Ring of Bright Water

-PHONE RINGS Wilcox here.

-Colin?

-Hello, Graham.

-Want to know something?

-'What?'

-We're in the files. Well, I am. Under MER.

-Well, that's right, MER.

-You don't realise. I've just seen it.

I'm a code number with a life expectancy of years and days.

Years? Not where I'm concerned.

What a hangover! I've already lost half the pensionable female population of London.

-We've been computerised by our own computers.

-Everybody has.

It makes you think, when you see it for the first time in black and white. Pension - X years. Finish.

-But who wants to know about one's future anyway?

-15 years is nothing.

-That wasn't life expectancy. That was before pension. You'd only be...

-I've already worked it out. Thanks.

-Then what?

-There's all sorts of things you could do. Retire. Buy a nice little place in the country.

-Get married...again. Write your book about the Marsh Arabs, or something.

-That's what I should be doing now.

- Oh, save my life, Flo. I'll never drink again. - Buy one of these for the raffle.

There's a lovely first prize in the fridge there. >

You were saying, Graham?

Oh, yes. I was saying, um...

Oh, I don't know. Doesn't matter.

­ The winner is 1-0-0. One hundred.

Blast, 99 ! ..Hey, Graham! One hundred, that's yours! Flo!

Here you are, my love. First prize.

APPLAUSE

'From that first day,

'I imagine the otter had singled me out from the thousands who passed the pet shop window every day.

'Yet I found it intriguing.

'It was uncanny.

'Every time I passed, he seemed to be watching me, and me alone.

'At first, I thought it was only my imagination.

'But whatever I did, he seemed to sense that I was there... and fixed me with his beady eyes.'

'Clearly, I was "the chosen one".

'I found it curiously flattering.

'I refused to believe the otter was only watching me because he'd seen me with a most beautiful fish.

'No, it had to be something special,

'and this otter had the good sense to see it.

'I didn't really take it seriously, yet I had to admit that I was feeling rather pleased with myself.'

'Years ago, when I'd travelled in Arabia, I'd watched wild otters playing in the marshes.

'There, they had more sense of fun.

'They seemed very different from this one.

'For, like myself, it was now a prisoner in London.'

Yah, it's OK. > Nice size, good condition. It'll fit into the act very nice.

I'll try anything, but...otters?

The battle-diving act with an otter?

Exactly. To see humans do it is nothing now. This is something different.

How are you gonna make him do it?

When I have finished with him, oh, yes. You see, otters love water.

SQUEAKING

SCRAPING

EXCITED GRUNTING

Hello, old chap!

'I called my otter Mijbil, after an Arab sheik I'd known long ago,

'and whose name intrigued me, with an imagined picture

'of a platypus-like creature.

'Physical description -

'head ill-shaped, ears placed low,

'eyes small and homely, a lurid aspect,

'awkward motions...

'The otter is naturally of a savage disposition,

'and has been known to sever human fingers with its bite,

'without pause for bone,

'or the pain thus afflicted.

'The otter's flesh is extremely fishy and disagreeable to taste.

'However, the Romish Church permits its consumption on Fridays.'

-Tell you what, Mij...

-GRUNTING

you don't bite me, and I won't eat you on Friday.

PHONE RINGS

Hello? Colin?

He's arrived, yes. Just nosing around.

Right now, he's having a cup of tea.

He's very...quiet and peace-loving.

He's just rummaging around the wastepaper-basket, inspecting the furniture.

Having a look at my desk... and the table-LAMP!...!

Did you hear something? I think it was the people upstairs.

Hang on. There's somebody at the window, um, door.

MIJ!

Hello? Hello, Colin?

We were cut off.

Well, as a matter of fact, I'm just tidying my shirt drawer.

Yes.

-EXCITED GRUNTING

-Um... Look, I'd better go.

He's asking for...a drink. Yes.

Mij. Steady, Mij!

Mij, how COULD you? They were friends of mine.

LOUD SPLASH

'That first night, I learned something I would never be allowed to forget.

