Seumas MacKay closed the logbook and shut off the computer after he made his final report for the day. He sighed. Another long, lonely night to look forward to. He wished Laddie would finish his daily ramble and come home. He peered through the tiny window  and saw an odd dark shape lying among the rocks at the edge of the water. He knew those rocks, knew this object didn't belong. 

At last, no longer able to restrain his curiosity, Seumas donned his coat, left his warm peat fire and trudged out into the cold. As he drew nearer the rocks, his steps quickened. Was it what he suspected, a seal skin? Aye, it was.

The skin was soft and heavy and Seumas had difficulty forming it into a bundle he could carry. He hoisted it onto his shoulder and labored up the incline to his cottage. He spread the skin across the table, marveling at the velvety texture of the pelt. He wondered who had lost it and how it came to be deposited on his tiny piece of seashore. 

As he rubbed a hand over the drying fur, he found a tear and some punctures. Ah, so it wasn't perfect. That would decrease its value. He turned the skin around, turned it over, and realized the hole wasn't a tear. The seal from whom the pelt had been taken had been bitten, probably by an orca or a shark. 

But, how had the pelt gotten to… he stopped, stood stock-still as his grandmother's tale of selkies rose from his memory. Selkies, the seals who had the ability to shed their skins, take on human form and live among men. He grinned, shook his head. No.

His stomach rumbled. Before he prepared supper, he should call Laddie home. He went out and called, “Laddie!” He heard a furor of barking. But Laddie didn't come.

Seumas followed the the sound across the hill and found Laddie lying by an unconcious woman. A naked woman. He took off his coat, laid it across her and she stirred, opened her eyes and regarded him with large, liquid brown eyes for a moment, then passed out again. Seumas had never seen a woman so beautiful.

He picked up her small form and carried her to the cottage. As he laid her on the bed, he realized she had a bite wound on her side. He doctored it and dressed her in a pair of his pants and a shirt.

Seumas examined the skin, checked the location of the tear. The seal had been bitten on the side, like the woman. If the old tales were true, if she was a selkie and he kept possession of her skin, she would belong to him, be his wife. He wouldn't live at this lonely weather outpost alone any longer.

He took the skin to a cave nearby and hid it..