There are many islands in the sea near Scotland. This story is about one of these islands. The name of the island is Lana.
Lana isn’t big, but it’s very beautiful. It’s very quiet, too. There are no houses or roads or cars on Lana. But there’s a castle. The castle is very old.
A young Scotsman lives in the castle. The Scotsman’s name is Duncan McTavish. Duncan lives in the castle with his dog, Jock.
Duncan is very happy on his island. He likes going for walks with Jock. He likes swimming and fishing in his little boat.
There are many big rooms in Duncan’s castle. They have a lot of old things in them — pictures and heavy tables, chairs and beds.
In winter the castle is very cold and dark. Duncan puts on a lot of electric lights in all the rooms.
One Monday morning in April, Duncan gets a letter.
‘What’s this?’ he asks.
He opens the letter. It’s from the electricity company. Duncan reads,
Electricity from October to March: £5,000.
‘Oh,’ Duncan says. ‘I haven’t got £5,000. What can I do?’ He’s very unhappy. ‘I can do only one thing: sell my island and my castle.’
Duncan telephones a man in London. The man’s name is Mr. Moneybags. Mr. Moneybags sells houses and castles.
‘I want to sell my island and my castle,’ Duncan says. ‘OK,’ Mr. Moneybags says.
Two days later, he telephones Duncan.
‘Leaping Larry wants to buy your island,’ he says. ‘Leaping … who?’ Duncan asks.
‘Leaping Larry. You know — the famous American rock star. He wants to buy your island for his girlfriend.’
‘A rock star,’ Duncan says. ‘Oh.’
‘He wants to see the island tomorrow afternoon,’ Mr. Moneybags says. ‘Is that OK?’
‘Er … yes,’ Duncan says. ‘Yes, of course.’
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