‘What? Really?’
Ned nodded as he sat down on the doorplate of the campervan. ‘When she was sitting up with her paws in front of her like she was about to start knitting, you could see her, um, teats.’
‘Well, that’s a turn-up for the books. She’s surprisingly aggressive.’ Dixie would have hoped for a little female solidarity.
‘She’s probably got kits somewhere nearby. She’ll be on red alert for anything that would be a threat. Plus she’ll be defending her feeding grounds.’ He was clearly knowledgeable about wildlife.
‘Then I’ll cut her a bit of slack. But I’ll keep the name. She still looks like an Arnold to me.’
‘Fair enough,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘Sorry for running off the other day.’
‘I’m sorry I angered the squirrel,’ said Dixie. ‘Kettle was boiled not long ago. Did you want a mint tea or anything?’ She felt her hostess options were somewhat limited.
‘Please. Have you been foraging?’ he asked as she went inside the van.
‘Only as far as Marks and Spencer,’ she said, waving the box of mint teabags.
‘I can show you where there’s wild mint growing if you like.’
‘Yes please. I think properly foraging for my food would be so cool. It’s what we should be doing, right?’
‘I guess it is. Are you vegan by any chance?’
Dixie pulled a face. ‘I’d really like to be but you see I love bacon… and eggs… and cheese is an essential food group for me. If only vegan cheese didn’t taste like poo.’
Ned snorted a laugh. ‘I agree with you on the bacon. You can’t beat a bacon sandwich in white bread. It’s the perfect hangover cure. Not that I drink to excess.’
‘Don’t worry, I run a weekly cocktail club,’ she said, handing him a mug.
‘Shall we go for a forage once we’ve drunk these then?’ he asked.
‘I’d love that,’ said Dixie, feeling that things were heading in the right direction for a change.
*
Nora was frozen to the spot. She heard shouting and anxious voices below her. She clung to the rockface, turning a fraction to look down. Trent was lying on his back with everyone around him. Her breathing was fast and her pulse even faster.
‘Is he OK?’ she called and a few faces glanced in her direction.
Trent let out a groan. ‘He’s fine,’ said Jay. ‘Just winded himself probably.’ But the number of people running about implied otherwise.
‘Shall I bring her down?’ asked her belayer.
‘But my shoe is stuck in that crevice,’ she called, but nobody replied.
‘Do you want to let go of your holds and abseil down?’ called up the leader.
‘On one leg?’
‘Yeah.’
It didn’t seem like Nora had a lot of choice but it was a relief to let go of the rock, she had been gripping so tightly her fingers were cramping. She was worried about Trent. He’d fallen a long way and while he still had his helmet on, he could have done untold damage to the rest of his body. She pushed herself awkwardly away from the cliff with one foot until she landed at the bottom and thanked her belayer.
‘Are you all right?’ asked Jay, who had been waiting for her. He steadied her with strong hands and immediately set about getting her out of her harness.
‘I’m fine. I just lost a shoe,’ she said, but her shaking hands and rasping breath told a different story. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from Trent, whose face was scrunched up in pain. Panic gripped her. ‘He’s in a bad way, isn’t he?’
Jay paused what he was doing for a second. ‘Let me look after you. There’s an ambulance on the way for Trent, they’ll take good care of him.’
