The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow (37 page)

Babs nodded as she placed a mound of bacon into the frying pan. I hadn’t seen so much food for years. Later, after breakfast, Dave drew up with his little van and we piled in. He drove along the twisty road that wound through the glen towards Tummelbridge.

‘The hydroelectric scheme will harness all this water,’ he said, as we passed a large stream of tumbling water. ‘There’s a lot less water there because of the dry spell but, when it’s in spate, the water will turn the turbines and all the rivers, lochs and streams will be controlled with dams until it’s needed. It’s a big undertaking and there are camps for hundreds of workers.’

I glanced out of the window but all was peaceful – just moors, streams and hills. It was a stark contrast to Dundee with its noisiness and bustle.

We drove into Tummelbridge and Dave pointed out the workers’ huts although we didn’t see many men.

Dave said, ‘It’s a Sunday so the men will be having a lie in or maybe some have gone home for the weekend. They certainly work hard digging through all this rock.’

Lily and I gazed at the big boulders at the side of the road and we didn’t doubt a word of it.

He then turned the van around and we headed back to the farmhouse.

Babs laughed when we arrived back. ‘He’s like a big kid with that van! He’s always running around in it but just up the road and back as usual.’

In the afternoon, Lily and Dave and Paddy the dog set off up the hill to gather the sheep. I watched their retreating figures walk slowly up the grassy slopes. I was wondering how to spend my afternoon. Hopefully it wouldn’t be chatting to Babs as I was frightened she would ask me how I felt about Greg’s forthcoming wedding and I didn’t want to break down in front of her.

She was putting the kettle on when a voice called out in the yard.

‘Oh, it’s my neighbour, Ann. She sometimes comes in for a gossip on a Sunday afternoon but I’ll cut her visit short.’

This was my escape. ‘Oh, no, Babs! I’ll go for a walk and leave you to have a chat with your neighbour.’

She looked dubious but I insisted. I stayed long enough to be introduced to her friend. When I saw the gleam of interest in the woman’s eye when she realised I was Greg’s ex-fiancée I knew I had made the right decision to escape.

I set off up the hill, taking the same path as Dave and Lily. The sun felt hot on my head and it was pleasant to be alone with the smell of the grass and earth. I was still climbing when I heard the voices. It was Lily and Dave and they were surrounded by sheep. I waved at them and continued upwards.

After a while I sat down and looked at my bird’s-nest view of the valley below. I decided to climb a bit higher and slowly trudged through the rough grass and brown heather. Heather that Dave said would spring into purple splendour in a few weeks’ time.

By now the valley had disappeared and I was surrounded by hills. It was so peaceful. I lay down on the warm grass, planning to have forty winks before setting off back down. With hindsight, I can only think it was because of my sleepless night that I fell fast asleep with the warm sun on my face and the smells of the countryside as a soothing balm. A bird called sharply in the distance but I barely heard it.

It was the coolness that woke me up. Thick mist like a wet grey blanket was wrapped around me and I sat up in a panic. For a few moments, I couldn’t think where I was then my memory clicked in place and I remembered my walk in the warm sunshine. But where was the sun? I could hardly see a thing in front of me, so thick was the mist. I felt its wetness and my breath exhaled into this fog. And it was cold. I was wearing a thin blouse and cotton skirt. My legs were bare and my feet were thrust into sandals. I was hardly dressed for being stranded on the hills in this thick fog.

I got to my feet and rushed off in the direction I thought was the right one but then I stopped. Maybe I should be heading in the opposite direction? As I stumbled along with only the mist for company, a large shape loomed out of the fog and I almost had a heart attack. Thankfully it was only a large stone but this was a puzzle in itself. I hadn’t passed a large stone like this on my upward journey.

I set off in a different direction but because of the limited view I was hampered. In fact, I had stumbled about the hill so much that I was now totally disorientated. Reaching the stone again, I sat down to try and get my bearings. I felt the coldness of the rock through my thin blouse. I listened hard, hoping to hear Lily and Dave’s voices but it all was quiet. It was like being in a grey bottomless void.

