Chapter 14

Donnie's radio-alarm woke him up at his usual time but he lay for a few minutes feeling his body complaining about the demands he had made on it the night before. Rory's cold nose burrowing under the duvet eventually got him moving and after a rejuvenating shower, he took the Collie for a long walk.

When he returned, Donnie examined the suit, shirt and tie he had worn for his political debut and found them dirty, torn and badly stained with blood.

"What's the price of a suit compared to saving the lives of those people? How many families have been spared the heartache of losing a loved one because of last night?"

With those thoughts, Donnie felt pride in his service to Beira.

"I wonder if I'll hear from Vivien? I didn't even have time to find out where she's from – although her accent was definitely Scottish. I wonder how she ended up in the service of her goddess? I'm also surprised that she was sent to help those people given her gift has a long way to go before it's fully developed. Last night must have been quite an ordeal for her too – I'm pretty sure she'll phone. In fact, maybe she was only sent there so I could meet her?"

Surprisingly, the breakfast TV news wasn't reporting anything that Donnie could connect to his service for the goddess the previous evening and he assumed that the crash hadn't been shared with the media yet. That sometimes happened when families had to be contacted first.

Morning lectures were routine and he shared one with Katie just before lunch.

"Hi, hunk," she greeted him, bussing his lips with a brief kiss. "Wait for me at the end of the lecture; we're having lunch with Heather."

Donnie felt pleased at that. It was good that his girlfriend and his other close friend got on well together and it had been several days since he had even had sight of Heather.

After the lecture, Katie led off in the direction of the Atrium Student Centre which was at the heart of the campus. The centre featured a fast food bar, more substantial eatery, shops, library, cinema and theatre. It was a natural place for students to meet up with each other.

"I said we'd get her in Haldane's" said Katie and they made their way into the large cafeteria.

Heather had already purchased food and had grabbed a table by the floor to ceiling windows that gave a view to the outside. Donnie and Katie waited in line to get their own meals and then joined the bubbly blonde.

They had barely settled themselves when Heather hugged Katie's arm and demanded she tell her everything about the night before.

"So come on, tell all! Was our boy a hit?"

"Oh shit, you should have been there, Heather. He's got all these bigwigs there to see him, including Alex Salmond, and he owned them! Totally awesome!" Katie gushed.

Heather actually squealed when she heard that the First Minister had joined by VC and she ordered Katie to tell her all the details. Her questioning of the other girl seemed to have neither rhyme nor reason so far as Donnie could tell.

"Did he talk to Salmond?

"What did you let him wear?

"Did the presentation go over well?

"How good was his delivery?

"Err, when you're finished dissecting my performance, can I just point out that I'm actually here," Donnie groused.

"We'll get to you eventually," Heather dismissed him with a grin. "First we need to cover the serious girl stuff."

"I'm telling you, he had them hanging on every word. He was prowling around that stage like a big cat and when he finished they were up on their feet giving him a standing ovation!"

"Oh goddess, I bet you were one hot Chica!" Heather observed and Donnie shook his head as he saw Heather stroke Katie's bare arm.

Donnie's mobile rang and he fished it out of his pocket. He looked at the incoming number and didn't recognise it at all.

"Maybe it's Vivien?"

He could see that the girls were ignoring him still, as they continued to rake over details of the night before. Donnie thumbed the key to accept the call.

"Hello."

"Hi, is that Donald McGregor?"

"It depends who wants him," Donnie joked.

"Oh, sorry. My name is Anthony Brown; I'm a Special Advisor to the First Minister."

Unconsciously, Donnie sat up straighter in his chair for some reason.

"Hi, Anthony. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"The First Minister has asked me to set up a meeting with you. He's back in the country on Monday. Are you available anytime on Monday evening?"

Donnie analysed that. Alex Salmond would only get back from India on Monday, but he wanted to see him the same day?

"This is getting surreal!" he thought to himself.

Trying to think about what he had on, Donnie covered his phone and interrupted the girls.

"Katie? Have we got anything planned for Monday?" he asked.

"No, why?"

"Oh just someone asking me to meet up," Donnie replied. His answer seemed to satisfy Katie and the girls sparked up their conversation again. Donnie guessed it was getting rude when their heads moved closer together. He switched his attention back to the phone.

"Sorry about that, I was just checking to see if I was free. I can make Monday night. What time and where?" he asked.

"I can squeeze you in for half an hour if you can be in Edinburgh for 19:30. The FM has a dinner with some University Deans, but he could see you before that."

Donnie wasn't surprised at the ad-hoc arrangement or the short amount of time he would have, the First Minister was a very busy man after all.

"Where?" he asked.

"Do you know the New Club?"

Donnie had never heard of it and the Special Advisor explained how to get there.

"Ask for me and I'll get you inside."

Donnie wound up the call and turned his attention back to the girls. He caught the tail-end of a comment from Heather to Katie.

" ... rubbing your hot little red-haired box? Is that how you fell asleep?"

Katie was squirming, her face flushed.

"He got you so hot you were dripping, weren't you? You thought about his hard cock and you fingered yourself raw!"

Heather had her mouth close to Katie's ear and she was still stroking the American's arm.

"Hey, are you coming on to my girlfriend," Donnie joked.

When Heather turned her head slightly to look at him, Donnie gulped and realised his joke might have been misplaced. Her green eyes had that smoky look that he had seen before.

"She is kinda hot. I'm just picturing her pretty little red muff and wondering if I've got her motor running yet," Heather breathed.

Katie's eyes were slightly hooded and Heather was clearly getting to her with the little game she was playing.