'Water to an otter is as vital as air to a bird.

'But water must be kept on the move and made to do things.

'It must be extended and spread about the place.

'A bowl must be at once overturned or must be sat in and sploshed, until it overflows.'

Oh, Mij! You're wet. Get off!

Come here. Lie down.

It's not funny, Mij.

My toe!

-Colin!

-What ho!

-Oh, come in, Colin.

-Oh...

-Bit of drama.

-Yes, so I see.

-I'd give you a hand, but I'm useless at this sort of thing.

-Yes, I know.

Ah.

Well, you've made one or two changes, I see.

-Is it to keep otters in and humans out, or the other way round?

-Depends.

-Go in.

-Any charge for admission (?)

-Where is he, by the way?

-Mij? In the bedroom, having a rest.

-From the decor (?) Fascinating.

Oh, I love your mobiles!

-Do they work?

-Um, help yourself.

-Thanks very much.

-What's Mij doing in the bedroom, anyway?

-He's in disgrace.

-He taught himself to turn the bath taps on.

-How sweet. Very touching.

What about the landlady?

-She insists I find alternative accommodation.

-Where would you go?

-She suggested I move into the local police station. She said their caging was free.

-Quite.

Thanks. Sit down.

-Um...how?

-Oh.

Ah.

Thank you.

-Well, cheers.

-Cheers.

It seems a shame, when you've made so many, um...improvements.

Surely he'll have to go, won't he? You can't keep an otter in London.

-You'll simply have to find him a home.

-I s'pose you're right.

I've got to do something. Rapidly.

Won't I, Mij, old chap?

'In that moment, I realised for the first time how deeply I was involved.

'I hadn't just bought myself an otter, I'd taken a step that was to change the course of my life.

'This otter had become a part of me.

'I was bound to this engaging pest.'

Listen, Mij. "Escape the rat race.

"Exclusive olde-worlde cottage. West coast of Scotland. Ideal for author.

"Long lease. A few minor repairs.

"Quick sale to right person." Off the lamp.

"Box 4881."

"Escape the ra..." "Escape the rat race," Mij.

-MIJ PLAYS NOISILY

-"Ideal for writer"?

'It's not the easiest thing in the world, to travel by train... with an otter!

'The regulations say he's a wild animal, and must travel in a box.

'The regulations don't know the first thing about otters and boxes.

'I felt Mij trusted me completely, and I wasn't going to betray his trust by putting him in anything.'

-Single. Inverness. First-class sleeper and a dog ticket.

-£12.

Breed?

Hmm? What was that?

-What kind of dog is it?

-What kind?

A diving terrier.

Diving?

D-i-v-i-n-g

t-e-r-r-i-e-r.

Come on, Mij.

Did he say DIVING terrier?

D-i-v-i-n-g

t-e-r-r-i-e-r.

TRAIN'S HORN BLASTS

Um, just a minute.

Sorry about this, old chap.

Just stay there.

-Um, come in.

-Good evening, sir.

-Can I check your ticket, sir?

-Yes.

So you're travelling alone, sir? In that case, I'd better lock off...

-Um, tea in the morning, sir?

-Yes, thank you.

-7 o'clock?

-Fine.

-Shall I put your luggage up?

-No. No, thanks. Is that ventilator working?

-It is, if you turn it on, sir.

First seating dinner. 7.30, sir.

OK, Mij. You can come out now.

Mij! MIJ!!

Sorry. Thought it was my otter.

SCREAMING

-Don't make a noise, you'll...

-SCREAMS

All right. Who's responsible for this?

Don't worry, Mij. I never did like travelling by train. Come on.

Look, Mij!

Travel by bus.

And there's one due in...

six hours.

Come on, Mij. Come on.

Oh, look, steady, Mij.

DRIVER BLASTS HORN

HORN BLARING

-Um, which way to the village?

-Oh, you just follow the road, over that hill.

-Oh, I wouldn't go there.

-Oh?

-Why not?

-The cottage you want is a few miles in the other direction.

Just a wee walk from here.

