Flower of Scotland Read Online Free PDF Page A

his tears. I was about to reach out for him when a huge hand grasped me by the shoulder. I turned to see Jamie’s wide-eyed, slack-mouthed grin - he had drunk too much, but that was part of what him Jamie - I would have expected no less from him.
    ‘So laddie,’ he said to Robert, ‘Are you satisfied? Are you going to have your wee show?’
    Robert merely nodded. ‘Aye. It is time. Come with me.’
    I was confused. ‘What is this all about?’ I asked Jamie as we followed Robert’s bent figure. He wouldn’t answer at first and I had to ask him again before he deigned to reply.
    ‘Robert has found a use for yon trinket of yours,’ he said.
    ‘But I thought it was to be a symbol,’ I said. ‘A focus for the clans in the battles.’
    ‘Aye,’ Jamie said. ‘It’ll be a focus all right - but if what wee Robert has in mind comes to pass, it will be more than that - much more.’
    He would not say any more as led me further from the fire, towards the door. I had one last look backwards as we left the room, but the rest of the occupants seemed to be pointedly ignoring us, trying too hard not to note our passing.
    The snow hit me full in the face as the door closed behind me, and the wind howled its rage in my ears. Far below the waves beat hungrily at the cliffs, flecks of white spume being flung high to mingle with the white, dancing flakes of the storm.
    ‘A fine night for it.’ Jamie bellowed in my ear. Even his great voice was torn away by the wind. I was unable to reply - I was having too much trouble fighting the wind to bother with speech. We followed Robert through the grounds of the castle to the chapel at the east-end, high above the sucking sea below.
    A great oak door, some four inches thick, swung shut behind us as we entered, shutting out all sounds of the storm and leaving us alone in thick, quiet darkness. Robert struck a light and at first all I could see was his face, lit from underneath by the candle, its light throwing the upper half of his face into deep, black shadow.
    It was only when my eyes became accustomed to the darkness that I realised what was about to occur.
    The windows of the chapel had been covered in thick, green velvet drapes, and all the wooden seats had been removed from the room, leaving only empty boards on the floor before the altar. On the floor, a circle within a circle had been drawn, circles surrounded by dense Hebrew script. A five-pointed star was inscribed inside the inner circle, and a candle was placed at each point of the star.
    I felt a chill settle in my bones, but it was answered by a sudden burst of heat from the thing around my neck.
    ‘It it time,’ Robert said. ‘Fetch it out, Donald.’
    The red light blazed between my fingers as I opened my vest and took the chain from around my neck. I handed it to Robert, who took it gingerly between his thumb and forefinger as if it might burn him.
    ‘Remember,’ he said to both of us, ‘you must not enter the circle until the conjuration is complete.’
    Jamie and I nodded in unison. It was not the first summoning we had attended - but I had the feeling it was going to be the most memorable.
    It grew perceptibly colder as Robert steeped into the circle, and I realised that I missed the comfort of the ancient chain around my neck. It had been with me for a long time. As if in answer to my thoughts the red glow blazed up one final time before fading. Robert raised his hands towards the roof and began to chant.
    Elohim do battle for me in the name of Tetragrammaton.
    Malachim protect me in the name of Jod He Vau He.
    Seraphim cleanse me in the name of Elvoih.
    Hajoth a Kadosh, cry, speak, roar, bellow.
    Lion of the North, be with me.’
    Robert was enveloped in a red glow, a glow that grew and spread from the object on the chain, a glow that moulded itself into a form around a body, obscuring his features as it deepened and took on shape.
    Robert seemed to expand; his back straightening and his chest filling out, his