the curious tale of dr heidh

8/14/2019 The Curious Tale of Dr Heidh

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The Curious Tale of Dr Heidh Jemma Castle

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The Curious Tale

of Dr Heidh

By Jemma Castley Jemma Castley Jemma Castley Jemma Castle


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Also by this author:

Applestalk

Tower Princess

Children of Lochlann Part 1

Cockleshell Pony

Skith

Apple-Stalk

Talent Show

Local Horseshow

Warticah

The Grey Knight

The Ancient Button

A Horrid Faerie Tale

The Magic Carpet

Girl and Catteratta

Eternal Spring

Ngebas Story

The Genie

The Magic Banana Tree

Tiny and Bozo


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AGES 9 up

For Young readers

Written and illustrated by Jemma Castle

This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, real people, and real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and

incidents are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events of locales or persons, living or dead, is purely co-incidental.

Copyright 2009 Jemma Castle

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means or manner

whatsoever (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of author. Except in the case of brief

quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

The moral right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with relevant Copyright, Designs and

Patents Acts.

This book is available subject to the condition that is shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the

authors prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the

subsequent purchaser.

Summary

Dr Heidh and his love buy a small Island and start their family. Things dont turn out exactly the way they planned.


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ver a decade ago, a young Dr and his love, Miss Hilda Music decided that they

would like to leave the hustle and bustle of the city for a house in the country.

They longed to be far from the city lights with only the birds and bees for

company.

After searching the newspapers, they found a tiny advert which read:

Small Island for saleNo inhabitants.

All yours!Call: Mrs Wendy Ill 018171345

Island & Country Planning DepartmentFieryfurness

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Dr Heidh called up immediately and arranged to see the island and within a few days both he

and his love were sailing into the sunset to view their new home.

After a full nights travel they reached the island on first light. The dawn chorus of the birds was

music to their ears and the hills were alive with deer and bunnies.


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own by the shore was the only dwelling on the island, a sweet house, just big enough

for the small family they planned. The house was called Frillaggie.

After a whirlwind day tour by Mrs Wendy Ill, who kindly provided some Wellington boots for

each of them, they felt truly satisfied that this was their paradise that they had dreamed of.

They sailed back that evening and the next morning travelled together with Mrs Wendy Ill to

her offices in Fieryfurness. There and then they signed the papers and paid over the money

they had saved for this momentous occasion. After a short wait they were give the title deeds

of the Island. It was all theirs.

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They drove home from Fieryfurness, a beautiful scenic route to pack up their belongings and

say goodbye to friends and family.


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r Heidh made arrangements with the harbour to buy a boat big enough to hold their

belongings and with just enough spare space to board his trusty 4x4 as well.

At the harbour where they were boarding their new boat, a young boy in rough, torn clothes

was going from person to person showing them the contents of a small Hessian bag. Each

person would look, a glimmer would cross their features and then they would shake their heads

and say no thank you.

Miss Hilda Music felt drawn to the young boy and even took off her gloves and handed them to

him in sympathy. She asked if she could look into his bag and with a puzzled look, he opened

it for her.

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Dr Heidh, Dr Heidh come quickly, bring your purse she shouted loudly to her love. There in

the bag were the two most glorious grey and white little puppies. On the boat they decided to

call them Rhythm and Blues.

Following the map drawn by Mrs Wendy Ill they had little difficulty reaching the island, their

own island, even though they were not seasoned sailors. They pulled up on the sandy shore

and let down the small ramp. Dr Heidh reversed his trusty 4x4 off onto the beach and hitching

up the winch, dragged the boat up, high on the beach. Then they collapsed together on the

golden sand beside it, laughing with uncontained joy.

Leaving their goods in the boat they rushed up the narrow path to their house and danced

around the room, a joyous jig, full of life. Dr Heidh grabbed Miss Hilda Music up in his arms


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and together they spun round and round before they brought their furniture in and no longer

had enough space to do that.


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o it came to pass that they were very happy there on their island. Their two puppies

grew up to be fine dogs. Dr Heidh and Miss Hilda had a new child each year. They

called their children as follows Do, Ray, Me, So, Far, La and Tee and all the

children looked the same, a perfect combination of their parents.

They loved the company of the deer and bunnies and the birds. They discovered that there

was a small herd of wild ponies in the hills and they visited them, taking them carrots and

apples. They sat on the rocks down by the shore and watched the seals and the otters. The

dolphins came to play in the bay, performing for them.

Miss Hilda Music taught her children in their little house and Dr Heidh made sure that they had

enough to eat and that they were safe and sound.

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From time to time they went off in their little boat with their trusty 4x4 and visited the mainland

for necessary supplies, medicines and for a bit of company. But it was a long, long trip and

they did not make it often.

They sometimes spoke of how they would like to have some company on the island but no one

they knew was interested in living so far away from the cities.

One day, when Do was seven years old, they heard the unexpected sound of a boat landing on

the shore and the voices of at least two strangers.

