Sally's Destiny - A short story of Love and Romance in the Scottish Highlands

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Copyright:

Copyright 2012
,  A
J Temple

All rights reserved. Copyright protected. Duplicating, reprinting or distributing this material for
any purpose
without the express written consent of the author is prohibited.

All characters, events and places are fictional
,
and any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

“
It seemed like a good idea at the time
!”
Sally thought to herself as she peered through the windscreen trying desperately to see her way through the snowstorm.

By her own estimation she was almost there, perhaps 20 minutes away from the turning that would lead up to her friend’s house just set back from the road a little. The thought caused her
to sigh in anticipation of a
warm fire and good friends; a million miles away from the trepidation she now felt as she clung on to the steering wheel.

After collecting the car at Edinburgh airport, she had headed out o
f the city and over the Fourth R
oad
Bridge
, on the two and a half hour drive to Aviemore; to spend two glorious weeks in the Scottish highlands.
A combination of l
og fires and Single Scotch malt whiskey to warm
the heart and take away the crippling loneliness, was something she was really looking forward to. That had been the plan anyway, before she had got caught in a snow storm that caused her car to slip and slide on a road that was quickly disappearing in the moonless night and
heavy
falling snow.

As she wrestled with the weather, her mind also dwelt on what had brought her to this journey into the Scottish highlands.
She had been persuaded to get away for a short break to try and relax from all the stress that the previous months had brought on; and now she was visiting her good friend Elizabeth and her husband Tom in Scotland for the Christmas holidays.
It had been 8 months since her father had passed away, and with her mother running off when she was just a child, she was now without both parents –
and the thought had left her bereft
,
and
more than
a little apprehensive regarding the future
.

S
he was pulled out of reverie by a huge dark shape appearing
right in front of the car!
She caught a fleeting glimpse of a great stag, eyes impossibly wide and bloodshot,
as it tried to jump its way clear
.
Sally automatically pressed hard on the brakes
, and the car predictably went into a side-ways slew across the road, speed seeming to increase as it
spun around, crunched against something hard and
ploughed over the edge of the road
;
and all was suddenly chaos and cold as the storm blasted through her shattered windscreen. Her last conscious though was a sharp pain as her head banged against something hard, just before she passed out.

“Miss, Miss are you ok
?” She slowly regained consciousness, aware in the mists of her mind that someone was speaking to her. She struggled to try and speak, a sharp pain from her head telling her that all was not well.

“Don’t you worry miss, you’ll be alright now – it seems you’ve had a little accident an
d
hit your head
, by the look of things
.”

As the stranger spoke she automatically raised her hand to her fore-head, and was rewarded by the sight of bloody fingers, which immediately caused a little flutter of fear and alarm.

“What
..where
am I?” She asked, dazed and disorientated.

“Now don’t you worry at all miss…?”

“My names Sally.”
She said as the memories came flooding back. “Did I hit that poor Stag?”

“Well I don’t know about any Stag miss, there’s certainly no sign of it. But you did manage to knock my rear light out when you spun into this ditch!”

Finally she raised her head to look at the source of the
tremendously calm and soothing voice, that had been almost subliminally soothing her fears
since she had regained consciousness; and her heart gave another flutter as she gazed into the concerned
grey
eyes of her rescuer. Leaning in through the open door, he had a cheeky grin on his face as he held out his hand with a handkerchief in it.

“I think maybe you had better hold that to your head for a moment Sally, if you don’t want to mess up your car with more blood!”

The storm raged on and the snow was falling heavier than ever. It seemed that they were the only ones on a road that was all but impassable.

“Anyway Sally, my name is Robert and I’ll be your rescuer for today – if that’s ok by you?”

“Very funny Robert, perhaps then you can help me out of this wreck before we both freeze to death in this blizzard!”

“It would be my pleasure milady – but seriously are you able to move around, nothing broken or anything drastic like that?
Wiggle your toes and fingers for me – just to make sure!
”

“Thank you so much for your overwhelmin
g concern Sir
Knight, but I think I’m just fine – apart from spilling my blood all over Scotland that is!”

They both exchanged grins as he helped her gently out of the broken car.

“Now, you’re sure you’re ok?” This time he spoke with real concern, and the tenderness in his voice awakened
something inside her that had lain dormant for longer than she could remember. She reached for his arm feigning dizziness, and surprised herself to find that she was really just looking for an excuse to make first contact with this interesting Scotsman.

