Highland Portrait by Shelagh Mercedes Read Free Book Online Page B

that her talent had manifested itself.  She had been four years old and her father, having determined that she had a talent for art, had given her a large box of crayons and an easel with a tablet of newsprint.  She had begun drawing what was in her heart and her work was beyond the maturity of a four year old.   Her drawings were of people and places that puzzled her teachers and brought a smile to her father.    He proudly hung her drawings all over the house and saved each as a treasured memento of her youthful talent. 
    But drawing was the lesser of her talents.  When she was particularly impassioned about a piece it would quite often manifest itself in reality.  Life imitating art.  She remembered the first time it had happened. 
    She had been six and wanted desperately to have a small white kitten.  Her father did not want the responsibility of a cat, nor did he think that she was yet capable of caring for a pet.  Her sad little heart breaking for want of a kitten she drew one on her newsprint tablet and the next morning there was a small white kitten curled up asleep underneath the easel. Having a fair understanding of the workings of the tooth fairy and Santa Claus she surmised that some benevolent feline faerie had gifted her with the kitten.
      After investigating the appearance of the kitten her father began to take a more serious interest in Stella’s art, providing her with the tools and training she needed to become the extraordinary artist she was.
    The magic of the canvas did not always happen.  A new bicycle did not appear after she drew it, nor did Nike sneakers, nor a strapless prom gown.  She appeared to have no control over what appeared.  It was a random magic that seemed directed by some other force.  It happened seldom enough that she was able to keep it secret…this was magic after all.
    She was in high school when Arwen appeared.  Stella had talked with her father about getting a horse and he had thought it might be a good idea, but he seemed always too busy, or away on another trip to do anything about it.  She had painted the Arabian and within a few days she found herself in the possession of Arwen, a white Arabian mare.  Her father did not seem too surprised, however, to return home after a particularly long trip to find a horse pastured in the back yard.  They found a boarding stable and Stella began training and riding.
    Casper had come into her life much the same way, the most recent addition to her ‘faerie gifts’ as she called them.  She wasn’t needing or wanting a dog at the time, but had painted a red dog for a book cover and the next day Casper showed up in her back yard, barking at the door wanting in. He seemed quite taken with her – wagging his tail as if he was glad to see her again.  She was puzzled, but recognized him immediately from her painting and knew that he was to serve some purpose. What, she didn’t know.
    Stella did not fear her magic. It had all been rather benign and had worked to her benefit – giving her things she wanted or needed. An odd assortment of things that sometimes made no sense to her, but she delighted in receiving them regardless of where they came from. It had always been animals or jewelry or strange hand carved wooden bowls.  She had received gifts of beautiful shawls and exquisite treasure boxes filled with strange herbs and dried flowers.  Each gift was of a practical use to her in some small way.  She had taken the box of herbs to an herbalist who identified them as a very powerful cleansing agent.  The following week she had found herself with a bad case of food poisoning after dining at a new restaurant and the herbs kept her from a hospital visit. Her ‘gifts’ were always comforting and useful, except for Casper, who seemed to have come on his own accord.  Perhaps he came because he needed her and she was content to take care of him.
    But Robbie, whoever he was, was a complete surprise and mystery to