"When my parents died on the mountain, it wasn't a story, it was the truth." "But thanks to my grandfather, my life was full of stories, and sometimes it was hard to tell the stories from reality." "My name is Aonghas, like my grandfather, and his grandfather before him." "Put out the lights." "Put out the lights." "Put..." "I'm afraid there's only one prison strong enough to hold thieves like you." "Bed." "Don't tell me you came all this way for my sake!" "Yes, a long way." "The further the distance, the worse the news." "You're going to die." "Is that all?" "I thought you'd brought really bad news." "Sit." "More!" "More!" "Hurry up!" "Caught twice in one night!" "You're all useless!" "You're not going to tell us another story, are you?" "There's a big difference, Màiri, between a story and the truth." "Once, there was a man called Aonghas." "He was secretly in love with a girl from the country." "They'd meet in the gloaming, to get a few minutes together." "But full of impatience for love's first kiss, he made a balm for her lips." "She was not dead, but neither was she alive." "How could she be not dead and not alive?" "He'd made the lip balm from the pinkest flower he could find in the wood - the plant of the dead." "The whisky and honey in which he'd mixed the petals had weakened the poison, and, unknown to him, his gift to her had become a waking death." "There was only one cure, he was told, the crimson snowdrop." "But not one had been seen in living memory." "After seven years of searching," "Aonghas reached the Cuilfhionn Mountains on Skye." "But when he reached the peak, beyond it lay yet another peak." "Nothing could have lived there." "It was just a bare, grey space." "It's what we call now the Inaccessible Pinnacle." "And there, concealed in the snow, was the world's last crimson snowdrop." "He tested the first petal on himself... the petal that didn't reach her lips in time." "He wanted nothing more than for his own heart to stop beating too." "But it would not." "The petal of the crimson snowdrop made his heart beat both more slowly and more strongly." "For every ten beats of a normal heart, his heart needed to beat just once." "And a man whose heart beats ten times as slowly will live ten times as long." "Impatience purchased her death, and almost a thousand years could not buy it back." "Off you go, now!" "Bed!" "You won't tell Mammy and Daddy when they come back, will you?" "No, Aonghas." "I won't say a word to Mammy and Daddy." "Now sleep." "It wasn't me!" "Donnchadh, find out where he's gone!" "What happened?" "Just a wee accident, but Aonghas has run off." "Are you sure we can do this?" "We have to." "We have no choice." "I'll deal with him..." "when I get a hold of him." "I'm going up the mountain." "You are not!" "He won't be up there, Aonghas." "Who?" "The man who killed them." "You know it was an accident." "Anyway, he went back to Glasgow." "You don't have any money, you idiot!" "Idiot!" "Shut your mouth!" "He's not there." "If you're not down here in one minute, we'll go without you!" "You lot go!" "I'll stay here with Aonghas." "Out to the car, both of you!" "And whatever you do, don't let him saw you in half." "Yes, son?" "One ticket, please." "One ticket..." "Where are you off to today?" "Glasgow." "Glasgow?" "Good lad!" "How are you paying, plastic or cash?" "Plastic." "Well, well!" "Take a seat while I put your card through." " You know, they take a while sometimes." " Yes, I know." "Don't worry!" "Machine's giving me a bit of trouble today." "Well, lad!" "The only good thing about Glasgow is that it's very, very far away." "Isn't that right, Eoghann?" "It doesn't work." "It doesn't work!" "I'm guessing, Aonghas, that you ran off because you didn't want to see that dreadful magician this afternoon." "Your name doesn't just belong to you." "It belongs to every Aonghas who ever lived." "Which means..." "Which means you belong to them." "The dead." "And you dishonour each of them when you ignore your real name." "Now, sit down!" "Hate is a terrible thing, Aonghas." "It's like a great river." "And once you're in the grasp of its torrent, hardly anything on earth can bring you back