The murderers' song - Amy Marvill Sophie Mander (good books to read for adults .txt) 📗

thundered over the roar of the waves…

“Come hither, adventurer lost, weary,
Mists gather, waves crash and wind blow,
Come hither, to the arms of me,
And then to your death you will go!”

The voices began to fade away, and my senses returned. Shaken, I squinted at the figures on the rock, slowly disappearing from view. Pa blinked and shook his head.
“What was…”
Crash. The stern of the yacht smashed straight into a shelf of stone that had been submerged by the water, ripping the front half apart. I was thrown to the floor, my hands protecting my head from hitting the wood. Pa grasped the wheel for support.
“She’s going down!” He cried.
“Pa, can we make it to the rocks?!”
“Possibly son. If we jump we could land on the rocks but if we jump wrong we might not make it.” Stumbling over the splintered deck, I made my way to the edge of the boat and stood on the side; Pa followed me and stood beside me.
“At three we’ll jump,” I yelled to him.
We yelled together; “One! Two! Three!”
We threw our selves off of the boat. I felt my feet touch down on the rocks but my footing felt wrong. I watched my world tilting in front of me and I tumbled backwards. I saw nothing, just darkness that seemed to go on for ever.
Falling,
falling,
falling,
No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t find my way out. Maybe this is death, I thought, and I am cursed with eternal darkness. In what seemed to be the far distance, a weak glimpse of sunlight seemed, in the abyss, like a guiding star. All of a sudden, my limbs clicked into life, and arms reacted to the commands streaming from my brain.
Bursting to the stormy surface, I screamed though oxygen-starved lungs; “Pa! Pa, did you make it or are you dead like me too?!”
“You aren’t dead.”
A cool, female voice whispered in my ear,
“Rather, you must suffer the sorrow of survival, as I have.”
Each word was delivered as slowly and melodramatically as a poet reciting a verse.
“Who is it?” I asked, yet no one answered. My whole body felt weightless, like flying. My skin was so cold the numbness removed any sensitivity in my limbs. My clothes, ripped and tattered, smothered my body. I could feel someone’s hand entwined with my arm, pulling me along. Then, I felt something hard under my back, sand? Gradually, I opened my fatigued eyes to a face staring down at mine.
A woman so beautiful she seemed inhuman. Ash blonde hair fell wet to her curved shoulders, her angelic face as porcelain as spring-cleaned china seemingly radiated its own light, while cerulean eyes purer than the cleanest of waters stared unblinking into mine as if she was trying to figure me out. Like a bird gaining flight, she gracefully ascended to her feet and turned to leave, when I asked: “Is he?”
“Dead, I am deeply regretful for your loss.” She smiled sympathetically and wandered back towards the Loch, then dived in. Why would someone go back into the water, surely the land would be safer? Shakily balancing myself on my unsteady legs, weakened by the frostbite-inducing cold, I looked around me to find that I was on the beach from where Pa and I had set sail.
Pa.
Reality finally began to sink in.
He was dead.
I had to get home.
I ran and ran and ran until I couldn’t go any further. I lied down by the side of the road and hoped that someone I knew drove past. Fatigued, I closed my eyes. Whether I fell asleep or not I don’t know, only what seemed like hours later, my eyelids were filled with a bright light. Slowly, I opened them, blinking at the sudden, blinding glow. I climbed to my feet just before two arms wrapped themselves around my waist.
“What on earth happened to you Kade? You look like a drowned rat.” Isla’s sweet, musical voice filled my ears and I smiled. I smiled because Pa was right, I do have a nice girl and maybe we could get together. I sure like her enough, more than enough. I kissed Isla on the forehead and whispered exhaustedly; “I’m okay Isla. Just take me home.”
I felt her nod against my t-shirt as a she guided me to the car. Isla helped me into the back seat and she climbed around the other side. Protectively, she shuffled closer to me and put her hand in mine. She had never held my hand so tight, it was almost like she was afraid I’d let go or something.
“We’ve been looking for you for a long time, honey” Mrs. McDonane said from the front of the car. I just grunted in reply and, as the car hummed into motion, felt myself drift off to sleep.

