The Cryptid Files Read Online Free Page A

voice, and Vanessa let it go. She was dying to see the cottage too.

CHAPTER 7
    A large number of salmon migrate through Loch Ness to their breeding ground. The eels in Loch Ness travel even farther – all the way to the Sargasso Sea. The loch is no stranger to visitors.
    About half an hour later, they came to the small village of Drumnadrochit and the site of the official Loch Ness visitors’ centre. Her father slowed the car, but didn’t stop.
    â€˜We’ll do that too,’ he offered, before Vanessa could ask. She could see a sea of green Nessie teddies hanging outside the shop. This time, they held red bagpipes. Above them a large billboard carried an advert for the Express Loch Ness Monster Boat. 3D sonar on board, it said, followed by a huge exclamation mark. Vanessa hoped her father wouldn’t suggest that – she’d hate it. She’d much prefer to take a small quiet fishing boat out on the loch and get the real atmosphere that way.
    As they approached the village of Fort Augustus, Vanessa’s spirits soared. One, two, three, four, five. Five locks and a swing bridge! And this was where they were staying.
    â€˜Look at those lock-gates!’
    â€˜Why such interest in lock-gates all of a sudden?’ Alan sounded surprised.
    â€˜Well …’ Vanessa hesitated. She had never shared her theory with anyone about how Nessie had got into Loch Ness. ‘Well, Mum and I thought that the locks might have something to do with it.’
    â€˜With what?’ Ronan piped up.
    â€˜The explanation for how Nessie got here. You see, a very long time ago, the Great Glen fault line ran from the east coast of Scotland all the way across to the west. This meant that the lochs, including Loch Ness, were actually linked to the sea. One of the main theories is that when that connection closed off, about ten thousand years ago, Nessie became trapped in Loch Ness.’ She stopped. They wouldn’t be interested.
    â€˜And?’ Luke prompted her. Vanessa was surprised. She had thought that Luke was listening to his music. Now, she noticed that one of the ear pieces was out and lying on his shoulder.
    â€˜Well, there has always been the problem that in order for a Nessie species to survive and evolve over ten thousand years, there would need to be quite a big number of Nessies breeding and a lot of fish for them to eat. Whereas I think, well we thought …’
    â€˜Go on.’ Her father glanced in the mirror, his face eager.
    â€˜Well, it’s possible that Nessie did come from the sea, but not ten thousand years ago. I think she’s a deep-sea mammal that got trapped by following salmon migrating through the Caledonian Canal into Loch Ness.’
    â€˜Hang on. I thought you said that the access to the sea had been closed off ten thousand years ago,’ Luke pointed out.
    â€˜Well, yes, it was, but it was opened up again when they built the Caledonian Canal linking Loch Ness to the sea through a series of lock-gates. There are twenty-nine of them in total, and that means fishing boats can cut across Scotland from the Irish Sea to the Atlantic without going around the top. And – this is what clinches it – the locks and the canal were finished in 1822, which just happens to be around the same time people started to see a monster in the loch!’
    Luke got it. ‘So, you mean there isn’t a whole bunch of them, breeding away and evolving? There’s just this one lonely monster who got trapped?’
    â€˜Exactly. And that’s why I’m interested in the locks,’ she added. ‘You see?’
    â€˜Not a bad theory, even for you, Vanessa,’ Luke said mildly.
    Vanessa dug him in the ribs with her elbow, without bothering to look at him. She enjoyed the gasp of pain elicited.
    â€˜We’re here.’ Alan slowed the car in front of a pair of ancient wrought-iron gates.
    He edged the car through the narrow opening and into a