At last, you reach the top of the trail and emerge from the trees into mellow late afternoon sunshine, the group gathering together once again. Over the shoulder of the mountain, there is an open expanse of grass and yellow gorse, dropping down into the valley beyond: Glenkildove. Most of the glen is covered with pine trees. At its heart there is a circular lake, its waters still, brooding, and dark. On the shore of the lake closest to you, there is a cluster of stone buildings shaped like beehives, enclosed within an ummortared stone wall. A round tower some hundred feet tall rises at the heart of the little settlement.
"Glenkildove Monastery," Simon says. "They lived and prayed in those stone huts." He points to the far side of the lake, beyond which steep and rocky cliffs rise up. "The standing stones are over there, but the trees are in the way. There are caves in those cliffs, behind the standing stones. Nobody knows how deep they go."
"I'm going to find out someday," Claudia adds. "Every summer we say we're going to properly explore the caves, and every summer everyone chickens out. We've been coming here since we were little kids. It's our place."
"Now it's yours, too," Cormac says impulsively. He looks a little surprised by his own comment.
You make your way down to the lake. Cormac and Daniel are keen to swim in its dark, cold waters, but Simon just wants to read his book on the grassy slopes above the lake, and Kitty sits down beside him. Meanwhile, Claudia is anxious to look around the monastery buildings.
I will swim with Daniel and Cormac.
I will sit with Simon and Kitty.
I will explore the monastery grounds with Claudia.
Next