Chapter 10

They stacked everything on the hard sand and just walked about at first. This was the second time Andrew had knowingly been somewhere that had been used in a film, the first being the shore at St. Andrews used for the surf running scene in Chariots of Fire. Maybe it was because it was so recent but this was so much more vivid and there was no doubt that this was the right beach. They saw the location were Peter Reigert and Peter Capaldi had walked back and forth, the location where Ben’s shack had been placed, it was so easy to picture. In fact it was a fraction spooky how everything was just like in the film. But all three of them felt it and walked back and forth themselves, unconsciously mimicking the actions in the movie. Once they had soaked up the moment they started to get organised. There were an endless series of important moments, big moments in the day, and going forward.

The first one was when Tony opened a case that he had carried from the car. Andrew had been too laden down himself to notice but Tony carefully opened and assembled a home video camera. The geek in Andrew was impressed although they were both prepping so he didn’t stop and examine it. Later Tony explained he had seen an advert for it in a camera magazine and decided to buy it. It was an expensive impulse purchase. He also produced a small battery powered cassette player, nothing fancy and with minimal output wattage. But he had recorded the Local Hero music, repeatedly, on a tape and so as they moved about the beach photographing Maggie the music of Mark Knopfler quietly accompanied them.

The shoot with Maggie lasted two hours, a few minutes more. The first shots were just her moving up and down the beach, Maggie wearing both her coats but with a huge smile on her face. This was repeated several times with first the coats open and then discarded. It was overcast, and the windy was more breezy than blustery, but she didn’t complain about the cold. The fourth time down the beach she had removed the boots and socks and she was completely naked. She reached the edge of the water and was spinning and pirouetting almost lost in the moment. There had been no direction from Andrew, Maggie had just paraded back and forth, letting Andrew capture the scene, out to sea with the islands of Eigg, Rum and Skye all in the background, or back towards the dunes and the rising land behind. Andrew recreated the view towards where the shack had stood as well as the shot towards the end of beach where Mac, played by Peter Reigert, had met the Rev MacPherson. The entire first hour there was not a soul in sight.

After all the strolling shots they took a break. Tony had set up the windbreak so that it was like a letter ‘C’ shielding the person within from all but the most temperamental gusts. Maggie redressed and nursed a cup of tea.

“The two coats are great. I love how they keep my legs warm, or at least less cold.”

Once Maggie had warmed up, Andrew promptly froze her again. Two small fingers of rocks thrust out into the bay. It was here that Reigert left his watch in the movie as he scrambled about in the rock pools. Andrew had talked about taking some shots of Maggie in a rock formation and so they just decided to do it right there. This was the second surprise of the day. Tony had given Andrew the heads-up that Maggie was slowly pushing her boundaries and to not be surprised. It wasn’t at the forefront of his thoughts when Maggie stood with her back to Andrew. Rather than keep her legs together as normal she spread her legs wider and arched her back. A standard glamour pose seen in any magazine. But a very different pose from Maggie. Andrew only paused in surprise for a second or two before he returned to shooting pictures. At first Maggie was looking off into the distance but then she peeked back over her shoulder and Andrew timed his shoot perfectly. He caught the wink, not just in real-time through the viewfinder but on film as well. Maggie wasn’t lying back with her legs spread, not an option on a rock promontory, but there was definitely a relaxing of her previously rigid rules. Two rolls of 36 shoots captured her cavorting within the rocks. A second, very significant moment.

What Andrew had also realised was that Tony wasn’t just filming Maggie. He was in fact filming Andrew and Maggie, making sure he captured the scene of Andrew photographing her. He could take video of Maggie on his own any time he wanted. Andrew was an important part of the scene he was recording. When they finished Tony handed her the coats again and they walked back to the windbreak. The effect of the weather was cumulative and Maggie tried to warm up but could not as much as before. She drank more tea before disappearing behind a dune for a moment. When she came back she had news.

“We have a visitor.”

She pointed to the north end of the beach and there was an old man slowly walking an old dog. The two of them were heading towards them. The devil tapped Andrew on the shoulder. He stood and jogged up to speak to the old man.

“Morning, lovely day.”

“Aye. Don’t see many people up here at this time of year.”

“We saw the film and wanted to see the location.”

The man grimaced.

“Place was bloody heaving all summer. You came at the right time of year to avoid the crowds. Mind, it is not much of a day to be sitting around on the beach.”

“We have been taking photographs for a couple of hours.”

“Two hours of photographs? It is bonny here but two hours?”

Andrew smiled and started to reel him in.

“The location has been secondary to the model.”

The man might be pushing 80 but he still had a smile on his face.

“She looks right pretty.”

“Oh she is. Would you like to see how pretty?”

The man looked at him suspiciously.

“What do you mean?”

“She is a nude model. That is what we have been shooting all morning, nudes.”

“Fuck off, you are kidding me.”

Andrew shook his head.

“Not a word of a lie.”

“Blimey. Here? In December?”

Andrew nodded.

“I’ll be right back, stay here a minute.”

