Page 49 of The Winter We Met
He drained his cup. ‘Well done, Lynn. This cake is amazing.’ He got up and went over to the other table, resting a hand on Glenda’s shoulder as he took another slice.
‘Come and join us, Jess,’ called Pan. ‘Otherwise your second slice will disappear.’
‘There’s always mine,’ said Alf in a morose voice. ‘Lynn says I should only have one.’
‘Doctor’s orders, Alf Talbot,’ she said.
He grinned. ‘You sound just like my Maisie.’
I got up and went over, not looking where I was going, and stood on a large stone almost tripping over.
‘Steady on, old girl,’ said Fred. ‘Anyone would think you’ve got my eyesight.’
‘Perhaps I should have given that white feather to you,’ joked Alf.
But I hardly heard. I looked down at the stone. Of course!
‘You’ll need that second slice, Nik,’ I said, ‘Because I’d like to show you Pebble Rock.’
‘That’s a good idea,’ said Lynn. ‘You’ll get a lovely view as the sun sets.’
‘It might be a bit cold,’ said Glenda sharply. ‘You and Nik should come back to Willow Court and get warm.’
It touched me again how she’d bonded with him. ‘How about we take the rucksack with us, to save Lynn’s back, and then drop it by later? We’ll say a quick hello.’
‘It’ll be lighter now, with the flasks empty,’ said Lynn. ‘I’ll be fine carrying it.’
‘You can’t be too careful with your health,’ said Glenda quickly. ‘Yes, Jess, I think that’s an excellent idea.’
‘It must be nearly time for lunch,’ said Pan. Fred, Alf and Glenda exchanged glances. She looked at her arm. ‘Oh… I haven’t put on my… my wrist clock.’
Without hesitation Nik rolled up his sleeve. ‘Look at my watch instead, Pan,’ he said and crouched by her side.
Her face broke into a smile. ‘It’s got a Mickey Mouse in the middle. His arms are the hands. It’s adorable!’
Nik looked sheepish. ‘Okay, you’ve caught me – I visit Hong Kong Disneyland every couple of years with colleagues. Only for work purposes, you understand. I don’t enjoy the magic at all.’
We all smiled and said our goodbyes. Nik and I wandered back into the woodland with Buddy by our sides.
22
‘I’m excited to be visiting Springhaye’s equivalent of Uluru,’ Nik said as the path we’d been following started to incline.
‘Um, it’s more of a small hill – but has an unusual tradition and there’s a lovely view of Amblemarsh.’
Pebble Rock was a little steep as you neared the top and Nik offered me a hand. I hesitated before slipping my hand into his, wishing we weren’t wearing gloves. He heaved me up and Buddy followed. We stood on the plateau. There was a wooden bench the other side, just before the far edge.
‘Wow!’ He put down the rucksack and went over to bend over piles of pebbles that lay all around. ‘There must be hundreds of stones and so many messages and hearts. Is it okay to touch them?’
‘Go ahead.’
He picked one up. ‘Sharon loves John, 2016.They remind me of the padlocks lovers fasten everywhere in Paris.’
‘It started on New Year’s Eve 1999. Remember how the world decided we were going to fall foul of the Millennium bug? That computers’ systems would fail in important areas such as utilities and it would lead to widespread chaos – and some religious groups believed it was the end of times?’
‘Yup. I was thirteen, I went to a mate’s beachfront house for a barbecue party and we all held our breath at midnight but the lights stayed on and gadgets still worked… talk about a disappointment.’
‘A group of teens from Springhaye decided to paint a stone each that they found in the forest and leave it up here – something to be remembered by if the apocalypse arrived and they didn’t survive.’
