'ceilidh' in Killiecrachan. Her parents had taken her there. She had gone unwillingly. Who knows exactly what happened between Flora and Colin that evening? Perhaps it was the dancing, or the fiddle music, or the whisky ... who knows? Anyway, from then on they began to go about together, and within a year they were married. Miss Flora McIntosh became Mrs Flora Campbell. She moved into the farm across the river and began a new life.
They seemed to be happy together. Flora was a good support to Colin and he was full of attention for her. They never had any children but perhaps children are not everything in a marriage.
Life went on like this for the next nine years. Perrhaps it would have continued too, if Angus's father hadn't died. He was a grand old man but he loved his whisky, and one day he went to bed after drinking too much and never woke up. It was Colin who found him the next morning. He and Flora had taken care of the old man since Angus had gone away. They would pass by most days to see if he needed anything. Angus was working at a university in California by then. Forty-eight hours later he was home - for the first time in ten years.
Everyone went to the funeral down in Inverlochie. The old man had been well liked and respected. The McLeod croft was too small and too remote to receive so many people. So afterwards everyone went back to the Campbell farm for refreshments. It felt strange. There was the embarrassment of the old relationship between Flora and Angus. You could almost feel the electricity in the air. But everything passed off well. Angus said little. Flora smoothed away any awkwardness with her quiet dignity and charm. Colin was courteous and considerate towards Angus. In the end it was almost like old times.
Angus stayed a few days to put his father's affairs in order, then returned to the States. Before leaving, however, he went down to Glasgow to visit Strathclyde University. They offered him a professorship. He accepted it, and a year later he was back. He moved back into his father's croft and commuted from there to Glasgow on weekdays.
Sometimes he and Colin would go fishing at weekends. Occasionally he would have supper with the Campbells down at the farm by the river. Life seemed to have come back to normal again. And it had - until the great flood, and the big freeze that followed it. Who knows, perhaps it would have happened anyway but it was the flood which caused it.
It was Christmas Eve. At midday the rain stopped and, for the first time in weeks, the sun came out. By mid- afternoon the floodwaters seemed to be slowly subsiding. The river was still running very fast though. Colin insisted on taking the boat across the river to fetch the Christmas mail and to greet his mother. She had moved to the village when they married. Flora was not happy to see him go, but he insisted. He promised to be back before nightfall. Only a fool would have tried to cross in the dark.
At five o'clock Angus arrived at the farm - bringing gifts for the Campbells. Flora asked him to stay till Colin returned. He would surely not be long. It was the first time they had been alone together for over ten years. Who knows what they said to each other? We can only imagine. At five o'clock it was already dark. Colin had not come back. Six o'clock came and went, then seven, then eight. Flora kept going to the window to look out for the returning boat - but no boat came. Angus could notleave Flora alone. He stayed on with her. They ate supper together. The night wore on and still Colin did not return.
No one knows what happened between Angus and Flora that night. The feelings men and women have for each other are a mystery. But Angus did not leave the farm until the next moming.
Colin had still not returned. Overnight the great flood had become the big freeze. The grass and trees were covered with glistening hoar frost. The ground was frozen hard. Angus walked towards the water's edge. The flood had receded. The Campbell boat had been hauled up well out of the water. A set of footprints, frozen hard into the mud, led from the boat to the bedroom window. They came to a stop outside the window. Another set of frozen prints, made by the same boots, led back to the water. They disappeared in the ice which was rapidly covering the open water.
They found Colin's body three days later. It was stiff with ice, caught in the debris by the remains of the bridge. His eyes were frozen wide open.