The Cryptid Files (12 page)

The famous author G.K. Chesterton said that ‘many a man has been hanged on less evidence than there is for the Loch Ness Monster'.

On their final day in the cottage, nobody talked much and there was a strange feeling of anticipation in the air. Everything was packed and yet there was not enough time to do anything or go anywhere. Vanessa moved sluggishly around the kitchen, her head filled with thoughts of Nessie and her journey home. She had spent much of the morning sitting at the window twisting her mother's engagement ring that she still wore on her middle finger, while her eyes scanned the loch for Nessie. Part of Vanessa wanted just one last glimpse of her but the other part hoped that she was no longer there, that she had made it back to the sea.

She poured a glass of orange juice and sat in front of it while her fingers curled and uncurled the edge of the morning newspaper.

‘Sad to be going?'

She looked up as Luke threw himself into the chair opposite her, his hair tousled and his eyes half shut with sleep. Luke liked his sleep.

‘I suppose so. It has felt so long though. It's hard to believe it was only a few days.'

‘Yeah. It felt like a lifetime to me.' His voice was grim.

Vanessa's eyes filled quickly with tears and she drank her glass of orange juice, as if she was suddenly parched, to cover them up. She had given them all a scare and, for that, she felt bad. But she had also had the most amazing experience of her life. She had swum and talked with Nessie. Nessie – a cryptid that others had hunted for hundreds of years and she had found her. Well, she and Lee, really.

Finally, the moment came to leave. In the noise and bustle of their last goodbyes, rounds of hugs and kisses and promises to return, Vanessa found herself standing awkwardly beside Lee. It was as if they had shared too much too quickly and she felt almost embarrassed by their intimacy. Vanessa could also see her father's surprise at their sudden friendship and as she had no intention of sharing their secret any time soon, she reverted to her old ways – Vanessa ignored Lee.

They piled into the car, her brothers in the back seat, her father driving. She was in the front seat this time – not as a map reader, but so that her father could keep an eye on her, Vanessa imagined. He had barely left her side since she had been found.

Looking out at the sunlight glinting off the loch and Maggie and Lee standing under the arch of flowers at the front door was almost too much for Vanessa. Maggie was waving cheerfully, but Lee's hands hung at her sides. As her father started the engine, Vanessa flung open the car door and made a dash for them. Hugging Maggie first, she squeezed Lee even harder and was delighted to feel her kiss the top of her head.

‘See you in Dublin?' Vanessa asked Lee, hopefully.

‘Try and keep me away,' she replied, laughing.

Every few minutes, Vanessa craned her neck for her last look at Loch Ness as the dark waters disappeared and reappeared through the trees that lined the shores of the loch. She had an ache in her heart at leaving and yet she was excited at the thought of getting home and going back up to the attic. There were loads more cryptid files up there and she was the only person in the world who knew about them. She slipped her hand into her pocket and fingered the wrinkly surface of her shrunken head. It already felt like her oldest friend. Could it really have only been a few weeks since she found it? Turning on the radio in an attempt to distract herself she moved through the channels until she heard the excited voice of a young reporter.

Reports of sightings have flooded in all morning. It seems that Inverness has its own monster. She's already been christened ‘Invernessie.' First to report the sighting were a group of twenty three children on a school bus. At eight thirty this morning, on their way to school, they witnessed a monster, which was as long as the bus, in the Beauly Firth. It had an eel-like neck, a large hump, and moved slowly in the water. The sighting took place not far from the Clachnaharry sea lock at the northern
end of the Caledonian Canal. They watched the creature for at least five minutes as it headed seaward before it dived beneath the surface and disappeared without a trace. Further sightings were reported throughout the day. Unfortunately, not a single person who saw ‘Invernessie' managed to get a photo of the monster.