Katie Morag and the Family Tree Katie Morag

# Katie Morag

# Run away across the ocean

# Katie Morag

# Over the sea to Struay

# Katie Morag

# Run away across the ocean

# Katie Morag

# Over the seat to Struay. #

'My name is Katie Morag McColl and I live on the island of Struay.

'I suppose it's quite wee, but it's ginormous to me,

'and everyone looks out for me

'when I'm out and about having my adventures.'

# Katie Morag. #

My teacher, Mr Mackie, loves giving us projects.

And the latest one sounded really fun.

He wanted everyone in the class to draw a family tree,

with a different branch for each of our relations.

I thought it would be simple, but that was before I started.

I knew all the easy ones, like grannies and grandads

and big boy cousins.

But there are other people, whose names I just couldn't remember.

What I really needed was some help.

Katie Morag? There's a letter here for Granny Island,

from Australia.

Will you take it over for me?

And Granny Island was the perfect person to help me.

Oh-ho-ho-ho, yes! I remember.

Och, you and Issy were so sweet.

Always playing together.

Hello, Granny Island.

I got a let...ter for you, all the way from Australia.

Oh, well. It's probably from my cousin, Elspeth.

This must be Katie Morag.

Oh, Katie Morag, this is Donald John Cameron,

he used to live on Struay a long, long time ago.

Delighted to meet ya.

You don't sound like you're from Struay.

Ah, that's because I left when I was, er, about your age.

We went to live in Canada, in a town called Vancouver.

Oh, I remember us all saying goodbye to you at the pier.

Oh, what's that you're carrying, Katie Morag?

'I didn't really want to show it,

'because so far, my family tree only went as far as Struay,

'which wasn't very far at all.'

Oh? Rather not, eh?

KATIE SIGHS We're doing a family tree for school.

Oh, now, would you look at that!

Donald John has come all the way from Canada

to do exactly the same thing!

He wants to find out all about his ancestors.

Mine's not very good.

I don't have anyone on it from Australia, or Canada.

Well, let's see if we can find somebody else to add to it,

shall we?

Granny Island knew so much about our families,

I don't know how she managed to remember it all.

Before I knew it, my family tree was a family forest.

Are all these people related to me?

And that's only the half of it!

I forgot to give Katie Morag the new glow plug for your tractor.

Issy!

I'd know that face anywhere.

Donald John?

Why, is it really you?

He's just arrived over from Canada.

You look well, Issy! As bonny as ever.

Your mum and Donald John went to the same primary school.

She cried for a week after he left for Canada.

Er, that will do, Mum.

A week? I cried for a month, ha-ha!

Oh, well, you must come over and have tea with us

and meet Peter and the rest of the family.

That would be nice.

So, er, I guess I'd better get going.

Nice to see you, Issy.

OK, Don-Joe.

You could have warned me!

LAUGHTER 'I love it when people come for tea,

'Because Dad always serves up a yummy-licious spread.

'But this particular tea-time was a little different.'

It's not polite to stare, Katie Morag.

(But your hair's gone all funny!) 'And it wasn't just her hair.

'Mr Cameron kept making jokes and Mum kept laughing at them.'

What do you call a sheep with no head and no legs?

-A cloud!

-Ha-ha-ha!

'Even ones that weren't funny!'

Hey! Don-Joe should come camping with us up

at Lobster Point tomorrow!

-Oh, no, I don't want to intrude.

-Fair enough!

-No, really, it's f...

No, really. We go up there quite a lot, don't we, Peter?

It's our favourite camping place.

Well, if you're sure?

I was going to take a hiking trip up there as part of my family research.

'Even Dad started acting weirdly.

'I couldn't work out WHY he wanted to dress up,

'he's absolutely fine the way he is.'

What do you think?

That bad, eh?

Back in a minute.

Er, No!

Isabel?

'And we charged through the woods...'

ISOBEL LAUGHS

-'Ah, and see over there?'

-'Uh-huh.'

'That's where we go.'

Everything all right, Peter?

Only I couldn't help noticing a familiar fragrance,

something fresh with a hint of mystery!

And would that be a groovy new shirt you're wearing?

You think it's groovy?

Is there something you want to tell me?

Isobel's friend, Donald John.

Ah, yes.

He's very nice, and all,

but he keeps going on about the big company he runs in Vancouver

and his fancy boat and all the countries he's visited.

And?

And here I am, still living on Struay, still running a shop.

I know plenty of people who took the fast lane,

ended up living the high life in Inveraray and Oban.

