The Way of the Warrior-Wizard

Duncan sat up with Caleb and Cara, waiting for the midnight hour to strike. Davy sat in between Duncan and Caleb as they sat on the wooden floor of the farmhouse, their "flashlights" (as Canadians referred to torches), ready. Cara held a camera, which she had set for use in the dark. They were all waiting expectantly for Charlie the House-Bogle to return. Duncan had doubts as to whether they would ever see the fantastic phantom, but he kept these to himself as Cara peered up the flight of stairs leading to the attic.

“I’ll catch him with the camera this time,” Cara said, “I’ll show Josh and that troop of clowns he runs around with what’s what.”

“I think you should all stay away from that Josh character,” Duncan grumbled, “he’s gotten us into enough trouble as it is. Has he been bothering you at all since the incident?”

“No,” Cara replied, “I’ve been bothering him. I keep threatening to send the bogle after him, and he keeps telling me that bogles don’t exist...well, now I’m going to show him some proof.”

“He’ll just say that we took a picture of a lamp light,” Caleb told his sister, “he won’t believe us either way...and I don’t think you can capture ghosts on camera, Cara.”

“Well, I think we can with this one,” Cara told them confidently, “Auld Charlie won’t disappoint us.”

Duncan sighed, wondering why he was not in his warm bed right now. He was having difficulty focusing on ghosts right now, because he was too worried about the prospect of working with Professor Donaldson the next day. Jerome Donaldson was worse than any old ghost.

“I know you don’t think bogles exist, either, Duncan,” Cara chided her brother, “I can hear you thinking that thought right now.”

“Are you a telepath, then, Cara? I thought that was Fiona’s specialty...who, by the by, has the right idea in keeping to her bed.”

“Well, go back to bed, then, Fearful Fred. We brave ones will await the bogle’s appearance. What time is it, Caleb?”

“Five minutes since the last time you asked,” Caleb informed her, “it’ll be at least twenty minutes until midnight...and even then, Charlie may not be punctual. There’s no hard and fast rule saying that bogles have to come out at midnight. He could wait until four o’clock in the morning.”

“I’m definitely not waiting until four in the morning,” Duncan protested, “I’ve got to face Donaldson tomorrow. I don’t care so much about Josh anymore...but Professor Prig? That’s an entirely different story.”

“You’re not still fretting about that?” Caleb exclaimed, “You’re just helping him with his grad students. You can do that with your hands tied behind your back.”

“Donaldson will tie my hands behind my back,” Duncan muttered ruefully.

Their conversation was cut short by a loud knocking sound, which repeated itself two times after the initial knock. Davy stared intently in the direction of the sound, giving a low-throated growl.

“It’s him!” Cara whispered, training the camera on the stairs leading up to the attic, “Charlie always knocks three times before appearing.”

“It’s probably the hot water heater,” Duncan suggested, “the knocking sound could be caused by calcium build-up. We’ll need to get Father to look at it in the morn.”

“The hot water heater is in the basement, Dunc,” Cara retorted, “not in the attic. The knocking sound clearly came from the attic...our Davy knows that, because dogs are sensitive to ghosts.”

“It could be the hot water pipes up here,” Duncan continued, ignoring Davy's canine wisdom, “after all, the hot water’s got to travel up from the basement.”

“Except no one’s running hot water right now,” Caleb concurred with Cara, “I think it’s Charlie. I saw him before, at the old house!”

Caleb was the only one of the younger family members who had claimed to see the famous bogle at their elder-brother Jamie’s farmhouse in Drumnadrochit. He had told them that the ghost had looked like their father, although that seemed impossible because Hamish was still alive.

“Look!” cried Cara, “There he is!”

Davy whimpered slightly at the faint form which was gliding down the stairs; and it did indeed look like an apparition of their father, Hamish. Duncan looked at the image suspiciously, as though he could not quite believe it.

“I’ve got to check to see if Father’s still alive!” Caleb called out suddenly, running down the hallway and bursting into his parents’ room.

Duncan and Davy followed him, Duncan curious as to how any of this could possibly be happening. As they entered the room, Hamish awoke with a start.

“Raaaaarrrrrghhh!” he yelled.

Their mother, Kyra, turned on a light immediately as Davy jumped up on the bed and began licking Hamish in an attempt to calm him.

“Hamish!” Kyra soothed him, “You’re having a dream...a nightmare! It’s another of your war visions. It will be okay!”

Hamish appeared befuddled, confused, and disoriented. He stared at the two boys in consternation.

“Wha...what is the meaning o’ this, troops?” he muttered, “Gae back tae sleep, all o’ ye.”

Hamish fell back into the pillow of his bed, just as Cara cried in a disappointed tone, “The bogle’s gone!”

Kyra ordered Davy off the bed before gathering the hem of her long blue nightgown, jumping up herself, and striding down the hallway angrily, pulling Duncan and Caleb along with her to where Cara stood with the camera. Davy followed, dashing half-way up the stairs which lead to the attic. He peered upwards in a confused manner, his nose sniffing the air furiously in a futile attempt to catch the elusive bogle's scent.

“Cara, Caleb, and Duncan MacGregor, for very shame on the three of you!” Kyra scolded them, “You will all get back into your beds—this instant, do you hear me? Never awaken your father when he’s in a deep sleep.”

The trio hung their heads and sheepishly obeyed their mother. They were followed by an equally contrite Davy, who slunk underneath Duncan's bed. As Duncan got back into bed himself, he felt foolish. They must have been seeing things...something that would not be out of the ordinary in this family, even for the dogs among them.

The family is daft, Duncan thought as he drifted off into his own land of dreams.