Logan looked down at the door of the bus as he saw the last two members of the group arriving just on time. Straightaway he clocked who he assumed was Kitty. He was sure he recognised her from somewhere. Her lovely smile and red curls werereallyfamiliar.
‘Hi,’ she said. ‘Sorry we’re late.’
Yip. Definitely Kitty. He hadn’t been able to get that voice out of his head since their conversation the other night. Then he felt total dismay as he realised that it was her friend standing behind that hedefinitelyrecognised. She was the mouthy American from the pub who’d accused him of trying to nick her bag. What were the chances of her coming on one of his tours, and being with Kitty?
He forced a smile and stepped forward, extending his hand. ‘Good morning. Welcome. I’m Logan, and I’m assuming you’re Kitty.’ He reached for her hand, which felt soft in his.
‘Hello,’ she said with a small smile.
Then he turned to Olivia. ‘And you’re Olivia?’
‘Indeed,’ she said curtly with a nod. ‘Nice to meet you.’
‘I was just saying to the rest of the group that the weather looks fair and should last all day, so hopefully we’re in for a good few hours of walking. Okay, so we’re going to leave any minute . . . unless anyone wants to visit the toilet? If so, go now. It will take us about twenty minutes or so to get to the car park at Whiting Bay, and then we’ll start our walk to the falls.’
Logan was relieved when the party agreed they were fine to get going. He was driving the minibus on this tour and it would save him having to make any small talk while they waited. This was going to be awkward enough. He glanced sideways at Kitty, who was getting settled into a window seat near the back of the minibus. He now realised she was the woman he had heldthe door open for at the bakery the other morning. He had held the door for a while and then watched her walk away and momentarily lost his focus. What were the chances of her being here on this tour?
There were six other people on the tour of varying ages and nationalities — Fred and Tom were South African, Richard and Jill were from Yorkshire and Adam and Liz were Australian. Everyone was quiet during the journey to Whiting Bay as they focused on looking out the window and admiring the stunning scenery. As they followed the road out of Brodick, he asked a few questions about who had visited the island before and listened as they each shouted out a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. Then, as they approached the top of the hill that would take them through the village of Lamlash, he directed the guests to look at the Holy Isle, a small rocky island in the bay. As well as being a nature reserve it was also home to a community of Buddhist monks.
‘It’s an incredible view,’ he said, taking a hand off the steering wheel to gesture across the bay. ‘You can go over and visit for the day or you can go and stay at the Centre for World Peace and Health, which holds courses and retreat programmes. At the south of the island there’s a closed Buddhist retreat.’
‘Wow,’ said Olivia.
‘It’s quite something, isn’t it?’ said Kitty.
The rest of the group were quiet as they admired the view, which meant that Logan could easily hear what the women were talking about.
‘Did I mention that my cousin lives here?’ said Kitty.
‘No, you didn’t. What a beautiful place to live,’ said Olivia.
‘I know. It was his idea that I come here for the summer. He got in touch about the house-sit. He runs the outdoor centre there,’ she said just as they drove past it. Logan’s ears pricked up. Her cousin was Fergus. That was interesting.
‘You mentioned the wildlife and what we might see?’ piped up an Australian man sitting nearer the front of the bus.
‘Absolutely. There’s plenty of that here. Loads of different birds, including dunnocks, blackbirds, oyster catchers — with the long orange beak — gannets . . . In fact, in case you didn’t know, the Ailsa Craig is one of the largest gannet colonies in the world. There can be up to fifty thousand pairs breeding there. What else? Black guillemot, eider ducks and shelducks. We also have otters, seals, dolphins, porpoises, basking sharks, red deer and red squirrels. There are no grey squirrels on the island, which means the red squirrels aren’t under threat.’
‘Impressive stuff,’ said Olivia. Was there a bit of tension in her voice?
‘Mind you,’ said Logan lightly, ‘I can’t promise that we’ll see all of them today.’ That provoked a ripple of laughter from the group. ‘Not long until we’re there. Just enjoy the scenery and the rest while you can,’ he joked. However, he knew that he would have to try and address the situation with Olivia. He hated any kind of discord within a group, and starting off a new tour with a guest he had exchanged cross words with was not a good start. He would need to try and clear the air as soon as possible.
Chapter Twenty-Two
‘Isn’t this absolutely beautiful?’ said Olivia as she paused and turned round to look at the view behind. ‘It’s just so peaceful.’
They were following Logan up the path through woodland. The only sounds were the trickling burn and the sound of boots thunking over the soft ground. The track started to ascend a bit more steeply as it led them higher into the woods.
‘I know,’ said Kitty. ‘It’s like we’re in the middle of nowhere. It’s so very quiet and calm. The trees are incredible.’ She pointed behind them.
‘Did you know trees talk to each other?’ said Olivia thoughtfully as she thought of a book she had recently read.
‘What do you mean?’ said Kitty.
‘It’s called the wood-wide web.’ Olivia frowned as she tried to recall the exact facts. ‘They communicate through their roots and underground fungi. I guess there’s a lot more science to it than that. But I remember thinking how beautiful it was.’
Kitty nodded in agreement. ‘You wonder what they say to each other and what they have witnessed. They’re so solid and constant.’
‘I know. I do find it all quite fascinating,’ said Olivia. ‘It was one of those books that someone gave me, and it took me ages to pick up and read. I was so glad that I did. I found it quite comforting in a way.’
