Apparition of Arran

There was once a little, old lady called Mary Henderson who had lived her entire life on the Isle of Arran. She may have been small, but she was full of wits and courage. Mary was travelling home late one evening when she realised that the quickest route home was going to take her over a haunted bridge.

Even brave, logical Mary shivered when she thought about crossing in the moonlight. She was stubborn and tired though, so with a determined look the old lady strode towards the river. As she grew closer, an eerie blue light started to shine on the bridge and a cold sweat pricked the back of Mary's neck.

A spectral figure suddenly materialised in front of her. Naturally, Mary was frightened, but she wasn't the kind of person to run away. Taking a deep breath, she called out a greeting to the apparition, refusing to let it see she was afraid. To her surprise, the ghost replied in a friendly way.

As she got closer, it seemed to take a more human form until Mary could see it was a familiar young man. It was Finlay, a lad who had died in an accident a few years ago, during the prime of his life.

Finlay explained that every time he had appeared to somebody, they always ran away before he could speak. He had seen big, burly men crying at the sight of him. Mary was the first person to stand her ground and actually speak to him.

To his shame, just before Finlay had died, he had stolen a plough iron. His tormented soul was unable to rest until it had been returned to its rightful owner. He told Mary where to find it and asked her to leave it outside a certain house. In return, he had knowledge of a host of things yet to come that could benefit her and her family.

Mary would have helped this poor soul even without a reward. The next day, the plough iron was returned, Finlay was finally able to rest and the locals no longer had to worry about the Apparition of Arran. All because a little, old lady was brave enough to stand her ground and ask how she could help.