-But how will I know when I'm there?

-Och, you can't make a mistake.

You understand, there's this cottage, and after that, there's the sea.

Come on, Mij.

Don't worry, Mij. "It's just a wee walk" (!) Come on.

Why couldn't I pick a horse for a friend? Sorry, Mij.

Listen.

You go and let off steam. I don't need to.

This way, Mij.

'Exclusive olde-worlde cottage.

'Ideal retreat for writer.

'A few MINOR repairs...?

'Quick sale to right buyer.

'But to me, at that moment in my life, it was the most beautiful place in the world.

'The place I knew I wanted to be.'

SNUFFLING

Go to sleep, Mij. It's only the hunting bats.

-Go to sleep.

-MIJ SQUEAKS

'There's nothing like an early morning cold bathe in the burn.

'For an OTTER!'

'I realised it was the burn and the sea that gave Camusfearna its essential character.

'A silvery reflecting circle that rings the fields and makes Camusfearna almost an island.'

Come on, Mij. I'm daydreaming. Got to get ourselves organised.

Mij!

Come on.

Sorry, Mij.

-INDIGNANT SQUEAKING

-I'm only going to the village. You can come next time.

You're making it very difficult.

You're wasting your time.

-Doesn't he open today?

-That depends.

-Depends on what?

-On how the fish are biting in the burn.

-I see.

What was it you were wanting?

-Methylated spirits.

-Och, just you try the doctor's.

-The doctor's?

-Aye. The first house round the corner.

-They'll maybe have a drop to spare.

-Thanks.

Through that door. The doctor's in.

Sit down, please.

-I was told the doctor was in.

-Yes?

..You? I see. I thought, um...

-Yes?

-I thought perhaps you were the doctor's daughter.

-I am.

My father died eight years ago now. I decided to continue his practice.

-Did you know him?

-No.

-Well, I won't take up your time with quite a trifling...

-Look, please tell me what the trouble is.

-Name?

-Merrill.

-Double 'l'?

-Double 'l'.

-Age?

-Thirty-nine.

-Thirty-nine?

-Forty.

-Where d'you live?

-London. Um, that is, till two days ago.

-Holiday?

-Not exactly.

I'm here for, um, personal reasons.

Where does it hurt?

-Well, I...

-Pain. Lumbar region.

Yes, um, that's it.

-I think I must've wrenched my back.

-Done this before?

-No.

-Take off your coat.

Can you touch your toes, please?

Yes, easily.

Straight knees. Is it difficult?

-Well, it's always difficult.

-Will you lie down, please?

I'm afraid my hands are rather cold.

-Painful?

-Um...yes. Very.

Hmm.

-Put your coat on. I'm afraid you've pulled a muscle.

-Oh.

-The best thing is rest, on a firm bed. Board's the best.

-Not too difficult to arrange.

-Take two every four hours. Come back in a few days.

-I'd like to.

-There.

-Oh, there's just one thing before I go. I wonder if you could let me have some methylated spirits.

For my stove.

Janet!

-You're, um, sure it's for your stove?

-Yes, of course it is.

On his way out, would you give Mr Merrill a little methylated spirit? ..For his stove.

-Goodbye, Mr Merrill. Nothing strenuous, mind.

-Of course not.

-Those WERE tame swans on the loch, this morning?

-No. Why?

-They could've broken your arm.

-I know, but...

-The cygnet was caught in the wire, you see.

-I see.

You're supposed to be helping, Mij.

Now, stop messing about!

'I've always had the highest regard for beachcombing as a way of life.

'Now I found myself considering every piece of flotsam and jetsam, wondering how I could use it.

'Something to sit on would present no problems.'

What, what, what, what?

This, Mij, is what is known as otter-proof whitewashing.

No, you don't.

MIJ!

What, what, what, what?

That, Mij, is what is known as otter-safe roof repairing.

Mij!

What, what, what, what?

What an idiot I am!

'If we didn't always agree on the whats and the wherefores,

'we made up for it afterwards on the beach, which lay over the hill, on the north side.'

