Page 51 of A Summer of New Beginnings
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She cycled right past the turning that led to Balnakeil. The hot-chocolate place reminded her of Lachy and she didn’t need to think about him. She needed to get on with her assignment andthenshe needed to go home and get on with her life. At least, that was what she kept telling herself.
It was strange to be back on the road again. To be all alone after having company for a few days. Whenevershe thought about Bess, she had to swallow that familiar lump of emotion that tightened her throat.Bloody hell, Bailey, she’s just a dog, for goodness’ sake. And even though she repeated that over and over like a mantra she knew it wasn’t exactly true. Bess was just one small part of a strange-shaped hole that had formed in her heart since she’d left Scourie. She could only hope that time wouldheal it.
She had one brief stop to eat the home-made bread and flapjack that she had taken from the croft and then, after cycling around fifty-five miles during the day, she arrived in Tongue. She was back at the same site she had stayed only a few days before but at least this meant she was back on track. She resolved to have an early night and eat whatever she could buy from the little shop.There were no notes to type up as this part of her journey had been covered already. Tomorrow she would set off for Lairg and then she would be on the home straight.
As she sat beside her tent her phone pinged and she grappled for it. Could it be Lachy? She eagerly swiped at the screen.
Hey Zee! We miss you. Don’t go getting addicted to fresh air! Shelley & Marco <3
A ridiculous photo of thepouting pair accompanied the message and Zara wondered how the hell a multi-media message had managed to come through. She drank the mini bottle of Shiraz she had purchased from the shop; the taste of it took her back to the dinner she had eaten with Lachy when they had got to know each other a little and she smiled at the memory of their conversations. She reached into her bag and took out hermemory stick. Unsure as to why, she felt a connection to him when she held it in her hand.
She climbed into her tent when the temperature began to drop and pretty soon she drifted off to sleep.
*
The following day was a particularly early start but she was determined to make up as many miles as she could even though she knew she would still be finished a day or so behind the original schedule.The replacement bike wasn’t right, however. She had got used to Silver Dickhead and it had eventually stopped being quite so uncomfortable. Blue Bollocks – as she had named this one, purely because if she’d been malethatwas what it would’ve given her – was like starting over. The trouble was she had no choice; it would have to do. And as she cycled towards the day’s destination she welcomedthe cool rain that soaked her skin. Even with the dramatic covering of dark clouds the scene that surrounded her was magnificent.
She passed the site of her accident and the incident with the re-enacters and smiled to herself as she recalled Lachy teasing her about the time-travel thing. She wondered what he would be doing now. Would he be out on his quad bike tending to his sheep? Or maybe inthe kitchen making bread to replace what she had taken? She imagined him at the sink, glancing at her over his shoulder with that handsome smile he’d seemed to save for when they had been alone.
Then her thoughts ran away with her and she remembered the feel of his lips on her skin. His fingers teasing and touching her. Being with him had been different. Maybe even better than with Josh. Therehad been no expectations. Just pleasure. She shivered as she recalled the way his body had fitted so perfectly with hers. But that didn’t mean anything. It was just sex. It wasmeantto be that way. It was how the human body was made. There was no one perfect person for every individual. No soulmate crap. She’d let go of that illusion a long time ago. But she missed him.
She had to focus on somethingelse.
Riffling through her memory, she tried to find a song that would replace the aching sadness that had taken hold of her. But every song she came up with somehow brought her back to Lachy. Especially ‘Delilah’. She settled on letting it play in her mind as background music for her journey and for that moment accepted that she missed Lachynowbut it would pass.
It had to.
She cycled througha varied landscape and decided to stop and take both notesonand photosofa little ruined castle she encountered. The texture of the clouds behind the crumbling stones created a powerful image that she hoped would translate onto paper, but she doubted it. None of the photos she had taken so far went any length towards creating the atmosphere she had experienced by being there in the moment.She wished she could be there when the aurora borealis lit up the sky in a multitude of waving colours. And that was something else she had learned about herself. She’d never imagined she would enjoy isolation or solitude, but she had experienced some incredible things by going through the very situations she’d thought she hated.
After a brief stop at a mini supermarket for her evening provisionsshe finally arrived in Lairg. The campsite had beautiful views over Loch Shin and a games room that she thought she might try out for research purposes. Pool had always been her game at university and she hadn’t played in a while so wasn’t sure if she still had it. She set up her tent and her solar charger. The little gadget had been an absolute lifesaver as far as her work was concerned.
Thetent was erected in minutes. It had become second nature even though she’d had a brief reprieve—she only wished it were the same with packing it away. Her first stop was the shower block. Cycling all those miles a day was hard work and both her musclesandher nose appreciated what the hot water did for her body. Once towel-dried and dressed she made her way to the games room, but was sad to findno one else around. It was early. She threw a few darts and hit the white ball round the pool table for a while but then decided to return to the tent and eat. The packet pasta salad she had bought was nice enough, but it was no home-cooked Lachy meal, that was for sure. A man who could cook was incredibly attractiveandgood in bed was far too good to be true.Although, he did invade my privacy…But if that was his only fault…
Later on she watched a group of people wander into the games room. They were together in a large tent and she guessed from the car stickers that they were doing the NC500 too.Might be good to do a bit of an interview…
The people seemed friendly when she introduced herself. Three couples in their late thirties. She asked them why they had chosen the route.
‘Ijust love the fresh air,’ said one of the men, very athletic-looking and wearing outdoorsy clothes. ‘My work’s city-based in Leeds and so I come up here to escape the fumes and breathe a little. Both literallyandfiguratively. I can let go of the stress here.’
‘So you’ve travelled this route before?’ she asked with intrigue.
‘Oh, yes. We come and do the 500 every couple of years but we visitthe Highlands annually just for the scenery. If I had my way we’d relocate up here but Henry’s job won’t allow it just yet,’ the man’s partner said.
They played pool and she drank a bottle of beer with them. It struck her how similar some of them were to her. Busy city types who had taken a break from the hustle and bustle of city life. And it surprised her how many of them wished they couldrelocate.
‘Now if I was you, with your job, I’d be up here like a shot working remotely or freelance or something,’ one of the other men, a guy called Rich, told her. ‘You have the perfect job to live somewhere incredible and have the best of both worlds.’
She shook her head. ‘Oh, no. I think I’d miss the city too much. The inconvenience of everything here. The… the…’ She scrambled around hermind for what she had once known without a doubt.
Rich pointed his beer bottle at her and laughed. ‘See! Even you’re getting addicted to this place! To say you didn’t want to come here, you’re really going to have a hard time saying goodbye, I reckon!’
She worried that he had a point.
Nope. She was a city girl. Big city, bars, shops, cars, fumes… lots of people rushing… Lots of shops though…and bars…
She decided to quit whilst she was ahead – who was she kidding? ‘Well, folks, I’m back on the road tomorrow so I’m going to call it a night. Thanks for chatting. You’ve been really helpful. I have all your email addresses so I can let you know when the article goes live.’
She bid them all goodnight and wandered out into the dusky evening to go back to her tent. The air was warm andthere was a smell of heather and greenery. She could hear the calm chatter of the campsite occupants and nothing much else. The sky overhead was a pinpricked navy-blue canopy exposing tiny dots of light and the moon lit up her way just enough to help her get back.
