Lexi’s light would remain on until at least eleven o’clock. He’d kind of given up that particular battle. He walked through to the living room. The Christmas tree was all lit up and looking lovely if lonely now that he was the only one present to enjoy it.
Iain collapsed onto the sofa and rubbed his sore eyes. He had to admit to being very anxious about the holiday which lay ahead. Was it really a good idea to hole up in a draughty old castle with two daughters he hardly knew, especially when they’d probably both rather be with their mother soaking up the Californian sunshine?
He sighed. How did he get himself into these situations? Did this happen to all parents around the world or was he just really unlucky? For a second, he thought about pouring himself a whisky but concluded that a cup of tea was probably a safer, saner option especially as his headache hadn’t cleared yet.
As he headed into the kitchen, the sound of a thumping bass was heard from Lexi’s room. He could go back through and tell her to turn it down or even tell her to turn it off as it was pretty late now, but he knew how that conversation would pan out and, luckily, Chrissa seemed able to sleep through anything.
Abandoning the kitchen and any thought of dinner, he headed back to the living room and walked straight to the drinks cabinet where he poured himself a very small whisky.
Things would be better in the morning, wouldn’t they?
CHAPTER 3
Things weren’t any better in the morning. If anything, they were worse. Chrissa had her little pink suitcase packed and was ready for action but Lexi was dragging her heels.
‘I’ve got to wash my hair,’ she said.
‘Lexi, you’ve had ages to wash your hair,’ Iain told her.
‘Yeah, well,’ she said cryptically.
‘We’re leaving in ten minutes,’ Iain warned her, ‘with or without you and your hair.’
‘Have a nice time,’ she said and Iain instantly regretted giving her a choice in the matter even if it had been a joke.
‘Ten minutes,’ he repeated. Honestly, how could he successfully steer a large international company and yet not be able to control one sixteen-year-old girl?
*
It was a four-hour journey from the MacNeice’s Edinburgh home to the castle in the Highlands. Iain had studied the area carefully, noting the nearest town was Strathcorrie and remembering the little place from his childhood. He wondered what it would look like now. Places you hold dear from the past often had a habit of letting you down when revisited as an adult.
After an almighty argument over who was going to sit in the front passenger seat, and Iain soundly telling them that neither of them would until they acted like civil human beings, the girls settled down with a lapful of gadgets to keep them quiet, Chrissa in the front for the first leg of the journey.
Iain shook his head in wonder. In his time, he and his brother had had to make their own entertainment, playing ‘I Spy’ and making up silly sentences from the letters on car number plates. He doubted very much if Lexi or Chrissa would even look out of the window on the journey which was a crying shame because the landscape in this part of the Highlands really was something to behold.
Once they’d driven through the tiny town of Strathcorrie, the scenery seemed to explode, with mountains rising to great heights with snow-capped peaks. Silver-bright lochs greeted their gaze, the bruise-coloured clouds above reflected perfectly in their glassy stillness.
‘Do you think it’s going to snow, Daddy?’ Chrissa asked. She was sitting on the back seat now, having swapped with Lexi after a stop at a service station.
‘I hope not,’ he said. ‘At least not until we get to the castle.’
‘I hope it snows. I want to build the world’s biggest snowman!’
‘I hate snow,’ Lexi said. ‘I like sunshine at Christmas.’
‘That’s the weirdest thing for a Scottish lass to say,’ Iain said.
‘I didn’t choose to be born in Scotland,’ Lexi said.
‘Where would you have been born if you’d had the choice?’ he asked her.
‘California,’ she said.
‘Of course,’ he said. He gritted his teeth. He was sick and tired of hearing about California these days.
It was several miles later when Iain decided to pull over on the side of a narrow road before it rose high up into the lowering clouds.
‘We should have seen the turn-off by now,’ he said. ‘Have you got the directions?’
Lexi fumbled in the glove box and pulled out the printed email Iain had been sent and handed it to her father.
‘Strathcorrie … loch … row of pines.’ He looked out of the back window. ‘Did either of you see a boulder with an arrow on it? Chrissa?’