-In heaven's name, what have you there?

-Sea monster, washed up by the tide.

Sea monster(!)

So that's what the tracks were.

-What were you doing?

-Playing noses and toeses. It's an old otter game.

-I see.

-It's a tame otter.

-Well, I gathered that!

-Who lives here with me.

-..Here? In this beautiful cove?

-You sound disappointed.

-I am.

I don't mind the otter, but...

Thanks.

I'm sorry.

I don't mean to be rude. It's just that I... I never thought of anyone living here. It was so perfect.

-I'll try not to change anything. ..Doctor?

-Mary.

Graham.

Of course, you know that. Mij.

Come and meet Mary.

-Does he bite?

-Sometimes.

-I don't think he'll bite you.

-He'd better not. What's he called?

-Mij.

-After an Arab sheik.

-Well, he's very beautiful, in spite of his name.

-It's just as well I didn't bring Johnny.

-Who's Johnny?

-My dog.

-I've heard that dogs and otters are deadly enemies.

-Yes, but Mij doesn't know he's an otter.

-Funny.

Johnny doesn't know he's a dog.

I'll not keep you from your game, and I must get back to the surgery.

-You'll come again?

-Perhaps.

-And bring Johnny.

-I'll see.

By the way, how's your back?

-How d'you mean? ..Oh, my back!

-Yes.

The meths cured it.

Goodbye, Mij.

Don't worry, Mij.

She's not my type.

TWO GUNSHOTS

'I don't mind wild goose for dinner at all. But not in summertime, when the water-birds raise their young.'

Mij!

'They were grey-lag geese, the wild variety of the Scottish seashore.

'It was their mother that had been killed by the poacher's shot.'

'Hungry, afraid, they were driven by instinct to follow anything that faintly resembled a grown goose.

'Even an otter!

'It was very clear, whatever our feelings were.

'Like it or not, our family had just grown by four.'

'Those few "minor repairs" took more than a few weeks.

'When, at last, I had my house in order, I sat down to begin the job I'd set for myself.

'To write my book about the Marsh Arabs.

'But there was something wrong. Thinking about it was as far as I got.'

Now, listen, chaps, if you want to learn to fly, you've got to show a little determination. ..Come on.

Come on.

Come on! Are you following?

You'll never get airborne THAT way. Flap your wings at the same time.

Now, come on. Let's try again. Into position.

Ready for take-off. Come on.

Now, are you ready? You start with a slow, graceful, rhythmic movement.

The way I do it. Now, watch. Follow me. Slowly, and faster... And faster...

And faster and faster...

And faster and fast... Arghhh!

-We seem to be interrupting your ballet lesson(!)

-No, I...

I really came to introduce Johnny to the sea monster.

I was, um...teaching them to fly.

-WHINING

-You're frightening the dog.

-Sorry. Come and meet Mij.

Are you sure? Johnny's very playful.

-I'll see if I can find Mij.

-Johnny. Johnny, stay here. Sit!

Sit. You're going to meet Mij.

JOHNNY BARKS

-Partly to finish my book.

-Why write a book about Marsh Arabs?

-I lived with them. Before I was married.

-I see.

-And divorced.

SHE CHUCKLES

Come on, Johnny! You must stay here.

-Don't worry about Johnny. There are only a lot of old fish boxes.

-He'd better stay because of Mij. Sit.

Only fish boxes.

It's just beautiful.

Our first visitor, Mij, old chap.

You might see the lady seated first.

He's not very used to visitors. Still, he's been very clever today.

-He caught us our supper.

-Us?

Yes. Look.

I hope it's all right.

'When we first arrived at Camusfearna, the eels were migrating into the burn,

'and there was no problem about food for Mij.

'I opened the door in the morning and he caught breakfast.

'But as the summer wore on, the eels stopped coming into the burn. Then, one day, they were gone.

'Now they had returned to the sea.

'There would be no more eels until the following spring.'

That's nine and tuppence change. And a big, hefty man like that!

Oh, you're right, Sarah. And a fourpenny stamp.

