Ann stopped the van near the huge lake that was spreading in front of them under the sunset. She jumped out of the van and ran to the lakefront. The famous Loch Ness. She stretched her legs after eight hours of driving. She put her hands on her hips, sticking out her chest; she took a long, deep breath and sighed. She heard Roger's slow footsteps behind her.

“As my mum would say: Guid auld scots air!”

Roger laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He had to admit it: the landscape was incredibly beautiful. The calm water was shining under the last sunrays, and on the other side, Urquhart Castle was falling asleep like the day. Ann carefully removed Roger's arm from her shoulders and walked up to the lakefront and squatted. With a smile, she stared at an invisible point in the water before stroking the surface with her hand.

“Hey, Nessie! I'm going to get you!” she shouted happily before standing up again and spinning round to face Roger. “Ready to pitch the tent?”

“Not really” he sighed with a grin, “I feel quite lazy right now.”

“Come on, do you want Nessie to bite your feet tonight?”

“No, not really. But the temperature is still quite warm, isn't it enjoyable? We can sleep under the stars, I guess you took your sleeping bag.”

She nodded and walked back to the van and opened the back door. She bent in and grabbed her heavy backpack behind which was her sleeping bag. There was enough place for two, and it was not the first time they would use it together. She bought it five years earlier and after parties in Summer, they used to sleep in it to avoid taking the car and having accidents. She untied the elastic band she had used to close it and firmly shook it to roll it out. Once it was done, Roger took it and carefully placed it on the ground, facing the beautiful sunset. Meanwhile, Ann was taking two pillows and her books before giving them to him; then, she took her small electric lantern she had put in a carboard box between the seats. She switched it on and sat on the sleeping bag, sneaking her legs inside. She put the lantern behind their heads and looked at Roger who was still standing. He removed his shirt and sat beside her, without looking away from the landscape.

“I never thought it'd be that beautiful.”

“I told you you would like it” Ann smiled. “Scotland is magical. All its places have this something, you know. When my parents used to take us here with my sister, we immediately felt different when we passed the borderline between England and Scotland. We felt happy.”

“I love the way you talk about all that. You know, Scotland, Loch Ness, Nessie... You're passionate, that's good.”

“Thanks to my parents!”

Roger smiled and put an arm around Ann's shoulders, putting his other one across his lap. Ann tenderly took his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. He smiled and blushed, before kissing her softly on the cheek.

“Look at how we're too lazy to pitch a tent” he chuckled.

“Yeah... I'm a bit tired, after all, because of the drive. I'm going to sleep.”

“Okay. D'you want me to sing for you, like I used to do when we were kids?”

“I'd love you to!”

He grinned and watched her lying on her side, facing him. He lied down too and pulled her closer to him. With a smirk, she snuggled against his warm chest, her fists clenched under her chin. Roger gently stroked her hair and kissed her forehead before clearing his throat. He hummed at first, then softly sang the lyrics of My Girl by the Temptations, a song they used to listen to at the beginning of the decade. When he still had free time for her. Almost as soon as she heard him singing, Ann fell asleep, soon followed by her dearest friend

Roger blinked as the sun was shining right over his face. He was lying on his back, a hand under his curly hair and the other spread on his side. When he could finally open his blue eyes, he looked at his left side and noticed that Ann was not here next to him. He sat up and ran a hand across his face before stretching his back. The lake was beautifully sparkling under the sunrays, and the green hills all around made the landscape even more breathtaking. Blinded by the light, Roger almost did not see Ann, squatting at the water's edge, looking far before her with binoculars. She was wearing her big floppy hat he loved a lot, and she was wearing a knee-length white dress – maybe not the best choice for a trip to a lake. He stood up and walked up to her, barefoot, stretching his back once again. As she did not hear him coming, she did not turn her head. With a smile, he knelt down behind her and lightly kissed her shoulder. She slapped it, thinking it was a bug, still without turning her head. Roger leant toward her ear and gently whispered:

“Good morning, love.”

“FUCK!”

She jumped and lost her balance; trying not to fall, she shook her arms frenetically. When Roger tried to catch hold of her, her foot slipped and she fell forward, right into the lake. Her hat was floating, but the white dress was not.

“ANN!”

Seeing that she was not rising to the surface, he dove without any hesitation. He swam to her and grabbed her arm before coming back to the surface. As soon as the top of her head went out of the water, she lifted up her chin and caught a deep breath. She coughed a bit and went out of the water, followed by Roger, who took her hat back. Ann shook her arms and wrung her dress.

“Ann, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't want to scare you! Are you okay?”

She abruptly spun round and frowned, her hands on her hips.

“Couldn't you be careful?! I was focused on the lake, and you could see that I didn't hear you coming!”

“I'm sorry!”

“I mean... You could have done something that could have made me realise that you were there! Was it too much to ask?”

“I kissed your shoulder!”

“No, that was a bug.”

“No, that was a kiss.”

As she was about to reply something and realised she could not say much, she just stamped her foot and tore her hat from Roger's hand before spinning round and angrily walking to the van. She opened the door, threw her hat on the back seat and took out a towel from a bag. She removed her now see-through dress and wrapped the towel around her naked body, before sitting on the seat on the passenger side and slamming the door, locking herself into the van. With a sly grin, Roger shook his head and walked up to the van; he knocked on the window.

“Ann, I am really sorry that I scared you, it was not my purpose. Please, forgive me.”

“Go away, Daltrey!” she roared.

