Hercules the Bear--A Gentle Giant in the Family by Maggie Robin

Author:Maggie Robin [Maggie Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784189273
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE FOURTH DAY

The fourth day dawned wild and blustery, the rain beating a tattoo on the roof of the coach. Until now the weather, with the exception of the wind and rain on the first day, had been fair – and my thoughts turned to Hercules and to how he hated the rain, preferring in bad weather to stay lying in his den listening to music that filtered through from the kitchen or the bar, and only venturing out to see if the day looked like brightening up.

The previous evening Duncan had told us, not meaning to worry us further but to ensure that the fullest possible search was made, that there were twelve large hidden crevasses on the island of Wiay. These were not easy to find, and known only to the local shepherds and fishermen. They were covered by a thick layer of heather, and hence invisible to the eye, but once the heather was parted, or any real pressure was placed on it, the ground fell away in a sheer drop some 150 feet to the sea below. He thought it best that we checked these crevasses to see if Hercules had fallen into one of them.

Although we knew Hercules to be cautious, we realised that there was the chance of his having made some ghastly mistake, and so we resolved to spend the day checking the crevasses, and rechecking the small lochs on the centre of the island. We could not rule out any possibility – and we were haunted by the thought that Hercules might be lying suffering at the bottom of a gully or crevasse.

The day started along the now familiar lines. Once we had split into groups, we began to comb the island again.

That day I was walking with an islander called Davie Shepherd, who was always ready with a smile and encouragement, and would produce endless sweets from a large bag he carried with him. Davie was full of theories as to where Hercules could be and we tried them one by one, finishing with the crevasses, which was no easy task. After that we had exhausted even his fertile imagination.

We went on to search all the tiny islands surrounding Wiay. Each one, small though it might be, had to be thoroughly investigated, for we were determined to leave no stone unturned.

During the afternoon the seas mounted, and we had to stick close to the coast. As we made our way back to Peter’s Port, the fishermen who were with us started to talk of the Minch, the formidable stretch of water between the Inner and Outer Hebrides, famed for being one of the most unpredictable in the British Isles. They talked of how the treacherous currents had claimed many fishing boats, and, though they did not say so, it was clear they felt that Hercules might have made for the only visible land mass – Skye on the other side of the Minch.

On a clear day, such as it had been when Hercules first disappeared, the cliffs of Skye were just visible on the horizon.

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