she fled from the room.

Marie rushed out from the bathroom and took one look at me and asked me what had happened – I explained what I had witnessed and ended my story by ordering 2 glasses of whisky from room service. We both inspected the area in front of the fire and found absolutely nothing. The waiter who brought the drinks asked us if everything was alright and I proceeded to tell him my story. He listened and then told us that other people had claimed to have seen this same gentleman, Lord Carrington, and woman over the years. He offered to move us to another room but we declined the offer.

The next morning on the way down to breakfast I froze on the stairs and could barely tell Marie what was going on. There, right in front of me, was the portrait of the person that I had seen stabbed last night in our hotel room. The date, under the caption, on the painting said 1898 and yet I would have recognised him anywhere – the man that barged into my room on my honeymoon was Lord Carrington. We left the hotel without eating our breakfast.

Comrie

. . . .

I had had too much to drink and too much to smoke. I could feel that I was becoming drunk, not quite there yet, that in between stage. I knew that I was acting slightly irrationally, but I was past caring.

I had been watching her all night and had caught her on one or two occasions looking my way. We were both actually aware of each other and yet neither one of us had made the slightest attempt to approach the other. It was now, however, time to act or walk away and regret it later. I saw her look across, she smiled, I smiled and raised my glass, she responded and I moved across to her table. She watched me as I approached, never once taking her eyes off me. I said hi and sat down opposite her. She responded by saying, I thought you were never going to come across. I smiled and said that that would have been a pity. We made small talk flirting with each other, all the while drinking each other in with our eyes. The conversation was polite enough, the eyes were not. We were undressing each other and more. We left around 2am and went back to her place. Now we no longer spoke, overcome by the hunger we had been feeding for the last hour or two. We were barely in the door when we started undressing each other. She giggled and told me to be quiet her flat mate was asleep. We remained entwined and shedding clothes on our way to her bedroom. Eventually when we had both sated our hunger sufficiently we fell asleep.

I woke up in the morning with a few aches and pains and looked across at – oops, I couldn’t remember her name. Had she told me, I couldn’t remember. How much had I had to drink? She was still asleep, my arm was under her and I didn’t want to wake her. On the other hand I wasn’t sure what time it was. I did know it was Sunday morning and I had no pressing engagements so I snuggled back in and fell asleep again. When I awoke again, I was alone in the bed. I heard some whispering outside in the passage and presumed Mary must be talking to her flat mate. Mary was her name, strange I couldn’t remember it before. She came in through the door and noticing I was awake asked me how I felt. I wasn’t sure what to make of the question? Had I not been alright last night or this morning, what had I done, to warrant this question? I said I felt fine and returned service by asking her how she felt this morning. I added, I hope we didn’t wake your flat mate? She smiled, no its ok she doesn’t mind. It’s not as if I do this every weekend, you know. I was relieved to hear this as I was now wondering whether I should be regretting last night. She asked if I would like a cup of tea. I said that would be great and she slipped out of the room again. I started to look around the room. I was still surveying the bookcase when Mary came back in with 2 cups of steaming hot tea. We sat on the bed drinking our tea there was an uncomfortable silence between us. We were both aware of it and started speaking at the same time. We started laughing. After that we were more comfortable with each other. And discussed all sort of things.

An hour passed in no time. We had so much information to share with each other and we were getting on rather well, I thought. Somewhere during our discussions I had heard the front door closing and I presumed her flat mate had left. She then told me that she had to visit her Mom that afternoon and had to get ready. She asked me whether I would like a shower and we slipped into the shower together. This time I was a bit more self conscious and was glad that her flat mate had left before we had our shower. Imagine my surprise when I came out of the bathroom naked, only to discover Mary’s flat mate sitting at the kitchen table, with raised eyebrows, surveying me. I mumbled an apology and made a dash for the bedroom. She responded to me by saying something about nothing she hasn’t seen before. I heard her and Mary talking, followed by some giggling again.

Mary came into the room and was smiling from ear to ear, something had really amused her. We got dressed and I asked her for her phone number and said I would phone her during the week and we could go out for a drink or something. She said that that would be great and I left.

