Okay, here it is! Chapter One!
What Lurks Beneath Loch Ness?
Chapter One “Come on, Iona!” Elizabeth called over her shoulder. They were climbing over some rocks on the edge of Loch Ness. Occasionally rock pools formed there and that is what they were searching for. There had been a storm that night and Elizabeth had persuaded Iona to come out early in the morning with her to look for them. Iona, who wasn’t quite as energetic as her excitable friend, hurried after her.
“We could have looked for rock pools later, you know.” Iona said, yawning. “Why couldn’t we just sleep for another hour?”
“Because fish like to come out in the early morning.” Elizabeth stated, simply. ”If we came later there wouldn’t be any around.” Iona raised an eyebrow.
“Oh really?” she said. “But whenever I come out at mid-day, there are plenty of them about.” Elizabeth sighed and raised her hands in defeat.
“Okay, okay.” she said, lowering her voice a little. “Look, it’s not just the fish that I’m looking for.” Iona laughed.
“What? You’re still set on finding the Loch Ness Monster?” she giggled. “It’s just an old story! There’s nothing true about it!”
“But loads of people have seen it!” Elizabeth protested.
“Anyone who’s seen the Loch Ness Monster is either insane or just sad.” Iona said, sighing a little. “Can’t you get it into your head? There’s no such thing as Nessie!” But then Iona looked into her friends eyes and she saw a look of determination that she had never seen before. It was obvious that Elizabeth believed in the story and was set on finding the mythical creature.
“There IS such thing as Nessie.” Elizabeth said, firmly. “And I’m going to prove it.” She pulled a small disposable camera from her pocket. She thrust it out to Iona.
“Are you going to help me or not?” she said. Iona hesitated before answering. She didn’t want to be involved with trying to find a creature that didn’t exist but she didn’t want to let her friend down either.
“Oh, alright.” Iona said, taking the small camera from her friend’s hand. She was still trying to think of a way to gently tell her friend that the Loch Ness Monster didn’t exist when they didn’t find it. Elizabeth grinned and pulled a second disposable camera from her pocket.
“Then we’d better get started.” She said, and before Iona could stop her Elizabeth had raced off across the rocks. Sometimes her over-eagerness could get her into trouble, but it was admirable when she was so willing to do something that she’d do practically anything to do it.
About an hour later, they still hadn’t seen anything. They hadn’t even seen any birds and there were normally plenty of them about. Elizabeth still didn’t lose hope. She was going to find this creature if it was the last thing she did.
“Have you seen anything yet, Liz?” Iona called to her friend. Elizabeth was sitting on a large rock and looking out across the water. She was looking through a pair of binoculars. She put them down on her lap and looked back an Iona.
“Not yet!” she replied, cheerfully. “But we’ll find it, just you wait!” Iona walked over and sat down beside her.
“Liz, if we were going to find it we would have found it by now.” She said, gently.
“It takes patience.” Elizabeth said, still looking across the still water. Iona sighed.
“Look, Liz, we’re not going to find it.” she said. Elizabeth picked up her binoculars and peered through them. She didn’t seem to be listening to Iona any more.
“Still as a mirror."she muttered to herself. “Not a single boat in sight.”
“What are you talking about? Are you even listening to me?” Iona asked, irritably. In response Elizabeth gave a squeal and jumped up to her feet. Iona stood up as well, puzzled by her friend’s actions. Elizabeth gave the binoculars to her friend and pointed into the distance.
“There! There it is!” she cried. Iona, still puzzled, took the binoculars and peered through them. She could see a shape floating on the water. After a minute or so she returned the binoculars to Elizabeth, who was smiling from ear to ear and jumping up and down.
“See? I told you we’d find it!” she cried. Iona paused before answering.
“It’s just a floating log.” She said. Elizabeth’s face fell. She glanced at the Loch before smiling again.
“Never mind!” she said. “We just have to keep trying! Everyone makes mistakes every now and again!” Iona was amazed that her friend wasn’t put off in the slightest. But then again, this was Elizabeth she was thinking about, so anything was possible.
“We should go back now.” Iona said, wanting a break from the hunt for the monster. “We still haven’t had breakfast, and I’m hungry!”
“Alright.” Elizabeth said. “I’m a little hungry, myself! Come on!”
They walked back over the rocks and up a small hill to their house. Inside their mother, Mrs Wilson, had just made some toast. The girls sat down and almost immediately started eating. Mrs Wilson made brilliant toast, even though she made enough for ten people.
“So how did the monster hunt go?” she asked her two daughters. Elizabeth gaped at her mother.
“You…you knew?” she gasped. Mrs Wilson laughed.
“Oh, I could tell!” she said. “You’re hopeless at lying! Just looking for fish? Honestly, that’s the oldest excuse in the book!” Elizabeth blushed.
“I thought that I’d seen Nessie, but Iona said that it was just a floating log.” She said, quietly. “But I’ll find it!”
“Well, good luck!” Mrs Wilson said, lowering her voice to barely a whisper. “I’ve heard that loads of people have seen the Loch Ness Monster around Urquhart Castle over the last few months. Maybe you should try there?”
“Urquhart Castle?” Iona said. “I know how to get there! Cousin Phillip owns a boat. He could give us a ride!” Elizabeth jumped up.
“There’s not a moment to lose!” she cried. “Thanks, Mum!” Their mother waved a cheery goodbye as her two children ran out of the door.
Sure enough, Iona talked to their cousin and he agreed to give them a ride on his boat to Urquhart Castle. On the way there, Elizabeth looked out across water with her binoculars once again.
“We’re not even there yet!” Iona said, hiding a grin. But suddenly, the boat lurched and Iona’s cousin gave a startled cry. The two girls rushed over to him but all they could see was still water.
“The……the…..it was…” Phillip stammered. “The Loch Ness Monster…” At that moment, the boat juddered again and a huge shape hurled itself out of the water. It had a long neck and a fat body, with flippers and a long tail. In its mouth were huge, savage-looking teeth. Within moments it had splashed back down into the water, leaving almost no sign that it had just jumped out. The girls just stared in amazement. It looked like their search would become a lot more interesting!
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