Not my circus, not my alpacas
Kirkby’s grapevine was working overtime.
Kendrick’s hasty departure from the harvest festival along with his sister and ex-girlfriend had caught people’s attention.
Especially as he had marched them off the premises as if making a citizen’s arrest. Several people had seen him rush the two women outside, and others claimed to have overheard what they had been discussing.
Shona usually cared little for local gossip.
She knew only too well how unreliable the village grapevine was.
But in this particular case, curiosity got the better of her.
One moment she and Kendrick had been flirting like nobody’s business on the dance floor, seemingly some five minutes away from a second kiss; the next moment he had been frozen in place and staring at the entrance as if spellbound.
The change in him had been so abrupt and surprising that Shona still got goosebumps two days later when she thought about it.
It had been clear as day that there was history between him and these women.
Judging by his demeanour, it was more likely a family drama and not a light-hearted comedy.
Why had his ex turned up with one of his sisters?
And had the two women really been holding hands as some of the locals claimed? What was going on there?
By the time she’d arrived at Kristy’s bakery this morning to get her coffee and two muffins, Annabel Campbell and old Betty Murray were trading the most outrageous speculations.
Betty shared that Kendrick had seemed quite absent-minded when he danced with her, and Anna claimed to have heard the words ‘queer family’ and ‘sperm donor’ in their heated exchange outside the Old School. That was quite puzzling.
For a long while, Shona had hoped Kendrick would return to the harvest festival so they could pick up where they had left off.
But no luck there. Unable to enjoy the party any longer, she had left shortly before midnight.
Kristy and Hailey hadn’t got home until the wee hours of the morning and had told her every tiny detail of the night’s events yesterday afternoon.
Kristy was thrilled because Phyllis Montgomery had invited her to her studio on the Isle of Skye to train as a dance teacher later in the autumn.
If she successfully completed the two-week intensive, she would be officially certified to teach Highland dancing here in Kirkby using the trademarked Phyllis Montgomery method.
Hailey had enjoyed a promising flirt with a lad from the neighbouring town who ran his own outdoor activities business.
In the summer, he spent all day hiking and cycling the Highlands with tourists.
But now, in the off-season, he had time to date, and Hailey had left for Drumnadrochit in the late afternoon and not turned up yet a day later.
No reason to worry, though, as she kept sending enthusiastic text messages.
Nature boy seemed to know his way around any type of terrain, including indoors …
Shona was happy for her two cousins, even if their news meant they weren’t around for speculations about Kendrick and his mysterious visitors.
But maybe that was the universe’s way of telling her to stop? What was the point of dwelling on gossip? If there was any truth to it, Kendrick had more serious issues to deal with and probably wasn’t looking for a long-term partner … for dancing or otherwise.
Wait a moment! Had she just thought ‘long-term’?
For the longest time, commitment simply hadn’t featured in her active vocabulary.
At all. That had only changed recently when she had taken on a lifetime project with the distillery.
Which still frightened her! So why on earth would her bloody subconscious chuck in a personal commitment on top?
She grudgingly shook her head and tried to find something else to fret about.
Unfortunately, the business was all calm and quiet today.
She wouldn’t distil a fresh batch of gin until next week, and there wasn’t much else to do right now.
Bored, she scrolled through her socials, replied to a few comments on recent posts and moved on to her favourite gossip website.
It featured the usual wild rumours about various A, B and C-listers, and until recently she would have had a lot of fun with all these stories.
But she could no longer muster the same enthusiasm.
Why on earth would she care if athlete X had an affair with model Y? She wouldn’t.
Was it her new life in Kirkby that had made her formerly lascivious interest in celebrity gossip vanish into thin air?
Did she really find the locals in her village so much more interesting?
She looked down at herself and started laughing.
Just look at this outfit! She was wearing dungarees and wellies!
Okay, the dungarees were from a cool denim brand and the yellow blouse she wore underneath gave the outfit an easy-going yet stylish look. But wellies?!
“Delighted to find you in such a good mood,” her father called out from the door to her small office.