‘No,’ Chrissa said. She’d gone back to her tablet and probably wouldn’t have noticed if the Loch Ness monster had crossed the road in front of the car.
‘Lexi?’
‘Nope.’
‘I think we must have missed it,’ he said, turning the car around and driving back slowly. A minute later and there was the boulder. Sitting to the right of the road with a large white arrow painted onto it and the words: Caldoon Castle.
‘Ah, good. Here’s the turn off,’ he said, slowing the car down to take an unmetalled road.
‘This feels like the beginning of a horror film,’ Lexi said.
‘It is a little bit spooky,’ Iain said.
‘I don’t like spooky,’ Chrissa said, putting her tablet away and leaning forward between the front seats as they drove down the driveway.
‘How far is it to the castle?’ Lexi said. ‘I thought we’d have seen it by now.’
‘It’s another two miles,’ Iain said.
‘Two miles?’ Lexi said. ‘They’ve got a two-mile driveway?’
‘Sure looks like it,’ he said with a grin.
‘But there’s nothing out here,’ she said, staring into the vast open wilderness as the wind whipped over the rough grassland and through the trees.
‘Not everyone lives in a big city,’ he said.
‘Anyone who lives out here must be mad,’ Lexi said.
They drove on, passing a herd of Highland cattle, their long chestnut fur blowing in the wind and their enormous curved horns making them look prehistoric in the middle of the timeless landscape.
Iain opened his window and inhaled. ‘Fresh air!’ he said.
‘Awww, Dad!’ Lexi groaned. ‘It’s freezing!’
‘Get a lungful of that,’ he said. ‘The air doesn’t smell like that in Edinburgh, does it?’
‘No, thank God,’ Lexi said.
‘What do you think of it, Chrissa?’
‘It smells all clean,’ she said.
‘It does, doesn’t it?’
‘And cold,’ she added and Iain nodded, closing the window quickly.
The driveway dipped down and rose up again, bending sharply to the right and that’s when they got their first glimpse of Caldoon Castle with its high walls, romantic turrets and imposing castellations.
‘Wow! Chrissa said, her bright eyes wide in wonder. ‘It’s like a fairytale.’
Iain beamed at his daughter’s praise.
‘It looks bloody freezing to me,’ Lexi said.
‘Language!’ Iain said.
‘Well, it does,’ she said.
‘Why do you always have to think of the negative, Lexi?’ he asked.
‘Because I’m a realist,’ she said.
‘Oh, really?’ he said, wondering when his daughter had become so mature.
‘I should be flying across the Atlantic to LA by now, on my way to Mum’s swimming pool.’
‘Yeah, well you’re not,’ Iain told her pragmatically.
‘But I should be,’ Lexi muttered, just loud enough that her father would hear her. ‘Whoever heard of holidaying in Scotland, anyway?’
‘I’ll have you know, when I was your age–’
‘What – back in the Dark Ages?’
‘When I was your age,’ Iain w
ent on undeterred, ‘we spent all our holidays in Scotland.’
‘God, how boring!’
‘Don’t blaspheme,’ he said
‘Why not? We’re not religious,’ she said.
‘It doesn’t sound nice coming from a young lady.’
Lexi tutted.
‘Anyway,’ Iain continued, ‘we spent every holiday in Scotland, climbing mountains, wading into rivers and swimming in lochs.’
‘You’re not expecting us to swim in a loch, are you?’ Lexi said in horror.
‘No, of course not,’ Iain said with a laugh. ‘We’ll come back in the summer and do that.’
‘Not likely,’ Lexi said.
‘I like Scotland,’ Chrissa said.
‘I’m very glad to hear it,’ Iain told her.
‘I like that you don’t have to get on a plane and have your ears hurt to get here.’
‘Let me tell you both something,’ Iain said. ‘It’ll save you years of wasted time and no end of wasted money: travelling is highly overrated. There seems to be such a pressure on everyone to fly to the ends of the earth to experience something that they allegedly can’t get at home, but that’s just a myth. I don’t think there’s a more beautiful country than Scotland. England’s not bad either, but it isn’t Scotland. So you don’t need to go back-packing in India and get Delhi Belly, or go traipsing through some rainforest and get bitten to death by insects the size of your hands.’