ashore." "Have you ever heard the name Ciara Ghunnach?" "She was born in a dark, evil time, in a sea of hate, which took hold of her." "The landlords had the power to take everything you had from you." "Your name and your home and your tongue." "They're coming!" "Donnchadh's house is on fire!" "Leave it!" "My great-grandfather built this house, stone by stone." "They can't set fire to it if we're inside." "Bring me the rope." "Bring me that rope!" "Stay still!" "Still!" "Get out, then!" "Go!" "Be homeless!" "Be quiet!" "You can do nothing now!" "Quick!" "Don't move, and be quiet!" "What happened to her father?" "They should have saved him." "They couldn't." "How could they?" "The magician had saved Ciara, and since she was homeless, she travelled around with him." "She learned tricks and sleight of hand... the magician's trade." "Her training drove out the memory of her father for a while, but fate was catching up with Ciara Ghunnach." "For the hands of a murderer." "A thousand curses on the eyes that saw" "A thousand curses on the ears that heard" "A thousand curses on the mouth that spoke" "A thousand curses on the hands that struck" "A thousand curses on the eyes that saw" "A thousand curses on the ears that heard" "A thousand curses on the mouth that spoke" "A thousand curses on the hands that struck" "A thousand curses..." "Don't you ever open this again!" "It will only tell you what it wants you to hear." "You will never open it again." "Now go and sleep!" "We have a lot to do tomorrow." "Get in the box!" "My name is Ciara Ghunnach." "A thousand curses on the eyes that saw" "A thousand curses on the ears that heard" "Ciara, stop!" "A thousand curses on the hands that struck" "A thousand curses on the eyes that saw" "A thousand curses on the ears that heard" "You have to stop!" "God of the sky, God of the deep, open the door and let her in!" "That's it, then." "I can see I'll need to find a new apprentice." "Where shall I go?" "Home!" "Go home!" "Father?" "But you said he died!" "I did not." "I said they couldn't save him." "You know, the soldiers had already entered the house and..." "We're back!" "Oh, you've reappeared, Angie!" "Come on!" "We'll put on the kettle for a cup of tea." "Magic." "Real magic!" "A thousand curses on the eyes that saw" "A thousand curses on the ears that heard" "A thousand curses on the eyes that saw" "A thousand curses on the ears that heard" " A thousand..." " What are you doing?" "Nothing!" "How far did you get?" "Far enough!" "What did he do to you?" "He just told me another one of his stupid stories." "They're not stupid stories." "What about the crimson snowdrop?" " He's not a thousand years old!" " But you heard his heart beating." "I did not!" "His stories come from a book." "I saw it!" "He keeps it locked in a drawer with Daddy's gloves." "Check this out!" "Donnchadh, you're not doing that right!" " It's Aonghas's fault, he's too weak!" " I am not!" " Weakling!" " Say that again!" "Stop that, or I'll throw both of you into the sea!" "No you wouldn't." "Trust me, Aonghas, I would." "You're just PlayStation sailors, anyway." "I thought we'd get out to the shipwreck today." "The shipwreck?" "The wreck from the Spanish Armada." "My friend's been to Tenerife." ""My friend's been to Tenerife. " Tenerife isn't in Spain!" "It belongs to Spain, idiot!" "She went there on a boat." "I'm not talking about little tourist boats, but great ships with sails and tall masts." "Many of them never made it back to Spain, poor souls!" "But there was a ship..." "Ach, you don't want to hear about that!" "We do!" "Well, the ship sinking wasn't quite the start of the story." "There was a man, a proud and hungry man." "He was a MacDonald, exiled to a remote island, an island that even the fish didn't go near." "An island with no way to escape." "Now he could have eaten the Spaniard, but he spied something much tastier." "Ship's biscuits!" "Bos'un, take that man's name!" "What did you do that for, animal?" "The pudding, give me the pudding!" "Maracas?" "What are you on about, barbarian?" "Give me the pudding!" "No, no!" "Idiot!" "Come back here, idiot!" "No, no, no!" "Give me that pudding!" "I want