Hiding In Plain Sight

 

Peter Nesbitt was staying at a pub in Braithwaite for a few days.

It was his brother Johnnies idea, a short break in the Lake District, a change of pace and some R&R.

Unfortunately Johnnie’s idea of rest and relaxation was the consumption of copious quantities of Jennings Ale.

But Peter, now in his early thirties, was looking for something more than drinking games and hangovers so on Monday morning, bright and early Peter grabbed his backpack and set off for a walk on the hill in the early sunshine.

As he got halfway down the lane he happened upon another walker heading for the same stile from the opposite direction.

She wore stout walking shoes, old fashioned brogues, with long argyle socks, a grey tweed skirt and a drab shapeless sweater.

Her hair was tied in a bun beneath a tweed cap that matched the skirt and she looked about forty.

If it hadn’t been for the coloured backpack he would have thought he’d stumbled through a portal into the 1930s.

“After you” he said

“Thank you” she replied in a voice much younger that her appearance which was accompanied by a nervous smile.

Once she was over the stile she set off at an impressive pace and was very sure footed as she strode off ahead of him, he had to admit that although her footwear was old fashioned it was considerably more appropriate for the conditions than what Peter was wearing.

It wasn’t the warmest of days but he’d elected for shorts and in his little back pack he had a waterproof jacket a drink and a sandwich.

 

The weather in the Lake District was always unpredictable, despite the bright start to the day, so it wasn’t really a surprise that by mid-morning the blue sky had been consumed by grey.

Peter was on top of the hill looking out across the valley and the lake.

He had no idea if it was Bassenthwaite Water or Derwent as he’d lost his bearings a bit, after all he wasn’t really familiar enough with Cumbria to find his way around without a map which of course he didn’t have in his pack.

He sat down and opened his pack, ate his sandwich and drank his drink but when he looked at the distant sky he didn’t need a map or anything else to tell him it was coming his way so he decided to make his way off the hill ahead of it as quickly as possible.

He hadn’t even reached halfway before the low cloud settled a thick mist all around him.

Peter had on his light jacket which was getting wet in the mist, he also had good trainers on, but on the damp stone they were not really fit for purpose and he was slipping with every other step.

The fog came down very quickly and was extremely thick in places.

“You should just sit it out” a soft voice said

“I’m sorry?” He said turning around and seeing the frumpy woman sitting on a large flat rock.

“You should sit it out” she said again

“Is that wise?” Peter asked

“Yes this band of cloud is due to blow through in a couple of hours” she said confidently

“Is it? He asked

“Didn’t you check the weather forecast before you set off this morning?” she asked

“No” he admitted and sat down next to her “I’m Peter by the way, Peter Nesbitt” and offered his hand

“Sarah Hallam” she responded

 

Sarah Hallam was 28 years old, single and happy to be so, she had studied law at university but after three years she decided it wasn’t the career for her.

So she followed a different path and had been a proof reader for a legal publisher for the last six years.

It suited her as she could work from home and so didn’t have to interact with people.

It meant that she spent a lot of time on her own, which she didn’t mind as she was happy in her own company.

Although she lived in seclusion in the country she still liked to get away somewhere whenever she could to some place beautiful and the Lake District was certainly that.

 

Although Peter had ridiculed Sarah’s mode of dress, as they sat on a large flat rock in the fog, he would have confessed that she was more appropriately dressed than he was, at which point he shivered.

“Do you have anything useful in your pack?” Sarah asked

“It’s empty now I’m afraid” Peter replied

“You did come well prepared” She said sarcastically

Luckily for Peter, Sarah’s backpack was filled with a wealth of useful stuff, a thermos full of coffee, Sandwiches, Kendal mint cake and a blanket all of which she generously shared with him while they spoke candidly about their past.

Peter was interested to hear about Sarah’s profession as he and his brother Johnnie were also in publishing as they jointly ran a printing company.

 “I don’t mean to pry Sarah” he began “I understand that under our present condition they are indeed practical, but why are you dressed like a….”

“Frump” she suggested

“Yes” he agreed “I’m sorry”

“Its fine” Sarah said “it’s quite simple really”

Peter listened intently

“When I was at university, in my first year, I had my heart broken badly”

She said

“And again in the third year, which nearly cost me my degree”

“I’m so sorry” Peter said sympathetically “But why the tweeds?”

“Well after the second time I resolved to have no more truck with love”

She said without emotion

“I am single and glad to be so”

She paused for a moment and Peter spoke

“So that’s why you dress to make yourself look fifteen years older than you are?”