So that was how Mary and I met. Not really a story book meeting just two people mutually attracted to each other and acting on those impulses. I phoned Mary later during the week and we went out for a drink. It was the start of a whirlwind romance that culminated with us moving in together five months later.

We had a lot in common but also had our own individual interests. I had been going to the opera by myself and now had someone who thought the human voice was the ultimate instrument. She had often struggled to find someone to accompany her to the Glasgow Film Theatre to see the latest European films. Well some of my all time greats were films like Cinema Paradiso, so I had no problem with that. I was in to Tai Chi and she liked Yoga. We both had an interest in the spiritual side of things but not in standard religion. I was busy with environmental studies and she was doing a course in holistic crystal healing. I was interested in shamanic work. So we wrapped ourselves around each other but not to the extent that we felt could not breathe.

We had been in a relationship for about roughly a year when David appeared on the scene. I had met him through my studies. We were working in a project team together and we were going to Comrie, the earthquake capital of the UK for the weekend. Mary couldn’t come for the weekend but said that she would come down on Saturday evening. We had hired a holiday chalet in St Fillans, a few miles from Comrie. We’d first spent the day at the British Geological hut in Comrie, going over the seismographic equipment and replacing the paper rolls on the machine. Professor Heart from Stirling University was there and he discussed the Dudley earthquake, which was 4.7 in magnitude, and took place in 2002. We then hiked about 2 km’s south of the hut so that we could see the great Highland fault which is visible, above ground, at this point and runs all the way beyond Inverness. We were fairly tired when we got back to the chalet and David had suggested we make use of the barbecue, I thought it was a good idea and he started the fire, whilst I had a shower.

Mary arrived at about 19h30, later than I expected. I had heard a car coming up the narrow road and saw that it was her and waved from the balcony. She was soon in my arms and complaining that she had met a tour bus on one of the blind corners just the other side of Aberfoyle, she was a bit shook up about it. I poured her a whisky and after a short while she had settled down again and was back to her usual self. I introduced her to the rest of the project team. There were five people in total in the project, David his girlfriend Cassandra, Michelle part of the team was by herself, Bob and his girlfriend Sharon, Laura and her boyfriend Michael and last but not least Phillip by himself. We were having a barbecue at my place with David in the next chalet and Laura in the chalet next to him. Michelle was staying with a friend in Crieff and Bob was in the Lochearnhead caravan park. Both had decided to come through for a drink so we were all huddled in and on the veranda of my chalet. Personally I thought Bob and Michelle had something going.

It was a clear crisp autumn evening and there were far more stars in the sky than you would usually see in the city. We were all fairly pleased with the amount of work we had managed to cover and it only left us with a few minor details to sort out the next day. So we were all relaxed and enjoying a few drinks. What really happened next has several versions but the sum total of it was that the barbecue was knocked over. The sliding door was open and the coal and fire-lighters were strewn all over both the veranda and the living room. Well everything happened so quickly in no time there was a real fire in the chalet and everyone was running around looking for a hose pipe or a container to scoop water from the mountain stream. There was just enough confusion and delay to allow the fire to really take hold. Well in no time we had to beat a hasty retreat. Someone phoned the emergency services who contacted the fire brigade in Killin who sent out an engine. By the time they arrived my chalet was just a shell of what it had been. Their concern was the surrounding chalets and ensuring that the fire did not spread. An ambulance from Callander arrived about 15 minutes later. I had not even realised that I had burned my hands in an attempt to pickup some of the coal. They bandaged them and suggested that I come with them for treatment. By this time there was quite a crowd and the police were now taking statements from our group as to what had happened. It seemed that I was being blamed for horsing around and that I had pushed David who had stumbled knocking over the fire. So ultimately I was to blame, by the sounds of it. Mary was off to one side and seemed to be crying, Cassandra had her arm around her.

I climbed into the ambulance and looking back at the group – I wondered if we would ever be quite so carefree again, as we had been, just over an hour and a half ago.