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.‘Och, no, Doctor,’ said McLeod.‘Mother does not drink.Do you, Mother?’‘What’s that?’ said Mrs McLeod.She turned to Davy and smiled.‘You’re a good boy, aren’t you? You’ll mind the auld folk, won’t you now, eh? You’ll leave them be, won’t you?’‘Aye,’ said Davy, not seeing what else he could say.If the ‘auld folk’ of the island were all like Mrs McLeod, leaving them be would be no hardship.McLeod handed him a cup of tea.‘There’s a good lad,’ said Mrs McLeod.‘He’s a good boy, Alasdair.A fine boy.’‘Hush now, Mother,’ said McLeod.‘You’re embarrassing the poor lad.Slaandjivaa, Doctor.’‘Slaandjivaa,’ said Dr Fraser, raising his glass.‘That’s a fine drop of whisky.’The two men talked and Davy drifted away in his imagination to the streets of Edinburgh and to their old life there.He was brought back to the present by the sound of his father putting his glass on the table with a clink.‘Tell me more about the people hereabouts, Mr McLeod,’ said Dr Fraser.‘I am keen to hear more about my patients and their superstitious ways.’‘Why, Doctor,’ said McLeod, ‘when you have lived here a wee while you might understand why it is that people still have a bond with the water, the sea and the weather.’‘And a pagan stone,’ said Dr Fraser with a raise of his eyebrow.‘Aye, well,’ said McLeod.‘On that subject, I’m afraid I must ask you to stay away from that particular part of the island.And young Davy there as well, of course.’‘Or shall we be shot?’ said Dr Fraser with a grin.‘Will old Murdo come after us with a shotgun?’McLeod sighed deeply and smiled wearily.‘Don’t be too hasty to make judgements, Dr Fraser,’ he said.‘We are all very grateful for the new laird and his fishery and for the employment it will give the young men of the island, but this is not the mainland, Doctor.We are not so quick to brush away our heritage and our traditions here.’‘I didn’t mean to give any offence, Mr McLeod,’ said Davy’s father quietly, clearly wishing he had not been so eager to tease.‘The whisky has loosened my tongue and my manners.Forgive me.’McLeod smiled and said that there was nothing to forgive and that he was sure they would all get along famously, given time.He poured them both another drink.‘The Stone is important to the folk here,’ he went on.‘I couldn’t really explain it fully to someone like yourself who has never lived here.It is something you just grow up with on the island.’‘What are you telling them now, Alasdair?’ said McLeod’s mother, frowning.‘Nothing to concern you, Mother.’‘Alasdair’s a good boy,’ she said, looking at Davy and then his father.‘He’s always been good to the auld folk.’‘Mother,’ said McLeod with a smile and a shake of the head.‘Hush now.’He turned to Dr Fraser and dropped his voice.‘I’m sorry for Mother,’ he said.‘She does not always know what is going on these days.’‘I understand,’ said Davy’s father.‘There’s no need to apologise.You were telling us about the Stone.’‘Och, there’s nothing more to say really,’ said McLeod, putting his glass down.‘But I must ask you to humour us in this matter and stay clear of the dunes and the Stone.’There was a change in McLeod’s manner as he spoke.Davy was aware of a new earnestness in the man’s voice, almost as if he were warning them of something.His mind went back to Murdo – the man with the shotgun.These people are crazy, Davy thought, crazy enough to shoot a person for walking on a patch of ground they think is special for some stupid reason.‘And another thing,’ said McLeod with a rather forced smile.‘Should you be tempted to go round the dunes on to the beach beyond, be aware that the tide comes in awful quick there and the current is fearful strong.It’s best avoided altogether.’With that, McLeod got to his feet and smiled, rubbing his hands together, and said that it was time he and his mother left them in peace.If there was anything they needed – anything at all – they had only to ask.His house was just a quarter of a mile away.gThe following weeks dragged slowly by for Davy
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