Read Online Winter's End by Clarissa Cartharn - Free Book Online Page A

science.”
    Hannah looked over in
disbelief at the distant ridges that formed the eerie, dark summits in the
horizon.
    “You don’t know what
those magnetic things are?” she asked
    Theodore shook his
head.
    She indicated for him
to come closer. “Maybe, it is magic. You just don’t know it yet,” she
said quietly in his ear.
    Theodore chuckled. It
probably was.

 
    An hour later, they
headed back to the jetty and climbed back aboard Lady Loch . Ethel was
still seated in her favourite spot under the fashionably designed roof that
covered most of the boat. Her eyes were glazed with inner thoughts. But on
hearing the children’s exciting voices, she rose her head towards them,
admiring their bountiful spirits. Their energy was so excitable that it made
her feel young and alive all over again. She couldn’t remember when she felt
that way. Maybe a long time ago when she had Arthur and her own children by her
side.
    The boat veered out
of the bay, but the cauldrons of the mysterious mountain ridges still remained
visible. Their presence would prevail over them all the way across the lake to Elgol , she knew. She sighed.
    “Mrs. Kinnaird,” said
Hannah, running up to her. “That was awesome. Can we come back again someday?”
    “My old eyes might
have seen the last of the black cauldrons, child,” she said tiredly. “But maybe
one day, I could have someone else could bring you back here. Someone better
who could take you further in and climb the ridges and the traverse with you.
Maybe even The Red Cuillins .”
    “I’d love that,” said
Hannah, giving her a hug. “Thank you, Mrs. Kinnaird.”
    “ ‘Grandma’ would be
nice,” Ethel said, letting out another weary sigh. “Maybe you could call me
‘Grandma’.”
    Nancy arched a
curious brow, turning her head towards Theodore. But Theodore was silent, his
eyes fixated on the Elgol jetty in the horizon,
pretending he hadn’t heard his mistress’s endearing wish. It was his tight,
pursed lips that gave him away.

Chapter
7

 
 
    Emma walked through
the damp meadow that lay behind the Kinnaird Estate. The children were back in
school for their spring term, leaving her alone once more for most part of the
day.
    On some occasions she
sort the company of the Kinnaird household. She had become a regular guest in
Nancy’s kitchen while Ethel herself was now such a close friend, it was as if
they had known each other for a lifetime.
    It was also amazing
how Jai and Hannah was growing fond of the old lady who they   fondly called Gran. Emma didn’t mind it at
all. She never really had parents of her own. Her mother was usually too drunk
or too busy to acknowledge her. And her late husband, Robert, had lost his living
parent, his mother, four years after their marriage. Ethel was the grandparent
the children never had.   She fussed over
them as if they were her own. Emma appreciated that.
    But it was Theodore
and Nancy’s disposition that strangely worried her. They didn’t seem far too
keen on seeing her children call Ethel, “Gran”. Although, they never really
said how they felt about it aloud. At least to her. Nevertheless, it was clear
that they cherished the children as much as did Ethel. She supposed that that
should suffice and began to wonder if she was reading too much into the
situation.
    She plucked a snow
white primrose amidst the many that were blossoming in the early spring
afternoon. The first blooms of violet were already on show and many of Skye’s
birds were back in their nests. She heard the tweets of skylarks in the trees
around her. A white-tailed eagle was seating perched on a distant rock.
    The magic of spring
affected her in her gait as she walked back towards the house, her face beaming
from the freshness of the new season. She felt almost like a child, twirling
the small white flower in her hands, her head inclined to the sky while her
eyes tried to possess all the blueness in it.
    As she neared her
house, she heard the