یخچال وجود نداره!

CHAPTER THREE

No Fridge!

I was shocked. Uncle Fraser lived in a thatched white croft near the sea and surrounded by grass. White Heather Cottage had a tiny wooden front door and Uncle Fraser had to bend his head to go in and out.

There were three rooms downstairs. Inside the croft it was cosy and warm. The kitchen was at the far end and there was a table near the window. A small fire burned with cooking pans hanging above it. I looked out at the bright orange sky.

‘We have great sunsets here,’ said Uncle Fraser.

He showed me his study. He was a writer and he wrote historical novels. There were pens and paper all over his desk and books everywhere.

‘Crofts don’t usually have an upstairs, but this one does,’ he said.

He took me upstairs to show me my room. It was lovely. There was a wooden bed and a red rug on the floor. Next to the bed there was a chest, which looked like a pirate’s treasure chest. There was a small desk near the window and a vase of fresh white heather. There were pictures of animals and wild flowers hanging on the walls.

Uncle Fraser’s bedroom was at the end of the corridor and there was a small bathroom with a bathtub and a pile of soft white towels.

‘It’s very pretty,’ I said to Uncle Fraser. ‘But do you get lonely here?’

‘Oh no. I have friends who live in the village and I have my animals.’

We went downstairs and had dinner. There was homemade bread, creamy butter and goat cheese. For pudding we had wild raspberries and cream.

It was a delicious meal.

It was getting dark and I looked for the light switch. Uncle Fraser saw me and smiled. ‘Sorry, Megan, there is no electricity at the croft.’

‘No electricity! So you don’t have a dishwasher,’ I said looking at the plates.

‘No, I’m the dishwasher,’ said my uncle laughing.

‘And you probably don’t have a computer’ I said.

‘No, and I don’t have a television. On Skye we create our own entertainment. I play the piano after dinner when friends come round, or I read by the light of candles and oil lamps. There are lots of board games in the corner, so we can play chess, draughts, monopoly or scrabble.’

Piano! Board games! I couldn’t believe it. No electricity! I wanted to go home, back to my technological world.

‘So, where is the fridge, Uncle Fraser?’

‘I don’t need one. There is a cold cellar in this croft and I grow most of my food. I milk the cows and goats early in the morning so there is fresh milk every day and I make my own cheese. I buy meat from the butcher’s when I want it. It’s a perfect life, Megan.’

‘Perfect,’ I said to myself as I climbed the stairs to bed. I went into my bedroom and put the candle on my desk.

I looked out of my window.

The moon was bright and there were so many stars and standing in the heather stood a silvery-white horse.