I don’t say that I nearly didn’t buy any boots, nearly cancelled full stop. Why did I think I could have men friends now? What madness was this?
‘Men should be kept out of shops,’ I mutter. ‘In fact, I should be kept out of shops, I don’t do shops.’
‘Really,’ he deadpans.
We both laugh and I feel some of the tension leave my body. I wasover-reacting: this might be OK after all. If it’s not, I’ll never see him again.
Finn turns round to check on me and catches me wincing. ‘You’ve really never done anything like this before?’ he asks, looking at my hodgepodge outfit. I am not a woman well equipped in the wardrobe department for unusual trekking up the mountains.I go to work, do the occasional weight class and collapse onto the couch. End of.
‘I don’t hike.’
‘What did you and your previous – er, friends, do?’ says Finn, gesturing for me to sit down on a rock so he canre-lace my boots.
‘We didn’t hike,’ I say. ‘And that’s a very datey thing you’re doing, trying to fix my boots,’ I say, but his presence is calming, not threatening.I like the way he’s gentle, as if he senses I can get nervous.
‘This is what people who are on a group trek do for each other. They generally don’t have to fix boots but if there’s a newcomer, they will. They make sure that their backpacks are comfortable and they adjust them on their shoulders, because if they’re not right, you’re in trouble.’
‘What do you mean you’re in trouble?’ I say, eyes narrowing. ‘Is this one of thoseultimate-challenge army rangers/SAS survival adventure things, where we hike over the mountains for eight hours and then somebody – with luck – picks us up in a Land Rover? Or, worse, if we miss thepick-up point, we have to throw ourselves in a sleeping bag on the side of a hill for a night of hypothermia?’
‘Yes.’ Finn grins. ‘Second option.’
We laugh again. Must be the briskly cold air, I decide, that’s making me laugh so much. And relax. Because the mountain air is relaxing. He’s right. Just not about any army ranger shenanigans.
‘Hypothermia. For real? Forget it. I’m not doing that, I am good for maybe an hour of hiking and then I was thinking about a pub and nice food: chips, ideally. A cup of coffee, a good stretch and then someone to magically transport me back to the car. Then I’m going to go home, have a bath, put on fluffy PJs and lie down in front of the television. That’s what I was thinking.’
He rolls his eyes. ‘Boots are finished.’ He stands up. ‘You’re sorted. Now,’ he moves behind me to adjust my rucksack, ‘that’s a useless rucksack. Plus, you’ve only brought one bottle of water.’
‘Should I have brought one of those enormous pig bladder things from the camping shop?’ I say.
‘Yeah,’ he says and then laughs again. ‘No, only kidding. That’s for really long hikes. Would it lower your stress levels to tell you I’ve chocolate, too?’
‘I didn’t know chocolate was allowed in health activities,’ I say, delightedly.
‘You have so much to learn. When you have done this much walking you are allowed to have chocolate. Now check my rucksack.’
‘I don’t know how to check your rucksack,’ I say. ‘What am I checking it for, squirrels?’
‘Beginners,’ he sighs and starts to demonstrate that everything is in the correct place. There follows a short lecture on how having the straps in the correct place mean his rucksack – which feels like it holds rocks – will be comfortable.
‘OK, lead on, McDuff,’ I say, once he and his bag of rocks are sorted.
After about fifteen minutes of his leading on, I realise that he is actually getting further and further ahead because of this hip movement thing that I do not have. I call time.
‘We’ve only just started.’
‘I’m just asking for a little break; you did say you’d go gently with me.’
He laughs.
‘If you were in my hiking team, we’d all be talking about you behind your back,’ he said.
‘You sound like complete pigs,’ I remark.
‘How are you not fit?’ he said. ‘I mean you work in Nurture.’
‘There was no room for a gym in the office,’ I say with a hint of sarcasm. ‘I work in development, which means I am very involved in schools and community projects making sure that people in communities are fit and have correct nutritional advice, plus helping raise funds for facilities within less advantaged regions. I do not go out on hikes at weekends. Although we do have people within the organisation who fundraise and do that sort of thing.’
‘And you never have to help?’
