Loch

Chapter 6

The tall, gray figure stood motionless in the swirling mist, making no move to come closer. It was thin, impossibly so, with disproportionately long legs, and around its head shone a halo-like glow. Perhaps it was the cold morning, the fog, or the surreal nature of the encounter, but Isla began to shiver.

Calm down, she told herself. You have a job to do. Quickly, she took aim and began snapping photographs.

“You are getting all of this, aren’t you?” Grizzly asked.

“Absolutely.”

“Great. I’m going to try to capture it on video.” Grizzly leaned down and rummaged around in his backpack.

Just then the creature hunched down and began to slowly amble forward. Isla sucked in her breath.

“It’s coming,” she whispered.

“Really?” Grizzly stood, holding up his video camera.

The creature stood, raised its arms, and froze.

Isla stared, trying to comprehend this odd behavior. A creeping suspicion filled her mind. And then it struck her.

“I think I know what this is.” Still snapping pictures, she rose to stand beside Grizzly. As she stood, another dark figure suddenly appeared.

The cryptid hunter gasped. “There’s another one! I can’t believe this. No one has ever seen two Grey Men before. I’m going to try and get closer.”

“Don’t bother,” Isla said.

Grizzly ignored her. He stepped over the low stone wall and, still filming, approached the two shadowy figures. As he moved toward the shadowy Grey Men, one of the figures also began to move forward, as if in lockstep with him. Grizzly froze.

“I think we should remain still,” he said. “They don’t seem to want to move unless we move first.”

Isla let out an exhausted groan. She lowered her camera, rubbed her eyes. “That’s because they are us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s a Brocken Spectre.”

“A spectre?” Grizzly asked, still pointing his camera at the figures. “They’re ghosts?”

Isla pressed her fingers to her temples, feeling a headache coming on. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Grizzly slowly lowered his video camera and turned to face her. “Let’s pretend I don’t know what this Glockenschpectre is and you explain it to me.”

“In a nutshell, a Brocken Spectre is a shadow cast in fog. It requires a very specific set of circumstances — sufficient fog plus the proper angle and amount of light. Sunlight, moonlight, even a flashlight can create the illusion. That’s why the image appears so long and thin. It’s a distant shadow.”

“And that’s why it seemed to move when I did.”

“Correct. The second image showed up when I stood.” She sighed. “I read about them ages ago, but the memory didn’t come back to me until I actually saw the phenomenon in person.”

“So it’s just a shadow,” Grizzly said.

“Exactly. See how they’re already vanishing as the sun grows brighter?”

Grizzly nodded. “And the glow around the head must be sunlight refracted by the water vapor in the air.”

“It’s called a ‘solar glory.’”

Grizzly continued to stare at the faint images until the rising sun melted them away.

Despite her misgivings about the man, Isla couldn’t help but feel sympathy. He was an optimist, open to possibilities that she was far too cynical to even consider. Isla knew all too well how it felt to have your illusions shattered.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and meant it.

Grizzly turned, rubbing his hands together and smiling. “Sorry about what? We just proved the Grey Man is real!”

She held up a hand. “Wait. We did just observe the same phenomenon? You heard my explanation.”

“Sure I did, but we solved the mystery! We proved that the sightings weren’t just figments of someone’s imagination. All right, it’s not Bigfoot’s cousin, but the witnesses actually saw something, and now we know what it was. I call that a win.”

Isla was surprised to find herself agreeing with Grizzly. They had just solved an enduring mystery. More accurately, she had solved it. Conspiracy theorists and cryptid hunters around the world wouldn’t thank them for it, but that was all right with her. That was one demographic whose readership she didn’t crave.

“Do you mind if I quote you on that?” It was probably the wisest thing he’d said since they’d met.

“Not at all.” Grizzly’s eyes were alight with triumph. “I pitched this idea to Jo Slater, and she said it would be a waste of her time.”

Where had Isla heard that name before? “Isn’t she on television?”

“She hosts Expedition Adventure. The new season’s delayed, something about a personal tragedy, but she’s apparently getting ready to start up again. I can’t wait until she sees the video!”

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

Grizzly shrugged. “I’m not usually an ‘I told you so’ guy, but I heard through the grapevine that she’s been calling me ‘vapid’ and ‘unprofessional.’ This will show her.”

Isla reflected on the turn of events. Maybe their success, relative though it might be, boded well for another mystery she hoped to solve. One it seemed she’d been trying to unlock her entire life.

As they broke camp, Grizzly shared his concluding thoughts about the Grey Man. He opined that the hikers who reported hearing the sound of being followed were probably hearing echoes of their own footsteps. He concluded by saying their discovery felt bittersweet.

“I’m happy that we know the truth, but I’d really like to find a cryptid some day. An actual, living creature.”

“What’s next for you?” Isla asked.

“I think you already know,” Grizzly said, slipping into the straps of his backpack and buckling it above his hips.

“Actually, no. I only researched Ben Macdui and the Grey Man. I didn’t study up on any of your other projects.”

Grizzly folded his arms and gazed down at her, a condescending smile painting his lips. “Come on. We’ve only known each other a day, but aren’t we past playing games? I’m not blind, you know.”

Isla rolled her eyes. “You’re the one playing games here, and I really don’t have time for it. If you don’t want to tell me about your next project, that’s fine. I won’t include it in the article.” She turned on her heel and strode away.

“You think I didn’t notice how much attention you were paying to the summit indicator?” Grizzly called.

His words stopped her in her tracks. He couldn’t possibly know, could he? “I took pictures,” she said through gritted teeth. “That’s my job.”

“Yes, you did.” The sound of crunching gravel marked his approach as he strolled over to where she stood. “Dozens and dozens of close-up images of every inch of its surface. Those will look great in the magazine.”

“I thought they would look interesting.”

Grizzly narrowed his eyes, his smile vanishing. “You thought it would lead you to the treasure of the Tuatha de Dannan.”