The Pepperstock Hills
National Park stretched from the bare, and often barren crags of Oxley Ridge in
the North, to the dense wooded southern slopes on the fringe of the Finchbottom
Vale and from Quarry Hill, and the Pits in the West to Pepperstock Bay in the
East.
It is an area of stark
contrasts and attracted a variety of visitors.
The
Quarry Hill side of the park to the west, as the name suggests, was heavily
Quarried over several hundred years, though more extensively during the
industrial revolution, the Quarries had been un-worked for over fifty years and
nature had reclaimed them and the former pits had become lakes and were very
popular with anglers and the sparse shrubbery and woodland made it a popular
spot with courting couples whereas the
northern crags and fells were popular with climbers and the more hardy folk.
To the south and east was an
extensive tract of magnificent mixed forestry and was rivalled only by the
ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forest, which was where Jacqui Fowle lived
in the village of Springwater.
She was a trained Paramedic
and worked at the Springwater Mountain Rescue Centre which was located on the
outskirts of Springwater and was they last bit of civilization before you
entered the Pepperstock Hills National Park.
It was a moderately sized
complex, which housed a café, and a shop where you could buy everything from
tents, sleeping bags, clothing, and footwear, to Sandwiches and Kendal mint cake.
In addition, there was the Springwater Mountain Rescue
HQ, where the team met or assembled and where they stored all their equipment,
and of course a manned first aid station where Jacqui worked.
Jacqui was an attractive
woman, but with her blond hair scraped back into a ponytail she always looked
severe.
She was a divorcee and in her
mid-thirties and had long since decided that she would put all of herself into
her work and draw a line under any hope of a romantic future.
That was until the Leo
Humphrey entered the Aid Station and re-entered her life.
It was mid-afternoon on a wet
miserable day when she got a call on the radio to say that mountain rescue were
bringing in a casualty, injuries were not life threatening but an ambulance
would be required.
“All received thank you” she
responded
It was a busy day for Jacqui and fellow
paramedic Katie Ralph, nothing major but a steady flow of cuts and bruises,
sprained and strains, and a lot of blisters.
But getting a stretcher case
in, re-energized them, even though they didn’t have any further details.
Jacqui called for an ambulance
and passed on the information they had received and would update when they had
more to impart.
When the casualty arrived
with the mountain rescue team Jacqui and Katie went on to autopilot and quickly
assessed him, it wasn’t until Jac was checking a cut on his forehead that she
realised it was Leo, her old flame.
All of a sudden, he opened
his eyes and looked straight at her and said
“Jacqui Fowle!” then he
smiled and added
“I really love you” and then
he closed his eyes again.
“I really loved you too” she
thought to herself
While they were waiting for
the ambulance Jacqui questioned mountain rescue to find out what had happened
because he wasn’t dressed as a hill walker.
As far as they were aware he
was driving a hire car when he was run off the road, down a ravine and into a
stream, but they didn’t know who the hire company were.
And as he was found on the
bank of the stream they recovered none of his personal effects and his pockets
yielded nothing, but thanks to Jaqcui they did at least know his name.
She was a little disappointed
that his pockets were empty, if he had a wallet or driving license she might
have gleaned some information about him, and his marital status.
Before she had a chance to
muse on that too much, paramedics, Sam Liburd and Andy Mason arrived, so she
returned immediately to paramedic mode and passed on all the relevant
information and then they loaded Leo onto the ambulance.
“Where are you taking him?”
Jacqui asked
“St Martha's in Finchbottom”
Andy replied
“Ok I’m going to make some
calls and try to find his family” she said
She watched the ambulance
drive away and then she spent the next hour phoning car hire companies, in
order to try and identify the origins of the car and by extension Leo’s home
address, and she was eventually rewarded for her efforts when she spoke to a
young woman named Janine from Clarion cars, she was further furnished with his
home address, which she was delighted to discover was in Springwater.
The next morning, as it was
her day off, she drove over to Finchbottom to visit Leo at St Martha’s, she had
already phoned ahead and spoke to the ward sister and was told he was being
discharged at midday, but when she reached the ward her courage deserted her,
and she almost turned tail and ran.
But she steeled herself, and
took a deep breath, and approached Leo’s bed.
“Hello Leo” she said, and he
opened his eyes
“It was you” he said
“I thought I had dreamed you
again”
“Again?”
“Yes” he replied
“Is that why you moved back
to Springwater?” she asked
“How did you know I moved
back?”
“I got your address from
Clarion Cars” she replied
“Oh, very Sherlock Holmes” he
said
“Elementary” she retorted and
laughed
“I called round to the house
but there was no one home”
“I live alone” he replied,
and her heart missed a beat
“Oh, I didn’t realise”
He didn’t elaborate further,
and she couldn’t think of what to say to make him say more so she changed tack.
