Page 34 of Rescuing Rosie
At last, that small smile. He selected a spiked walking pole from a stand and showed her how to adjust its length.
‘After all the rain it’ll be slippery up there,’ he said, ‘especially coming down. You’ll find this helps.’ His eyes dipped to her leggings, and he returned to the accessories, Rosie trailing behind him. ‘Take these waterproof overtrousers too – they weigh nothing. And one last thing,’ he said, picking up a tiny torch from a basket on top of the accessories rack.
‘Oh comeon,’ said Rosie, laughing. ‘We’ll be back before teatime, never mind nighttime!’
Ant looked embarrassed. ‘Just take it? Please?’ His earnest eyes met hers, and all at once she was touched. Her heart gave a little squeeze.
There was a chortle behind her. ‘He’s such an old woman,’ said Dale, stylishly dressed in a mustard-coloured rain jacket and teal-blue walking trousers. He put an arm across her shoulders. ‘She’s in safe hands,’ he said to Ant. ‘If I can manage to keep them to myself, that is. C’mon then, girl – Ashley’s got to drive the wellness ladies to the station and he’s getting antsy about missing the train.’ He dropped his hand to her waist, gave her a squeeze and ushered her towards the door.
Rosie turned back to Ant. ‘What about paying for all this stuff?’
‘It’s on the house,’ he said. ‘Just talk us up in your piece – and tell your readers about mountain safety. I hope you enjoy the walk. It’s one of my favourites – and Wainwright’s.’
‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘You’re very kind, Ant. Have a lovely day with Wainwright.’
He nodded and shut the door behind them.
‘Pay no attention to old worry-pants,’ said Dale, as they climbed into the van. ‘It’s an easy walk, and it’ll be like Manchester Piccadilly up there today.’
‘Ah,’ called Ashley from the front. ‘In fact we’ve been conferring. I suggest you take the path that goes round the back of the fell rather than along Loughrigg Terraces – it’s slightly longer but it should keep you clear of the hordes.’
‘Good plan, Ash,’ said Dale.
‘We can find a quiet spot along it for the main shoot,’ said Jono, ‘and then if there are others on the summit, that shouldn’t matter for the drone footage, as long as they don’t hassle Madison. Maybe we put Rosie in charge of crowd control.’
‘No one’s gonna recognise me dressed like a yellow yeti,’ growled Madison.
Chapter Fourteen
Madison was, in fact, wrong. Despite the sunglasses, and the hat pulled down low, most oncoming walkers did a double take as they passed. Rosie suspected it wasn’t Madison’s face that gave her away. But this wasn’t the gingerbread shop, and thankfully, passers-by were sensible enough to recognise that this wasn’t the time or place to ask for selfies, limiting themselves instead to friendly hellos. And besides, the star was clearly not in the mood, her stony gaze fixed on the ground in front of her.
‘Are you okay?’ Rosie asked. ‘Boots all right and everything?’
Madison muttered, ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here.’
Rosie burst out laughing, and Madison finally smiled. Sadly, the proximity of the two men meant Rosie couldn’t continue last night’s interview, but in any case, as the gradient increased, Rosie was rapidly losing the ability to breathe, let alone talk.
They soon turned onto Ashley’s alternative route – a narrow path zigzagging its way uphill. Dale walked in front, carrying Jono’s drone in its special backpack, while behind him Jono had the camera gear in his. Then came Madison – Ashley had given her a daypack with a picnic inside – and Rosie brought up the rear carrying Ant’s ‘necessities’.
They slogged on and up, and Rosie’s leg muscles were on fire, her heart hammering in her chest, demanding impossible amounts of oxygen from lungs that were begging her to stop. ‘Are we … nearly there?’ she puffed, leaning on her stick.
‘Sorry,’ called Dale. ‘Guess I should slow down to southern miles-per-hour.’
‘No,’ snapped Madison. ‘Take as long as you need, Rosie. I’ll see you at the top.’ She overtook the other two at speed, leaving them open-mouthed.
‘Go … for it … Madison,’ Rosie wheezed, remembering the star’s mention of hours spent in the gym. So much forMadisonbeing out of her comfort zone, she thought, writing the first paragraph of her article in her head to distract herself from the agony.
I climbed a mountain with Madison and learned there’s more to the bootilicious celebrity than I thought. WAY more …
As the others pulled ahead, Rosie, now far too warm, took the opportunity to stop and take off her puffer. Gazing at the view – they’d already climbed quite high – she spotted the soaring form of Helm Crag in the distance and winced. This washard. How would she ever make it up that? She unwrapped one of Ant’s energy bars, hoping it would fulfil its promise, washed it down with a gulp of water, stuffed the puffer in her backpack and set off again.
Her dismay was profound when the ‘top’ turned out to be a crest with another, much higher ‘top’ beyond. ‘Fuck’s sake,’ she said out loud. But it wasn’t too long before the true summit – Ashley’s ‘knobbly bit’ – finally came into view, with groups of people milling about on it.
Dale, Jono and Madison had stopped some way below the top, in a spot away from the path, and as Rosie caught them up, Jono was setting up his camera gear. Dale had climbed onto ahuge outcrop of rock hanging over the mountainside below, and was standing there like Heathcliff, his curls blowing in the wind.
Rosie blew out a breath as she watched him.What a view.
Madison had unpacked a cosmetic bag and mirror and was touching up her make-up.