Dr Heidh was thrilled to have visitors for company first carefully checking to confirm if they were

friendly by watching them for a time from behind the foliage. Then the family made their way to

the beach to greet their first visitors.


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The two mens names were Mr Kneel Loud and Mr Donald Lean. They were fishermen and

were looking for a place to stay as their island had grown too small and no longer had good

fishing around it.

After a knowing look between them, the happy couple agreed. It would be perfect, some

healthy and hearty friends to help Dr Heidh with looking after the island. What a co-incidence

that they had on occasion felt a bit lonely and now they had someone who was offering to

catch fish for their meals.

The children danced little dances on the beach and Do and Ray fetched their fiddles and

played a little jig. It was a glorious occasion and they laughed and chatted late into the night

before falling asleep in hammocks on the beach.


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The next day after taking the men on a quick day tour of the island, Dr Heidh returned home for

it was nearly night time. They had seemed to know exactly where they wanted to build their

houses, one for each and he had readily agreed. Early the next morning he set off to meet with

the men again, only to find that there was no sign of them. Curious? The family felt ill at ease

and disappointed. Perhaps the men had not liked them or perhaps the island was indeed to far

away from everything. They felt sad and had been longing for people to share their island

paradise. Time passed extra slowly as it does when one is worried about something

Two days later the two men returned with a group of men. It turned out that these men were

their cousins and upon hearing of the wonderful island they had wanted to come and see it for

themselves.


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t first Dr Heidh and Miss Hilda Music were quite anxious and more than a bit

annoyed to have so many uninvited guests on their island, still upset at the sudden

unexplained disappearance of their new tenants but they soon forgave them and

warmed to their hearty seafaring talk. Upon assurance that their cousins would not be staying

they agreed to allow their two tenants to show their cousins, (Who curiously all had the same

names) the island and went back to their daily business of teaching the children and tending

their food garden.

Early the next morning Dr Heidh set off to chat to the men as he needed their help to move

some stones to his house. He wanted to make his house a bit bigger to accommodate his

growing brood and low and behold the men were nowhere to be found?

A


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Curious and curiouser.

Again two days later they returned, this time with more people, it seems that each of the men

and each of their cousins had brought their girlfriends to show them the island and so it came

to pass that the two men and their 10 cousins and all their girlfriends came to live on Dr Heidh's

island. Dr Heidh all the while was thinking of how quickly he was going to get his house

extensions built and how much bigger he could make it with all the extra help. He was

trembling with excitement and the sheer luck of it all.

After a day of no word from the men and their wives, Dr Heidh and Miss Hilda and their

children decided to go and visit the woman. It turned out that the women were hard at work as

their men had gone to sea for fishing and left the women alone to build their own houses. The

woman were quite fit and healthy and well able to build their traditional island homes. Hilda


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and Dr Heidh learnt quite a few tricks from them during the days that their men were away at

sea and the Heidh family abandoned their usual daily tasks to lend a hand and help build their

tenants homes.

Then in the morning some time later there was a loud commotion on the beach and looking out

of their house window, they saw that there were fluffy white bundles hopping down from the

boats onto the beach and Dr Heidh set off with his big dogs, Rhythm and Blues to investigate.

It turned out that the little fluffy white bundles where month old lambs brought from their old

island. Apparently the animals were very useful. They kept the grass around your house

short, their fleece would be used to make wool and then clothes and they were pretty tasty too

if the fishing was bad, especially in the winter when it was not safe to go out fishing for the bad

weather.


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Looking at the cute little bundles of wool dancing about on the beach, each and every member

of the family decided that there was no way they could possibly eat such a cute adorable

animal but that they might have a go at learning to spin their wool on the curious spindles their

tenants had showed them.

Two days later the men returned with some large brown and black fluffy animals but these

ones made loud moaning noises and had sharp horns.

Dr Heidh was beginning to wonder at their queer folk and just how much they intended to bring

to his island but when they explained that these animals were also very useful and provided

milk which could be turned into butter, cheese and yogurt they relented and allowed them to

bring them ashore.


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It began to be so busy in their settlements around the island that the family rarely saw them for

they were busy building, milking and spinning and the men were away fishing and so they

seldom provided Dr Heidh with the help he wanted. So Dr Heidh and his family went back to

their old ways and forgot about the tenants.

4 times that year they came to see Dr Heidh and brought him, spun wool, knitted garments,

cheese, dried meat and this supplemented their grains and nuts and honey that they had

concentrated on before the tenants came.

In time there were other children running about on the many beaches and in the hills but they

were not a friendly sort and threw stones at Do, Ray, Me, So, Far, La and Tee. This was sad

as they would have liked to play with the children. Miss Hilda Music found too that the woman


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were not very kind and talked too much about each other and also about her. It was hurtful the

stories they told and she wanted nothing to do with them. But their sheep kept the grass

around the house short and when lambing season came, the men came down to the house

and asked Dr Heidh to please keep his dogs inside his garden for they were interfering with

their lambs and he did this although the arrangement it did not seem right.