‘No, you can get bitten to death right here in Scotland by the midges,’ Lexi said.
Iain sighed and shook his head. Why was it so impossible to hold a cheerful conversation with his elder daughter?
‘I never asked to come here,’ she said and something inside Iain snapped and he hit the brakes.
‘DAD!’ Lexi screamed.
Iain turned the engine off, unfastened his seatbelt and turned sideways to glare at her.
‘That’s it, Alexandra!’ he shouted.
‘What?’ she shouted back but he could tell that she was scared. Her beautiful dark eyes were twice their normal size and she’d turned quite pale. She knew she’d rattled him.
‘I’ve really had enough of your constant complaints and your snidey little remarks.’
‘What’s snidey mean? Chrissa asked.
‘I’ve been looking forward to this holiday for a long time. I can’t remember the last time I had a proper holiday. I’ve worked hard so that I could take time off to be with you and Chrissa and I don’t want to spend that time listening to your disgruntled remarks, okay?’
‘What’s disgruntled?’ Chrissa asked.
‘Is that clear?’ Iain said.
‘Yes,’ Lexi said, her voice barely above a whisper.
‘Pardon?’
‘I said yes!’ she said again.
‘Good!’ Iain said, a little calmer now as he did his seatbelt back up and started the engine.
‘Daddy?’ Chrissa said from the back seat.
‘What is it?’
‘Look!’ Chrissa pointed to something at the top of the castle. It was an enormous flag flying in the fading light. ‘It’s got writing on it.’
‘What does it say?’ Iain asked, squinting up at the battlements.
‘It says “Merry Christmas”!’ Chrissa said with glee.
Iain grinned, thinking that was a nice touch. ‘Come on, let’s get inside before it’s dark.’
He parked alongside an ancient Land Rover in the ample drive outside the castle and all three of them got out of the car. Iain opened the boot and they each took charge of their own cases before walking towards the entrance.
A huge metal bell hung to the side of perhaps the largest front door Iain had ever seen.
‘Want to ring it, Lexi?’ Iain asked his daughter.
‘Nah,’ she said and then caught her father’s warning look. ‘Okay.’ She put her case down and gave the bell a good tug.
‘Fun, eh?’ he said.
‘Yeah,’ she said with a fake smile. ‘I’ve never had so much fun in my life.’
They waited for a few moments.
‘Do you think they heard us?’ Chrissa asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Iain said. ‘It’s a pretty vast place, isn’t it?’
‘Shall I ring it this time?’ Chrissa said and her hand was just reaching up to sound the bell when the great wooden door was opened and a woman in her late-thirties greeted them.
‘Mr MacNeice?’ she said.
‘Yes,’ he said.
‘Welcome to Caldoon Castle. Please come in. I’m Catriona Fraser.’ She shook his hand and ushered them all into an enormous entrance hall which seemed to be made entirely out of wood with its shiny floorboards, wood panelled walls and great wooden staircase.
‘Please call me Iain,’ he said, ‘and these are my daughters, Alexandra and–’
‘It’s Lexi,’ Lexi said.
‘And Chrissa,’ Iain finished.
‘Lovely to meet you, girls. Did you have a good journey from Edinburgh?’
‘Not too bad. It was a bit icy on the road from Strathcorrie but, other than that, it was pretty trouble free,’ he told her, taking in the amazing red hair which his hostess wore loose to her shoulders and her creamy complexion and bright hazel eyes.
It was then that the largest, hairiest dog in Scotland bounded across the hallway barking, causing Lexi and Chrissa to scream.
‘Oh, don’t be afraid!’ Catriona cried. ‘It’s just Bagpipe. It’s his way of welcoming you. Quiet, Baggy!’
Bagpipe stopped barking and walked slowly forward to sniff the new arrivals before slinking back off.
‘Blimey,’ Iain said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bigger dog in my life. Is it an Irish wolfhound?’
‘It’s a Scottish deerhound,’ Catriona said, ‘and he might be big, but he’s an absolute lamb.’
