Page 2 of The Moon Sister
‘Margaret was certainly very complimentary about your skills. She told me you’ve been caring for the wildcats at her sanctuary.’
‘I’ve done the day-to-day stuff, yes, but it’s Margaret who’s the real expert. We were hoping the cats would mate this season as part of the re-wilding programme, but now the sanctuary is closing and the animals are being rehomed, it probably won’t happen. Wildcats are incredibly temperamental.’
‘So Cal MacKenzie, my estate manager, tells me. He’s not at all happy about adopting the cats, but they’re indigenous to Scotland and so rare, I feel it’s our duty to do what we can to save the breed. And Margaret thinks that if anyone can help the cats adjust to their change of habitat, it’s you. So, are you interested in coming up with them for a few weeks and settling them in?’
‘I am, although the wildcats alone wouldn’t really be a full-time job once they’re in situ. Is there anything else I could do?’
‘To be honest, Tiggy, so far I haven’t had much chance to think through future plans for the estate in detail. What with my job here and trying to sort out probate since my father passed away, I’ve been up to my eyes. But whilst you’re with us, I’d love it if you could study the terrain and assess its suitability for other indigenous breeds. I’ve been thinking about introducing red squirrels and native mountain hares. I’m also investigating the suitability of wild boar and elk, plus restocking the wild salmon in the streams and lochs, building salmon leaps and so forth to encourage spawning. There’s a lot of potential, given the right resources.’
‘Okay, that all sounds interesting,’ I agreed. ‘Although I should warn you, fish aren’t a speciality of mine.’
‘Of course. And I should warnyouthat financial realities mean I can only offer a basic wage, plus board, but I’d be very grateful for any help you can give me. As much as I love the place, Kinnaird is proving a time-consuming and difficult proposition.’
‘You must have known the estate would come to you one day?’ I ventured.
‘I did, but I also thought Dad was one of those characters who would creak on forever. So much so that he didn’t even bother to make a will, so he died intestate. Even though I’m his only heir and it’s a formality, it means another pile of paperwork I didn’t need. Anyway, it’ll all be sorted by January, so my solicitor tells me.’
‘How did he die?’ I asked.
‘Ironically, he dropped dead of a heart attack and was helicoptered in to me here,’ Charlie sighed. ‘He’d already left us by then, borne upwards on a cloud of whisky fumes, so the post mortem indicated later.’
‘That must have been tough for you,’ I said, wincing at the thought.
‘It was a shock, yes.’
I watched his fingers grab the pager once more, betraying his inner angst.
‘Can’t you sell the estate if you don’t want it?’
‘Sell up after three hundred years of Kinnaird ownership?’ He rolled his eyes and gave a chuckle. ‘I’d have every ghost in the family haunting me for life! And if for no other reason, I have to try and at least caretake it for Zara, my daughter. She’s absolutely passionate about the place. She’s sixteen and if she could, she’d leave school tomorrow and come up and work at Kinnaird full-time. I’ve told her she has to finish her education first.’
‘Right.’ I looked at Charlie in surprise and immediately adjusted my view of him. This man seriously didn’t look old enough to have kids, let alone one who was sixteen.
‘She’ll make a great laird when she’s older,’ Charlie continued, ‘but I want her to live a little first – go to university, travel the world and make sure committing herself to the family estate is really what she wants.’
‘I knew what I wanted to do from the age of four, when I saw a documentary on how elephants were being killed for ivory. I didn’t take a gap year – just went straight to university. I’ve hardly travelled at all,’ I said with a shrug, ‘but there’s nothing like learning on the job.’
‘That’s what Zara keeps telling me.’ Charlie gave me a faint smile. ‘I have a feeling the two of you will get on very well. Of course what I should do is give this up’ – he indicated our surroundings – ‘and devote my life to the estate until Zara can take over. The problem is, that until the estate’s in better shape, it doesn’t make financial sense to pack in my day job. And between you and me, I’m not even sure yet if I’m cut out for life as a country laird.’ He checked his watch again. ‘Right, I must go, but if you are interested, it’s best you visit Kinnaird and see it for yourself. It hasn’t snowed up there yet, but it’s expected soon. You need to be aware that it’s as remote as it gets.’
‘I live with Margaret in her cottage in the middle of nowhere,’ I pointed out.
‘Margaret’s cottage is Times Square compared to Kinnaird,’ Charlie replied. ‘I’ll text you the mobile number for Cal and also the landline at the Lodge. If you leave messages on both, he’ll get one or the other eventually and call you back.’
‘Okay. I—’
The beeping of Charlie’s pager interrupted my train of thought.
‘Right, I really must go.’ He stood up. ‘Email me with any more questions you have and if you let me know when you’re going up to Kinnaird, I’ll try to join you there. And please, think about it seriously. I really need you. Thanks for coming, Tiggy. Bye now.’
‘Bye,’ I said, then watched as he turned away and weaved through the tables towards the exit. I felt weirdly elated, because I’d experienced a real connection with him. Charlie seemed familiar, as though I’d known him forever. And since I believed in reincarnation, I probablyhad. I closed my eyes for a second and cleared my mind to try to focus on which emotion stirred first in me when I thought of him, and was shocked at the result. Rather than being filled with a warm glow about someone who might represent a paternal employer-like figure, another part of me altogether reacted.
No!I opened my eyes and stood up to leave.He’s got a teenage daughter, which means he’s far older than he looks and probably married, I chided myself as I walked through the brightly lit hospital corridors and out of the entrance into the foggy November afternoon. Dusk had already begun to fall over Inverness, even though it was only just past three o’clock.
Standing in the queue for the bus that would take me to the train station, I shivered – from cold or the tingle of excitement, I didn’t know. All Ididknow was that I was instinctively interested in the job, however temporary. So I found the number Charlie had given me for Cal MacKenzie, pulled out my mobile and dialled it.
*
‘So,’ Margaret asked me that evening as we settled down for our customary cup of cocoa in front of the fire. ‘How did it go?’