I've nothing against folk fraternising with animals, but an otter?

There's something very strange about that, if you ask me. Yes, and he should be doing a job.

Maybe Mr Merrill has money.

If he has, you'd never know.

- His clothes are no' exactly... - I know what you mean, Flora.

-Good morning, Jeannie.

-Morning, Mary.

-How are you, Dougall?

-Fine.

You'd never think that a lady doctor... Oh, it's yourself, Mary.

Good morning, Sarah. Hello, Flora.

Would that be all, Flora? I'll have a fourpenny stamp.

ANOTHER fourpenny stamp? Just to be on the safe side.

What can I be doing for you, Mary?

-Graham asked me to send this telegram. It's rather urgent.

-Oh?

Twenty. That's twenty words at... That's 8/4d, including the address.

-If you've any mail for the islands, Hughie's flying me out tomorrow morning.

-Nothing serious?

-Hope not.

-8/4d.

-Thank you.

Wait now till I read it over.

"Clifford Wilcox, 22 Battersea Park Road, London SW15.

"Food situation desperate.

"Please send large container live...eels.

-"Regards, Graham."

-That's right, Sarah. Don't forget the mail, mind.

-Oh, no. I'll not forget.

Live eels. Whatever next? My, these Londoners are awful odd.

You mean "Graham"(!).

Dover sole, dear? Here we are. One nice Dover sole.

I can promise you, you'll enjoy that.

Morning, sir. Can I help you? Have you any live eels, please?

Live? Not this time of year. Oh, dear. THEY may be able to help.

Thanks. Not at all.

Can I help you? I'd like some live eels. Eels? Oh. They're over here.

Siamese Kuhlia. From Siam!

They're very small, aren't they? Let's see, now. One large container.

I think I'll need about...four or five hundred. How much are they? Seven guineas a pair. They're fun!

..Mm. Well, thanks very much.

'Food for Mij became a real problem.

'I often spent several hours a day catching fish for him... or trying to!

'There were many basking sharks now migrating from northern waters.

'They were completely harmless, feeding on plankton, untoothed.

'Frightening only due to their size.

'As I watched, I began to see them in a new light.

'There, in the fin, was a whole year's supply of shark steaks.'

-Did you forget something?

-Um...no.

-That isn't a deep-freeze out there?

-You could call it that.

-Does it work?

-It did once. Just after the war.

-Who does it belong to now?

-Well, now, that's difficult to answer.

-But if you're interested, you can have it for a few shillings. Just for the delivery, of course.

-Thanks.

-Any chance of getting it to start?

-With a wee drop of meths and a lot of persuasion,

I'd say you'd a chance in a million.

MOTOR STOPS

Faster.

Faster!

FASTER!

Hold her steady! Use the oars!

-You said he wasn't dangerous.

-No, I said he had no teeth. The book said.

Graham? Graham!

Come on. Oh! Let me help you.

'At last, the shark lay cut up in the freezer.

'I hadn't dared let Mij out at all during the preparations.

'I felt quite sure he'd gorge himself to death.'

Mij! Mij!

Food, Mij!

Not yet, Mij. And don't disturb Mary.

Oh, Mij. There you are.

-Did you think we were never coming back? I did.

-Here, Mij.

Poor Mij. He must be starving.

A whole year's supply.

-I'm almost sorry to have found such a permanent solution so easily.

-Easily?

I mean, no more fishing for Mij.

I'm worried. I won't have an excuse now for not writing my book. Mij!

Here, Mij.

Mij? Mij, come back! Mij!

Mij! Mij!

MI-IJ!

-You were, um, saying, Graham?

-Oh, yes, but I didn't mean it.

-You don't need to worry now.

-There are nearly 400 shark steaks. Everyone likes them.

I hope YOU do.

Mij?

'After two weeks of boiled, baked, grilled and curried shark, Mij and I were in complete agreement.

'Basking shark was not fit food for man nor beast.

'In desperation, I made a trip to the nearest fishing port.

