‘It’s a thick, creamy soup,’ he replied in a New Zealand accent. It was so strange to hear an accent that almost felt like home—well, close enough to home—that she felt an instant kinship. ‘Made with smoked haddock, potatoes and chives. It’s pretty good.’

‘Oh, so it’s fish,’ she said, relieved.

What did you think it was? Gran asked, sounding confused.

I don’t know … lizard?

Gran made a startled choking kind of sound and Elle jumped, causing her Kiwi waiter to give her an odd glance.

‘It does sound really good, actually. I’ll have that, thanks,’ she told him quickly, handing back the menu.

I can’t believe you thought the Scots were mad enough to eat lizard, Gran hooted.

As it turned out, the soup was delicious and she walked back to the Royal later that night feeling tired, but happy that she’d survived her first day driving in Scotland.

According to the map, it was only a four-hour drive to Kilmuir, the area of Skye where Stormeil Castle was supposedly located. It still amazed Elle how everything was so close in Scotland. Back home pretty much nowhere was only four hours away. She had once driven to the Sunshine Coast to pick up her sister, doing a thirteen-hour drive in a day.

We’re not heading to Skye yet, are we? We’ve still got so much more to explore, Gran piped up.

‘I’ve only booked the stay for sixteen days, Gran. I’m just checking to make sure we’re still on track with our time.’

You can change your flight if you need to. It’s not set in stone, is it?

‘Well, it kind of is. I’m not sure changing flights is that easy.’

We’ve got plenty of time, Gran dismissed her.

‘I wasn’t planning on going to Skye tomorrow, just looking at options.’ Elle wasn’t in any hurry to get to Skye; the sooner they reached Skye, the sooner they would be at the castle and Gran’s trip would come to an end. It was a sobering thought. Would fulfilling Gran’s final wish be the end of their time together? There were so many unknowns about this crazy situation. Elle still wasn’t entirely sure whether or not she was hallucinating, and she couldn’t just ask someone. Perhaps, if this did turn out to be some delusional refusal to let go of her grief, then maybe it was better to just let it all play out and see what happened when it came time to scatter Gran’s ashes. Immediately she pushed the thought away. There was a lot to see between now and then, and they still had the visit with the family before they prepared for the final leg of the journey.