“I’ll be fine Robert honest, but what do we do now?”

“First things first; we’ll get into my land rover and out of this storm. I have a cabin just a mile or two up ahead, where you can get cleaned up and we can see if I can arrange a break-down wagon for your car.”

She looked up at him a little sharply.

“Ah….Don’t you worry
– I’m one of these sad
beggars
that stays with his mother – you’ll love her
I’m sure. There’s not much mobile reception in these parts, but we have a land-line where you can make any phone calls you like – and tell me all about yourself!”

The mischievous grin was back as he said these last words, and she found herself agreeing, perhaps a little too easily
as she fell under the spell of his
relaxed
confident manner
.

He opened up the boot and quickly lifted out the case with her belongings, along with a weather-proof jacket and a pair of gloves; then quickly went and put them in the 4 x 4 that was sitting with the engine running and the heater on.

She
meanwhile
took one step
out of the car
and slipped on the soft snow, within a heartbeat however her rescuer had
swooped
her into his arms, and carried her through the
blizzard
and into the warmth of the 4 x 4 land Rover. She found herself surprisingly reluctant to let go as he gently placed her in the front seat. Leaning across her as he pulled out a tartan plaid to wrap around her legs, she
was
within a short breath of his rugged face
, with the snow melting
down his neckline
– and decided there and then she liked what she saw.

The journey to
Roberts
cabin seemed a little scary to Sally, but she was impressed that he seemed to take it all in his stride. “
He’s obviously used to this kind of driving
” She thought to herself
,
as the 4 x 4 lurched and bumped through the drifting snow towards the lights glimmering in the distance
.

“Almost there Sally.”
He spoke up as he looked across to her. “How are you
now,
is your head hurting at all?”

Again she was touched by the genuine concern in his voice, and could not help but fall into the role of the ‘damsel in distress.’

“Well, it does hurt a little – but I’m sure I’ll survive!” She automatically flashed him her most winning smile, and she was surprised when her heart leapt at the brief look of desire in the cool grey eyes that seemed to return her answer.

“Yes I suspect that it will take more than a bump on the head to put you down for long;
never mind though the cabin is just up ahead and we can get you into the warmth – and you can meet my mother!” he smiled across at her.

******

As they approached the cabin which nestled in a shallow valley, the wind had eased although the snow was falling heavily; so that the cabin resembled something out of a Thomas Kinkaid picture. Wood
-
smoke was rising out of the chimney, and a warm glow from the windows reflected off the
snow at the front of the cabin. The wood
-
stack to the side of the door was full
for the winter, promising
warm evenings by a roaring fire; and the early moon was already casting an eerie light over the surface of Loch
Morlich
, on whose banks the cabin rested.

Sally was enchanted and just soaked in the atmosphere of the place, immediately transported to somewhere warm and cosy deep in the recesses of her mind.

“Hello, Sally….are you ok?” The voice of Robert broke through the enchantment, but not in an unpleasant way, as she returned to the idyllic scene before her.

“Ah, sorry…I was miles away – this place truly is enchanting Robert
.”

“Yes I must admit in this setting it is indeed, as long as the fire’s piled high!”

The
cabin
door opened, creating
as it
did,
an inviting path of
warm
light
that rushed
towards them.

“Robert, is that you?”

“Of course it is mum, who else would be visiting you on a night like this?”

“Ha
ha
, never mind your cheek, I’ve been worried sick about you, you should have been here ages ago. Your dinner is burnt to the pot!”

“Nothing unusual in that then is there!” Robert replied with a huge grin on his face.

“Why you cheeky besom, I’ve a mind to give you a good hiding! Come away in before you catch your death in this cold.”

Sally listened intently to the good natured banter, suddenly keen to meet the mother of
her rescuer.

“Just a wee minute mum, we have a visitor for your burnt offering!” He had reached the passenger door and
helped Sally out, still wrapped
in her plaid to keep warm.

“Goodness me, well bring her in then, don’t just stand there dawdling or she’ll catch her death as well!”

They both trudged their way through the building snow, and reached the shelter of the porch; Robert holding Sally close to him for fear she might fall – and enjoying every minute of it. Sally for her part leaned into him, and soaked up the positive energy that seemed to radiate from
him, along with the fragrant scent of pine trees and wood-smoke
.