Chapter 34 #2
As the year went on: Sir Harry Patterson Speaks for Skye in the English Parliament. Requests Investment in Scottish Products. A Summer Festival. Record Herring Catch. New Way to Send Lobsters South—What the Railway Means to Mallaig.
As Emma read on she got a real feeling for the life of the island, and the close-knit nature of its community.
She also became aware of the fragile nature of life on the island.
Diphtheria Claims Life of Crofter’s Children.
Terrible Accident as Cart Is Swept Off Bridge in Downpour.
Fisherman Falls Overboard. She moved on to 1901.
The big news in January was Queen Victoria’s death and then her son becoming Edward VII.
Articles followed on the queen’s fondness for Scotland, her visits to the Highlands.
There was little local news of interest, apart from an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that was killing sheep and cattle.
By the time she got to 1902 she was inclined to skim.
New Ship Built on Clydeside Puts Scotland on the Map.
New King’s Coronation. The articles were a revelation of a long distant time, but she reminded herself that her father had been born not long after these events.
If her grandparents were indeed Scottish immigrants, they must have come to Australia at least twenty years before this.
These were their stories. She read on, realizing that this was taking a long time.
At least Jock could go to his father’s snack bar when he’d finished shopping and could have a coffee whenever he wanted.
This thought had just passed her mind when young Nellie came in bringing a cup of tea.
“I thought you might be fair parched by this time,” she said. “I hope you find what you’re looking for. If you don’t have time to find it today, you can always come back tomorrow. You’re not planning to leave the island soon, are you?”
“No. I can stay as long as it takes,” Emma said. “It’s all so fascinating that it’s hard not to read all the stories.”
The girl shrugged. “I think most of what happens here on Skye is fair boring,” she said.
“Nothing exciting ever happens if you ask me. I can’t wait to get to the city, but my dad says I have to earn enough to pay my own way and be self-sufficient.
The amount he pays me here, it’s going to take forever.
So are you from London? Have you ever seen the Beatles? ”
When Emma said that she lived in London but was from Australia, the girl looked as if she had come from another planet. “But that’s halfway around the world. Aren’t you scared to be so far from home?”
“I do miss my home,” Emma said. “But I’m having an adventure.”
“That’s what I want,” the girl said. “An adventure. I can’t wait.”
Emma thanked her for the tea and got back to work.
In 1903 there was a tragic loss of a fishing boat in a storm.
That made the headlines for a month. And a terrible winter with blizzards that killed cattle.
She moved on to 1904. A motor car had come to the island.
A real road was started between the ferries and Portree.
And Jock MacLeod was starting the first taxi service.
Emma smiled. MacLeod. The same last name as the Jock who drove Melrose in Iris’s pages.
Then in a September issue she saw what she had been seeking: Laird’s Daughter Missing in Tragic Boating Accident.
“It was true,” she said out loud. “It really was a true story!”
Holding her breath with excitement she read on:
Miss Lily Patterson, daughter of Sir Harry Patterson of Craigard, is reported missing after a boating mishap.
Miss Patterson, aged eighteen, was apparently attempting to cross to the mainland with a Mr Thomas Blaine when their boat capsized.
Mr Blaine’s body was recovered, trapped under the boat.
Miss Patterson is still missing. Search parties are under way.
“Blaine!” Emma said out loud. “That was my father’s name. Rory Blaine Callander. Not Blake.” She gave an embarrassed smile when the other occupants of the room looked up.
“Sorry. I just found out something important.” Emma stared at the newspaper. How strange that the man who drowned had the same name as her father. But then she concluded that Blaine was a common enough Scottish name, and in any case it was only her father’s middle name. She went back to reading.
Mr Blaine was a visitor to the island, a guest of the Patterson family.
It now appears he was also a labour instigator and was secretly stirring up trouble with the crofters.
Sir Harry had asked him to leave. It is not known why he took Miss Patterson with him or whether she went willingly.
Anyone who saw the couple that night or has any knowledge of the situation is asked to contact the police in Portree.
Emma’s heart raced. This was Iris’s story, exactly. Only the names had been changed. Lucy was really Lily. She turned the page to read the next week’s headline.
Body of Laird’s Young Daughter Recovered Miles Down the Coast.
The whole of Skye in mourning. Miss Lily Patterson was brought home to be buried in the family crypt.
Attempts to contact Mr Blaine’s next of kin have been unsuccessful.
It seems he was a young man from Edinburgh with no family.
Not much more is known about him, except he had bought the sailing boat two months previously in Mallaig and had used it to sail to the island.
He was clearly not much of a sailor and the breeze had been a stiff one that night.
No mention of sabotage, Emma thought. Or of the suitor who disappeared. She suspected Iris had used the real event and turned it into fiction. Then Emma moved on to the next edition:
Foul Play Suspected in Death of Laird’s Daughter.
When Miss Lily Patterson and Mr Thomas Blaine met with tragic deaths at sea two weeks ago it was assumed their deaths were due to Mr Blaine’s inexperience as a sailor.
Now the boat has been recovered and examined by police brought in from Inverness and it has been found that the sail and one of the ropes controlling the boom had been damaged enough to make controlling the boat impossible, but also the rudder was missing.
The police state that both the slashing of the sail and the breaking of the rudder appear deliberate.
Inspector Cummings states that it seems the rudder was partially sawn through, and the force of the waves must have snapped it off once the boat was in open water.
Both indicate malicious intent by person or persons unknown.
Anyone with any information on this dastardly event should contact the local police.