Page 37 of Summer in Sunset Harbour
‘I’m meeting Hilda. She wants to take me somewhere.’
‘Sounds exciting. Well, have fun. And if you get back in time, you know where to find us.’
Josie left Tiffany to her computer work and went back to her cabin to change. Hilda had said only to wear something warm and suitable for walking. Hilda put on her wellies and grabbed her coat, then headed up to the main road to wait.
She didn’t have to wait long. Hilda came hammering around the corner on her motorbike and pulled up beside Josie. She lifted her aviator’s googles and grinned at Josie.
‘Need a ride?’
‘Where are we going?’
‘You’ll see.’
Hilda headed inland, and half an hour of wild driving later, the grey-green rise of Dartmoor appeared in front of them.
‘Hound Tor,’ Hilda said, when they stopped at a petrol station. ‘One of the best sunset views in Devon. I’ve always meant to go but never got around to it.’
‘You’re expecting me to go walking on Dartmoor in wellies?’
Hilda grinned. ‘At least you don’t need a stick.’
It seemed like a ridiculous plan, setting off for the peak of Hound Tor at five o’clock in the evening, armed only with some warm coats, a flask of coffee, some sandwiches, a compass, a pair of torches, and some spare batteries, just in case. Yet, as Hilda, walking with a stick, set a pace that Josie struggled to match, she could only marvel at her friend’s spirit. Josie, concerned that they would get lost in the dark, had voiced her concerns to Hilda, only for her friend to produce a red beacon light which stuck with tape to the motorbike’s petrol tank.
‘This is a nifty little thing I got on the internet,’ she said. ‘It comes on after dark, and it also has an alarm attached. It’ll guide us home and keep any would-be thieves off my bike. Right, off we go.’
Hilda, for all her initial enthusiasm, started to tire as they neared the tor. By the time they reached the rocky outcrop, Josie was supporting her by one arm, and helped her to sit down on a flat section of rock with a view to the west where the sun hung low in the sky.
‘Phew,’ Hilda said, wiping her brow. ‘We made it.’
‘I think you’re mad,’ Josie said. ‘I didn’t think you were going to get up that last steep bit.’
‘Ah, all downhill from here,’ Hilda said, pointing at the distant car park down in the valley, where their motorcycle and sidecar was a tiny speck alongside a handful of other cars. ‘Right, let’s get that coffee out.’
Josie did the honours, and they sat on the rock, coats pulled around them as the sun dipped towards the horizon, talking easily about nothing in particular, eating their sandwiches and drinking coffee. Josie had to admit, the view was spectacular, the sun’s orange glow spreading across the wide expanse of Dartmoor as behind them the sky turned dark blue and then purple as the day slipped away.
‘This was rated number three in best sunsets in the region bySouthwest Life and Times Magazine,’ Hilda said, ‘behind Hope Cove in South Devon and Land’s End. I’ve seen both of those, though.’
‘Sounds like you’re ticking off a bucket list,’ Josie said.
‘Something like that. Another one is seeing my best friend happy.’
‘Well, you can tick that box. There were a few teething problems, but things are moving pretty smoothly now.’
‘Lovely that Tiffany came down to stay,’ Hilda said. ‘She seems to have fitted right in. I sometimes wish I’d had children.’ She sighed. ‘I was always too busy. Never gave myself a minute’s break from work.’
‘If it makes you feel better, I sometimes think of you as a surrogate mother.’
‘Oh, you’re too kind.’
‘You’ve done so much for me, though. If you hadn’t forced the issue, I’d probably still be living in my cousin’s flat.’
‘No, you’d have done something. You’ve always had that kind of warrior spirit. I knew you’d be all right if I could just get you down here. And look at you now. The campsite is looking great. When is it you’re planning to open?’
‘Tiffany said we should aim for the first of June.’
‘Do you think you’ll be ready?’
‘It’s going to be tight. We still have a fair bit of maintenance work to do, and we haven’t stocked the shop yet, but Tiffany said we’ve already got a few bookings.’
