Chapter II

II

Aileen was crawling as she reached the top of Mount Ben Weldon, one of Scotland’s tallest points.  She stood up looking back at the suns glow across the loch. Hardly noticing the damp chill that made her body shiver uncontrollably, Aileen watched her breath rapidly appearing in small clouds in front of her. 

What got into Drew, she thought, in fact it was all she could think about all night climbing the Ben. But, now she got control of herself and stood up fixing her torn clothes as best she could.

Drew had been crazy yesterday as they walked through the meadow by the loch. He was fourteen and Aileen was just turned thirteen. Occasionally in the past, Drew had teased Aileen sexually, starting when she was seven and he nearing ten. On that first encounter, they had innocently looked at the parts that made them different and then they went on playfully chasing butterflies in the meadow.

There were a couple of other times, the last being eighteen months ago when Aileen was eleven. But yesterday was different; Drew became insistent, suggesting as a joke, at first that they have intercourse. Aileen had shrugged the idea off reminding her brother that they were older now, and that it was even less appropriate than before.

But Drew wouldn’t quit and eventually became violent, trying, with great force, to rape Aileen.  Struggling, Aileen had pushed Drew away and he slipped of the damp soil on the bank of the loch, and hit his head on a rock. He lay motionless with blood pouring from the wound; Aileen became scared. She was sure she had killed her brother and in a panic decided that she had to run away.

At the summit Aileen wondered… “Who’s that dragon that sleeps in the loch for years and then rises up to eat a young virgin?” Aileen thought to herself, recalling the town’s legend. “Dreacues… aye that’s the one!” “Drew was just like that dragon in the old story, the fire in his eyes, the change in his voice; he was sure like Dreacues as he tried to rape me.”

Just then, the sun burst on the horizon with a splash of golden light that looked as if a giant had struck a match on the other side of the loch. In a couple of moments, Aileen was calming down and realized that it was a new day and she had survived the attack. Her breathing slowed, the sun began to warm her body. Her life was not over, but Drew’s was, and then she began to sob.

“What ails you Lassie?” A deep voice came from behind Aileen. She turned around to see a bearded old man holding a long wooden staff. He was dressed in a heavy woolen coat that was dyed hunter green.  The sun was beginning to glow brightly, and lit up the man’s face and clothes so Aileen could see the kindness in his eyes. He removed his coat and motioned for Aileen to turn around so he could place it on her shoulders. She trusted him and did as he said. Looking back at the loch and the sun rising behind it, she felt calm and then she felt faint and collapsed onto the ground.