“Da, hi! Sorry to disappoint. This isn’t a good mood as much as a mini meltdown. I’ve just realised that I’m turning into a country bumpkin.”
“What are you talking about?” Marlin stepped closer and scrutinised his daughter.
“Just look at me! I’m wearing dungarees and wellies! They are a sign of defeat! Kirkby has messed with my head and killed my fashion sense.”
“Well, I dinnae think I’d call those dotted things on your feet wellies. Besides, they are practical in bad weather.”
“Exactly! Practical. I mean, I’ve never given a second thought to practicality when choosing my clothes!”
“I’m no’ sure I understand your dilemma, but tha’s no’ why I’m here.” Marlin scratched his rough red-grey beard.
“That’s a good thing. If you were the fashion police, you’d arrest me right now.
” Shona tried to scowl but immediately laughed again when she saw her father’s look.
Marlin was seriously confused and had no idea how to handle his daughter’s strange behaviour.
She decided to cut him some slack and energetically bounced up from her desk chair.
“Never mind, Daddy, just a bit of an identity crisis. Would you like some coffee?” She gave him a peck on the cheek and passed him to walk over to the tasting room, to which she had recently added a fancy Italian coffeemaker.
It was complete overkill for her small business, but Isla had been adamant that no future tasting would be complete without a good espresso.
Now she had to wait for the monster machine to heat up, which it did with a tonne of rather weird noises.
Marlin had followed her and took in the finished space. “This has all turned out very bonnie,” he complimented her.
“Thanks, Da. I think so too. I can’t wait to host events here. There won’t be many this year, but definitely next summer.”
“I would imagine there’s plenty of demand around Christmas and the New Year,” replied Marlin and took a seat at one of the small tables.
When Shona joined him with two cups of coffee, her gaze fell on the page in the local newspaper in front of her father. The photo of an alpaca immediately caught her eye. “What’s that?” she wanted to know.
“A story about some travelling circus stranded in Fort Augustus. The proprietors have run out of money and are auctioning everything off. Even the animals.”
“Circus animals?”
“The paper talks about a couple of dogs, three alpacas and even two illegal brown bears. The bears have been confiscated and taken in by a wildlife conservation group, but the alpacas and the dogs are going to auction.”
“Ah. And why are you showing me this?”
“The auction is this afternoon, and I thought we should go.”
“And why would we do that?” Shona had no idea what her father was getting at.
“I think we should buy the alpacas,” he said. “And maybe one of the dogs too. It would be good for you to have a dog if you’re always alone here at the distillery.”
“Come again?” Shona felt utterly confused and was sure it showed too. Where had this idea come from? She loved pretty much any animal, but why would she get a dog, and what was her father planning to do with all these alpacas?
“Princess, dinnae be daft. You’re alone here every day and the door is always open. Anyone could come in and ...”
“Daddy, I appreciate you worrying about me. But I’m rarely alone because there’s usually a contractor around, bottling or in the warehouse.
And I hope that I will soon be able to hire one or two permanent employees.
As for the open door, of course it’s open!
The hope is that someone will come in and buy a bottle of whisky or gin.
That’s the whole point! And why would I be afraid?
Do you think any criminal would be desperate enough to travel to Kirkby of all places to commit a robbery?
And even if they were, they would easily find more worthwhile targets than my business.
” She smiled at him and took a sip of coffee.
Her da sometimes had pretty weird ideas.
“But a dog would also be a loyal companion.”
“Have you forgotten that I have Nessie? She’s almost like a dog, and she might get jealous if she lost her job as my sidekick.”
“Nessie has been in the stable with Kendrick’s racehorse for almost a fortnight.”
“Aye, but that’s temporary. Only until Azzedine is well enough to be in the paddock with the other horses. Then I’ll bring her back home.”
“Don’t you think our Nessie would be happier if she could be with her own kind? As far as I can tell, she really enjoys the company of her horse friend. She liked being in with my sheep too, and being part of a small herd of alpacas would be even nicer for her, I’m sure.”