‘He’s incredible,’ Iain said.
‘They’re one of the oldest breeds,’ she told him and his daughters, ‘and there’s always been one at Caldoon Castle. There’s probably an old legend stating that the castle will fall into ruin if there isn’t one living here.’
‘Daddy – look!’ Chrissa said, tugging his arm and pointing to a huge suit of armour standing in the shadows. Its metal was a dull silver and it wasn’t in great condition but it was still pretty impressive.
‘We should get one of those for our hallway,’ Iain said.
Chrissa giggled. ‘It wouldn’t fit!’
‘We liked your flag too,’ Iain said.
‘Oh, good,’ Catriona said. ‘We normally fly the Fraser coat of arms but we like to celebrate special occasions too.’ She smiled. ‘Now, before we head upstairs, I’ll just show you the rooms that are set aside for you on the ground floor.’ They crossed the hallway together and Catriona opened a door into a beautiful living room with two enormous Knole sofas heaped with cushions and a fireplace in which a roaring fire licked its way up the chimney.
‘I think I’m going to like it here,’ Iain said with an appreciative smile.
‘You’ve also got the dining room next door where meals are served and there’s the billiards room just off that. There’s also a little kitchen you’re welcome to use but I’ll be taking care of your meals. Now the Great Hall is where you’ll be having your Christmas dinner but it isn’t quite ready yet so I hope you don’t mind if I don’t show that to you until later. There’s just a few finishing touches to organise.’
Iain nodded. ‘Sounds exciting,’ he said.
‘Now, I’ll show you to your rooms. I expect you’d like to rest after your journey.’
‘Can we look around the rest of the castle?’ Chrissa asked.
‘Not just yet, Chrissa,’ Iain said.
‘But I want to see the tower with the little windows,’ she said.
‘I’ll tell you what,’ Catriona said, ‘we can go via the old part of the castle. It’s a wee bit longer but I think you’ll like it. Leave your bags in the hall and I’ll get them up to your rooms later, okay?’
>
Chrissa nodded in enthusiasm and the journey began.
CHAPTER 4
They didn’t go up the impressive wooden staircase in front of them but took a little door half-hidden in the wood panelling. It led through a sparse hallway which felt cold and slightly damp and then turned left.
‘Now, the steps are quite steep here,’ Catriona warned as she opened a door to her right. ‘Will you be okay with that?’
‘I’m sure we will,’ Iain said, curious as to what lay ahead of them. He could feel the young boy inside him awakening after a very long sleep and realised that he hadn’t felt so excited since his thirteenth birthday when he had gone camping in the Cairngorms with his father. Excitement for him today meant closing deals, making money, selling concepts. All that was a good feeling, of course, but it wasn’t excitement at a cellular level, he thought. Somewhere, in the mix and muddle of growing up, he’d lost the ability to seek out the thrill that came from something as basic as exploring an ancient castle and that was a great shame.
Catriona switched the light on and led the way up a spiral staircase, the narrow stone steps worn away in the middle by generations of feet. The walls were whitewashed and tiny windows greeted them at intervals as they climbed, only it was dark outside now and impossible to see the countryside that surrounded them.
‘Keep hold of the rope handrail,’ she told them.
‘You all right, girls?’ Iain asked, pausing for a moment.
‘It’s fun!’ Chrissa said.
‘Lexi?’
‘Still here,’ she said from the back.
‘This is the oldest part of the castle,’ Catriona said as she continued upwards. ‘The tower is fifteenth-century.’
They continued climbing, endlessly spiralling higher before coming to a door and a landing.
‘Does it go any higher?’ Iain asked. He’d noticed the wooden door preventing them from climbing any further.
Catriona nodded. ‘But it’s not safe,’ she said. ‘At least not for visitors. We keep it locked and the key is kept safely out of harm’s way. I still climb up there to change the flag but it’s a bit dicey.’
‘That doesn’t sound advisable,’ Iain said, suddenly anxious for the safety of his hostess to whom he’d taken an immediate shine.
The Christmas Collection Page 8
