by Beth Sadler
Chapter 3
The new morning dawned fresh and bright, the sun was warm and the air was crisp and sweet smelling.
Cruz looked around from the safety of the basket, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He realised that the basket wasn’t moving and quickly climbed up to look over the side.
“Look Loyal, we’ve landed on the ground.”
Sure enough, when Loyal peeked over the edge of the basket, he saw that they had come to rest on a hilltop overlooking a magnificent lake.
“I wonder where we are,” said Cruz.
“Somewhere in the North I think,” said Loyal, as he studied the land around them. “I think we might be in Scotland, judging by the look of that lake and the smell of heather in the air.”
He climbed out of the basket and walked towards the lake.
“I think that this is Loch Ness and that means we are in the Northern end of Scotland.” He smiled conspiratorially at Cruz. “It looks like the balloon has brought you here for a good reason.”
Spreading his hands out wide he explained. “Your daddy comes from a long line of Scots; and a lot of your relatives live not very far away from here.”
He sat down by the side of the water as he spoke.
“Come and sit by this famous loch and I’ll ask the Story Fairy to whisper the tale into your mind, so that you may learn all about your family and your heritage.” With a smile he tempted Cruz near to the water with his next words.
“Maybe the monster will come and say hello to you while you listen.”
Oh, Cruz couldn’t resist that idea, and he quickly scampered over the side of the basket.
Once Loyal had Cruz sitting safely by his side he clapped loudly and whispered a few magic words into the air.
“Now sit quietly,” Loyal urged Cruz. “And you will hear the whole story in your head.”
A shimmering brightly coloured mist settled around Cruz’s head, as a magical, musical voice started to whisper in Cruz’s mind.
Once upon a time, the whole of Scotland was populated by huge animals that had been born and raised in Loch Ness. They were named Nessies. They swam in the lakes and happily wandered about the land. They were very friendly and quite happy to tip-toe around the humans so as not to hurt them.
Loyal watched Cruz’s excited face as he listened carefully to the story.
Most humans were kind to them and grateful for the help they gave. For you see, the Nessies often dug out tree stumps and pulled carts full of people many miles to visit their friends. Loyal’s kind face turned to a frown as he too listened to the story.
Then one day a naughty goblin came to Scotland and whispered dire warnings in the human’s ears. He was very greedy and wanted the land for himself. So, he set out to cause trouble between the people and the animals. He called them monsters and taught little children to be afraid of them. Oh dear, what trouble he caused before good King Mark found out what he had done and banished him from Scotland.
Loyal now looked quite, quite sad as he listened to the rest of the story.
Sadly, the huge Nessies were now called monsters. Feeling very hurt, most of them left for happier lands where people could once again love them. A few remained behind as they couldn’t bear to leave their friends. They decided to return to Loch Ness to live secretly, safe from evil goblins and only known to a few special humans. They were protected by a strong spell that the fairies gave them. Now sadly, only a few people can see them.
Sometimes the spell weakens, and they are glimpsed for a few minutes by strangers. That is when stories of seeing a Loch Ness monster are told.
The shimmering mist vanished as the story came to an end leaving Cruz a little worried.
“Oh Loyal, that story has made me feel very sad, I feel so sorry for the Nessies.”
Loyal laughed. “Oh Cruz, there’s no need to worry, the Nessies have great fun with the tourists. You should see the people scampering and shouting when they see them; they can’t believe their eyes. And then afterwards, no matter how hard they look, they just can’t find them. It is great fun to watch them driving up and down the loch in frustration while the Nessies just sunbake on a rock.”
Cruz stared hard at the water trying to see a Nessie.
“I wish a Nessie would come and say hello to me. I wouldn’t think it was a monster,” he said.
“Keep looking, and if Jessie the Nessie is anywhere near she might come and say hello.” encouraged Loyal.
In fact he had spotted Jessie making her way towards him. He was one of her friends and was always able to see her. He hoped she liked Cruz enough to speak to him.
Slowly, as if a mist was lifting off the loch, a figure began to take shape in front of Cruz’s eyes. It was as big as two trucks and had skin that glistened and shone an iridescent green colour. Its body swooped and curved and ended with a tail longer than ten elephant trunks. The sweetest face Cruz had ever seen swam up out of the water and smiled at him.
“Hello young Cruz, it’s good to see you. Have you come to visit your relatives?” asked Jessie.
“Oh gosh,” said Cruz, “You are so very beautiful Miss Jessie,” gasped Cruz. He didn’t think he would ever see a more beautiful being if he lived to be a hundred years old.
Jessie was completely bowled over by the perfect little boy.
“Why thank you young Cruz, I do believe that you are going to be a special friend of mine,” she replied in a soft, sing-song voice.
All that long day Cruz and Loyal sat on the side of the lock, their feet dangling in the sparkling, cool water, as they listened to Jessie’s stories. She told them of Scotland’s history and its famous rulers. She told them of how she passed her days, of people past and people to come. She was a very special and wise Nessie. Cruz enjoyed her stories very much.
Soon it was time to leave, and Loyal hustled them into the basket with Cruz excitedly waving goodbye to Jessie.
“Bye, bye, Jessie. Byeeee, I’ll come back to visit again soon,” he shouted happily.
With a huff and a puff, the balloon dragged them up, up, up, into the sky, and off they went to continue the adventure. Oh, what a great time our perfectly adventurous little boy was having.