'To be on the safe side, I bid for a mixed box.'

AUCTIONEER TAKES BIDS

RAPIDLY CALLS BIDS

8/3d. Right, 8/3d.

6/9d. I'm bid 7. 7/3d, 7/9d. Eight bob. Who'll bid 8/3d? Now, you all finish 8/3d.

Now, 5/6d. I'm bid 6/3d. 6/9d. Seven bob.

7/3d, I'm bid. Seven and a half now.

7/9d. Eight bob. 8/3d. Eight and a half. We finish at 8/6d.

Eight and six it is. A lovely bit of mixed fish here. BIDDING CONTINUES

6/9d. Seven bid. Seven shillings and three.

Seven and a half. And nine. Eight bob. 8/3d. 8/9d. Nine bob.

You all through at nine bob? Nine.

Right, on we go now. Haddock.

How many bob again? BIDDING BEGINS

Nine. 9/3d. Nine and a half. Ten bid. Ten and a half. Eleven and a half.

Twelve shillings. Finish at twelve bob over there.

< What d'you say now? A bit of cod here...

-Mind, you've got a bit of everything there.

-Yes. Just playing safe.

-Quite a mixed bag. Everything except shark.

-I could let you have a bit of that.

-No.

No, thanks. Not really.

There's nothing can beat a well-grilled shark steak.

You can put up your windows now.

Mij!

Mij!

Mij!

-Johnny!

-I'm sorry.

-The whole village seemed to be in the surgery. Any sign of Mij?

-No.

Coming past the point just now,

-Johnny kept whining, looking out to the lighthouse, as if he sensed something I couldn't.

-The island?

I doubt it. It's a long way off. Too far for Mij to go. Perhaps we'd better take a look.

Rob! Ciamar a tha thu? 'S mise a th' ann! Mairi NicChoinnich.

O! 'Se, 'se. Mairi NicChoinnich. Chan fhaca mi thu bho chionn fhada.

-Tha am feasgar breagha.

-Tha e alainn.

-Seo Mr Merrill.

-Tha e tioram.

-..Anabarrach tioram.

..What does he say?

-He says it's a nice day.

-And Mij?

-Tha sinn a'sireadh dorann a chaill sinn.

-Tha a dha an seo.

-Air a'chreig sin thall.

-O!

There WERE otters here. Two.

Bha e araid. Thainig fear suas dha mo chois.

-It must've been Mij.

-Why?

He said one almost touched his leg.

An sin, shnamh iad air falbh, gu Eilean an Druin.

-Oh.

-What does he say?

They swam off to the island of Druin.

-What d'you want to do, Graham?

-How d'you mean? Go there, of course.

MIJ!

Well, if he tried to get here, he didn't make it.

After all, he's never been swimming anywhere before...except the burn or the bathtub.

-Graham, is that just seaweed?

-Where?

There.

-It looks like...

-Mij. Mij!

'Mij took some time to recover.

'He seemed unwilling now to leave Camusfearna. Even to stray out of my sight.

'Except for an occasional dip in his pool.'

'I realised I had been drawing only one aspect of Mij,

'and not the best, at that.

'An otter on land is as graceless as a grounded bird.

'I needed to sketch him underwater.

'A bit of beachcombing would produce, I hoped,

'what I now could use to further my small artistic ambition.'

Graham?

Oh, um, Mary, stay there. I'll be right out.

-What are you making?

-Oh... Nothing. J-Just a swimming pool.

I've brought you a telegram.

-It's been at the post office a few days, but Sarah says it's not important.

-Worth reading?

-Doubt it.

-Oh. Very bad news, indeed.

-Oh?

-I've got to go to London.

-When?

-Before spring.

-No wonder they sent you a telegram.

Come and see Mij.

-You're invited to a birthday party on the twenty-first.

-Yours?

-Mij's.

-It's a Sunday.

-I should be able to make it. How d'you know it's on the 21st?

-First day of his birth sign.

Aquarius.

Come on, Mij! You'll miss your birthday party.

Hope this thing works.