‘I dreamed of a meadow of green; blades of grass bowing respectively to the majestic wind. The hot Sun beat down like a beating drum. I wandered aimlessly, clueless to my strange destination. Two fair-haired children emerged in the distance, laughing and playfully chasing one another. I called to them yet they did not respond, only carried on with their merry game. Behind, a cluster of women, tall and lean as grass stems, appeared to be running towards them. Yet, the woman were not intent on joining the childish fun, instead were stricken with fear. Their bronze-tanned bodies were scantily clad in white robes. Two hoisted the squealing children into the air and carried them along; their youthful faces pressed to the carriers’ chests. As they passed they did not acknowledge my presence, but continued running in their terror. And rightly so. For behind them, came the pounding of hooves, as dozens of horses came galloping in a stampede; their riders huge, armour-clad men snarling in rage and wielding swords in the air, flashing in the sunlight. And each time their swords fell, so did one of the women. The ground that was once lush and green was stained red with blood. Then, with a high-pitched scream, a woman tumbled down right in front of me, her limp body caught in my arms. I gasped. For her face, was the one that saved me the night Pa died.’


Chapter 3


Murder or accident? 19th September 2011

Yesterday, I regret to say one of our very best people drowned in Loch Morar. Logan Cormac died aged 38 and will be missed by many in the village. After his 18-year-old son Kade was found lying dazed beside the road, he reported that he and his father were on a fishing trip when their boat crashed on rocks and sank. The search and rescue team were deployed and found Mr. Cormac’s body three hours later on the east of the loch atop protruding rocks. Kade Cormac survived with many cuts and bruises and is very lucky to be alive. Kade has said that he heard a female singing which he believes put both him and his father into a trance; seconds before Mr. Cormac’s boat hit the rocks. Is there a toxin being released into the fog over the loch? Was the singing a hallucination caused by this toxin? And very importantly, who released this toxin?

John Wiggerman, senior reporter


My eyes blinked several times at the article. Had this toxin really killed my Father? I felt my eyes filling up with water and choked down my tears. I looked around; I can’t remember how I got back to the house. The last thing I remember is getting in Isla’s car. I looked out side to find that the sun had risen. I got some clothes out of the wardrobe and put them on. The chorus of ‘All By Myself’ pounded Maggie’s bedroom as my oldest sister wept over a collage she made of childhood photos with Pa, mascara oozing down her cheeks in fat clumps. She frowned angrily when she caught sight of me and slammed the door. Blissfully unable to understand the concept of ‘Pa not coming back’, Bonnie was glued to the tiny TV screen in her bedroom, oblivious to the world around due to the back-to-back episodes of Scooby Doo Ma put on for her. I found Maw curled up on her bed with today’s newspaper clutched in her shaking hands, tears streaming down her face. Crissie was settled on the end of the bed, head bowed. I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder; “Maw, I’m going to Isla’s. You going to be alrite on your own?”
Sniffing, she nodded faintly and asked; “Will you take the cake from the oven over to Isla and her maw. I want to say thank you for them bringing my little boy home.”
I smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek. I walked back down the stairs and got the cake out of the oven. I pushed the door open with my elbow and made my way to The Siren’s Call.

The pub was empty. I guess people didn’t feel in the mood to party after this morning’s paper. I trudged up their stairs to find all of the McDonane’s sat in the living room. I held out the cake and said “Maw sent ova a wee cake for bringing me home last nite”
Mrs McDonane walked over to me, took the cake from my hands, placed it on the table and threw her arms around me. “We could of lost you, Kade. No more fishing okay.” I nodded at the stern tone of her voice. She retrieved her arms from around me and said “Right I’m off to see ye maw. Bet she needs a wee hug.” At that she walked off down the stairs. Isla ran up to me and slapped me hard around the face, in the next breath she threw her arms around me and cried. I hugged her close to me and buried my face in her hair. We stood there until Isla stopped crying. I looked over at Mr. McDonane and the boys sat on the sofa. The boys were crying in Mr. McDonane’s arms. Mr. McDonane rose to his feet and walked over to me, Isla removed her arms from around me which were soon replaced by Mr. McDonane’s. I hugged him back and he said “I’m glad we didn’t loose you, Son” he removed his arms from around me and walked out of the room. I walked over to Braden and Brodie and threw my arms around them. “It’s okay guys. It’ll all be okay.” Isla came to join us on the sofa and Braden, Brodie, Isla and I sat there hugging each other for a while. When Isla let go of the boys I took it as an indication of me to do so too. Isla and I stood up and left the room. I followed Isla to her room and said “I’m sorry for upsetting you, Isla” she pulled me down on to the bed next to her and lay down. I wrapped my arms around her and she slowly fell to sleep. She must not have gotten much sleep last night, probably worrying about me. The silly lass. Once Isla was in a deep enough sleep I