Chapter 12

Donnie used his computer to search for a flat to rent close to the University campus. The town of Bridge-of-Allan was close by and from his research it seemed to be a pretty highbrow area. That was reflected in the rental prices people were looking for, but with a decent income stream from the energy licensing scheme, Donnie didn't see that as a problem.

There were a number of apartments that looked as if they might be suitable and he narrowed his choice down to three. Using his mobile phone, Donnie made arrangements to view each of the properties and then let his parents know that he was going out to look at them. He drove the little VW Polo to the first address he had written down and met the agent.

"It has two bedrooms, gas central-heating, double-glazing throughout and you can see it has a full range of modern appliances," the agent told him as they walked through the apartment.

"Is there any problem with having a dog stay here with me?" Donnie asked.

The agent winced, seeing his hope of a rental and some commission disappearing.

"I'm afraid not. The owner's instructions are quite explicit, no pets allowed," he said.

Donnie thanked the man for his time and left to drive to the second possibility. This was more modern than the first and was stylish in a kind of Scandinavian way inside.

"It's like walking into IKEA," Donnie suggested to the agent.

"Yes, it is very fresh, isn't it?" the agent replied.

"No, that's not what I meant," Donnie corrected her. "It's more ... sterile, minimalist, I don't know, kind of ... unlived in. It doesn't feel like a home."

The agent scowled at Donnie's description.

"The property is only two years old and is decorated to a very high standard. All of the appliances are new and as for it feeling like a home, isn't that for you to do with your own personal effects, your own personal touches?"

Donnie shook his head at her attempts to sell the apartment to him. It just didn't 'feel' right for him. He asked about pets anyway.

"Would there be any problem with me having my dog here with me?"

"No, that wouldn't be an issue. In fact, the way the apartment is decorated would lend itself to having a pet. It would be pretty easy to clean up after your dog, don't you think?"

Donnie snorted. He couldn't quite believe the extent that this woman would go to in trying to convince him to change his mind about the decor.

"I've got some other properties to look at," Donnie told her. "Can I reach you on this number later to let you know if I'm interested?"

The agent nodded and Donnie left her in the apartment as he made his way back to the Polo and searched for his last property. He had purposefully kept this property until last, as it was the one he had been most attracted to on the Internet. It was closest to the University campus and had a good selection of shops, bars and restaurants close by.

"Fully furnished, two good-sized bedrooms," the agent gave his spiel.

"Any problems having my dog here?" Donnie asked.

"No, pets are fine. Here's the kitchen. Everything that you might expect – split-cooker, fridge-freezer, microwave and washer-dryer. Gas central heating, double-glazing, oh and it has cable TV and high-speed broadband already connected. As you can see, the TV is flat screen. It's HD as well."

Donnie took a seat on one of the two leather sofas and liked how comfortable it felt.

"That's a good word to sum up the apartment really. It does feel comfortable," he thought.

"I'll take it," Donnie told the agent.

While driving back to the farm, Donnie thought again about why he had decided not to suggest to Heather that she simply share accommodation with him rather than move into the halls of residence. The apartment had two bedrooms after all.

"No, I'm making the right decision here. Heather needs her own space and I need mine. She has her goddess to serve and I don't want to cramp her style. We'll see enough of each other as it is. Living together could just spoil a great friendship."

Moving to the University took three trips in the car, one trip to shift Heather's stuff to the halls of residence and two for Donnie's own gear and Rory of course. Heather liked his apartment immediately, but she gave no sign of being upset that Donnie hadn't offered her the second bedroom. Rory took a few minutes to wander through the apartment sniffing here and there before he chose a spot in front of the TV and lay down for a sleep.

"Rory seems quite at home?" Heather noted.

"So do you," Donnie observed. "Come on lazy-bones; give me a hand to bring the last of my stuff in from the car."