"You're serious," Donnie stammered.

"What? You think the goddess hasn't taught me about how good girl on girl can be?" Heather teased Donnie.

Another couple sat down at their table at that moment and it was as if a spell had been broken. Heather moved away from Katie a little and her tone became almost normal.

"So what are you guys doing for Christmas and New Year?"

Katie took a few moments to adjust to the dramatic change in atmosphere and conversation, so Donnie responded to Heather's question.

"Katie's going back to the States for the holidays and I'm joining my family on the farm. How about you?"

Donnie wasn't particularly impressed with the New Club. There was certainly an olde worlde feel about the place – with wood panelling, antiques and huge oil painting that were several hundred years old. The view across Princes' Street Gardens and Edinburgh Castle was impressive, but the club seemed an anachronism.

Anthony Brown led him through the club and into an ante-room. The First Minister was seated at a table going through a pile of papers with an aide. He looked up and acknowledged Donnie's presence then returned his attention to the work he was trying to get through.

"He's running a wee bit late," Brown indicated, somewhat redundantly.

Donnie kicked his heels for a further ten minutes before the aide gathered up the papers, put them in a sturdy briefcase and left the room. The First Minister indicated that Donnie should take a seat.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," said Salmond.

"It's not a problem, First Minister," Donnie replied.

"Oh, so it's 'First Minister' now? You were quick to be familiar in calling me Alex on Thursday night!" Salmond chided him.

"Ah, but I was playing a part on Thursday," Donnie laughed. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be disrespectful. That's not the kind of person I am."

""Alex is fine, believe me. I thought your performance the other night was admirable. Your delivery is good and there's no doubt you have a presence about you," said Salmond. "But that's not why I wanted to see you.

"I want to offer you a place on the internal party focus group that we're using to help finalise our policies for the manifesto. I understand you're doing politics at Stirling, this could be a big help. I also happen to think you'll add value to the process.

"You're down to deliver leaflets in the run up to the election, but I'd like to change that too. I'd like you to shadow me on the campaign. You wouldn't be doing very much, but it would be a unique insight, don't you think?"

Donnie's head was spinning. What he was being offered seemed beyond belief. The First Minister mistook his hesitation as doubt and tried to calm the youngster.

"You don't need to answer straight away. Take some time to think about it," he offered.

Donnie suddenly worried himself that he was about to blow a golden opportunity and responded accordingly.

"No, no. I'm sorry; you just took me by surprise. I couldn't turn down such a fantastic offer. Where do I sign-up?" he asked.

Salmond smiled his satisfaction as he stood and offered Donnie his hand.

"He offered you what?" Katie asked, amazed at the opportunity Donnie was being given.

"I know, it's hard to believe isn't it? I'll be right at the heart of everything right up to and including election night!"

"Alex Salmond has certainly guaranteed you'll get your degree! How could you fail with experience like that?" Katie asked.

They were in the VW Polo on their way to Craig Bheithe farm for Katie's first meeting with Donnie's parents. Donnie had also promised to take her to Ardbrecknish to see how the construction of the wheat facility was coming along.

Douglas and Mairi McGregor took to Katie immediately and she was made to feel right at home. Rory was also like a pup again, being allowed the free run of his old haunts.

Katie was impressed by the setting for the wheat facility, but the site itself looked like nothing more than a very big, deep, hole in the ground. Donnie could see that the first concrete had already been poured, but he too was disappointed in progress.

"You are right, Dòmhnall. This is too slow. You need to advance the programme if each 'silo' is going to take this long. We need thirty such silos over the next four years. You will need to get more started now."

Donnie was well used to Beira popping up inside his head and Katie didn't notice a thing.

"Unfortunately, goddess, I don't have enough capital to accelerate the building yet."

"I will consider this, Dòmhnall. The timetable cannot slip!"

The end of semester holidays arrived with no further drama for Donnie. Heather hadn't repeated her advances towards Katie and Donnie began to believe it had all been teasing after all.

The goddess hadn't called on him either and Donnie began to worry that there was some timeline in play that he didn't know about and that it was slipping. There had been no media coverage of the plane crash incident either and no contact from Vivien Dunn. That continued to nag away at Donnie.

The only non-routine things he had to deal with were several 'away days' with the SNP where Donnie took part in the work to begin to hone the policies that would go into the election manifesto.

With studies over for the holidays, Donnie drove Katie to the airport to catch her flight home. They were comfortable enough as a couple that they didn't worry about the three week separation. Katie did cling a little and shed a few tears but there was no major drama.

"Have a good Christmas and New Year," Donnie said as he gave her a final kiss. "Your present will be waiting for you when you get back."

Arriving back at Craig Bheithe, Donnie had an immediate surprise.

"We've swapped bedrooms," his mother told him. "I hope you don't mind, but it seemed silly to leave Kieran in the smaller bedroom while yours lay empty."

Donnie just laughed and hugged his mom.

"Of course I don't mind! He is the older brother after all and as you say, why waste all that space while I'm away at Uni.?"

"We were planning on going out to bag a few pheasant tomorrow," said Donnie's father. "Want to come with us?"

"Try and stop me!" Donnie replied, his enthusiasm quite clear.

Donnie loved all things to do with the Earth, but unlike some of those 'activists' who joined various groups, he was neither a vegetarian nor against killing animals for food. Nature had her way of trying to maintain a balance and as far as Donnie was concerned, predation was part and parcel of that. He also enjoyed hunting and the prospect of being out in the cold December morning with his own trusty shotgun was appealing.