I knew the Borlands would be worried about me and Lily would be frantic so I decided to choose a path. But which way? I seemed to be on some sort of plateau as I didn’t feel I was either climbing or descending. What I had to do was to get on a downward path and I would surely come out at the farmhouse – or at least not too far from it.

Taking confident strides, I set off. Then the mist parted slightly and I could make out a patch of green grass in front of me. The mist was going to rise and I had nothing to worry about. Once I had my bearings I would be fine.

I was walking across the dewy grass when a dark shadow seemed to stretch out before me. I took another step forward and then suddenly stopped. I wasn’t thinking about Ma Ryan but her voice came into my head. I heard her warning as clear as if she was on the hill with me. ‘Watch your step. You’re in danger. Watch your step.’

Almost crying with fear, I sat down and tried to slither backwards to the large stone. It seemed to take forever and I wasn’t even sure if I was going in the right direction. ‘Watch your step. You’re in danger. Watch your step.’ Her voice seemed to drill into my brain.

After what seemed like hours, I felt the stone with my hands and I huddled against it. My face and clothes were soaking and I realised I was crying – crying for my stupidity at climbing so far, crying for my lost life and, most of all, crying for Greg who was going to be married in four month’s time.

I put my hand in my pocket to get my hankie and my fingers closed round the small leather box. In my anguish I threw it into the grey mist where it must have landed on the wet grass because it made no sound.

I immediately felt ashamed and scrambled to my feet to look for it. Feeling my way over the soggy ground, I dropped down on my knees and searched the ground, my hands outstretched, but it was a futile task. I got to my feet again and moved further away, kicking at the patches of scrubby heather and moss.

Suddenly Ma’s voice seemed to scream at me. ‘Watch your step. You’re in danger. Watch your step.’

Frightened, I scrambled back to the stone. It was the only place I felt safe. I don’t know how long I was there. It was an endless time and the mist never rose. It was as if I was cocooned in a grey silent shell.

I must have dozed off and, at one point, I thought I heard voices. I called out hoarsely but no one came and I realised I must have dreamt it. It crossed my mind that I could maybe die on this hill and I would never see Granny or Lily or Maddie and Danny ever again – or Rosie, Dad and Jay. This started a fresh feeling of panic and I thought about getting down from the hill again. I think, if it hadn’t been for Ma’s warning, I would have made the effort and taken the risk.

The cold air was making me sleepy and I thought this was a blessing – just to lie down and let sleep take over. My mind was full of jumbled-up images – most of them about Greg. If only things had turned out differently …

I slept. I had a dream that voices were calling out loudly. I tried to answer them but I couldn’t make a sound. It was as if I was struck dumb. The voices came again and this time I struggled to be awake. The mist was still as thick but the voices sounded louder.

‘Ann … Ann … Ann …’

I tried to call out, ‘I’m over here – by the stone.’

For a moment, I thought the voices were receding and I tried to shout as loud as I could, ‘Over here by the stone.’

There was no answer. Nobody had heard me and I felt as if I was doomed to lie there forever. I tried to stand up but I couldn’t. My legs felt like lead and my feet were so cold. I had lost my sandals and could only imagine it was because of the scrambling over the rough heather in my search for the ring.

Then the voices came again. ‘Ann … Ann … Can you hear us? Ann … Ann.’

‘I’m here,’ I called out but realised I was only whispering.

Then I saw the dark shape in the mist and my throat constricted with fear. To my relief, I saw it was a human figure but I didn’t recognise the man who stood a few feet away from me.

I called out, ‘I’m over here by the stone.’

The stranger called out to someone further down the hill and I heard muffled shouts. The man knelt down beside me and took off his thick jacket. He placed this around my shoulders and I realised I was shivering.

Then I saw Dave Borland appearing through the mist, followed by half a dozen men. I was quickly helped to my feet and thick blankets were placed around me. One of the men, a six-foot burly giant of a man picked me up and carried me slowly down the hill.

I was aware that I was babbling. ‘I was frightened about the danger. I had to watch my step.’

Dave said soothingly, ‘You’ll be fine in a wee while, Ann. We’ve been searching all last night for you and again this morning. We almost gave up searching here because it’s a few miles away from where we last saw you.’

The tall giant said in a lilting Irish voice, ‘At least it wasn’t cold last night so the lass won’t have hypothermia.’