Once everything was put away, Donnie boiled the kettle to make them both a cup of coffee. Heather was still exploring and had found the doors in the conservatory that led out to the small garden that was part of the apartment rental.

"Cool," she called. "You've got a garden and a barbeque!"

Donnie brought the two cups of coffee out into the garden and handed one to Heather. They both sat on foldaway chairs and just enjoyed the afternoon sunshine for a few moments. Eventually Heather asked a question.

"Are you going to do anything with it?"

She swept her arm in front of her to indicate that she was talking about the garden. There was the patio of flagstones that they were sitting on then a patch of lawn which was surrounded on three sides by a bed perhaps four yards wide. The bed was spotted with weeds but nothing else and that was what had inspired her question.

"It's too late for planting now, but I'll prepare the bed, get some good organic material dug in and have it ready for planting in the spring," Donnie replied. "This time next year I'll be cooking you a meal with stuff fresh from this garden."

Heather smiled at the thought, and then moved on to a different subject.

"Aren't you worried that you'll miss out on part of the whole 'University experience' thing by living off campus? Just think, if there's a spontaneous party one night, you won't know a thing about it!" she teased.

"I'm planning on spending most of my nights studying, so being able to avoid the distraction of student parties sounds fine by me. I managed to get Stirling to let me do a combined honours course, politics and business. I really won't have time for parties," Donnie replied.

Donnie's work at school qualified him for something called APL (Accredited Prior Learning) which gave him credits that would count towards his degree. That meant that he would actually be starting his studies on the second year of his courses and he had a plan to cram the remaining three years worth of University into two so that he would be barely nineteen years of age when he graduated.

"With my whole life in front of me!"

The following day was taken up with registering at the University, orientation (a tour of the campus) and driving round to purchase the books that Heather would need for her course. Donnie already had all of his, having contacted students who had just finished the modules that he was about to start. He was sticking to his tried and tested method of study by reading ahead before the material would be covered at lectures.

After a full day, Donnie took Heather out for dinner at one of the small but high-quality restaurants in Bridge-of-Allan.

"The way you're talking about life in the halls of residence, this might be my last chance to spend time with you," Donnie joked over their starters.

"The way you have described your workload, it's more likely that you won't have time for me!" Heather fired back with a smile.

"Have you had to perform any services for Epona recently?" Donnie asked.

Heather's eyes took on a smoky look for a second and her smile grew large as she answered.

"Do you mean apart from the mind-blowing sex?"

"Well with Epona, I kind of thought that was a given," Donnie laughed.

"It's not all sex! She's asked me to look at some things for her, things that fit in with what my studies at the University will cover. Fertility mostly, but that figures since she is the fertility goddess," said Heather. "How about you? Has Beira called on you for anything recently? Just what is your service to the mother of all gods and goddesses?"

Donnie thought about Heather's question. He wasn't sure what the answer was. Heather's service seemed quite clear to her – Epona was the goddess of fertility – but what was the nature of his service to Beira?

He also remained somewhat perplexed about the way the goddesses didn't make it clear what was expected of him. There were other anomalies that puzzled him – sometimes the goddess told him she had watched events without intervening; sometimes she made cryptic remarks about things becoming clearer in time; and sometimes Beira did things that made no sense or she talked about his progress or development.

"If the goddess has the power to transport me through time and space, why transport me to Waziristan after Archie was discovered and shot? Why transport me into the Mississippi with barely enough time to save Alexander from drowning? Why not just fix it for Alasdair to father a child by intervening herself? It's almost like she's deliberately putting me into certain situations to test me or give me experience of something. Just what is she training me for?"

Realising that Heather was still waiting for an answer, Donnie tried to focus on his companion.

"You know, that's a really good question you've asked. I'm not altogether sure that I can answer it though. I think Beira is training me for something, but she won't tell me what it is. I sense that it's something big though. In fact, maybe that's why she won't tell me; maybe it's so big she thinks I'm not ready yet to be able to handle it."

