![\"loch-ness-monster-fake\"](\"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/loch-ness-monster-fake.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
It was the smell that drew Aiden Fairweather to the shore that day. He was at his old pub at five in the morning, the usual time since he\u2019d had to let the cleaning lady go a few months back.<\/p>\nIt was the smell that drew Aiden Fairweather to the shore that day. He was at his old pub at five in the morning, the usual time since he\u2019d had to let the cleaning lady go a few months back.<\/p>\n
At first the old man thought someone had dumped a load of rubbish into the water. Wouldn\u2019t have been the first time.<\/p>\n
But as he approached the murky blackness he noticed a shape lying on the water\u2019s edge. It was a twenty foot long mass of tissue. It was nothing he\u2019d ever seen before. And it was most certainly dead<\/p>\n
It stank to high heaven.<\/p>\n
Covering his nose with a handkerchief, he hurried back to the pub as fast as his old legs would take him. Aiden fumbled with the keys for a moment or two–damned arthritis–and finally got the door unlooked.<\/p>\n
He threw the light switch and entered. The place smelled like cheap cigarettes and stale beer. The smell comforted him.<\/p>\n
He shuffled around the large oak bar and grabbed the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ra up a bit early Aiden,\u201d a croaky female voice said on the other line.<\/p>\n
\u201cYa Breda,\u201d he said, slightly out of breath,\u201d Listen love, could ye put me through to Doc MacAllister?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOld Rex finally ready to be put down?\u201d Breda coughed. Aiden could practically see the fag dangling from the phone operator\u2019s mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cBite yer tongue, lass,\u201d Aiden said. \u201cThat pooch will outlive us all.\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughed. It was a disgusting, phlegm-laden sound.<\/p>\n
\u201cHold on hon. I\u2019ll get the Doc for ye. And tell \u2018im my granddaughter is still available. Twenty-two and no man in her life to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aiden waited a moment before a young, sleepy voice came on the line.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019ello?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoc, it\u2019s Aiden Fairweather.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYa Aiden, Breda told me,\u201d he said through a yawn. \u201cRex again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNah. The old boy\u2019s fine, Doc. Something\u2019s washed up on shore. You should come see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGotta be at the Montgomery\u2019s\u2019 in a couple hours. New foal\u2019s due.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s twenty feet long, Doc.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aiden waited. \u201cDoc?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be mistaken.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy eyes aren\u2019t as good as they once were, but I\u2019d swear to it in Parliament. Twenty feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aiden waited again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be there in twenty minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
The doc\u2019s 1927 Morris Cowley pulled up to Aiden\u2019s pub around six, sputtering and wheezing as it came to a jerky halt.<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn piece of shite,\u201d MacAllister grumbled as he hoisted himself out of his car. \u201cOnly five years old and already falling apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood horse\u2019ll last you ten. Make less noise too. But you\u2019d know that bein\u2019 a vet an\u2019 all,\u201d said Aiden crewing on his pipe. \u201cCoulda had the whole pub cleaned by the time it took ye to get here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Doc tried to feign a look of disgust at the old man. Both men burst out laughing at the attempt.<\/p>\n
\u201cC\u2019mon inside Doc. Kettle\u2019s on and I\u2019ve got a fire goin\u2019. A good cuppa will sort out your carriage problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacAllister shock his head. \u201cWould love to Aiden, but have to make me rounds. Let\u2019s see this twenty foot beastie of yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
The old man shrugged his shoulders. Knocking his pipe against the side of the barrel he\u2019d been sitting on, he stood, grabbed his cane and without another word started toward the shore.<\/p>\n
The day had brightened from a charcoal black to a dull grey. The stinking mass on the shoreline was much more visible now than when Aiden had first ventured toward the water.<\/p>\n
The old man wrinkled his nose. \u201cThat\u2019s not gonna be helpful for business,\u201d he said. MacAllister grunted.<\/p>\n
The creature was a blackish grey. The vet could see a bloated torso with four large fins. A long tail curled into the water and the head of the creature lay at the end of an equally long neck that bobbed in harmony with the small waves.<\/p>\n
The vet slowly made his way around the corpse.<\/p>\n
Finally, he looked up at Aiden. \u201cN\u2019er seen anything like it. But I can tell you what killed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh?\u201d said Aiden, raising one eyebrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrash. Its gut has been torn open and the wee beastie\u2019s gut is filled with garbage. Whether it be poison or some sort of blockage\u2019ll have to wait until I do a more in-depth exam and autopsy.\u201d MacAllister was speaking rapidly in excitement.<\/p>\n
The vet started back up the hill when Aiden blocked his way with his cane.<\/p>\n
\u201cHold on laddie. Let\u2019s think about this for a mo\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s there to think about? This is a great discovery\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMmm. Maybe. But gutting and stuffing this beast isn\u2019t the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, folks around here have been hurting for a while as you well know, Doc.\u201d The old man said thoughtfully. \u201cYou go and announce this to the world and sure a few people will come to take a look. Five years from now, that poor creature will be gathering dust in a museum somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your point Aiden?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis poor creature is a passing fancy. Now legends, that\u2019s where real money can be made.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about it doc. People have been talking about a beast in these waters since St. Columba and that was thirteen hundred years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacAllister rubbed at the stubble on his chin. \u201cBut that legend hasn\u2019t helped folks here very much,\u201d he said slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike any good idea, all it takes is a little press. Maybe a blurry photograph or two. A few folks scared outta their wits by \u2018Somethin\u2019 in the water.\u2019 Trust me, we could make this into a full-time business that will help everyone around here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The vet looked back at the sad creature slowly decaying on the shoreline.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s a more fitting legacy then? \u2018Monster killed by trash\u2019 or \u2018The Legend of the Monster at Loch Ness?\u2019 Come up to the pub and have that cuppa and we can chat about it a little more\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was the smell that drew Aiden Fairweather to the shore that day. He was at his old pub at five in the morning, the usual time since he\u2019d had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":84,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c41-5mfe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}