the pudding!" "No, no!" "Voilà!" "Seaweed, potatoes and the pièce de résistance... black pudding!" "What's this?" " Potato." " Potato." "No... potato." "Potato." "Potato, potato... whatever!" "They were like an old married couple, but, it must be said, a very lucky old married couple." " Gold!" " Gold!" " Gold!" "Gold!" " Gold!" "Gold!" "We're as rich as the dirty great King of Spain." "Did he really say that?" "Aye, something like that." "But they soon realised that all the gold in Mexico wouldn't have helped them at all." "Because you can't eat gold?" "Exactly, Aonghas!" "And they kept not eating gold, until one day MacDonald had a brainwave." "Genius!" "You're a genius!" "Idiot!" "You're an idiot!" "Off you go, then!" "I know how to paddle!" "Off you go then, idiot!" "MacDonald wore the Spaniard's shirt for luck." "But a lucky shirt it was not." "Damn you!" "Let me out!" "While MacDonald languished in jail, the Spaniard waited patiently." "Aw, no!" "I'm not going to spend the rest of my life here, with the crabs picking over my bones... no!" "Finally, he ended everything with the utmost dignity." "Black pudding!" "Black pudding!" "I'm a good-looking genius!" "I've got it!" "Yes!" "Yes!" "My darlings!" "When MacDonald was finally released, his first thought was to steal a boat and save his friend." "Stop!" "What are you doing?" "You!" "But how did you get off the island?" "I walked." "What?" "I cunningly used the gold to weigh my body down and walked along the seabed, periodically drawing air from inflatable black pudding skins!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "I've heard enough!" "Do you have the gold?" " Gold?" " Oh, yes!" "I have your share. 25%." "A quarter!" "50-50, we had a deal!" "If you got me off the island." "But you didn't." "So it's 25%." "Daylight robbery!" "After risking my life to save you!" "OK, OK." "As they say, better a friend in court than a penny in your sporran." "Come on!" "Let's go!" "Do you want any potatoes?" "I have some for you." "Potatoes!" "I've thought of little else." "I wonder what they'd be like fried?" "Fried!" "Fried!" "For the love of God, what is it with you people and fried food?" "And some people say he was the first man in the world to open a chip shop!" " Chip shop?" " Aye." "You've heard of McDonald's, haven't you?" "Anyway, there's only one way to teach you lot." "Do you know what way that is?" "The Spanish way." "¡Adiós, amigos!" "Come on!" "We have to go after him!" "Get a move on!" "What a shame I didn't stay on dry land" "It's the truth." "I'm no sailor" "For as long as I live I'll never sail again!" "High time, too!" "Get inside!" "We're going to have a ceilidh, Peggy dear." "The surge of the sea" "Listen to the sound of the high surge" "The roar of the ocean, just as I heard it when a child" "And when it's time for me to rest in death's cold sleep" "Make my bed beside the sound of the high surge" "You must be Donnchadh." "No, my name is Aonghas." "Aonghas." "Can I come in?" "Why have you come here?" "Perhaps we should talk." "Alone." "If you have something to say, you should say it to all of us." "Right." "This isn't easy." "I wanted to tell you what happened, so that you'd know." "Everything went wrong." "The weather was dreadful." "Freezing cold." "Everything went wrong." " Are you sure this is the right time?" " Let him speak." "We'd reached the top." "I went down first, to secure the rope." "My hands were so cold, you see." "When I got to the bottom, the rock was so slippery underfoot that I fell." "I tried to grab something, anything." "But my hands were frozen." "I'd given..." "I wish to God I hadn't." "The most stupid thing I've ever done." "The smallest mistake." "I had given your father my gloves." " If I hadn't done that..." " Get out!" " All I did was say what happened." " Liar!" "I have his gloves!" "Murderer!" "That's enough, Aonghas!" "How can you let him lie?" "He murdered them!" "Go to your room now!" " And you, get out!" " I'm sorry!" "A thousand curses on the eyes that saw" "Stop that, Aonghas!" "A thousand curses on the ears that heard" "Aonghas, stop!" "What's he doing?" "Stop that, Aonghas!" "Go to your room now!" "And