I tried to tell him I had been freezing all the time but my tongue didn’t seem to work and my mouth was dry. Dave stopped and gave me a sip of water. I felt like grabbing the bottle from his hand and draining every drop but I resisted this urge because I was so stunned and embarrassed. Imagine putting all these men to so much bother. They wouldn’t be very pleased with me. Had I heard them wrong when they mentioned being out all night?

I must have become a burden to the young man who initially carried me from the stone because he put me down. His place was taken by another heftily built man who picked me up as if I was a feather.

We seemed to be ages on the hill before the mist disappeared and the sun came out.

I was confused. ‘What time is it, please?’

‘Just after seven o’clock,’ said Dave.

‘I’ve been gone five hours,’ I said, thinking I must have been wrong when I heard something about being out all night.

The man who was carrying me said, ‘No, it’s seven o’clock in the morning, lass.’

I was shattered. All night on the hill – I hadn’t misheard.

Then the farmhouse came into view and Babs and Lily ran out.

Lily had been crying but she smiled when she saw me. ‘Oh, Ann, are you all right?’

I gave her a weak smile which was all I could muster. ‘I’m fine, Lily – just a bit cold and wet.’

Babs filled the tin bath by the fire and left me to soak in its warm depths while the men gathered in the yard. Dave produced a bottle of whisky and they all had a dram before setting off back to where they came from.

Where had all these men come from? I wondered. Probably from the neighbouring farms, I decided.

When I was dried and dressed in warm clean clothes, Babs cooked me a huge breakfast and poured me a large cup of tea. I tried to eat something but my throat felt sore from the cold air and the calling out. The cup of tea, however, was very welcome and I felt it warming me through and through.

‘I’m sorry for all the fuss I’ve caused, Babs. I didn’t realise how far I’d walked and, by the time I tried to return, the mist had come down.’

Babs said, ‘Everything’s fine. The mist can come down on these hills even during a lovely day like yesterday. It wasn’t your fault, Ann. You weren’t to know how dangerous the hills can be.’

The mention of danger brought back Ma Ryan’s warning but, sitting in the warmth of the kitchen, I felt foolish for thinking I was in any danger. Perhaps, if I’d had the sense to get myself off the hill, then I would have been spared all this humiliation of having half the glen searching for me.

‘I should have got myself down, Babs.’ I didn’t want to mention Ma. I didn’t know if Babs believed in or knew of Ma’s sixth sense – and, anyway, you had to know Ma to believe in her.

Dave came in at that moment. ‘It’s just as well you didn’t try and walk any further, Ann. Just a few yards in the wrong direction from that stone is a two-hundred-foot drop. One moment, you’re on terra firma and the next, there’s nothing but space.’

Babs nodded. ‘It’s a right dangerous spot up there – especially if you don’t know the area.’

My mouth went dry and I suddenly felt faint. I recalled the dark shadow that loomed out of the mist. Thank goodness I had stopped when I had, otherwise I could be lying at the foot of the gully, dead or injured. If it hadn’t been for Ma’s warning … I shivered.

To shake off this image, I asked, ‘Who were all the men who were on the hill?’

‘Some are neighbours from the farms near us but the two big Irish men are workers from the hydroelectric scheme. They came off the train last night and were walking back to the camp when they saw us heading off on the search. They insisted on helping out and thank goodness they did because we were looking in a different spot for you when they went off in the direction of the stone. You certainly wandered far off the track, Ann.’

I remembered walking for ages and how I had backtracked, back and forth – no wonder I was totally lost.

Then I remembered the engagement ring and I cried out.

Babs saw my face. ‘What’s the matter, Ann?’

Tears had started to roll down my cheeks. ‘I lost my engagement ring, Babs – the one Greg gave me years ago. I brought it here to leave for him but it’s lost. It was in my pocket.’

She said, ‘Don’t worry about it – Dave will find it.’

She didn’t sound too sure and I knew that looking for a tiny box amongst all that undergrowth would be an impossible task.

Babs wanted us to stay for another day but I said I felt fine for the travelling. Lily also looked grateful to be leaving and I was mentally kicking myself for ruining her holiday.