Last of the Line
JOHN MACKAY returns to his Hebridean roots for his third novel, which, like The Road Dance and Heartland, is set in Lewis. John is the anchorman on Scottish tv’s evening news programme Scotland Today and has reported on many of the major news stories in Scotland in recent times. He is married with two sons and lives in Renfrewshire.
John MacKay on Twitter: @RealMacKaySTV
By the same author:
The Road Dance, Luath Press, 2002
Heartland, Luath Press, 2004
Last of the Line
JOHN MacKAY
Luath Press Limited
EDINBURGH
www.luath.co.uk
First published 2006
Paperback published 2007
eBook Edition 2012
ISBN (Print): 978-1-905222-90-2
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-909912-14-4
The author’s right to be identified as author of this book under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been asserted.
© John MacKay, 2006
Table of Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Acknowledgements
Runrig for giving us a voice.
Mairi Maciver and my brother Donald for their knowledge.
Joan MacKinnon of South Uist.
Margaret Ann Laing and Rosemary MacLennan for their support.
Donald Slessor.
Magda, Sheila and the Edinburgh MacKays.
Welcome to Emma Harvie.
And J, S and R always.
For Ally
‘…the blood is strong…’
1
THE CALL CAME from a place far away where the dark was deep and the only sound was the fading breath of a woman on the edge of eternity.
‘Mr MacCarl. It’s time.’
Outside, the lights of the night spread and faded through the room, the party people laughed and squealed on the streets and an isolated horn blared.
‘She asked for you.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Mary. She asked to see you.’
‘She wants to see me? Now? Who is this? Can I speak to her?’
The woman’s voice on the other end lost none of its soft lilt, but it delivered a harsh message.
‘If she makes this night of it she won’t see the next.’
‘What? What happened? Has she been in an accident?’
‘No. She has been ill, seriously ill. The end is near.’
‘Oh Christ! I had no idea.’
There was no response.
‘I’ll see what I can do.’
‘She really wants to see you.’
‘Yeah, okay.’ He sighed, muttering thanks as an afterthought.
Cal MacCarl swung his legs out of the bed, the stripped wood of the floor was cold under his feet. It took a moment for the time on the bedside alarm to register.
‘Who was that?’ the girl beside him asked, her long blonde hair covering her face, her voice muffled by the pillow.
‘My aunt. She’s dying.’
‘She phoned to tell you? Can’t be that serious,’ mumbled Lisa dismissively.
‘It wasn’t her who phoned,’ Cal snapped, defensive yet at the same time uncomfortable about the sharpness of his reaction.
‘Mmmm. Come back to bed,’ she murmured, already falling back to sleep.
Cal sat with his head in his hands and inhaled deeply. This had come without warning. How could he not have known? He realised guiltily he couldn’t even remember when they had last spoken. Mary would have known. She’d have remembered.
A decision had to be made. The temptation was there to slip back under the duvet and fold himself around Lisa’s warm curves. She would welcome him warmly in the morning and then he could get a plane. But he wouldn’t sleep now, he knew he wouldn’t. His mind was so alert, he could actually feel the blood coursing through his system and his nerves prickling. If he drove through the night, he might catch the early ferry. Besides, it would be good to have the car with him on the island.
He would be cutting it fine, but the roads would be clear this early and he should make it. He padded through to the bathroom and stepped under the power shower. The blast of cold water instantly invigorated him. Goose bumps pimpled across his body.
He dried himself with a towel grabbed from the floor. The bathroom was a mess. Party clothes lay strewn where they had been thrown, tired soap suds floated flatly in the sunken bath and there were steam stains on the wall mirrors. The two empty champagne glasses made him think, but it hadn’t been that much. He would risk it.
Within five minutes he was dressed in clothes grabbed from the walk-in wardrobe. A Ted Baker shirt, Armani jeans and Hogan shoes. He put a change of clothes and a pair of Rockport boots into a holdall, crushing his Berghaus jacket in beside them.
1 comment