Roger sighed. Sometimes, Ann could be the total opposite of an easy-going person. She was sweet and kind, but she could also be hot-headed and stubborn. After all these years, Roger was not surprised by her reaction. As soon as something happened to her, Ann could be aggressive for no reason, without wanting to be mean. Yet, he understood that perfectly: it was her way to say she was frightened. He realised that when they were eleven. They were both playing outside in a playground, even though people there were complaining because they were “a bit too old to play there”. Ann was hungry, and as Roger lived nearby, they walked back to the Daltreys' house, in Shepherd's Bush. On their way home, a man almost hit them with his car, even though they were walking properly on the pavement. The man was obviously drunk. He rushed out of the car, grabbed Ann's arm and shook her whilst yelling nonsensical things before leaving. When he finally drove away, Roger worriedly put a hand on her shoulder, asking her if she was alright. She abruptly turned round and slapped him right across the face. Roger fell down to the ground and looked at her, completely dazed and confused. After that, she just disappeared at the corner of the street and got back home. Two hours later, Roger received a phonecall and it was her. She called to apologise, as she did not understand her own reaction. Now, he just had to wait.

Roger walked back to the sleeping bag, and realised he was wet too. He had totally forgotten this detail, as he was too worried about Ann. He sighed as the sleeping bag was now wet too because of his jeans. He shrugged and took a look at the five books Ann had taken with her; they had been placed next to her side, on the grass, along with the lantern she lit up the night before. Roger read the titles of the books; Scotland And Its Wonders, Scottish Tales, Loch Ness, See Scotland and a Scottish book, Whit Tae See In Bonnie Scotland. He smiled and looked at Ann over his shoulder.

“You passionate cheeky little monkey!”

He opened Scottish Tales and put the other books on the side. He turned the pages, looking at the drawings and the titles. No wonder why it was her favourite book. Its presentation was absolutely beautiful. On the outside, it looked like an old book of magic spells, and on the inside, it gave the same impression. The pages were purposely crumpled and aged, and it seemed like the drawings were painted directly on the paper. Roger was amazed by it and stopped at a random tale. Nuckelavee. He had been told many times about this tale, which was one of Ann's favourites. “My mother used to read this one to my sister and I when we were children. The Nuckelavee is the most horrible of the Scottish elves!” He smiled as he began to read it out loud.

“Nuckelavee was a monster of unmixed malignity, never willingly resting from doing evil to mankind. He was a spirit in flesh. His home was the sea; and whatever his means of transit were in that element, when he moved on land he rode a horse as terrible in aspect as himself...”

He read the four pages of the tale, before taking an interest in the drawings of the monster. Indeed, it was the most horrible of the Scottish elves. It looked like a skeleton, partially covered with flesh without skin, with no legs, whose pelvis was part of the spinal column of a horse. But the horse looked terrible as well; it looked exactly like the elf, except it was a horse. Its tail was not hairy or fluffy, it looked just like roots. The two back hooves looked normal, but the front ones were fitted with claws, without hooves. Roger wondered how Ann and her sister, Ceana, managed to stay calm whilst listening or reading the tale when they were children. The drawings were really creepy, and he felt cowed by the creature. He giggled as he told himself that he found the source of her psycho habits.

He closed the book and put it aside before looking back to the van. Ann had not moved.

“I wonder what she's doing. Maybe she's calm now.”

He noticed the t-shirt he wore for the trip and put it on; then, he stood up and stretched his whole body before walking up to the window of the door against which she was leaning on. She was absently looking into space. He knocked on the window, and she slowly raised her eyes.

“Ann, are you okay? I'm really sorry that I made you jump and fall into the lake.”

“I told you to GO AWAY, Daltrey! Just leave me alone!”

Roger sighed and shrugged.

“Fine!”

He ran a hand through his mass of curly hair and bypassed the vehicle. He faced the front windscreen, looking right into Ann's eyes. She rolled them and sighed, a bit annoyed. She wanted to be alone, didn't he understand that? He bounced up and down, breathing out. After a while, he started to dance. It was something between ridiculous and sexy. She refrained from chuckling. Roger began to hum something, she lowered the window and sneaked her head outside. He was loudly singing the intro of Satisfaction, by the Rolling Stones. He gracefully turned round and wiggled his bottom. Ann tried not to burst out laughing and covered her mouth with a hand. Then, Roger slowly and sensuously removed his t-shirt before making it rotate over his head as he faced her once again. He stopped for a second and sang a parody of Satisfaction, which he was already humming.

“I can't get no satisfaction, I can't get no satisfaction, 'cause you won't, 'cause you won't, 'cause you won't... LICK MY SEXY! Duh-duh-duh... SEXY BODY! Duh-duh-duh...”

She could hold it back no more. She bursted out laughing and almost was out of breath. He was smiling, but he kept on dancing. He slowly undid his belt, still wiggling his hips.

“When you're driving in your van, and this sexy beast's beside you, we're going to the Loch Ness, and we'll try to find Nessie, who can't be as sexy as me... I can't get no! Oh no, no, no. BOO-BOOTY!”

And he spun round one more time as he lowered his jeans, along with his underwear, leant forward, and showed Ann his bottom he was shaking. She was dying of laughter; her stomach hurt a lot, and she could not breathe anymore. She saw Roger removing his jeans, but putting on his underwear. He threw his clothes on one side and danced again and again. As he was touching his bottom, Ann unlocked the door and opened it; crying of laughter, she walked up to Roger and hugged him. He pulled her close against his chest and buried his face in her hair. Meanwhile, she was trying to push his hair out of her face in order to dry her eyes.

“I'm sorry that I made you fall into the lake and that I butchered Satisfaction.” he giggled.

“You bastard, I love you!”