Hi Friends! My husband and I just completed our move to the little town of Boquete, Panama. We discovered this town many years ago, and when retirement time arrived, we decided to move here. I hope you will enjoy the story I have for you today!
Castle by the Sea
By Sheri Schofield
In memory of Dollie Schofield, my mentor and best friend, who passed into Jesus’ presence last night.
Cassie McCrae walked along the beach, her sandals swinging from one hand, her long, white skirt and her blonde hair blowing in the wind.
She wanted to be in London where the action was. But Dad had insisted. His family had come from this part of Scotland, and he wanted Cassie and her brother to become better acquainted with the people in the land of his youth. Of course, her father had to spend time with his constituency if he was to represent them in parliament. And Colin, her brother, needed to make himself known for the future when he would take Dad’s place.
Cassie sighed and dragged her feet through the pebbly beach strewn with seaweed and seashells. I wish Father had let me stay with Jeanne for the summer. She’s three years older than I. We’d be perfectly safe. Why, there’s nothing to do here! And so many of these people speak Gaelic instead of English, though they know perfectly well how to speak our national language. It’s confusing and humiliating to always be asking what they said. And the castle! Why, it’s ancient. It’s cold. Yes, the servants light fires in the bedrooms in the evening, but it’s still cold by morning.
Looking out to sea, she saw another ancient castle on an island far from shore. It didn’t have a roof. Time seemed to have destroyed it. Waves crashed around it, sending great white sprays into the air.
On the shore ahead knelt a handsome young fisherman putting his catch into baskets for market. He looked up as she came near.
“Maidin mhaith,” he said with a smile.
Cassie sighed. “I don’t speak Gaelic, sir.”
“Ah. ‘Sir’ is it! Tis an English lass. I say good morning to ye.”
“Good morning.”
“My name’s Alasdair. What would your name be?”
“It’s Cassie. Cassie McCrae.”
“Ah. Laird McCrae’s daughter, I presume?”
“Yes. Father brought us here for the summer.” She fidgeted. Looking up, she asked, “What’s the story with that castle out there on the island?”
Alasdair smiled. “Well, Lady McCrae, if you would like to hear it, please be seated and I’ll tell you.”
Sinking to the pebbly beach and tucking her skirt around her legs so the wind wouldn’tblow it up, she looked at Alasdair expectantly. “I’m all ears.”
“Sure now, but I don’t think you are all ears! Ye’re a bonnie lass, not a lot of ears, my lady!”
Cassie laughed. “Thank you, kind sir.”
“Aw, I’m just a simple fisherman.” Alasdair grinned, touching his cap and putting the last basket of fish aside.
“So tell me about the castle out there.”
Alasdair nodded and began. “Once upon a time, as you English say, there was a poor fisherman named Kair Barclay, who fell in love with the youngest daughter of Laird McCrae, many, many years ago. Every day the daughter, Lady Isobel, would go out to meet the handsome fisherman when he brought in his catch. You see, the young fisherman lived on that isle, but he had to come to land to sell his fish at the market.
“From the first, Lady Isobel liked the young man. They struck up a friendship. Over time, they fell in love. One day the fisherman dared to tell her of his love. Confessing her own love, Lady Isobel agreed to marry Kair, with her father’s permission.
“But that was not so easy to do, for her father was furious at Kair’s request.
“’Ye are but a lowly fisherman! I will not give you my daughter in marriage!’” he roared. ‘Ye have nothing to offer her. She would die out there on ye’re island, isolated from everyone, with no fine house to keep her warm and no servants to do her bidding.’”
“But seeing the hurt in his daughter’s eyes, the laird relented a little. ‘However, if you will build her a fine house on your island, I will consider your request.’
“Laird McCrea, who felt he had been more than generous with his condition, smiled gently and nodded to his daughter and Kair.
“On fine days, after fishing, Kair would meet Isobel and take her out to his island, where he would spend the evening gathering rocks and laying the foundation for a large house. Lady Isobel would cook dinner for the two of them. They would dine happily together before sunset.
After dinner, they would dance together on the floor Kair had laid, exchanging laughter, many warm glances, and always a kiss or two. As the last rays of the sun began to fade, Kair would row Isobel back to shore, where they would share a long kiss before he walked her back to Castle McCrae.
“But there was a near-by laird whose son wished to marry Isobel. When he learned of the agreement between Kair and Laird McCrea, he sent his men to cause trouble for the young fisherman. When Kair was away fishing, the laird’s soldiers would tumble the stones Kair had built into a wall, preventing the construction of a castle.
“Lady Isobel indignantly told her father of the problem. Out of love for his daughter, Laird McCrae told the rival laird of his displeasure and ordered the son to leave Kair alone. For Laird McCrae was a fair-minded man.
“Seeing that he could not have Lady Isobel, the angry young laird decided to sabotage Kair’s boat. While Kair was at the market selling his fish one day, the young laird cut into a portion of the boat’s bottom in such a way that it would come apart when Kair was at sea.
“That evening after Kair Barclay and Lady Isobel were half-way to the island, the water rushed into the boat and they drowned in each other’s arms.”
“Oh, no!” Cassie exclaimed with dismay.
“The next morning, Lady Isobel’s father rode with his men to find Isobel and bring her home. He found her lifeless body next to Kair’s. He found the boat and saw the sabotage. At once, he knew what had happened. In his grief, he demanded the rival laird’s son be exiled. And the other laird, shamed by his son’s actions, banished his son forever.
“Lady Isobel and Kait Barclay have been gone for many years. But on clear nights, if your heart is in tune with the elements, you can see them dancing together on the castle floors in the moonlight.
“Today the castle remains unfinished. But I have been working on it, and it is near completion now. My brothers and I will be raising the roof this summer. For I am the heir, the great-great-great-great nephew of Kair Barclay, and that is my island.”
“Oh!” Cassie’s eyes were wide as she stared into Alasdair’s face.
Smiling into Cassie’s blue eyes, Alasdair asked, “Would you like to come with me to my island, my lady?”
Blushing, her heart pounding, the lady said, “Yes, I would, Alasdair.” She reached out her hand, and the young fisherman, smiling broadly, helped her to her feet.
Leaving the baskets of fish and pushing the boat out into the water, he lifted Cassie from the pebbly beach and carried her toward the boat. Both her arms crept around his neck and her bonnie blue eyes fastened on his grey ones. Placing a gentle kiss on her lips and carefully lifting her into the craft, he climbed into the boat, water dripping from his boots.
He set the sail. The wind blew a gusty breeze, and Alasdair Barclay sailed across the water toward his island with the youngest daughter of Laird McCrae.