My eyes scan the area to find the edge of the meadow, without success. ‘This is unreal.’
‘This is uh… a lot of high things to search around,’ I hear Elliot note quietly.
‘Better get started. Might be easier for you guys to do this too,’ he says, gesturing up at Hennie.
With uncertainty, Elliot turns to me with the question is his eyes.
My brain throws itself into a tailspin picturing sitting directly on top of Elliot’s shoulders with his hands on my thighs to steady me. I’ve only just got used to the feeling of him clasping my waist without combusting. It takes all of my willpower not to scream:absolutely not.
‘I don’t think so,’ I reply, trying to inject a casual tone into my voice.
‘That’s fine, we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing,’ he replies, matching my tone.
‘Alright, let’s go. All this mutant grass isn’t going to search itself.’
As Hennie and Owen follow a path to the right we veer to the left, continuing our process of searching manually and Elliot lifting me up to get a closer look at anything suspicious. There’s a brief moment we think we might have a breakthrough after spotting a small hole in the side of one of the grass blades – but after putting my hand into it I realise it’s only home to a couple of insects and an old beer bottle.
I’m also starting to notice a light shake in Elliot’s arms after he lifts me for what feels like the millionth time.
I nod at his arms. ‘You need a rest.’
‘I’m fine,’ he says, bristling.
‘No, you’re not. You’re a human. And unsurprisingly your muscles are now starting to struggle with the burden of picking me up every twenty seconds.’
‘I don’t need a break,’ he insists, stubbornness grating his voice.
‘Fine. If your arms fall off, I’ll refuse to take any blame.’
He sighs, exasperated. ‘I hate to say it, but it would help if we even knew what we were looking for.’
Mentally, I agree with him but am determined to remain positive.
‘Chin up, champ.’ I tap him on the arm with an undeniably awkward air. ‘I have faith.’
We work quietly together, searching around hundreds of giant blades of grass; stumbling upon people eating together at picnic benches, endless selfie photoshoots, someone even sleeping peacefully in the shade and much to our embarrassment, a couple getting hot and heavy in a corner that they believed to be secluded. We avoid eye contact as we navigate our way around them, only to be met with another identical mass of green grass.
‘Oh myGod,’ I groan, throwing my head back in exhaustion. ‘This is some form of mental torture. I swear we looked around here already?’
‘I’m not sure about that,’ Elliot says, his gaze cast directly upwards.
I follow his eyes up to see a huge, ornately crafted seeded dandelion sitting proudly above the surface of the grass. My jaw falls slightly open. The white, glistening details that scatter outwards from the centre of it are almost blinding under the sun.
‘This place really masters the art of consistently surprising you,’ I say with awe.
‘Yeah,’ he says softly. ‘The best things do.’
‘I think I’m actually having a better time than I thought I would,’ I ponder aloud, wrapping my arm around a blade of grass and letting myself swing round it slowly.
He studies me, one side of his mouth lifting upward. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah.’ For some reason I avoid his eyes. ‘Are you? It’s your first Firecrest too.’
‘I am,’ he says simply, leaning back against another towering blade of grass.
‘I see why people struggle going back to normal life.’ I stop myself when I feel a little dizzy. ‘What will I do without my daily dose of mystery waterfall drink and treasure hunt nonsense? I’ll have to eat cereal and go on social media. I’ll be nothing.’
‘Yeah, Josh has been known to stay in bed the week after Firecrest because he doesn’t want to face reality. I kind of get it now. How it must be weird leaving somewhere like this behind… just to go back to your office or your gym or cramped house-share.’
