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Looking on the bright side, literally, there was plenty of moonlight. But if the moon went behind a cloud—I didn’t want to think about that. As a city dweller, overdosed on neon from birth, I’m always stunned by the absolute darkness of moonless country nights.

Looking up I said a silent prayer that the moon wouldn’t slip out of sight. Then I added another prayer that the few lights on shore wouldn’t be extinguished before I returned. If they were, how would I find my way back?

The thought rattled me so much I said, “Casper, are you here? Now would be a really good time for you to appear.”

No answer.

I felt pretty lonely out there wondering what, if anything, was going to happen. I had expected to experience some sort of paranormal activity but so far my toe hadn’t itched once. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe there wasn’t anything paranormal in the loch. Maybe I was in danger of something more prosaic. Douglas had mentioned dangerous currents. They could be just as lethal as the paranormal.

I decided to be brave and remain out here a little longer. To take my mind off things, I thought about the kiss I had shared with Douglas. As kisses went it had been as state-of-the-art, whiz-bang and yee-haw as they got. I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t responded to it. How could I not be turned on by such a great kisser? I must be ill.

Of course. I was coming down with something. I felt my forehead.

Sadly, it didn’t feel as though I had a fever—quite the opposite, in fact. I huddled deeper into my jacket against the midnight chill. What now? How long should I sit here waiting for something to happen?

To pass the time I started singing, softly at first, then louder. I sang Copacabana. I just love Barry Manilow. No, really.

I got through every verse of Copacabana and was starting on Could It Be Magic, when the lights in the community hall went out.

Oh well, I still had the moonlight. I started singing Bermuda Triangle, then thought better of it. No sense tempting fate.

I stretched, leaning my head back. The boat rocked gently. I ignored it. The night sky was more interesting than the inky water. Above me I could see stars and wisps of cloud. I wondered, as I often did, which was Cloud 9. Perhaps Cloud 9 wasn’t a cloud at all, since Casper could go there even when the sky was clear blue. Maybe it was another dimension. If it was, I’d love to take a look. I wondered whether Casper would take me.

Nah, the Powers-That-Be wouldn’t allow that. Spoilsports.

I yawned. The rowboat rocked gently. It would have been easy to fall asleep…if there had been anywhere for a woman of my height to curl up comfortably. The rocking increased. Maybe there was a storm coming. Above me a bank of clouds moved toward the moon. Uh-oh. It was time to go back to shore.

I eased the oars into the water. Using one oar, I turned the bow of the boat toward Furness. When it was pointing in the right direction, I began to row. Stroke. Stroke. My oar hit something. I looked over the side of the boat. A sleek dark head broke the surface of the water. I tried to row faster but the thing, whatever it was, grabbed my oar. That wasn’t good.

I tried to wrench the oar free. It was like trying to pull a sword from a stone. And I was no King Arthur.

Maybe if I let it have the oar it would leave the boat alone. I could drift on the loch until dawn when the fishing boats set out. One of them would pick me up.

I told myself it would be quite nice drifting on the loch. Then something crashed into the boat and knocked me sideways. I fell, hitting my shoulder. For one awful moment I thought the boat would capsize.

By some miracle it stayed afloat and I began to think I might make it. Then the clouds moved, covering the moon. Darkness gave the thing in the loch courage. It rammed my boat again and again, tossing me from one side to the other. I hung on, praying it would stop before the boat capsized, but I knew it was only a matter of time.

The creature