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.

Cars were parked along the various narrow pull-off areas, as their owners, scattered across the moorlands, went off to climb and wander around the wild-looking countryside. The scenery was breathtaking. Green valleys ran between massive mountain ranges, and small streams branched out like narrow veins until they merged into wide rivers and then spilled out into large, still lochs. The ground was a patchwork of lush, too-green-to-be-true grass and heather in varying shades of mauve, brown and orange, changing as the cooler weather began to set in.

Elle pulled off to the side of the road whenever she found a safe place to do so, in order to take photos and soak in the majestic views. It was too hard to take it all in as she drove, dodging large coaches and tour-group buses and trying not to run up the back of other rental cars as their drivers veered to unexpected stops to take photos.

Beautiful, isn’t it? Gran said wistfully.

‘It’s stunning,’ Elle murmured, though there seemed no words powerful enough to truly describe the beauty. ‘Is this how you remember it?’

Oh, aye, Gran said on a sigh. It’s still the most bonnie sight I’ve ever seen.

Elle found it hard to leave the mountains behind—though it seemed one never truly did in Scotland; they seemed to rise up all around the highlands—but as she drove closer to their destination, the road seemed to follow the water. Eventually they arrived at the reserve, and Elle climbed out of the car, grateful to stretch her legs.

‘Well, here we are, Gran.’

Hmm. Somehow I expected it to be … bigger.

‘I’m sure it’s bigger once you start walking around.’

Elle took her phone out and went to the app that would take them to the coordinates of their plot. They followed a walking trail up a steep incline and along a row of densely planted pine trees. The air was cool and crisp and quiet.