Nora snorted a laugh. ‘You own a hair turban?’
‘No.’ He looked mildly insulted. ‘Renee gave me one to bring. But the inflatable pillow is mine.’
‘How did she get on with Bruce?’
‘She’s the dog whisperer. He literally did everything she said and walked alongside her like he was in the obedience ring at Crufts.’
‘Wow. Is there anything she can’t do?’ Nora was constantly amazed by Renee. Partly because her life had seemed so full of adventure and also because she was still living life to the full.
‘Maybe, but I’ve not discovered it yet, and she can definitely do dog-sitting. She said she was trained by Barbara Woodhouse?’ He shrugged his shoulders.
‘Never heard of her,’ said Nora.
‘Nope, nor me.’
Someone clapped their hands and Nora and Jay were herded on to a minibus with Trent and seven other people. Thankfully they had more seats than they needed, otherwise there would have been nowhere to put the luggage, and Jay’s overstuffed backpack was already proving to be a problem. He was trying to shove it into the small overhead storage while Trent was struggling to get past him, his eyes firmly set on the seat next to Nora.
‘Jay, put your bag next to mine and sit down. People are trying to find seats.’ Nora patted the seat next to her.
Jay put his backpack beside Nora’s, then turned to come face to face with Trent still trying to move past him along the tiny aisle.
‘Sorry,’ said Jay, pointing at Nora as he wriggled to try to free himself.
‘No, you can sit there.’ Trent nudged Jay into a spare seat.
Nora was flustered. The last person she wanted to sit next to was Trent, plus the seats weren’t that big and with his big thighs and likely man-spreading she’d be cramped for the whole journey. She put a hand up to stop him sitting down. ‘I get travel sick and Jay said he’d hold the sick bag while I vomited,’ she said.
Trent recoiled, giving Jay enough space to squeeze by and plonk down next to Nora.
Trent huffed and moved on to where another lone female was sitting and made himself comfortable there.
‘Thanks,’ whispered Nora.
‘My pleasure,’ said Jay, holding her gaze.
Nora noticed the rich depth of colour of his eyes. She hastily looked away.
‘I do have a sick bag if you need it,’ said Jay, pointing at his backpack. ‘And I’d hold it for you.’
‘I know you would,’ she said. It was bizarre how comforting it was to know that.
It took them two and a half hours to get to the hostel in the Forest of Dean. Nora and Jay chatted happily, got the giggles over something silly and shared too many Jelly Tots. It was like the best bits of a school tripwith a best friend, although she was aware that due to the small seats Jay’s thigh was keeping hers warm. She didn’t mind; it was quite nice really. When they got to the hostel there was just about time to have lunch, which was homemade tomato soup with warm rolls, and a safety briefing before they were bundled back on to the minibus and taken to their first climbing spot of the weekend.
The sun was shining and the climbing company they were using had already been and set the route up a gnarly cliff face. Nora was both excited and apprehensive. This was her first time climbing outdoors. Unhelpfully, her brain was providing her with the many odds of all the things that could go wrong– perhaps it hadn’t been a smart thing to look them all up in advance.
A hand on her shoulder made her jump. ‘Sorry,’ said Jay. ‘I didn’t mean to startle you. You were looking a bit…’ He mimed being freaked out.
Nora laughed. ‘I am a bit.’ She held out a shaking hand.
Jay wrapped her hand in both of his and something zinged through her.
‘There, it’s stopped,’ he said with a smile. ‘I feel the same. Totally cacking it.’ He let her hand go. ‘That’s probably not that reassuring, is it?’
‘It does make me feel better though.’
They put on their harnesses and, while people were still checking kit, Trent was already making his ascent.
‘There’s a surprise,’ said Nora and they both watched Trent’s muscles flexing as he stretched to the max to finda hold. ‘I take it he knows there’s no prize for being first to the top.’
