At 7 o’clock on
Friday Morning forty-year-old GP Stuart Cameron drove into the Bellevue Hospital carpark.
After
parking in a reserved space he got out and walked toward the entrance when his jovial neighbour and fellow Dr. Deborah Woodward, was leaving.
“Ah, its Dr Samaritan” she
said
“Oh hhhhello,” he stammered
“It’s nice to see you again”
she said, “Just starting your day?”
“I am, yes”
“Well I’m at the other end of
mine, so I’m off to my bed” she said “Nice running into you again though”
“And you” he said and watched
her walk away
with her abundant brunette
hair spilling beneath her woolly hat.
Deborah did have a car, but she preferred to walk to
and from the hospital, unless the weather was particularly nasty, but that day
was sunny, though cold, and she enjoyed the walk, she also enjoyed seeing
Stuart again.
Stuart would also have enjoyed the walk, but he needed
his car for moving between surgeries and for house calls, he would also have
liked to have spent more time conversing with Deborah, and that thought scared
him.
On Saturday Molly received
some power point presentations from Carolyn Livingston of her designs for the
properties down by the river, and she and Danny spent a large chunk of the day
reviewing them and making notes about the bits she was unsure about and emailed
those back to her.
Deborah
Woodward was unmarried, unfiancéd and completely unattached, she had not even
come close to the first two and had been long reconciled with the latter.
Not that there
had not been fancies and dalliances, but no one she wanted to be coupled with
long term, so it was just her and her cat Murphy.
Oh, and a
brother in Sharpington, who was in a similar situation to her, without a
medical degree or a cat, and was the owner of the Bluebird Theatre.
After she left
her house on Sunday morning, carrying a backpack, she caught sight of Dr
Cameron ahead of her who had just stepped out of his front gate.
“Hi Stuart! are
you going somewhere nice?” She called.
“I
was just going to explore” he replied
“Me
too” she said, “I’ve only been here since January, so I haven’t done much, what
about you?”
“Six
months and less than you I suspect” he replied
“Have
you not fancied it up to now?”
“Something
like that” he replied
“Well
why don’t we explore together” she suggested
“Or
get lost together” he retorted
“That
might well be a possibility” she replied, and they laughed
“So
where have you been so far” she asked
“I just went up to Bellevue
Woods and did a bit of a circuit and came back via the beach.” He replied.
“So where do you want to go
first?”
“The
Crag” she replied, put on her backpack and strode off,
Stuart
was already wearing his and broke into a trot to catch up with her.
It was a nice bright morning,
and they could feel the sun on their faces, as they walked briskly down the
path and across the St Pierre road and into the Halfway Lane.
They
followed the lane up the hill in between Bellevue Woods and High Lake Copse and
passed High Lake, and on until they reached the Crag.
When
they reached the Zenith of the road, they stopped to catch their breath and
have a drink before they followed a path up the Crag itself on the Southern
side of the road, and after they yomped up to the top, they stopped to admire the
view across to the east and down to the south.
“You get a different perspective altogether from up here” he said.
“It’s
not bad, is it?” she responded
“We’re
so lucky to live here”
“That
we are” he agreed
They
had a drink and then sat and soaked in the view until they got their second
wind and then they made their way off the Crag, following a different path down
to High Lake and the path shadowed a gentle waterfall, not grand or
spectacular, but nice enough, as the water tumbled slowly and spilling over the
rocks, gathering briefly in deep pools and then tumbling down again to the next
pool, until it finally disappeared under ground.
The
track then skirted the northern bank of High Lake and into the woods.
The
day was unseasonably warm for March, and they had both shed their jackets by
the time they entered the High Lake Woods, and they instantly felt the coolness
of the shade, but even with the drop in temperature they were still sweating.
They
recrossed the St Pierre Road and stopped above Manor Cliff Beach and Deborah
checked her watch
“My
goodness, I think I’ll give the Beach a miss today” she said
“I
can’t believe it’s that time already”
“Nor
me” Stuart agreed, and they headed for home.
“Thank
you” Deborah said when they got back to Manor Row
“For
what?” he asked
“For
your company” she explained
“No
need for thanks” he said “I enjoyed it too”
Then
they returned to their respective homes and soaked away their aches and pains
in a hot bath.
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