A New Beginning Read Free

townie, was it?’ she said lightly.
    ‘Very good, I would say. I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve never done it. Or maybe I did once – when I was about eight years’ old.’
    ‘The same for me,’ Kirsty said with a laugh. ‘That’s when I last did it. I was with my dad.’
    ‘But you can still do it. I don’t think I could. Were there many people about?’
    Kirsty shook her head. ‘A few in the cafe at the far end of the lake, but I only passed four people walking. Oh, yes! And I caught a glimpse of Bob in the distance. On Goat Fell. High up.’
    Carol chuckled and nodded. ‘That would be Bob.’
    ‘He’s a real climber, is he?’
    ‘I suppose he is, yes. A fell walker, anyway.’
    ‘That will be why he’s here such a lot. Where’s he from?’
    Carol shook her head. ‘I don’t really know. Somewhere in Lancashire or Yorkshire, I think. Some little place in that area.’
    That covered a lot of territory, Kirsty thought with amusement. Lancashire or Yorkshire.
    ‘How about you?’ Carol asked.
    ‘Tyneside – Newcastle.’
    ‘A Geordie, eh?’
    ‘Through and through.’
    ‘A real townie.’
    Kirsty nodded. ‘But I do like it here,’ she added firmly. ‘I like it a lot.’
    ***
    A couple of days into her stay Kirsty decided she was ready to be more adventurous. She had her eye on Goat Fell, the big mountain overlooking the village and the lake, which she had spotted Bob descending in a hurry. It was a bright, sunny morning. The forecast was for showers later in the day, but there would be plenty of time before they arrived. Time enough, at least, for her to climb a little way up the mountain, maybe even to see the tarn half-way up.
    Walking uphill was different to walking on the flat around the lake, she soon discovered. You got out of breath, for one thing – and very quickly. And the muscles in your legs soon began to hurt and threaten to snap. After a few minutes she stopped, shook her head and grinned ruefully. What am I like? She thought. How unfit can one person allow herself to become?
    She shook her head again and got on with it. She knew already that she hadn’t a hope of reaching the tarn, which was a good thousand feet above the lake, but she did want to climb a little higher at least. The exercise would be good for her. It might even set her up for another day.
    It was hard work, though. More time had passed than she cared to remember since she had last done anything to get herself out of breath. I used to be so fit, too, she thought ruefully. Fitter than this anyway. At school I even used to play hockey.
    But it wasn’t only the need for exercise and the memories of past athletic glories that drove her onwards and upwards. Already the view was spectacular. The lake stretching away into the distance. The vivid green of the slopes on the other side of the valley. And in the far distance the tops of mountains a lot higher than Goat Fell. She felt a growing excitement.
    And she felt good, happy, too. The cool air kissed her face. She could hear a breeze, higher up, whistling around rocky crags. A lamb called for its mother, and its mother’s voice echoed back between the rocks. She felt a long way from the city, and didn’t mind one little bit. She was beginning to feel quite exhilarated.
    Here and there, paths converged. Some were just sheep trails, winding across the fellside. Others bore the imprints of walking boots. She alternated in taking them: a left here ; a right fork there. But always heading slowly upwards, until at last, and to her surprise, she found herself on the shores of Goat Tarn.
    It was a stunning little lake. More like a mirror than a body of water. She slowed when she saw it, overwhelmed by the beauty of the place and by the knowledge that she had reached it, herself – unaided. Tired and aching, maybe, but here. Definitely here.
    She sat by the water’s edge and slowly ate the chocolate bar she had brought with her, and the banana and the apple. Somehow