Page 7 of Saving Nessie
‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’ Lachlan watched him carefully. His expression was pensive, blue eyes intense and penetrating. Did he want Cam to take the offer? His face was a perfect mask. Cam realised he was purposefully holding back, leaving the decision up to him.
Well, buidseach?
‘No chance,’ Cam replied quietly. ‘You’re going back where you belong.’
Lachlan surprised him with a quick kiss. ‘You’re a witch through and through, Cam Walker.’
The Redcapharumphedloudly. Cam straightened his shoulders, fists clenching. He’d get back to Strome even if he had to fight the Redcap every step of the way.
Evidently, the Redcap felt the same.
I’ll do it without yer help, then,it growled with venom.
‘Good luck,’ Cam muttered, taking a step.
His foot seized in mid-air, suddenly feeling oversized and flipper-shaped. Cam toppled to the ground and stared at his boot. He was grateful to find it still human, but the uncanny sensation persisted. His left arm twitched next, slipping from under him so he face-planted in the dirt. He groaned. It felt like the Redcap was wrenching him in all directions.
Lachlan dropped to his side and tried to hoist him up. He struggled in vain; Cam’s already unnatural weight seemed to triple, pinning him to the ground.
‘Hell,’ Cam grunted through his teeth. How could he fight something he couldn’t even see? The Redcap’s footsteps stamped uncaringly over his incorporeal flesh, sharp fingernails biting into blubber and snatching at his edges. Behind it all Cam felt the surge of the loch. Heard the roiling churn of tons of water, agitated like a wild animal by the Redcap’s meddling.
There it be,the Redcap muttered. Cam felt it yank on the tether, that indefinable yet unbreakable cord that connected him, the monster, and the loch. He spasmed as an elastic burst of pain shot through him. Elastic—as though his body was striving to transform against his will. Cam spat leaves and concentrated on keeping his shape.
Lachlan disappeared. Cam had no sense of where he’d gone until he landed beside him again on his knees, wrestling open a small leather pouch. Cam heard him mutter, ‘There’s hardly any left,’ before scraping his hand inside and drawing out a thin scuff of white powder.
Yes!Cam cheered internally. Salt might just throw the Redcap off.
Lachlan faltered, clearly unsure of the best way to proceed.
‘It’s on my back,’ Cam told him, twisting to look at the invisible sensation.
Lachlan nodded and threw the salt over him.
There was a hiss of pain.Dirty tricks!the Redcap screeched, briefly loosening its hold on the tether before yanking it back. Cam’s body jerked again, slamming his head against the ground.
‘It’s working,’ Cam gritted out. ‘Got anything else?’
He heard the frantic sound of a match being struck, followed by the smoky, floral scent of sage. It sent a wave of dizziness over Cam, followed by hacking and spluttering from the Redcap. But the pesky creature kept yanking, and Cam felt stretched ever thinner.
Takes more’n that to get the better o’ me, little buidseach!the Redcap bawled. Cam felt something pull taut, a line about to snap. The Redcap cackled in triumph.Aha! Gots it!
‘No!’ was all Cam had time to yell before the Redcap’s teeth bit down into the magical tether. He felt every hair on his body stand on end, his skin pulled unbelievably tight against his bones, everything stretched to a gnat’s whisker before breaking point.
Then there was the briefest sense of puzzlement from the Redcap.Eh? What’s—
Then, just like an elastic band, everythingsnappedback into place.
Cam hollered in shock and pain as his body forced the change upon him. Flippers, tail, neck, spine, all ballooning and elongating in the space of a mere second. The Redcap shrieked, still clinging onto his back with its vicious claws. Cam twisted his long neck and caught a glimpse of nasty coal-black eyes, raggedy clothes and a blood-stained hat.
He swung back to look for Lachlan; found he’d been knocked back a few yards and landed on his ass, but appeared to be okay. And that was all Cam was able to perceive before the loch started topull.
The tether was still intact, as strong as an iron chain. The Redcap hadn’t broken through it at all. And now it wanted to draw Cam home. Cam dug his flippers into the soft earth, moving slowly at first as though he was being towed by a truck. Then that truck picked up speed, and Cam’s efforts to resist became futile. His flippers slipped from under him, leaving deep trenches in the dirt as he was hauled into the waterfall’s stream.
‘Cam!’ he heard Lachlan yell behind him, but his voice was already distant.
The water was shallow and full of rocks. Cam slithered painfully over them, wailing in distress as his underbelly caught on hundreds of sharp edges. The harder he tried to fight the power of the curse, the harder it dragged him.
Stop movin’, yer daft beastie!the Redcap screamed in his ear. It had clambered up his neck and now hung there, slightly see-through: a translucent apparition on the edge of Cam’s vision.It’ll have us both trapped if ye don’t stop!
