“Are you okay?” Nora asked, seeing the paleness of her skin and the bluish tinge that still clung to her lips. Firelight danced in her eyes, mimicking the ancient battle between fire and ice.
“I’m not entirely sure,” she said in a cryptic tone, leaving Nora to wonder if she was alluding to something other than her health.
“Do you need a hospital?” Nora asked, her voice full of concern. “Is there someone we should call, family perhaps?”
“Once I warm up, I should be fine,” she told Nora as she leaned forward to warm her hands. “No, I’m afraid it’s just me,” she clarified. “My son and daughter-in-law were killed in a car accident six months ago. We were estranged at the time, and I have been struggling with whether I should reach out to my granddaughter. I took this trip to try to decide what I need to do.”
Nora recognized the sadness in her eyes. Her grandmother used to get the same look after telling the story about her grandfather and the code-breaking machine. It was heartbreak in their eyes, the look of someone who had lost someone they loved.
“I’m so sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine how hard that must be,” Nora said, trying to be as gentle as possible. “What’s your name?”
“Betty Shortbridge, and you, dear?” she asked. The color was beginning to work its way back into her cheeks slowly as the extralogs caught fire and the room began heating up.
“Nora, and that’s Alistair.” She pointed over her shoulder toward the kitchen.
“Hold on to that one. He’s a keeper. Kind and looks to boot,” she said with a sly smile.
“Oh, no, we’re not a couple. We actually don’t even know each other. The cabin got double-booked, and we ended up having to share it due to the snowstorm.”
“Seems like Fate just dealt his hand. Now it’s up to you to play it well,” she said, smiling and winking at Nora.
As Betty’s words worked their way under Nora’s skin, she looked over her shoulder into the kitchen where Alistair was filling three cups of tea. As much as she tried to ignore it, butterflies had begun to take up residence in her stomach each time she looked at him.
Nora turned and smiled back at Betty as Alistair walked over with the cups of tea.
“Where are you from, Betty?” he asked her as he handed her a cup.
She breathed in the aromatic steam that rose from the tea before she answered. “Northern Wales. As a child I used to take trips into the Highlands with my mother. I have very fond memories of it. I decided that I wanted to come back one last time before I was too old to travel,” she explained, blowing on her tea and taking a long drawn-out sip.
Alistair gave Betty a genuine smile as he handed Nora a cup.
“I’m going to use the landline to find out if someone can help us get your cabin unlocked,” he told her, then walked over to the corded phone near the hallway closet.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Nora asked, noticing Betty’s legs were still shaking.
“Much better. Thank you for helping me. I’m not sure what I would have done if you two hadn’t come around when you did.”
“I’m glad Alistair suggested we go out to see if we could spot the downed power line,” she said, taking a tentative sip of the hot tea. “You said you had stepped out to look at something in the water. What was it?” Nora asked, curious to know what could have drawn Betty out into the raging snowstorm in her nightgown.
“I’m not entirely sure. It was large and was moving along the center of the loch. With the snow coming down so heavily, I could barely make out the shape from inside, so I stepped outside to get a better look. But as soon as the door opened, it was gone.”
Nora looked over her shoulder toward the loch. Betty’s story sounded eerily similar to what she had seen yesterday. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
“I saw it, too, yesterday. What do you think it was?” Nora asked in a whisper.
“At first, I thought it might be a tree floating in the water, but then I saw it move. It glided across the loch and then dipped down under its surface, reemerging in another spot farther up. At that point, I thought it might be a beaver or maybe some kind of large fish, but then the wind blew, and the snow let up for a brief moment. It was then I saw its head break the surface of the water. I knew then it was not a beaver or fish. I believe it’s an afanc.”
“What’s an afanc?”
“A water monster.”
“Is that a Scottish folklore creature like the Laidly Worm?”
“Oh, no, it’s a Welsh one, but I think they are all the same—creatures left behind by the old gods,” she told Nora in a serious tone.
“You really believe in this kind of stuff?”
“I do. I have seen some things that are unexplainable, things that make you believe.”