you, go!" " Has he eaten anything?" " No." " Shouldn't we call the doctor?" " No." "Don't worry, he'll be all right." "Tell him about Sìleas." "He won't listen." "Tell him it's his granny's story." "He'll eat." "I'll make him." "You look after yourself." "I'll look after Aonghas." "Dinner!" "Leave it!" "Eat up!" "Can I get his chips?" "No!" "Eat up!" "I only asked." "Grandad, will you tell us a story?" "No." "Not now, Màiri." "I want to hear the story about Sìleas." "Who's Sìleas?" "A girl that wouldn't listen." "No, but a girl that didn't care about the one thing that you should... life." "But she cared about horses, didn't she?" "I don't think so." "Oh, she could ride a horse like Perseus, but she only cared about what they could do for her." "When the biggest race of her life came up, she lacked one thing." "A horse." "There was a horse here." "Does it please you?" "I need a horse." "For a race." "You could win any race with a horse like that, but there is a price." "I can pay you." "If you but knew, that is not what you would wish." "You'll get half the prize if I win." "You'll give me all of it." "I cannot." "If you give me all of it, you will win." "If you do not, you will not win." "You can have all of it, then." "Where's the horse?" "Come here at dawn." "The horse will be here and you will win." "Sìleas!" "Where are you going?" "I have work to do." "Go back inside!" "We're not the landlord's slaves." "But it's not for him." " Who, then?" " Me!" "But Sìleas wouldn't listen to anyone, not even her mother." "You're mine now!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Aonghas!" "Aonghas!" "Aonghas!" "Grandad wants you to come down." "You really should come down." "Aonghas, downstairs with you." "Come on now, lad." "Aonghas!" "Are you listening to me?" "I have listened to you, Grandad!" "I've listened to every story in this book." "You told a stupid story when you should have been helping Granny." "And another story the night Mammy and Daddy died." "I hate them!" "I don't believe them and I never want to hear them again." "You're wrong, totally wrong." " How's the job?" " Good." "Lots of money?" "Enough." "Got a car?" "Yes, a company car." "A company car!" "Well, well." "A nice colour?" "Silver." "Moondust silver." "Moondust silver!" "Don't tell me!" "A BMW?" "A Volkswagen." "A Volkswagen." "Oh, well, it'll do." "The others don't believe you're going to die." "You have to tell them." "You have to tell them the truth." "No one can tell the truth." "Just stories." "Not in the real world." "Whose world, Aonghas?" "Mine or yours?" "You don't have to be here." "You've done your duty." "Go back to your own world." "You don't have to stay to the end of mine." "On you go!" "It's all right." "Before you leave, give this envelope to the doctor." "Many thanks." "I'm going to a better place now." "A.M." "Aonghas!" "Turn the car round, lad." "We're going back to the island." "I'm not going to Skye!" "I'll walk, then." " What are you doing?" " Walking home." "You'll kill us both!" "Get in!" "Your father loved this place, Aonghas." "And your grandmother." "I know." "You too, Aonghas, at one time." "It's yours if you want it." "Sorry, no electricity." "It's unnatural, anyway." "That's me for the night." "Shake a leg, my boy!" "Go and get a bite to eat!" "We've got a lot to do today, and we don't have much time." "Just one last thing, and we're ready to go." "Go and get it." "Go on!" "Go and get it." "I'll be waiting in the company car!" "What are we going to do?" "We're going to end it." "The end of what?" "The end of the story." "Move, lad!" "Hurry up!" "Don't forget the bag!" "This is as far as I can go." "I'm not going up that mountain for you!" "Sit down, Aonghas!" "It has to go back to where it came from, and you have to put it back." "This." "The Lord's my shepherd" "I'll not want" "He makes me down to lie" "In pastures green" "We'd better get back." "Why don't we just stay here a while?" "You know, when you reach the end, it almost feels the same as the beginning," "except that you know even less than when you started." "But you know the truth." "Yes, yes, I do, Aonghas." "Yes." "The whole truth of the story."