Come on, Mij.

Swimming pool.

Come on, Johnny. Come on. Get down. There's a good boy.

'Autumn in the Highlands begins the day the water fowl start to gather.

'The swans were heading south,

'and my geese, who had finally learned to use their wings,

'joined the wild flocks from the Hebrides.'

'The first snow fell at Camusfearna.

'It lay for weeks... to Mij's delight!'

You don't understand. It's a business trip. Come out, Mij.

Look, Mij, it takes a day to get there and a day to get back.

Of hard travelling, by bus and by train. Yes, by train.

I'll only be gone a week.

Seven days!

It's like a jail sentence.

Look, Mij, it's not for ever. There'll be Mary and Johnny.

BARKING

-You'll need this to take him back to the village.

-I hope you have a safe journey, and we'll...

-We'll all miss you.

-Thanks for looking after Mij. Oh, um...

-In case he tries to follow me.

-Oh.

Well, I'll just slip away while he's...

Bye.

Bye, Mij.

BARKING

Oh, come on, Johnny.

Don't be such a coward!

Do something about it. It's lovely in there. Isn't it, Mij?

Well, come on, you two.

We'll be late for surgery.

Come on.

JOHNNY BARKS

-I'll bet the water's cold up there at the falls, Doctor.

-It was, indeed.

You'll get another wetting before you get back. The rain's starting.

I felt it myself. Johnny! Mij!

Angus!

I thought it was just an otter.

Thanks, Ewan.

-What a pleasant surprise! I didn't expect you here.

-Thought I'd come and meet the bus.

-How's the most beautiful doctor in Scotland?

-Fine.

-Mij?

-Well...

-You're going to tell me he wrecked the surgery and frightened Janet to death.

-He behaved perfectly.

-Good.

I brought him a present. His favourite. Slinky.

Graham.

It... It's a joke.

Mij is dead.

Don't move. Don't get up. I've never seen a writer at work before.

-Hello, stranger.

-Hello.

I didn't come before, Graham.

-Last week, when...

-Busy?

-..Yes. Yes, quite.

Well, you'll see I finally started.

Oh, I'm so pleased.

-How's the book going?

-Very well. Very well, indeed.

At least I've got the title down, but I think it's the wrong one.

-I should go back to Arabia to write about Arabs.

-Leave Camusfearna?

-Yes.

-Could you?

No.

-But I can't spend the rest of my life being a beachcomber.

-Why not, if it serves the purpose?

Because it's only a way of escaping.

I realise that now.

Come on, I'll show you what I mean.

If it's still there.

That'll never get you to Arabia!

-It was washed up on the beach, about two days ago.

-Strange.

"RC."

I wonder what the flag stands for.

Antique.

-Early 15th century, I'd say.

-Of course. Petrol-driven.

Used for transporting pilgrims.

-To Mecca?

-Certainly not. RC - Roman Catholics.

-RC - Robinson Crusoe's more likely!

Here's a very delicate object.

Oh, also antique?

A monocle for a near-sighted whale.

This is a very interesting thing.

Skin-diving suit for a miniature octopus.

Who didn't quite make it.

Graham...

It can't be.

We can watch them from the hill.

They're coming to Mij's pool.

Why should wild otters come here?

Unless...

-Mary, you remember what the lighthouse-keeper said?

-Rob.

-There must be dozens of wild otters round here.

-But these are Mij's.

Well, isn't that the way it ought to be? Wild otters swimming in the burn.

Mij!

# Where sun and wind play

# On a ring of bright water

# That's where my heartland will be

# The deer on the hill

# In the first snow of winter

# The gull in the sky winging free

# I wandered away

# From the dark, crowded city

# Leaving my old life behind

# And came to a place

# Where a ring of bright water

# Dazzled the care from my mind

# So I live with the wonder

# Of the sky and the sea

# And I'll always remember

# Who revealed them to me

# But now you are gone

# With your whirlpools of laughter

# Racing me down to the sea

# But I always smile When a ring of bright water

# Echoes your laughter to me. #