These places burn a man out by the time he's 50!

You're far better off here in Struay where the air is sharp

and the water's fresh and folk can hear themselves thinking.

I'm not sure that Isobel would agree.

Of course she would agree, man.

She's got everything a person could need.

You reckon?

She's got you and your little family and all of us.

That's far better than any fancy big boat.

BABY SQUALLS

'Donald John said he wanted to go surfing.

'And Dad said he would go, too.

'He'd never done it before,

'but he reckoned it wouldn't be that hard to learn.'

Never mind, Peter. It just takes a little bit of practice.

'It was all a bit peculiar. But if I didn't know better,

'I'd even say that Dad was pretending to be someone else.

'I don't think I'll ever understand grown-ups.'

Would you like a match?

No, thank you.

Are you sure?

I said no, thank you!

Ahh!

'After we had supper,

'Dad and Mr Cameron had a look at the old ruined croft.

'It looked to me like Mr Cameron was sad about something.'

I always imagined I'd come back here one day,

rebuild this place and settle down.

Rebuild this place?

Get married, raise a family.

Why would you rebuild THIS place?

Eh? Well, because it belonged to my family.

-No, it didn't.

-Sure it did.

It belonged to my great-great-grandfather.

It belonged to MY great-great-grandfather.

Everyone knows that.

Afraid you're mistaken there.

Er, afraid I'm not.

-You are.

-I'm not.

-You are.

-Not.

-You are.

-I'm NOT!

-You are...

'And on and on they went, until it was nearly dark.

'I couldn't help wondering why they were arguing about something

-'that isn't even THERE any more.'

-..You are!

-Not!

'The next day, I went along to

'Granny Island's to finish off my family tree.

'We even got as far back as my great-great granny,

'Granny Two-Teeth.'

What happened to all the rest of her teeth?

Too much of a liking for treacle toffees, I believe.

What's troubling you?

Do you think Dad likes Mr Cameron?

Why do you ask?

Dad turned all weird, as if he wants to do everything Mr Cameron can do.

Ah, well, it's a funny thing, isn't it?

Sometimes when people are a bit different to us,

it makes us feel, och, a wee bit unsettled.

Jealous, even.

And Mr Cameron, what about him?

Well, I think he might feel a bit the same.

Even more so, but your dad can't see that, yet.

-I thought they'd never met before.

-Who?

Dad and Mr Cameron.

Oh-ho-ho! Would you look at that!

'Mr Mackie asked Mr Cameron to come to the school to do a talk

'on his life in Canada and about the family research he'd been doing.

'It was really interesting.'

And these are the ruins of a cottage

that my great-great grandfather used to live in.

-I object!

-Peter!

That cottage belonged to MY great-great-grandfather!

-No, it didn't!

-Yes, it did!

-No, it didn't!

-Yes, it did.

-Didn't!

As a matter of fact, you're both wrong.

And you're also both right.

Take a look at this. Katie Morag found it.

You see, Peter's great-grandfather

and Donald John's great-grandfather were brothers.

Now, that means that the great-great-grandfather

was the exact same person!

Which means...

We're cousins!

Second cousins! Four times removed, actually.

But who's counting.

This is amazing.

There are not many places on Earth as beautiful

as where we are right now.

Hmmm. I suppose I see it so often, I sometimes take it for granted.

I spent a long time looking for the next big thing, Peter.

Never satisfied with what I have, always moving, moving on.

Must get very tiring, after a while?

I never realised until right now,

that what I was searching for wasn't in front of me,

it was behind me.

My perfect childhood, right here, on this island.

I suppose I got lucky.

Peter! Can you come and read Liam his bedtime story?

OK, sweetheart.

Well, here's to good fortune.

Long may it continue.

Slainte!

'Eventually, the time came to say goodbye to Donald John.

'Or, cousin Don-Joe, as we call him now.'

Bye, little Issy.

And it was really great to meet you and the little 'uns, Katie Morag.

Until next we meet.

You know, I'm really sorry to be leaving this place.

But it won't go so long until I'm back.

'So everyone was happy.

'Mum was happy because she had found her childhood friend again.

'Dad was happy because he had an interesting new cousin,

'though he said he wouldn't swap lives with him

'for all the porridge in Portree.

'That night, Sacha, Agnes and me

'got a giant map and stuck our names in all the different places

'our relations lived, and we nearly ran out off flags!

'And that was just the ones we knew about.

'Struay may only be a little place,

'but our family trees cover the whole, entire world.'