Selkie

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

I had never been to the UK before this trip. I'd never even been out of the United States. But, if someone had asked me to describe what I thought a Scottish pub would be like, I would have described this place. There was a band in the corner playing a peppy song. They looked like a family - parents and two teenage sons with a young girl dancing along. The whole scene spoke of coziness and warmth. I didn't see Ian anywhere, so I made my way to the bar and ordered myself a beer.

Have you ever had a room-temperature beer in a Scottish pub? I highly recommend it. I remember laughing a little about how much I enjoyed this detour. It felt like a little gift from the universe after the drama of the storm. It felt like I was on a gap year exploring the world.

I remember feeling that way because the change was abrupt and life-altering. I turned to my left and looked into mirror images of my own eyes.

"Mom?"

She didn't look old enough to be my mother. We looked like twins. But, she had something animating her features that mine will never have. She was gorgeous. She was lit from within, with alabaster skin and deep brown eyes. It wasn't just that she was beautiful. She was magnificent.

"You shouldn't be here. You can't be here."

"Mom I... I don't know what to say." She hugged me fiercely, speaking into my hair.

"You are so brave, so unbelievably perfect. You are everything a mother could ask and more, but you have compromised everything by being here. We have to get you safe. We have to get you beyond his reach. Your hair won't fool him. I knew you right away. He'll know you right away."

I pulled back a little and motioned to a booth set back from the band.

"Will you sit with me?"

She didn't answer. Just picked up her pint from the bar and led the way to the small booth at the back.

"No one is going anywhere in this storm. We have time. The old Hag has given us a gift. One I never thought to have. What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"Can I ask you something first?"

"Of course."

"Did you have a good life?" I smiled, knowing I could answer her question easily and without artifice.

"Yes. I've had a great life. I grew up with wonderful parents and annoying siblings. I'm getting a degree and looking into grad school. My Dad died - that's how I know about you. I didn't know. My Mom still doesn't know - but when he died, the lawyers gave me a letter."

"Lawyers?"

"Yes, I've been to Taylor - the house there. I borrowed some of your clothes. They were so pretty and vintage, I should have asked, but how was I supposed to ask, and they were just hanging there!"

"He knows." Her voice had gone hollow. "You can't go to the house. You can't let him take you."

"Take me?"

"Now that he knows where you are, you are in incredible danger. This is the worst place you could have come to! The most dangerous. I am overcome to see you. It is all I have ever wanted, but not like this. Why are you here?"

"The Reverend, in Taylor. He helped me. He made me fake identities and booked my flights to meet with Maria in Glasgow. He said I'd find answers."

"Christopher? He did all that? And he knows Maria? They're two of the most wonderful people. He's still waiting?"

"What is he waiting for?"

"Me, I imagine. It's been lonely for him."

"He was very kind." She lapsed into a thoughtful silence while I sipped my beer and listened to the rhythm of the storm outside and its duet with the family band across the room. "Mom, can I ask you about the whole Cryptid thing? Am I a Selkie too? Or am I some other third thing? When the storm started, I felt something."

"You heard it? The mother's call?" She was clearly excited. "Oh, my child. Can you sing it for me?"

"I can send you the recording I made on my phone."

"Yes, do. But, please - sing it for me?"

I did. Quietly at first, but something about the song took me over. Soon the pub quieted down - listening to me.

I was so taken up in the song that I didn't see her sneak away.

But when I finished, the storm was over, the pub burst into applause, and Ian stood at the bar watching with spellbound eyes. He crossed over to where I was standing with an intense look on his face.

"They have one room left, but it only has one bed."

"You're kidding me." I don't know about you, but he was quoting my favourite trope.

"It's not a big place, and that's what's available." He looked annoyed - like my mirth had broke some sort of spell over him. He was back to himself. "The rain has stopped, so we can drive on if you want. We're only a half hour to Stromness, but the ferry will only run in the morning, so we'd have to find somewhere to spend the night. What do you want to do? We could sleep in the van. It's your call."

I don't know what came over me. Maybe the song or my mother or the proximity to my favourite romance trope. But, if I'm honest I think that I was caught up in some version of the story where I was way cooler than I am, but I pulled a coin out of my pocket.

"Let's flip for it." I winked at Ian channelling my very best femme fatale and tossed the coin in the air, "you call it."

"Tails, we stay."

It was tails. 

"Is there a couch?"

"Nope."