'Can you hear them?' Charlie was near hysteria. 'They're watching us. They're talking about us.'
'I can't hear anything,' Lorna said. 'Keep calm, Charlotte.' She sharpened her voice. 'Charlotte Gunn! Listen to me! There's nobody here except us!'
We were silent again except for our laboured breathing. I heard the burn talking, its voice low and sinister. 'Be careful' it said as it surged over the rocks. I heard the heather whisper as it blew this way and that. 'They're coming, they're coming for you, they're coming,' it said. I heard the wind calling my name. 'Brenda Kirk, Brenda Kirk.' Behind everything, I heard the deep grumble of An Cailleach as she extended her hands to enclose me and pull me in. 'You're mine,' she said. 'You're mine Brenda Kirk.'
'No!' I shouted out loud. 'You're no
