I met him by the loch.

“If you ever meet a kelpie,” he said, “never look it in the eye.”

I stroked his hair. It was black and wet. When my fingers stuck there, his eyes pinwheeled. Long, equine lashes.

In a vortex of thunder, we began our riverbed descent.

Lisa Beyt recently relocated to Edinburgh which has fuelled a fascination with Scottish beasties. You can find her loitering on Twitter.