“Tell me something, Morrison. Do you have a family?”
“Don’t tell me you’re aboot tae propose to me for making you a tasty meal, cos you wouldn’t be the first.” Morrison jokes, leaning back in his chair for a hearty laugh.
Melody laughs as her face flushes red.
“It’s simple really. I was married once, we had a wee boy and ran the inn taegether. But my wee broad ran off with one of our inn guests and now she lives somewhere on the mainland.”
“You mean you haven’t seen her?”
“Nah, I guess I wasnae exciting enough for her.” He chuckles.
“What about your son?”
“I talk tae him every noo and then. He’s in uni now, but he understands I’m an islander and this is my home. I’m no’ gonnae leave this wee bit of glen. Besides, this is whit I enjoy.”
“I ken.”
“Oh! Good on yae, lass!” Morrison says excitedly. “You’re learning a wee bit o’ Scots are ye? What you gonnae tell me next: that you marrying a Scotsman? What, Rob the Ladies Man?”
Melody senses the humor in Morrison’s voice, but she quickly pounces on the chance to silence any doubt, “Definitely not.”
“Don’t mind my cheek. I don’t mind you staying on the island, but I ken you’re miles better than that Rob.” Morrison pulls out a pocket watch and checks the time.
Melody recognizes the watch. She knows it well. Her father had the same pocket watch and he would carry it everywhere. As she recalls, it had an outline of a green dragon emblazoned on the back of it. Her father taught her to tell time with this watch. He was so proud of her that he divulged a secret to her that night. He told her the green dragon on the back represented how his fire for adventure would never burn out, except, it just might have finally burned its last. Now, Melody has stopped eating and she is staring at the watch. Could this be my father’s watch? She wonders silently. How would Morrison have it?
“Are you o’rite, Melody?” Morrison sits up, holding the watch in his hand. “It isnie your food is it?
“No, I was just pausing for a drink.” Melody catches herself and takes a sip from her glass. She coughs. She is still not used to the strength of Glen Talon whiskey. The smokey oak is interesting, but the burning sensation that follows is too much for her untrained throat. If her professor were here, he would call it a taste of Academic Whiplash – that feeling of knowing a community theoretically, yet remaining foreign to the true experience. Melody starts to think that it may be best if she just accepts that she is not cut out to drink like the Scots. In any case, it may be easier on her liver than to keep trying to prove herself.
“Maybe I should get you a cuppa instead.” Morrison says, leaning forward on his chair.
“Wait,” Melody clears her throat. She must find out if this is her father’s watch. “The watch. It’s so unique. Where did you get it?”
Morrison glances at his watch and thinks before he says, “Legend has it that there are only a few of these in the world.” He holds up the watch, it’s rustic, like it has been handled by many hands and has dents around the edges. He continues, “Scots are a very traditional people. This one has been in my family for generations. It belonged to my great-granddad. Here, you see the back?”
Now, he turns the pocket watch around. This is exactly what Melody was hoping to see so she can confirm if it’s her father’s watch or not.
“It’s a golden eagle.”
Melody is a little disappointed it’s not her father’s watch, but relieved to exonerate Morrison. The last thing she needs right now is to think that her innkeeper is just as guilty as Rob and Tam, especially when he is also her nurse. Letting out a sigh of relief, she gently adjusts her leg to prevent it from falling asleep. She only grunts a little bit this time. “Why an eagle?”
“An eagle builds large nests in high places to care for its young and breeds there for several years. They are loyal birds.” He puts the watch away, “You see, I hail from a long line of committed men who have run this inn here. We care for our community and we do not run from our duty.”
“That’s admirable, Morrison.” Melody learning so much about Morrison reminds her that there is often so much more to a person than first meets the eye.
“Well, let me go back and check on the barflies downstairs. If I’m gone too long, they start to think they own the place.” He smiles as he excuses himself. “I’ll send your tea up with wee Bruce in a jiffy.”
When Morrison leaves, Melody pauses to think about his words: “we do not run from our duty.” While she wouldn’t mind running back to see her family, she has made a promise. She told Uncle Tobias that she would come to Talon’s Point and find out what happened to her father.
Still, she is haunted by the thought that it’s been years since she saw him. At first, she was angry that he was gone, but now she wonders, do I even care what happened to him? Before this trip, she had not given much thought to him, he had dissolved into nothing more than a distant relative at best. But now, that has all changed.
Journeying through a triad of emotions does reveal something. Melody had not noticed it before; years of bent up anger then disregard had masqueraded her true emotions. And now, thinking in her bed, she
