Judy had a bath, and then put on some of Jasper’s sister’s clothes. They fitted perfectly. She looked at herself in the mirror, smiled, frowned, and went downstairs.
“Hello,” said Jasper. “Did I tell you how beautiful you are?”
“Yes, you did,” said Judy.
“Fine,” said Jasper. “Let me show you round the castle before tea.”
“But I don’t want to stay for tea,” said Judy.
“This part of the castle was built in 1480,” said Jasper.
“I love him,” said Judy.
“James VI”” said Jasper, interested.
“No, you fool,” said Judy. “My boyfriend Sam.”
“Oh, Sam Watson,” said Jasper. “This is a portrait of my ancestor Mac Donald Mac Donald.”
“How do you know Sam?” said Judy.
“He was a friend of King Robert the Bruce,” said Jasper.
“Sam?” said Judy.
“No, you fool,” said Jasper. “MacDonald. You don’t want to see Sam. You want to stay here with me. I love you.”
Out of a door came an old man with white hair and very strange clothes. He was carrying his head under his arm. He looked very like the portrait.
“Who’s that?” asked Judy.
“The ghost,” said Jasper.
“You don’t want to go and see Sam,” said the ghost. “You want to stay here with Jasper.”

Sam Watson was standing at the arrivals gate at Rio Airport, holding a bunch of flowers. He was worried. Judy’s plane was three hours late and nobody knew why. Sam walked to the arrivals gate. No news. He walked back to the bar and had another drink. Still no news … Back to the bar …

Two hours (and eight drinks) later, Judy’s plane landed, and after another half hour the passengers started coming out. Sam smiled and looked for Judy. After a time he stopped smiling. Finally, the last passenger came through. It wasn’t Judy. Sam said a big bad word. What had happened? He went over to the information desk.
“My name is Sam Watson,” he said. “Have you got any messages for me?”
“Yes,” said the stewardess. “A telephone message from Scotland.” She handed him a paper. “Mr Sam Watson, Rio Airport. Have a nice holiday. Don’t come back. Love, Jasper MacDonald.”
Sam said another big bad word, tore up the paper, and gave the flowers to the stewardess.
“What time is the next plane to London?”
Behind Sam, a tall beautiful girl was listening to his conversation. When she heard the word “London” she smiled.

As the night plane took off, Sam closed his eyes. He loved travelling, but he was always a little afraid of flying. He couldn’t really understand how the plane stayed up in the air. Also, he was worried what could happen to him.
Would there be detectives waiting for him at London Airport? It was crazy to leave Brazil. In Brazil there was sun, freedom and beautiful women. He could live happily for years with his £50,000. In Britain there was rain, trouble, policemen and a strong chance of prison. But he had to see Judy. Judy was different. Judy was special. Sam smiled and opened his eyes. Next to him there was sitting a tall, incredibly beautiful girl. “My name’s Detective Sergeant Honeybone.”
Sam closed his eyes again.

When Judy woke up the next morning the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everything was beautiful. Her room was lovely, and she felt fine. There was a knock on the door, and in walked the ghost, carrying a cup of tea.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“Yes, beautifully,” said Judy. “And thank you for a wonderful dinner last night.”
The ghost blushed. “Not at all,” he said. “It was just a simple meal. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

The evening before, after a magnificent dinner (cooked by the ghost), Judy and Jasper had talked far into the night – about life, love, art, death, music, books, travel, philosophy, religion, politics, economics, astronomy, biochemistry, archeology, motor-racing and many other subjects. Most of all, they had talked about themselves. And when they had said goodnight, Jasper had kissed her, very gently. She could still feel the touch of his lips. What a perfect evening! Judy smiled at the memory. She stopped smiling. She had to go to Rio to see Sam. Sam was her boyfriend. She loved him. The sun went behind a cloud. The birds stopped singing. Judy started getting dressed as fast as she could.

When Sam woke up he felt terrible. He had a headache, and there was a horrible taste in his mouth. He looked out of the window. The sun was shining, and through a gap in the clouds he could see the sea. It was a long way down. Sam shivered and turned to look at Detective Sergeant Honeybone. She looked fresh and lovely – even more beautiful than the evening before.
“Good morning,” she said. “Did you sleep well?”
“No,” said Sam. “Excuse me.”
He got up and walked towards the toilets.

After a wash and a shave, Sam felt a little better. He
brushed his hair, put his jacket back on, and looked at his tongue in the mirror. Not a pretty sight. Sam put his tongue back in, took out his gun, and looked at his watch. Time to move. He came out of the toilet, glanced round quickly, and then walked to the front of the plane. Opening the door of the cockpit, he stepped inside.
“This is a hijack,” he said. “Take me to Loch Ness.”
“Oh God,” said the pilot. “Not again. What’s so special about Loch Ness?”
“Jasper MacDonald,” said Sam.

Judy ran downstairs and into the dining room. No Jasper – only the ghost.
“Can I help you?” he asked politely. “Would you like some breakfast?”
“Where’s Jasper?” asked Judy.
“He has gone out,” said the ghost.
“Oh dear,” said Judy. “Lend me a pen and paper, could you?”
Quickly she wrote a note to Jasper:
“Dear Jasper,
It was wonderful. But I have to go. I’m sorry. I wanted to say goodbye to you, but perhaps it is better like this. Thank you for a beautiful memory.
Judy.”
She said goodbye to the ghost, who looked sad, and walked out of the castle. Not far along the road there was a bus stop. If she could get to Inverness before lunch, she could catch the afternoon plane to London and buy some new clothes before catching the night flight to Rio. Tomorrow morning she could be in Sam’s arms. How wonderful! Judy started crying.

At the bus stop, Judy read the timetable. Buses for Inverness ran every three hours, but she was lucky – there was one in twenty minutes. As she stood waiting, she looked out over the lake. A few hundred yards away there was a man fishing in a boat. She could hear him singing in the clear still air. He had a wonderful voice – a voice that Judy recognised – and he was singing an old Scottish love song. It was Jasper. Tears came into Judy’s eyes, and she looked away from the boat, up into the peaceful sky. High above Loch Ness, a golden eagle was flying in circles. There were pretty little clouds looking like splashes of white paint against the deep blue. And two parachutes.