"Hasn't she at least given you some clues?" Heather asked.

"Oh she's very good at giving clues. The only problem is that they are so cryptic, it leaves your head spinning trying to work them out."

"Was Beira behind the whole idea of Ardbrecknish? It sounds like an incredible set-up if it works and I know your father is mightily impressed with what you've dreamed up."

"Yeh, it was the goddess who gave me a vision of how to grow stuff this way and I suspect she heavily influenced me over the choice of where the site is. She told me that I wasn't to stint on the amount of land I purchased as the site would be getting bigger over time. That's one of her little clues for you!" Donnie snorted.

"What about the politics?" Heather asked. "Everybody thought you were going to do business or medicine at Uni, and then you surprise all of us by opting for politics. There was something strange about you that day when we were shopping and you signed up as a member of the SNP."

"Well spotted. That was the goddess too. She persuaded me that my immediate future at least will be in politics. That's where I've got the most chance of influencing things that really matter to me."

"Things like what?" Heather prodded.

Donnie held off answering as the waiter arrived with their main course dishes. Once the plates had been set in front of them, Donnie resumed the conversation.

"Things like our environment. Things like Scotland's independence and our economy. Things like security and safety for our people – safety from things like terrorism. The policies of the Scottish National Party fit the things I'm interested in pretty well and I'm happy being an activist for them. I'll probably try and drum up support amongst the students while I'm here at Stirling."

"Wow! It sounds like you're going to solve all of the world's problems. That's what you get when you serve the mother of all gods and goddesses! You are going to be busy!"

The next day saw the start of lectures and Donnie's studies began in earnest. His course had three modules for the year:

1. Scottish Politics and Government;

2. Stability and Disintegration of States; and

3. Contemporary Debates in European Security.

Because he was doing a combined honours degree, he also had two modules of business:

1. Competitive advantage; and

2. Finance.

The work wasn't too difficult and Donnie was enjoying it. One thing that was slightly irritating though was the fact that his fellow students were for the most part two or even three years older than he was. Already Donnie had noticed that many of them seemed to resent his presence. The girls in particular were openly hostile and took every opportunity to make cutting remarks about his age. Halfway through his first week, he experienced one such attack and had a meeting that had been delayed now for over a year.

"Who let the children in? What is this, a crèche?"

Donnie heard the comments from a girl sitting behind him in the sloping lecture room. He tried to ignore the remarks and got ready to listen to the lecturer.

"Hey, sonny. Shouldn't you be at school or something? This is a place where grown-ups come to study!"

The accent sounded American but the comments were similar to others he had already been subjected to in his first few days. Donnie didn't rise to the bait.

"You listen to me when I'm talking to you boy, show some respect for your elders!"

This last comment was accompanied by a poke to the back of Donnie's head. Irritated by the poke, Donnie turned to warn his attacker to back off and found himself face to face with the red-haired girl that Beira had shown him the previous summer. Her similarity to Katriona was stunning, but this time there was no doubt that this was the girl that Beira had told him he had missed out on meeting.

"Given her attitude, I'm beginning to think I would be better off not meeting her," he thought to himself for a moment.

"What? Are you looking at me little boy? Do you even know what to do with a woman? I'll bet you don't even have hair on your balls yet!"

This comment brought laughter from the girls who were sitting on either side of the red-head. Donnie realised he was staring at the girl and turned to face the front of the lecture room without saying a word. The red-head's taunts were cut short as the lecturer began the session.

Donnie's focus on the lecture was broken by the goddess' voice in his head.

"Yes, this is the girl you were supposed to meet in America last year. She's cute, isn't she? She's also special and this is the girl Epona warned you to keep your heart for."

Donnie couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Are you serious? She's a brat! Why would I consider having any kind of relationship with someone who behaves like that towards a perfect stranger?"

