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heartily.
    The meal over, Dorcas shooed the youngsters away. “Ossian, show your cousins around. But Jack’s not to go too far, and don’t any of you touch any of the toadstools and mushrooms.”
    “Yes, Auntie,” chorused Rana and Lizzie.
    “Mum already warned us about them,” added Petros.
    “I’ll show you the loch first,” said Ossian, leading the others outside.
    “Can we go fishing?” asked Rana, trying to keep up with her big cousin.
    “Sure,” replied Ossian. “I’ve got some rods.”
    Squatting down by a large tree, Ossian reached inside the trunk’s hollow base and withdrew two fishing rods.
    “I got these ready earlier. Come on, the loch’s just around this corner.”
    As they turned the bend in the track, the great expanse of Loch Keldy spread out before them. Jack’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
    “Now, if you girls set up here by the bridge, there’s somethin’ I want to show the boys.”
    Ossian led Jack and Petros down below the bridge, where a small boat was tied up. They clambered in, and Ossian started rowing out onto the great loch.

9
The Kelpie and the Oakshee
    After several minutes, Ossian stopped rowing.
    “That’s Lawse Mountain.” He nodded towards a great hill that rose above the loch. “And over there’s the Dameve village. We mostly keep away from them.”
    “‘Dameve village’?” asked Jack.
    Ossian looked at him closely. “It means ‘human’, but don’t say it near Dad. Come on, I’ll show you somethin’.”
    They were near the far side of the loch now. Ossian shipped the oars inside the boat, which bobbed up and down gently. Taking a small bottle out of his pocket, he dribbled the contents over the side. After a minute or so, he called out softly, “Hicka, hicka, yakooshk.”
    Jack and Petros watched in wonder as the water around the boat started to tremble. Suddenly, a horse’s head broke the surface of the water.
    “It’s a kelpie!” yelped Petros.
    “Shh!” urged Ossian. “He doesn’t know you yet.”
    Ossian muttered soothing sounds – were they words? – that neither Jack nor Petros understood. The kelpie seemed reassured, for it remained with its face above the surface. Then, to Jack and Petros’s astonishment, it appeared to be talking back.
    Jack whispered to Petros, “I’ve never seen a kelpie before. Is it safe?”
    “It’s a water horse,” answered Petros out of the corner of his mouth, clearly not wanting to upset the creature. “They’re dangerous to Dameves, but they’re usually fine with Shian.”
    You’re a quarter Dameve yourself, if it comes to that , thought Jack, but said nothing. Ossian and the kelpie carried on their strange conversation.
    “I’ve told him you’re my cousins,” Ossian said sternly. “He’s heard about you, Jack.”
    Jack’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “How can he have heard of me?!”
    “He’s heard about your father. He says there are creatures nearby who know what happened.”
    Ossian avoided looking at Jack, who sensed this was not the whole story. Jack was caught in a dilemma. Did he want to know the truth, whatever it was? Quickly he made his mind up.
    “Who? If there’s anyone here who knows more, I want to meet them.”
    “It’s no’ that simple,” replied Ossian evasively. “The creatures he talked about bide in the woods; some o’ them don’t like visitors.”
    “I still want to see them,” stated Jack emphatically. “If they know what happened to my father then I’m entitled to know.”
    “Do we have to go?” asked Petros. “Maybe we should get Dad or Uncle Hart to come with us.”
    “We don’t need any of the adults,” Jack insisted. “You know your way around the woods, don’t you, Ossian?”
    Ossian’s pride was at stake. “All right. But you have to do what I say. No’ everyone in there welcomes visitors.”
    He began rowing over to the other side of the loch. Reaching the water’s edge, the boys clambered out, and Ossian silently led the