If she resented it, she never gave any sign.

Cal was all she had. He was the son of her older brother and she was his only blood. ‘We’re all that’s left,’ she had said, lightly enough, ‘and when I’m gone, you’ll be the last of the line.’ 

Was it her subtle way of pressuring him into settling down? Cal was sensitive to the slightest suggestion of disapproval. He’d tried to make a success of his life and no one had the right to pass judgement on the way he lived it, yet he was always touchy that they might. He had his father to curse for that.

‘If you’re trying to marry me off, forget it,’ he cautioned her once, disguising it as a tease. ‘It wasn’t good enough for you. Why should it be for me?’

He couldn’t remember what she had said, but he did recall a flicker of hurt. He had never broached the subject again.

The southern section of the road was wide and sweeping and Cal relished the freedom of it, pushing the speedometer beyond a hundred miles an hour. He zipped past the few vehicles that appeared in front of him, roaring beyond them almost before they knew he was there. He was very familiar with this stretch. Barely any distance from the city, some of the best golfing, water sports and luxury living were to be found on the banks of the famous loch and Cal indulged himself regularly. It wasn’t all pleasure though, it was also a good way of playing at friends with people who could be useful.

He slowed down towards the northern tip of the loch where the road narrowed, twisting round ragged rock faces, picking up speed again to surge through the great gorge of Glencoe. The craggy majesty of the mountains was lost in the darkness. Across the Ballachulish Bridge, past the beautiful setting of Onich and he was soon in the 1960s-style concrete centre of Fort William. Ben Nevis, the country’s highest mountain, loomed out of the first morning light. Then, once more away, into the freedom of the country. This was driving!

North-east along the banks of the amusingly named Loch Lochy, north-west again towards Wester Ross, past the stunning Queen’s View on the way to Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge span over the sea to Skye.

The glens and mountains were never more glorious than in the birth of a new morning, though Cal saw nothing but the hypnotic road markings stretching ahead, judging the corners he could cut and the straights when the accelerator could hit the floor.

The romantic Isle of Skye was carved through in less than an hour, the grandeur of the Cuillins quickly left as shadows in his rear view mirror. He crested the final hill above Uig with ten minutes to spare. The Caledonian MacBrayne ferry, with its familiar black, white and red livery, was waiting at the pier below.

He pulled in behind the other cars lined up for boarding, got out for the first time since he’d left Glasgow and felt the stiffness in his legs as he walked over to the ticket office.

‘And when will you be returning, sir?’ asked the man behind the desk.

The straightforward question threw Cal. He had set out without seriously considering when he might return, just a vague idea that it would be quickly. But he didn’t know what awaited him on the other side of the sea-crossing.

What would be expected of him? It was hard to think of Mary lying ill and impossible to imagine what he might be able to do for her. She couldn’t be left on her own, not if her condition was as grave as he’d been told by the woman on the phone. And who had she been? A nurse, maybe. So would she leave when he arrived? And there would be a funeral. As Mary’s closest kin, would he be expected to organise it? Questions flooded through his head.

‘I’ll just leave the return open, shall I?’ suggested the clerk helpfully.

Leaving the office, Cal began to question why he was here.  Was it reluctant duty? If so, then he could deny her and no one would know, no one who mattered anyway. Who could blame him? He could do nothing for her and his time would be best used dealing with the business pressures at home. 

There was another motivation that made him uncomfortable, but which he couldn’t deny. Aunt Mary was a woman with a low maintenance life. Cal was all she had and Cal needed money. He wanted to be sure that what was hers came to him. 

Back at the car, he took in his surroundings for the first time. The stark simplicity of sea and land, mountain and moor.