(Part 01)
James Ruddock was a 25 year old singleton and was what they used to call a twitcher, although nowadays they prefer to be called birders and he was staying at the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel at the head of Teardrop Lake.
The view of the lake from the Hotel was spectacular.
The lake was shaped like a teardrop, hence its name, and surrounded by the ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forrest.
It wasn’t a huge body of water, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point.
It was beautiful and relatively unspoilt which was the reason he chose it.
A lot of avid bird watchers gravitated to the Finchbottom Vale and the Dancingdean Forest in particular.
Teardrop Lake and the surrounding woodland was privately owned and divided into twelve parcels of land, each with one significant dwelling on it, although there were a number of cottages dotted around as well, some in use and some not.
It was both idyllic and peaceful, there was little or no noise pollution and although the lake was used there no speed boats or jet skis, only rowing boats, canoes, dinghies and skiffs.
James was a bit of a loaner so birdwatching was the perfect hobby for him.
He would have preferred not to be such a loaner but unfortunately he was a bit socially awkward, but the main reason he was alone was because he was shy and preferred to go unnoticed which is difficult to do when you’re 6ft 4 with flaming red hair.
On his fifth day by the lake he was up bright and early and headed up into the woods around the Lake and was heading for lover leap.
It was a rocky promontory which was a location that had been recommended to him.
Lovers Leap was on a rocky outcrop above the cliffs that were an extension of those that formed part of the northern side of Teardrop Lake and formed the natural border between the Teardrop estate and the Dancingdean Forest proper.
Lovers Leap was so called because it was where desperate and broken hearted lovers would leap to their deaths, although there was no evidence that anyone actually had, but it made a good story.
He was following the directions he received from Anna Hunt at the Hotel and was walking along the northern perimeter road when a girl on horseback rode by, he didn’t know it at the time but he knew her, she was staying at the Lodge.
James couldn’t see the girls face but he thought she looked quite cute, and she was only a tiny little thing sat astride a great chestnut coloured colt as he watched her trot off into the distance.
He eventually reached Lovers Leap where the rocky shelf jutted out above the cliffs and Anna was right, the view was amazing.
But he thought that if he were a desperate and broken hearted lover preparing to leap to his death the view probably wouldn’t influence his decision.
But James did suspect that there had probably been a lot of loving up there over the centuries.
James spent about two hours up on the exposed rocky shelf and then he decided to head off into the cool of the forest.
(Part 02)
James spent about two hours up on the exposed rocky shelf and then he decided to head off into the cool of the forest.
Anna at the Hotel had given him a number of popular birding sites and he was looking for a small clearing where a Green Woodpecker had been sited.
Well it was about an hour into his trek when he realized he was hopelessly lost, blundering about in the woods and he was desperately looking for a landmark.
The woods seemed to be getting thicker and thicker and darker and darker and James was starting to get despondent when he saw a glimmer of light though the trees.
So he headed towards the source of the light, which he hoped would be the small clearing he was looking for.
As he got closer he could see there was someone in the clearing already, sitting on a blanket.
So he took out his binoculars to get a closer look and he saw it was Anna from the Hotel.
He moved a little closer and was about to ask her to direct him back to the path to civilization when she stood up and took off her dress to reveal a yellow bikini.
“Oh my” he said to himself as he studied a most interesting scene.
“This is much better than a Green Woodpecker” he said to himself “Much better”
Anna was a year or two younger than James straight brown hair and a rather plain, heavily freckled face, but lovely blue eyes, a cute nose and a thin-lipped smile.
It wasn’t the usual type of bird he was spotting for but it was a rare sighting indeed.
It was his habit to write down his more exotic sighting in his little book and he had nothing in his book to equal Anna.
Looking beyond the figure of Anna he could see there was a well-defined path which he thought if he followed would lead him back to Shallowfield as he was ready for his lunch.
It had been a very pleasant diversion from birdwatching but he wasn’t comfortable to spy on her further.
However he still had the problem of getting back to Shallowfield without crossing the clearing or being seen by Anna and it was as he was pondering this problem that Anna turned around and looked directly at him and smiled, and then she gestured him to join her.
“I’m so sorry” he said as he approached “I didn’t mean to look”
“That’s alright you were meant to” she retorted
“Wwhat?” he stammered
“I’ve been trying to get your attention all week” she said and slithered up to him and embraced him and when the kiss was over she said
“Now don’t you think that’s better than bird watching?”
“Oh yes definitely” he replied and leant in for another helping and thought.
“This is definitely going in the book”
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