"Don't let first impressions fool you. The girls on this course have been trying to outdo each other in belittling you for one reason and one reason only. They all like you, but none of them can admit that because each of them thinks the others will laugh at them because of your age. Katherine is no different. She really likes you."

Donnie tried to digest that.

"They're saying snide things to me because they like me? How perverse is that?"

"You're not listening, Dòmhnall. They can't let their peers think they like you because you're too young in their eyes. Being part of a social group is very important to these girls and they won't risk doing anything they think will lose them their status in the group."

The comments continued throughout the week and Donnie was growing tired of it. He tried to ignore the attacks as best he could by submerging himself in his studies, but his concentration was suffering. He was also finding it harder and harder to get the red-haired girl out of his head.

"What did Beira call her again? Yeh, Katherine. That was it. She really does have a mouth on her!"

He arrived for his next lecture, Scottish Politics and Government, and heard the American accent sneer at him from behind once more.

"Hey, look. The rugrat is still here. Anybody know where his babysitter is?"

Laughter followed the comment and this time Donnie turned and smiled at the red-head before facing the front once more.

"What? Now you're getting fresh with me? Is that it? What do you take me for – a cradle robber? Only in your dreams little boy, only in your dreams."

The comments stopped when the lecture began only for Donnie to hear the goddess' angry voice.

"Why are you letting this continue? Haven't I told you that you are meant to be with this girl? Do you think that you can pick and choose when you will serve me? Ask her out. Today, Dòmhnall!"

"Goddess, this time you are asking too much! I could never give my heart to someone like her. Never!"

"I will remind you of that last remark sometime in the future, Dòmhnall. You will ask her out, today!"

Donnie fretted for the remainder of the lecture, but deep down he knew that he would have to do as the goddess had asked.

"Why is my service never easy?"

As the lecture ended, the students gathered their books and Donnie reached out to connect with his 'gifts'.

"I'm going to need all the help I can get to pull this off!"

When he turned, he saw that the red-head was already half way to the door of the lecture room. Without thinking, Donnie called out to her.

"Hey! Nighean ruadh, wait up!"

The red-head stopped and turned to look at him.

"What did you just call me?" she asked.

"Nighean ruadh. It means..."

"I know what it means," she cut him off.

By now Donnie had caught up with her and he could see her friends eyeing him with curiosity, no doubt waiting for the red-head's next put down. Still linked to the gifts of Tailtui and Epona, Donnie could feel confidence flooding through his body.

"I'll pick you up outside the halls of residence at seven," he told her and then walked past and continued on his way to the next lecture. None of the girls made any smart remarks.

Donnie was waiting outside the halls of residence ten minutes early. He was pretty sure the red-head would either fail to show up or that she would appear with her friends and carry on with the verbal abuse. He watched the entrance and kept glancing at the clock on the dashboard. To his surprise, the passenger door opened and the red-head slid in beside him.

"Hi. I didn't see you come out," Donnie offered lamely.

"That would be because I don't live in there. I've got a flat in the Alexander Court building."

"I should have guessed that."

Donnie could tell immediately that the girl's attitude was much different to what it normally was. Her head was still held at a haughty angle and there was no doubting the fire in her green eyes, but so far there were no attempts to belittle him. She was dressed in a woollen green dress that contrasted well with her hair and showed off an athletic figure.

"I don't believe I'm actually sitting here," she said. "I'm going to be a laughing stock when the girls find out."

"I'm sure you're more than capable of standing up for yourself, Katherine," Donnie suggested.

"You know my name."

"I do. Well, your first name anyway."

"I prefer Katie," she said, studying him. "Katie McGregor. There, you have my full name now."

"I can't say I'm surprised by that for some reason. I'm Donald, Donald McGregor or Donnie to my friends. Pleased to meet you."

Donnie offered his hand and Katie took it. He felt a spark of something ignite between them and from the look in Katie's eyes she had felt it too. They sat looking at each other for a few moments before Donnie reluctantly dropped her hand and started the car.