Hamish told them about Charlie moving out. “Won’t you be lonely?” asked Dick.
“No, I’m delighted to get my station back. Charlie is great but he’s so clumsy, he’s a walking disaster.”
“I would like to meet him,” said Anka. “Bring him with you next time.”
“Will do,” said Hamish. “I’d better get back.”
When Hamish returned to the station, he found a note on the kitchen table from Charlie. “I’ve taken Sonsie and Lugs up to the castle. They were mooching at the Italian restaurant and we don’t want them getting fat. I’ll drop them back later.”
The wind had risen, moaning around the police station. Hamish fought off a sudden feeling of loneliness. But then he had a vision of the pretty Gloria, living with him at the police station. Three days to Sunday and then he would see her again.
Chapter Two
Listen! You hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back,
and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then begin again,
With the tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
—Matthew Arnold
Colonel Halburton-Smythe arrived back at the Tommel Castle Hotel in a bad mood. He and his wife had been visiting Lord and Lady Fortross over near Oban. Unfortunately, their room had been directly above the bedchamber of their hosts and the fireplace chimney acted as a splendid conduit of sound.
So on the first night, as he was getting ready for bed, he heard Lord Fortross’s high complaining voice. “Why did you invite that boring little colonel? I can’t abide retired military men who insist on keeping their titles. And the man’s a damn stereotype.”
The colonel had backed away from the fireplace as if before a snake and had told his startled wife to pack up. They were leaving in the morning.
He was an insecure little man, product of an ambitious father who had made his fortune with a chain of popular shoe shops. Using his fortune, his father had sent him to Eton and then on to Sandhurst Military Academy. The colonel had quickly adopted a personality to fit what he fondly believed was required. He worked hard and, with his father’s money, entertained lavishly. He rose rapidly up the ranks and married Philomena Halburton, who hailed from an aristocratic family and had joined the name of Smythe to that of Halburton.
His happiest day was when he quit the army and bought the castle and estates, only to go nearly bankrupt after being tricked into bad investments. Hamish Macbeth saved the day with the hotel idea. Because of excellent fishing and shooting and a first-class manager, the hotel quickly prospered.
On his first day back, the colonel noticed a large man going down to the basement, someone he did not know. He went down and saw the man going into the old butler’s apartment and followed him in. He blinked and looked around. A small coal fire was burning briskly. Two comfortable armchairs were drawn up beside it. A faded Chinese carpet that he remembered used to be in the morning room, now the hotel bar, covered the floor.
Standing by the fire was a giant of a man with fair hair and child-like blue eyes.
“Who the hell are you?” demanded the colonel.
So Charlie, in his soft lilting voice, explained while the colonel paced up and down.
“She had no right,” raged the colonel. “Priscilla should have consulted me first.”
“Well, sir,” said Charlie. “Miss Priscilla did think it might be a good idea to have a resident polis, protecting the place. But I’ll pack up. Maybe a wee dram, sir?”
The colonel suddenly sighed and sat down in one of the armchairs, all bluster gone. The cosy little room reminded him of the days of his childhood, before his father had become so rich and ambitious. They had lived in a neat little bungalow, warm and safe.
“Yes, I will have a dram,” he said.
Charlie poured two stiff drinks and then sat down opposite.
“Tell me about yourself,” he said. So Charlie talked about his upbringing in South Uist in the Hebrides, his soft voice lulling the colonel into a rare feeling of peace.
The colonel was suddenly overcome with a desire to tell this gentle giant about his humiliation. Charlie listened carefully. When the colonel had finished, Charlie said, “I mind Lord Fortross. I was visiting relatives in Tiree and himself was over for the snipe shooting. Awful pompous git. Nobody liked him. Talk about bores! Man, he was describing himself.”
The colonel beamed and stretched his feet out to the fire. “Any more whisky, laddie?”
Hamish heard a knock at the door later that day and found Priscilla on the doorstep. “I came to say goodbye,” she said. “I’m off to London tomorrow. Dad has discovered Charlie.”
“Oh, my,” said Hamish. “Is he out on his ear?”
“It’s the oddest thing. He’s taken Charlie trout fishing.”
“It isnae the season.”
“Sea trout. The pair of them are out on the loch.”