Sarah nodded   

“I have found that if you are a shapeless old frump, men tend to leave well alone”

“What a waste” he thought to himself

“And what about you?” She asked

“Well I’ve also had my heart broken” he confessed “just the once for me though”

“Once would’ve been enough for me” Sarah mumbled

“I’ve not given up hope completely” Peter continued “But I’ve not met the one yet”

She nodded

“I’ve not found my soul mate yet” was what he meant

“In truth I use work much the same way as you use Tweed” He said

“My brother Johnnie says I work too hard and should get out and have some fun”

“It’s nice that he cares about you” Sarah said

“His idea of fun differs greatly from mine” he said and they both laughed

 

By about three in the afternoon a light breeze got up and started stirring the mist.

“Right on time” Sarah said though she was a little disappointed, as she was rather enjoying herself

“Perhaps we should wait for another half an hour or so” Peter suggested also in no hurry to leave.

“Good idea” Sarah said

 

By 4.15 they couldn’t really delay it any longer as watery sunshine was beginning to penetrate the mist so Peter began handing the remnants of their impromptu picnic to Sarah which she packed neatly away.

“Thank you” Peter said

“For what?” Sarah asked

“Sharing your lunch and your blanket” he said “and for your company”

“Oh there’s no need to thank me” she responded and gave him a smile

“It would have been a very dull afternoon had you not happened along”

Peter thought he detected a slight blush on her cheek.

“She’s a very attractive and confident girl beneath the frump” he thought

 

It was as they walked down the hill in the weak sunshine that he decided

That he would endeavour to get her to re-join the world.

And if not embrace the waves then at least dip her toe in the water.

They were just approaching the stile they had crossed earlier in the day.

“I was wondering” he said “As you were so generous to me today you might allow me to repay the favour”

“There’s no need” Sarah relied cursing herself for her cowardice

“Just dinner at the Pheasant” Peter persisted

“Ok” she relented and to herself added “Good decision”

“But tomorrow would be better for me” she said as Peter helped over the stile

“Great tomorrow it is” he said smiling “I will look forward to it

 

Sarah had taken a bold step for her agreeing to the dinner and opened herself up for disappointment again but she didn’t want to hold back now.

If she was going to make the most of it she had to make the most of herself. 

And as she hadn’t packed anything remotely suitable for dinner she had been in Kendall all day shopping for girl clothes.

 

Peter spent his day fending off questions from his brother Johnnie, about where he was going and who he was meeting.

He loved his brother but his biggest fear was that Johnnie would pitch up at the pub and unintentionally spoil things before they got started.

So he told him he was taking her to a restaurant in Ambleside an hour later than he was actually meeting Sarah in Keswick.

 

Peter was sat in the bar a full half an hour before he was supposed to meet Sarah and he was insanely nervous, he hadn’t felt like that since he was 15 when he was waiting outside the multiplex for Cindy Brownlow.

However he was thinking it was a mistake to arrive early as his stomach was doing somersaults.

 

Sarah was second guessing herself and as she stood in front of the mirror wearing a little black dress,

Her long brunette hair was down and her face was subtly made up.

It had been a while since she had given herself the treatment and the face she was wearing was her third attempt.

The first attempt left her looking like a mortician’s subject and the second like a clown.

The third one would have to do.

Why on earth did she agree to do this, what was she thinking?

“Because you wanted to” she said out loud to the mirror “now suck it up and go and knock him dead”

 

When Peter turned around and saw this brunette in the little black dress coming towards him.

He couldn’t stop himself from saying   

“Wow”

Sarah smiled

“Will I Do?”

“Comme ci comme ça” He said making a gesture with his hand 

“Charming” she said

“I was expecting someone in tweeds” Peter said

She laughed and said

“I decided to make an effort” Sarah said as she sat down

“I thought this might be more appropriate”

The evening passed by so quickly, it was like an information exchange,

And they were so absorbed in each company that they completely lost track of time, to such an extent that they had to be asked to leave.

“Oh dear we seem to have overstayed our welcome and there is so much more to say” Sarah said

“Then we should perhaps consider this an adjournment and pick this up again tomorrow”

She nodded her ascent and he was rather pleased with himself for his legal reference almost as much as the securing of another date.

They agreed to meet again the next morning by the stile where they had first met and she was transformed.

The frump he’d met on the hill the day before was gone forever.

No wonder Peter hadn’t been able to find his soul mate all those years, she was hiding in plain sight.

Sarah Hallam the woman who was a stranger only two days before

Would be at his side every day thereafter.