Next to Josh and across from Melody, is the serious man who stopped her in her tracks and brought her to the back. When he sits down like he just finished delivering a package, he grunts as his bottom hits the chair and a gray beanie on his head flops back with his large body. When he looks up, his face looks pained and troubled behind the scruffy brown beard and slight quiff, peeking out of his beanie.
His shoulders are low as if he is carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders. Hunched forward like they have been forced out of beefy shoulders, his arms rest on his lap. They reveal a trail of heavily decorated arms with tattoos emblazoned from just under his short-sleeved polo shirt, beneath gray-purple overalls with orange trimming.
Melody guesses his age to not be much more than forty. And she is intrigued to learn what lies behind his grumblings.
Lastly, a mature man in his sixties, who sits confidently staring into the night like he is deep in thought, looks her way. Melody concludes he must be the “Boss” that Josh was referring to. He has a dark blue cap, on the strawberry blonde curls that Melody remembers seeing at the boat on Talon’s Point’s sea port.
She didn’t see it when he was standing on the boat at Talon’s Point, but now that he is sitting down, she sees his potbelly sticking out of his gray sweater under orange overalls, with a partially zipped, dark blue sweater, sporting his name: Neil.
He flashes a brief smile at Melody from under his curly beard, then says, “Sit down, Miss, I’m sure ye are wondering how ye got here.” He points to a seat closest to where she is standing, between him and Josh.
It’s as if he’s reading her mind. Not only is Melody wondering how she got trapped on this island, she has questions about these men’s allegiance and her father’s whereabouts. Now that she is in, she is sitting with the very men she believes can divulge what she needs to know, she can ask her questions.
“You must be famished by now, we only gave you a few days’ provisions. Josh, can ye please bring Ms Winter her dinner and a cold yun fae Earl and I?” Neil sees the surprise on Melody’s face that he knows her name and says, “I’ve been expecting ye.”
He did read her correctly, but he missed that Melody is thinking, These are the men who drugged me and dumped me in a cave. She wonders if she should run now, but something is pulling her towards these dangerous men. Besides, where would she go? She has come this far looking for answers, she may as well stay and find them out. At this point, Melody feels she has nothing to lose.
Josh hurries into the cabin. With the lantern shining, exposing what’s inside the cabin, Melody takes the opportunity to see what she can find out on her own. She casually sits up and scopes with her eyes. Right away, she notices that these men are hunters. They have shotguns stacked above each other, hanging over the mantle in what looks like the sitting room. Along the wall, a couple of bows and spears are deliberately staged, facing two stuffed deer heads.
“Whit yer snooping aroond fae?” Earl grunts from his chair, offended. Melody turns around and sees he is sitting forward like he is about to come after her.
“Earl. Settle.” Neil interjects and calms him. “You’re no’ gonnae find anyfin in there Ms Winter. It’s just us three I’m afraid.”
Melody sits back, realizing she has gone too far too soon. Just then, Josh returns with a plate of dark meat, sizzling, next to mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and green beans. She has no clue what it is but she is starving. Melody scoffs it down, uttering thank yous between bites. Then, when she feels her hunger has subsided enough to eat at a normal pace again, she asks, “This is really good, spicy but good. Is it some kind of ground be… Oh, you call it minced meat here don’t you?”
“Minced meat?” Josh asks, puzzled by her question. “That there is haggis, Miss.”
Neil bursts out laughing, Josh follows and even Earl gets a good crack at Melody.
“Haggis?”
“Yes,” Josh says, wiping his eyes. “It’s sheep’s intestines.”
“What?” Melody scoffs, realizing it’s too late to spit out the food. She’s already eaten half the plate and thoroughly enjoyed it.
“Ye have been in Scotland this long and ye hav’nae tried haggis?”
“No!” Melody sits staring at her plate. “What makes it so dark?”
She can tell Josh is hesitant to tell her now, “Well, it’s the sheep’s blood, Miss. That’s what enhances the flavor.”
“Ugh!” Melody runs out towards the cement, ready to puke her own guts out. The three men rumble with laughter.
“Welcome to Scotland!” Earl yells as she runs to the field.
“I hav’nae had a laugh that good in a while,” comments Neil.
“I’m glad I can entertain you.” She retorts, looking for water to wash her mouth out with.
It occurs to Melody that while they were laughing at her mishap, she forgot she was fearful. She expected each bite of her meal to get stuck in her throat like a lump of nervousness. They’re just having a good time and that’s what Melody needed. These last few days were difficult and lonely for her, paranoid about what will happen to her, and she still doesn’t know what’s to come exactly, but now she is at least enjoying herself again.
Loneliness is a painful drug, she begins. Were it not for prayer, thinking positively of things she is grateful for
