Page 12 of Riding A Cock-Horse
“Ach, of course, it's real!” Dageus confirms. “Only a fool wouldn’t think so.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Nay.”
“Then, how do you know it's real?”
Arthur answers for his cousin by touching his nose, which twitches.
“We cansmellit.”
“What does the Loch Ness Monster smell like?” I wonder.
“Danger,” Jude frowns with a nod. “That's a Tertiary if I've ever met one.”
“Wait, the Loch Ness Monster is a shifter?” I cross my arms over my head. “You know, Dean Stiffdick told me that dinosaurs were extinct. So, I don't understand how Nessie can be real.”
“Why, the Loch Ness Monster isn’t a dinosaur, lass,” Dageus responds.
“What the hell is it then?”
“We don't know. It keeps to itself, and we keep to ours.”
I crinkle my nose at this.
“I don't know about you guys, but I'd be asking a shit ton more questions right now. Also, I don't think I'd be living so close to this known monster without having answers to said questions. Heck, I don't even think if I had the answers that I'd be living there! Are you sure this place is safe?” I whisper to Jude.
“It's safe,” he reassures.
“Only because Loch Kemp is too small for the Loch Ness Monster to get to,”Jack adds.
He winks at me.
I don't know if he's joking or not.
“Don't worry about this monster,” Arthur reassures. “You're going to love the Highlands.”
“Why’s that?”
“There's no place on Earth like the Highlands.”
“Aye, he's right,” Dageus agrees. “No place at all. It's magical—it's the Land of the Fae.”
I feel my brows rise.
“I thought that was Ireland? And FYI…no one wants anything to do with those tricky bastards.” Dageus shushes me in mild panic.
“The Fae live all over, and don't be talking about the wee folk like that—they'll hear you!”
“In a fucking train they'll hear me?! Jesus, those Fae bitches have everything rigged.”
Arthur clamps a hand over my mouth.
“Are youtryingto jinx us?”
“No, I'm trying to get the hell out of here without meeting any Fae! Christ, all I wanted was a trolley cart with some fucking chocolate frogs—I mean…oh, man, I'm sorry! Have I insulted you guys? That's just fromHarry Potter. I swear I don’t eat chocolaterealfrogsortoads. I have a mild obsession withHarry Potter. I still dream of getting an owl letter one day—preferably by one with a huge set of hooters.”
Now, there’s an image for you.
