‘Or similar,’ he told her.

‘Excuse me?’

‘When you booked your car, it says on the contract, or similar. We don’t know what vehicles we’ll have on hand when you get here.’

‘But it’s tiny.’

‘You booked a small vehicle.’

‘Yes. But not that small.’

The young guy gave a weary sigh and hit a few keys on his computer. ‘I can get you a Focus, but it won’t be here until tomorrow.’

She sighed. ‘No, don’t worry about it. I guess I’ll have to make do.’ Dragging her suitcase back to the car, she walked to the rear of the vehicle and opened the boot. After a few moments of consideration, she wrestled her luggage into the back and winced as she leaned her body weight against it, praying it had shut without breaking anything.

She placed her backpack on the passenger seat before settling into the driver’s side, familiarising herself with the instruments before starting the car.

Seatbelt? Gran reminded her.

‘I have,’ Elle said, glancing down at her chest.

I’d feel safer if I had one on, not that I doubt your driving abilities, darling, but we are in a different country.

Elle glanced at the backpack before leaning across to secure the belt across it.

‘Right,’ she said, studying the car’s navigation system. ‘Let’s set this baby.’

Oh, I can’t wait to see my plot of land, Gran enthused. Which is now your plot of land, she corrected.

As much as Elle loved the joy her title gift had given Gran, she was now having serious regrets about the purchase. The gift allowed the purchaser to use the title of Lady or Laird with an official certificate and registered plot of land, which could be legally passed down to family members. With a catch in her throat, Elle remembered the day in the solicitor’s office where he announced it was now hers.

Lady Elspeth of Glencoe, Gran said. That has a lovely ring to it.

‘Okay, Lady Iona, keep your shirt on. You do remember that we’re only talking one square foot of land here, don’t you?’ Elle warned.

It’s not the size of the land one owns, Gran replied pompously.

‘Okay,’ Elle said, with a resigned air. ‘Let’s go and find this plot.’

The GPS kept her on track with a calm, efficient voice, and once she was out of the city and had the initial few miles under her belt, Elle felt herself relax. She recognised some of the road they had travelled during the bus tour, before the wide freeway eventually changed to a two-way highway as she headed for Appin, just out of Glencoe.

The road wound its way through small villages and roundabouts, through rural areas with sheep and freshly harvested hay bales scattered across the landscape like huge marshmallows. Eventually the farmland gave way to winding lochs and wide-open marshes. The change in scenery was subtle at first, and then all of a sudden, mountains rose from the flat lands—huge, barren-looking mountains that dominated the skyline as far as Elle could see.