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Angus MacScot took his dog, Malcolm,
for a drive into the highlands. "What do you think of all that purple
heather?" he asked. Malcolm stood on the seat looking out the window. He
thought it was pretty. He’d never seen heather bells before, especially
millions of them that carpeted the hills like that. "It’s rather pretty,
don’t you think?" Angus asked. Malcolm wagged his tail.
He saw several sheep grazing on the
hillsides, nibbling on tender shoots of grass. He saw a highland cow and
was frightened by its long horns. "See over there, Malcolm, that’s an
ancient castle. It was built by the Bruce Clan way back in the 1300’s.
They say it’s haunted." Malcolm’s ears perked up. He didn’t like the sound
of that.
They drove on for a while and then
made a wide turn and much to Malcolm’s horror, stopped in front of the
castle. "Surprise!" shouted Angus. "This is where we’re staying for the
next the night. I thought it might be fun to stay in a haunted castle."
Malcolm didn’t agree. He hid on the
floor and Angus had to carry him into the castle. It was cold and drafty
and smelled like dirt. "Why don’t you go and run about the grounds while I
get settled in," Angus said, opening the door for Malcolm.
The Scotty dog ran out of there as
quickly as he could and headed for a patch of green grass. "Moo! I’m
Robert, the Highland bull. What brings you to this part of Scotland?" the
highland bull asked.
Malcolm looked at the hairy cow.
"You’ve got long, shaggy fur. It’s almost orange in color. You’re an odd
looking animal and your horns are long and sharp."
"I’m unique. I think you look rather
strange too. You look like a black box with a tail," Robert replied.
"I guess I’m unique too. My name’s
Malcolm. We’re staying at the castle. Angus says its haunted," he said.
"It is haunted. I’ve seen the ghost
many times and at night, you can hear him howling. They say he was a brave
warrior, killed in battle, yet not ready to leave his homeland. They call
the ghost, Colin the Cold," Robert said.
"Colin the Cold? That’s an odd name
for a ghost," Malcolm said nervously.
"Still, it’s his castle and he
doesn’t like guests, especially Scotty dogs," Robert warned.
Malcolm didn’t like this highland
bull at all. "Well, I have to go now. I hear Angus calling me," he barked
and ran off. As he neared the hills below the castle, he ran into two
highland sheep. They were nibbling on the heather bells. "How does that
taste?" Malcolm wondered.
"Why don’t you try some for
yourself?" Sinclair replied.
"Don’t be silly, Sinclair," the
other sheep said. "Dogs don’t eat heather. They eat bones."
"There’s plenty of bones in that
castle," Sinclair taunted. "Yours might be next," she giggled.
Malcolm stared at the two sheep.
"You’re woooly, like that bull down there. Why does everything have so
much hair up here in the highlands?"
"It gets very cold at night. You’d
better stay by the fire tonight. Either the ghost will get you or the cold
will. Hee hee hee," giggled Sinclair.
Malcolm ran off, leaving the sheep
behind. "I’m going to find Angus," he said and trotted into the castle.
"Ah there you are, Malcolm. Come and
sit by me in front of this roaring fire. We’ll have supper soon. I’m going
to fix you some roast beef. I even brought your dish. I’ll have some
haggis, chips, and peas," Angus said.
They ate supper and warmed
themselves in front of the fire, relaxing. Just then Malcolm heard a
noise. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! He raised his head. "What was that?" he wondered.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! He heard it again. "It must be the ghost. I’m staying in
front of this fire all night. Ghosts don’t like fire." He looked over at
Angus who was sound asleep in a huge armchair. Feeling very tired and full
of roast beef, it wasn’t difficult for Malcolm to curl up in a ball and
fall asleep.
He woke up several hours later. It
was dark and very cold. "Yikes! The fire has gone out." He blew on the
smoldering embers and tried to get them to catch fire. OOOOOOOOOOOO! "Och
no. It’s the ghost! It’s dark and the fire is out. Either I’ll die from
the cold or from the ghost, just like the sheep said." He was horrified.
He ran over to Angus and started licking his face.
"What’s the matter, Malcolm," Angus
said, sitting up. "Och, it’s freezing in here. I let the fire go out. I’ll
fix it for you." Soon a fire was roaring in the fireplace. Angus was
moving the logs around with the poker when they both heard a noise.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Malcolm ran and hid behind the
couch. "It’s only the wind, Malcolm. Stop being so afraid. What’s the
matter? Do you think it’s the ghost, Colin the Cold?" Angus started
laughing. "That’s just a story someone made up to make the castle more
interesting and exciting," he assured his dog. Malcolm wasn’t so sure
about that either, but since the fire was going, he fell asleep in front
of it, knowing that he’d not freeze to death.
When Malcolm woke up again, the sun
was shining through the small windows. He felt much better now that the
night was over with. "Time to go, Malcolm. Now, wasn’t that fun?" Angus
asked, petting his dog. They got into the car and drove towards home. They
passed the two highland sheep, which were still nibbling on the heather
bells. The highland bull raised his head and wiggled his horns back and
forth as the car drove by. Malcolm waved goodbye and sat down on the seat
of the car, watching out the window. Angus started talking, "Oh, by the
way, Malcolm, I didn’t want to scare you last night, but that castle
really is haunted. That was Colin the Cold you heard last night." Malcolm
gulped and looked back at the castle.
When they got home, he ran over to
his pals to tell them about his night in the haunted castle, the two
shaggy sheep and the hairy orange bull. Nobody believed his stories, but
Malcolm knew it was true. He’d never forget the OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! |