Andrew walked back to the windbreak.

“What were you saying Andrew?”

“I was telling him about our morning.”

Maggie’s mouth fell open.

“Really.”

Andrew nodded.

“He called you right pretty. I told him I would see if you would show him.”

Fourteen emotions played across Maggie’s face.

“You shouldn’t have said that Andrew.”

He smiled, even though his heart was beating fast. He didn’t want to make Maggie mad, or worse disappointed.

“It is one old man, he looks about 80. Don’t you think he would enjoy seeing you walk up the beach to him. Don’t you think you would enjoy walking up the beach to him, being seen.”

Andrew just stood waiting, watching Maggie processing it. Tony caught his eye and winked, although he hadn’t said anything.

“I really hate how well you know me, you bastard.”

And right there Maggie undid the two coats and dropped them at her feet on the sand. Then with a smile and a wink she sashayed up the beach towards the old man. Tony was recording the whole scene and Andrew got several shots of the old man’s shocked, then happy face. Andrew trailed behind Maggie, snapping away occasionally. When Maggie got alongside the man, she leaned over and delicately kissed his cheek. Then she carried on walking past the old man who turned and watched her walk away. Finally he turned back to look at Andrew who caught the happy, astonished look perfectly. Maggie was no longer crystal sharp in the distance but she was still clearly a naked woman in the background. Tony carried her coats up to her and she came back down the beach and all three of them stood chatting to the old man, who was called Roddy.

“How am I going to get anyone to believe me when I tell them this tonight in the bar.”

They all laughed. This was definitely a ‘monster fish that got away’ story.

“What’s the name of your local?”

“The Morar Hotel.”

“And your surname?”

“Morrison, Roddy Morrison.”

“Well Roddy, you spend the next week telling your story, and have all the locals not believing it. I will send a couple of prints to you, care of the hotel. Monica kissing you on the cheek maybe?”

Roddy’s smile was vying with Maggie’s as to who looked the happier.

“Open the envelope at the bar, that should shut everybody up. And you get bought drinks all night at Hogmanay on the story of how you met the prettiest model in Dundee on Camusdarach Beach.”

Roddy tottered off back up the beach at a lot heartier lick than when he came down it. The story would be all round the village before tea time that very day. They walked back to the windbreak to start to pack up.

“We need to chat on the journey back. It is fucking freaky how you understand me. I went through so many emotions but then realised that I was so excited I was trembling. Going on a shoot with you is like a drug Andrew.”

It didn’t take a Cambridge undergraduate to realise that Maggie was seriously horny. Andrew sat down in the windbreak and looked at Tony.

“Come back when you are finished and help me carry everything back to the car.”

Tony looked stunned for maybe half a second before grabbing Maggie’s hand and rushing back to the car. It was an impressive 17 minutes before he came back down to the beach. He pulled Andrew up to his feet and gave him an awkward man hug.

“Boyfriend privileges are the best.”

And dodged back out of the way of Andrew’s swipe.

“Mags is right you know Andrew. It is seriously weird how you know what will turn her on. I mean for fuck’s sake, I am 32 I thought my days of doing it in the back seat of the car were over. That was the first time in 13 years.”

Andrew laugh as they dismantled the windbreak while Tony talked and then they staggered back to the car overburdened with bags and cases. Maggie saw them and came and helped. The car was toasty warm when Andrew finally sat down, in the passenger seat this time. Maggie leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

“That was, oh I don’t know magical seems over the top but goodness me. I shudder to think what is going to happen as we work our way through all these locations and shoots. That was one old man.”

Maggie shook her head.

“It is probably best that you are away more than half the year. I thought I had a dirty little mind, but you have a dirty big mind. Thank you Andrew. In case you hadn’t realised, I loved this morning.”

Tony turned the car around and they headed back down to Arisaig to the Crofter’s Rest for a pub lunch. Maggie had pulled on jeans and jumper and didn’t seem to have suffered from her freezing morning. The homemade stew was excellent and they sat warming themselves in front of the fire.

“How did you know?”

“I didn’t, what I knew was that you were my friend and that even if you were mad at me you would forgive me for suggesting it. But I watched your face in the rear view mirror on the way up. I can tell you crave the interaction. One old man on a beach you are unlikely to ever come back to. What was the harm? He will remember Monica from Dundee for the rest of his life. The location, the fact he was on his own, his age, it was a nice safe way for you to see what it was like.”

“Like I said, it is disconcerting to discover you understand these desires of mine better than I do at times.”

“You are a story teller Andrew.”

Tony’s sudden announcement had the other two looking at him in surprise.

“There is a story to most of your shoots, a progression.”

Tony stopped.

“Sorry I sort of blurted that out. I was thinking the way that you got the old man’s name and where to send the pictures. He will tell the story, the locals will all scoff and then the photos will arrive, boom, there is the punchline. I suppose all photographers have a progression. But there is a creative side to you, your understanding of woman’s clothes and how they would look on Maggie, and in a shoot, the visuals that you create during the shoot. Maybe the better way to say it is that you are very creative.”