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.
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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