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 former pits had become lakes and were very
popular with anglers and the sparse shrubbery and woodland made it popular spot
with courting couples whereas the
northern crags and fells were popular with climbers and 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.
It was in
the village Oxley Ridge where Stuart Fenwick and Linda
Emerton worked at the Foothills Hotel.
They were
both students at Abbottsford University on the same Outdoor Adventure Degree
and were on their third year placement at the Foothills.
Stuart and Linda were staying, with a group of other students in a
house in the village owned by the Hotel which was very much like the student
accommodation they lived at in Abbottsford.
Which was a very noisy and boisterous place in which it was very difficult
to get any peace and quiet for yourself, let alone develop any romantic
feelings you might have for a housemate.
So when the
rare phenomenon of an empty house presented itself to Stuart, because his
housemates were off trekking or climbing, he decided to take full advantage and
have a bit of a lay in and then spend the rest of the day doing very little.
However he
was awoken earlier than planned, much earlier than planned in fact, and what
woke him was the rattling of crockery from the kitchen and the sound of water
running.
He
determined that the water was probably filling the kettle and the crockery was
for whatever beverage they were making.
He looked at
the clock and it was 6.05am and he had an unexpected houseguest, which he
assumed was either a housemate or a very bold burglar, he didn’t know for sure
who it was but he knew who he wanted it to be.
He got out
of bed and threw on his robe and wandered downstairs but as he approached the
kitchen he suddenly hesitated as he caught sight of Linda sitting on the
kitchen counter looking at something on her phone.
Stuart’s
heart started to pound in his chest as he watched her through the crack in the
door, she was the world to him and he had never been able to tell her how he
felt for a variety of reasons, but now fate had presented him with a perfect
opportunity to share his feelings with her.
Linda wasn’t
fazed when he suddenly appeared, or when he walked into the kitchen.
“What are
you doing here?” he asked
“My Trek got
cancelled” she replied and smiled
“How long
have you been watching me?”
“What do you
mean?”
“You were
watching me from the hall” she said and smiled again
“I thought
you were a burglar” he replied feebly
“No I think
you were ogling me” she said and put down her phone
“No, no”
“Yes, yes,
you were ogling me because you want to do this” she said and leant forward and
kissed him and when the kiss ended the toast popped up.
They sat at
the kitchen table, drinking coffee, and eating toast
Well now you
can tell our grandchildren that we had our first kiss on National Toast Day”
she said
“I didn’t
know that it was” he retorted
“You don’t
know much” she said wryly
“What do you
mean?”
“Well you wouldn’t
have even known I was here if I hadn’t made enough noise to wake the dead” she
explained
“You did it
on purpose?”
“Of course I
did” she admitted
“Why?”
“Because I
fancy you” she replied “and so I could get you down here for a kiss”
“Oh”
“When
exactly were you going to get around to telling me you fancied me?” she asked
“I was actually
on my way to tell you when you attacked me” he lied
“Liar” she
mocked “I think you wanted to but you would have lost your nerve, just like you
did at New Years, Christmas ‘Halloween, the summer Ball and every party we’ve
ever been to together”
“Probably”
he admitted and she laughed so hard she spilled some coffee.
“But I think
that now I know where we stand we should be doing less taking and more kissing”
he said
“Not while
I’m eating my toast” Linda retorted
“Well I know
now that it’s “Nation Toast Day” and I like toast very much, I really do, but I
would prefer to remember the day for the kissing rather than the Toasted Bread”
“You make a
very valid point” she said wiping the toast crumbs off her mouth with the back
of her hand, then she got up and sat on his lap
“Happy toast
day” she said and then she kissed him.