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ore and more it seemed that they were living inside their house and not

enjoying the whole island like they used to.

Still they concentrated on teaching their children and growing their plants and relied less and

less on what their tenants brought them for they preferred their own food.

Over time they learnt that each of the men were called by the same names as the first two

men. Curious and curiouser. They were all cousins and their wives were the only ones who

had different names. Soon each family had given a name to the area they had claimed as their

own and so they learned that the wives were called, Sarah Sleet, Mary Margaret Minge, Ellie

Ersa, Tarryn Travour, Catie Castle, Hettie Hore, Annie Ardmore, Tina Tanga, Gretta Green,

Glenda Glen, Lettie Leachack, Norma North. Girls were named after their mothers and boys

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after their fathers and so there were many people with the same names and it was all very

confusing for the Heidh family who each had their own name.

As time passed the Heidh children grew up and soon Do was nearly as tall as his father. At

that time there were so many people on their island that they noticed that it was starting to sink.

Obviously it could no longer stand the weight pressing down on it, all the people, their houses,

their animals and their boats and it was getting wetter and wetter.

Miss Hilda Music could no longer stroll about singing and enjoying the fresh air on the hills for

she would sink into the mud up to her calves and soon all her favourite long dresses had

permanent brown stains upon them.


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Live became dreary for the family and the tenants had brought rules and fences. The dogs

could not even go on walks with their children anymore and the children did not feel safe with

out the dogs warning them of the other children. No longer could they enjoy their adventure

games and they felt sad and unhappy.

Miss Hilda Music and Dr Heidh spend long hours after the children had gone to bed discussing

how things had turned out badly and if only those 2 men had not landed on their beach and if

only they had not allowed them to stay but it seemed there was no way to turn back the clock.

Dr Heidh had called a meeting to discuss things but no one turned up for the meetings.


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he people on the island had started a shop as there were so many of them and each of

them sold their goods to the shop that increased the price and resold them in a central

place. But because the Heidh family were not related to their tenants they were not

allowed to buy from the shop.

Of course the 4 times a year offerings had stopped and very few indeed only one or two ever

brought anything to Dr Heidh as a gift or payments for living on his island.

He grew thinner and thinner form all the worry and his family felt ill from the whole situation.


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ne day, they all went off in their boat and went to visit Mrs Wend Ill. She was

horrified to hear of their troubles and lamented that if only they had told her

sooner, she could have helped them. It turned out that many years back, some

pirates had lived on their island but these pirates had been caught and their families had been

chased off the island together with their animals. Their houses had been demolished and after

some years it had returned to a natural environment. Deer and bunnies and some wild ponies

had been put on the island and the one remaining house had been restored. The island had

then been put up of sale to keep these stay smugglers from settling there again.

Dr Heidh had been the new owner but the 2 men who had landed on the beach had been

relatives of the original pirate families and they had moved back. Their treatment of Dr Heidh

and his family was due to the fact that they considered the island their own personal property

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and the initial niceties had been for show only. In the end it seems that they had got what they

had wanted, their island.

Well, what was the Heidh family to do? They held the title deeds but clearly it was not their

island anymore. They could not even sell it to someone else as it had so many people and

sheep and cows on it, nobody their right mind would buy it.

Oh dear, oh dear.

Well Mrs Wendy, Ill went to take the matter to her superiors and they came up with a plan,

they had an old house in the country far north where few people lived. It was a big house,

quite big enough to comfortablly house Dr Heidh's large family and more and it had an area of

land around it just big enough for the children to enjoy. There were long walks about and even


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a long path that lead to the sea and the beach. It would be far better than what their island had

become and it would be small compensation for what had become of their island. The

superiors agreed that they were partly to blame for they had not notified the Heidh's of the pre-

existing situation in their hurry to sell the island and that they should have set up a closer watch

to assist the Heidh's when trouble had come to call.

In the mean time Island & Country Planning Department would retain the title deeds of the

island but they could still visit whenever they wanted, although they had somewhere else to go.


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fter a quick chat between themselves they all reasoned how unhappy they were on

their island and they though it best to take up the offer by Mrs Wendy Ills' superiors.

A nights journey back to their sinking island and a few days spent packing their belongings into

their boat and their 4x4 and they were ready to go. It was very squashed as Rhythm and Blues

were now fully grown and the children did not all really fit in the car with the other things in

there but they managed and luckily the sailing was not too bad. Dr Heidh left his boat

anchored in the mainland bay and they drove off to their new house in the country.

It was awesome and it was huge. The garden was much bigger than the fenced off area the

tenants of the island had allowed them and the dogs and children went off to explore.

A

Th C i T l f D H idh J C tl


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Miss Hilda Music went in to her new nest to make ready for the birth of her new baby, just in

time too and they all lived happily ever after.

THE END

Words: 3468 words

the curious tale of dr heidh

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