Once Upon A Tale (Published Amazon)

Chapter Five

Scottish Highlands - 2017

Eliza, Aurora and Greg had settled into the Scottish life easily. Eliza began work in the castle in the early hours of the morning and loved the soft sound of the bagpipes as they played to let the guests of the hotel know it was time to rise. She had become extremely creative and put it down to the change of scenery and location. The castle was tremendously beautiful and the grounds were lush and green.

Aurora had made friends with one of the chefs children. They were a year older than her but seemed to get along famously. Jade and Jake were twins and showed Aurora around the castle and the gardens. They were also in Aurora's classes that consisted of the three of them, and two other girls and a boy much older. They all sat in the huge library as the tutor gave them books to read, and assignments to write. Aurora liked this new way of learning. She loved books.

"Aurora, after the class would you like to come with us down to the beach?" Jade asked her.

"I'd love to." She answered. "What are we going to do there, it's a bit cold to swim." Aurora had come from Melbourne, Australia and the only time you ever went to the beach was when the weather was hot.

"It is a surprise, but you will have lots of fun."

After class, Aurora followed the twins out onto the driveway.

"We need to go home first, then we can head to the beach." Aurora nodded wondering if they meant her to go with them. She had never seen where the twins lived, but had read about The Stables. They began to walk towards their house and Aurora stayed where she was not knowing if she was to wait for them outside the castle or go with them. Jade turned and frowned.

"Aurora, are you coming with us?" She asked. Aurora signed and walked quickly to catch up.

"Sorry, I wasn't sure if you wanted me to come with you or wait for you here." Jake laughed and looked at his sister.

"You are a peculiar girl Aurora. But I like you." They continued to walk. The Stables had once been exactly that. However, these days it was a five bedroom cottage with glorious garden and sea views. They entered and Aurora was amazed how they had turned a stable into a tastefully designed interior with a mezzanine level combining traditional architecture with a modern equestrian style décor. It looked rather comfortable and relaxing. They headed towards the outdoor courtyard where Aurora saw an excited puppy jumping up and down.

"Puppy!" She cried as she raced to the door with the twins.

"We got him yesterday. We are going to take him for a walk down the beach." Aurora was so excited. She had always wanted a dog, but they had never gotten around to getting one.

"What sort of puppy is he?" Aurora asked.

"He's a Gordon setter." He had a shiny black coat with fluffy ears and tanned along the flaps of his mouth, chest and paws. He was absolutely adorable. Jake opened the door and the puppy bounced in jumping up all over the kids.

"What's his name?" Aurora asked giggling.

"Duke." They clipped a lead to his collar and Duke became very excited.

"Let's go for a walk Duke." They told him. He barked and the kids laughed. They left the stables and walked down to the beach with Duke running ahead of them. For a puppy, he had a lot of energy. When they reached the beach, they unclipped the lead so Duke could run around and play. He raced for the water and when his feet hit the cold, he jumped back with a little squeal. The kids laughed and patted Duke who ran beside them as they walked. He had worked out the water was too cold so he was staying away. A bird landed just in front of him and Duke took off after it. He began to bark and the bird took flight. Duke sat and looked up into the sky at the bird. He turned back towards the kids and raced back to them. They all found a nice spot and sat down to watch Duke play in the sand. He was a funny puppy chasing birds, his tale and falling into ditches and rolling, but he picked himself up and raced back to the kids. After fifteen minutes, Duke had placed his head on Jades lap and gone to sleep. Jake carried the tired little puppy home and put him into his bed that sat in the twin's room. Aurora thought it strange that they slept in the same room. If she had a brother, she would not want to be in the same room as him. Even though they were in the same room, a wooden stable partition separated them so it looked like they were in separate quarters. They sat and watched the puppy sleeping while they talked.

"So how do you like it here Aurora?" Jake asked her.

"Oh I love it. It's so beautiful." She told them. "I read that the castle has a lot of secrets. I'd love to find them." Jake and Jade looked at each other.

"When we first came here, we started to do a bit of investigating as well, but we didn't find anything. There is a small run down cottage out in the woods, but that's all." Jade told her.

"I'd love to see the cottage." Aurora asked, her adventurous streak kicking in.

"Tomorrow, it's almost tea time and it will be getting dark." Aurora jumped up.

"Is it that late?" She gasped. "I need to get home. Mum will be wondering where I am." Aurora said her goodbyes and kissed the puppy on the nose before racing back to the treehouse.

Luckily, Eliza had figured Aurora would be with the twins. Sara had told her about the puppy they had gotten yesterday and she knew how much Aurora loved puppies.

***

The next day after class, Aurora and the twins put Duke on a lead and went for a walk into the forest. Even though it had been a fairly warm day, the thick foliage of the forest made it cold. They walked until they reached a small cottage in the middle of nowhere.

"There it is." Jake said his hand outstretched towards the run down place. "Like I said, it's not much to look at." However, to Aurora it was amazing, it was once someone's home, someone's history. Aurora looked around the cottage while the twins and Duke stood watching her.

"Can we go in?" She asked them.

"I wouldn't if I were you. My dad told me if someone opens the door, the whole cottage might fall apart. He thinks it's over 200 years old." Aurora looked at Jake in awe.

"Wow." She said. "Does he know whose house this was?" Jake and Jade looked at each other and frowned.

"No idea." They said together.

"We should try and find out. There has to be something in that library about this cottage. Maybe we should ask Lady Grace, she might know." The kids headed back towards the castle in search of Lady Grace.

When they finally found her, Lady Grace told them she did not know who lived in the cottage. Therefore, they sought out the only other person who knew a lot about the castle. Their tutor, Miss Hopeton.

"Sorry kids, I have no idea who lived in that cottage." Aurora frowned. Lady Grace and Miss Hopeton had both dismissed it instantly. In addition, it was unlike Miss Hopeton to not suggest they use the library and try to find out for themselves. She had a strange feeling they both knew who the cottage belonged to, they just didn't want to say.

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Thanks K.