“When I phoned Clarion, they
said they will get Richards Recovery to tow the car out of the stream and they
will also arrange to deliver your personal possessions to your house”
“Ah that might be a problem”
“How so?”
“I’ve lost my keys, and I
only had the one set” he said
“Oh, that’s ok, I anticipated
that, and Daniel Lawrence will meet us at your house at 1.30”
“Us?”
“Yes, us, I’m going to drive
you home” she said, and he nodded
“Thank you, but who is Daniel
Lawrence?”
“Oh, didn’t I say? He and his
brother, Scott, own and run Lawrence Locksmiths” she explained
“Really?” he said quite
astonished “how did you manage that?”
“Daniel and Scott are both
part of the Mountain Rescue and are obviously in awe of my prowess as a
paramedic extraordinaire,”
“No seriously” Leo said, “how
did you manage it?”
“Cheek” she retorted
When they reached Leo’s house
it was 1.25 and there was no sign of a locksmith’s van, so Jacqui parked the
car and turned off the engine.
“So, what brings you back to
Springwater?” she asked
“It’s a long story” he
replied just as a top of the line Range Rover pulled up and as the driver got
out Leo could see it was a very well turned out man in his mid-forties.
“Who on earth is this?” he
asked
“That is Daniel Lawrence”
Jacqui answered
“He doesn’t look much like a
locksmith,” Leo pointed out
“No but he does look like the
Managing Director of Lawrence Security” she said
“Really?” Leo said impressed
“Yes, but he started as a
locksmith and he likes to keep his hand in” Jacqui answered and got out of the
car.
“Daniel!!” she said warmly
“My dear Jacqui” he responded
and embraced her
“Thank you for doing this Danny”
She said “This is Leo Humphrey”
“Ah” he said shaking her hand
“So you are the lucky man, I saw the aftermath and you could easily have died”
“Yes, I was very fortunate,”
he agreed and then they went up the path to the front door.
Leo was impressed with Mr
Lawrence, he was a very likeable man, and very presentable, but impressed or
not, he wasn’t sure he would gain access to the house with his good graces
alone and his tool bag was conspicuous by its absence.
But once they reached the
door he slipped his hand in to his pocket and pulled out a bunch of keys and
after a momentary perusal of the lock he said
“Ahhh, we’re in luck” He
announced “it’s one of ours”
And after a few seconds he
selected a key and opened the lock
“Easy as that” he said
“Wow” Leo exclaimed, truly
impressed
“Wow indeed” echoed Jac
“I can’t thank you enough”
Leo said and shook his hand
“What do I owe you?”
“Nothing” he said “I did it
as a favour for my favourite paramedic”
“Thanks Danny” she said and
kissed his cheek
“My pleasure my dear” he said
looking at his watch “Well I must be off”
Daniel Lawrence took his
leave and walked back to his car and Leo whispered to Jacqui
“I think he fancies you”
“No more than my other male
acquaintances” she responded grandly as he stepped into the house
“What would his wife think?”
he asked
“He doesn’t have one” She
replied, “He’s a widower”
“What would your partner
say?”
“I don’t have one” she
replied “I’m single”
“Oh”
“I’ll leave you to rest now”
she said, deciding to leave him to digest the information and then took her
leave of him, and digest it he did as he made himself a coffee and sat in his
armchair but while he drank it the phone rang and when he answered it, it was
Clarion Cars and they had phoned to report that Richards Recovery had already
picked up the car and they also notified him that everything was being dealt
with on the insurance and he had nothing to worry about and they hoped he
wasn’t injured in the crash and that his personal possessions would be returned
to him forthwith.
After the phone call ended he
sat back in the armchair and within minutes the long blinks set in and he fell
asleep until he was rudely awoken some time later by the persistent knocking on
the front door and when he opened it he found a small man standing there
holding a small cardboard box.
The little man worked for
Richards, Leo invited him in, but he declined, so he just handed the box over
and left and then he returned to his armchair and once again went to sleep.
It was 5.30pm when he woke up
and cursed himself for sleeping the afternoon away, so he took himself upstairs
and had a shower to wake himself up and he had just finished drying off when
the doorbell rang.
Leo slipped his robe on and
made his way down the stairs and the doorbell rang again
“Ok I’m coming” he called and
got to the front door as quickly as possible, and on opening it he discovered
Jacqui standing the other side.
Jacqui hadn’t spent the
afternoon sleeping, she had spent every minute since she left him making the
most of herself, hair, nails, eyebrows, outfit, shoes and makeup.
So, the version of her
standing on the doorstep was stunning.
“Wow” he exclaimed
“Well that’s precisely the
reaction I was hoping for” she said and stepped inside and closed the
door.
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