Chapter 8: A Brown Skinned Bum

‘Then we went for a walk around the old walls, before heading home. We got to mine about four o’clock and I invited him in. Mum and dad liked him and asked us all about going up the mountain. Then they invited him to stay for dinner. He did and we had a lovely Sunday roast followed by a relaxing chat over coffee.’

‘After Bert had gone, mum and dad said how much they liked him and were glad that I was making such nice friends. ‘Well,’ Danny said, ‘It sounds as if you were having a great time. And what Bert decided about future girlfriends should work out well for him. So where does your problem come in?’

‘I’m nearly there,’ Scott told him, ‘I just thought you should know the lead up to it.’ ‘Yes, you’re quite right,’ Danny said. ‘Carry on with your story at your own speed.’

‘The next Wednesday Bert picked me up and we had a nice social evening at the club. I met several new people. There were no trips planned for the coming weekend, but the weekend after there was a weekend trip to do two mountains in Wales.’

‘As Bert dropped me off at home, he told me he had a date for Saturday with a lady he had met at work. I wished him luck. When he picked me up for the meeting the following week, he couldn’t wait to tell me about Deirdre. He seemed quite smitten.’

‘He told me they had had a lovely day out on the Saturday. That she liked walking, and he hoped to bring her to the group in the near future. Did you get up to anything?’ I asked him, amazed to hear myself not only asking such a question, but to someone much older.’

‘Just a hug and a kiss at the end of the day,’ he told me. ‘I don’t want to seem too forward or to frighten her off.’ ‘That seems very sensible,’ I told him. ‘Not that I’m much use as an expert.’ I added grinning.’

‘The following weekends trip was discussed. We were heading for a tough mountain called Tryfan which is two thousand, seven hundred and fifty-one feet high. Then on Sunday it was a comparatively easy one, Moel Famau at nine hundred feet. The secretary announced that only those experienced hikers, or those with lots of stamina, should attempt it.’

‘When he asked who wanted to go, I put my hand up. He wrote all the other names down first, then asked me if I thought I would be able to tackle it after only two weekend trips. Before I could say anything, Bert announced, ‘Scott and I walked up Snowdon together a week last Saturday. It took us three hours forty minutes plus two twenty-minute rest breaks. He had no problem keeping up with me.’

‘Everyone gave me a round of applause and the secretary added me to his list. Bert dropped me off at home and arranged to collect me at eight o’clock on Saturday. It would take just under two and a half hours to get there so the hope was that we would start up at eleven.’

‘The rough plan was that the ascent was expected to take around three hours. People would spend one to two hours at the top, and it would take around two hours to get down again. But the best laid plans of mice and men... ‘

‘What went wrong?’ Danny asked. ‘I’d been looking forward to another weekend with Bert,’ Scott admitted. ‘Then late Friday evening, Bert rang me to say he wasn’t feeling well. ‘I think I’ve eaten something that didn’t agree with me,’ he said. ‘I need to stay home this weekend.’

‘I said how sorry I was to hear it, and hoped he’d be ok soon. ‘I’ve arranged with Steve to pick you up,’ he told me. ‘Have a good trip and I’ll hopefully see you Wednesday.’ It did cross my mind briefly to cancel but I decided I’d still go.’

‘The next morning, I was outside the gate ready as Steve pulled up. He had Paul in the front with him and someone else in the back. I put my rucksack in the boot and got into the back. I was introduced to Faisal who I hadn’t met before. We shook hands and said hi as we drove off.’

‘On the way, Faisal who looked to be around thirty-five, told me he’d been a member of the club for years. He said that he didn’t have chance to come to the meetings or go on the trips very often because of his work.’

‘It must be at least six months since I last did a trip,’ he said, ‘I hope I’ll be able to make it to the top.’ ‘Scott did Snowdon two weeks ago with Bert.’ Steve told him. ‘Well, you shouldn’t have any problem.’ Faisal told me.

‘I couldn’t help wondering if Faisal would make it. He was a similar height to me, but he had quite a bit of padding. Then I thought, ‘It’s probably like riding a bike, once you’ve got used to it, you can always do it. Even if you do wobble a bit when you go back to it later.’

‘We had a clear run and arrived in good time. All the others arrived within a quarter of an hour, so at ten forty-five we set off. Because hill and mountain tracks are usually narrow, I had noticed that it was fairly standard practice that people set off in twos. Although occasionally they had to go single file.’

‘Steve and Paul were first away, So I followed with Faisal. For a while we kept up with Steve and Paul, staying about twenty feet behind them. By the time we stopped for our first break at twelve o’clock, Faisal had kept up, but I could tell he was struggling.’

‘Within five minutes of stopping, everyone had caught up and we all sat chatting. Steve said we should have no problems reaching the top, so we’d stop for half an hour instead of the usual twenty minutes. ‘But feel free to set of sooner if you want to.’ he added.’

‘I saw him looking at Faisal a couple of times, so I wondered if he’d spotted that he was struggling too. There were seven men and three ladies in today’s group, When Steve called time, a couple of them had already set off upwards.’

‘We all got up and Faisal had evidently stiffened up a bit. I felt sorry for him, remembering my fist couple of times. ‘Don’t worry,’ I encouraged him, ‘The best thing for aching muscles is movement.’ He was too busy trying to keep his cries of pain quiet to reply.’

‘Five minutes later, he seemed to be moving ok, and although we were going slower, he was able to keep up a reasonably steady pace. But I noticed that the people ahead were getting further away from us. I adjusted my speed as best I could, always staying a fraction in front so he was encouraged to try and keep up to me.’

‘On this second leg, he said very little, using all his concentration and energy to keep moving. The next stop was at a quarter past one. Faisal and I were the last to reach the others at half past one. They were all sitting or lying in the grass by the path chatting. Faisal just dropped down and stretched out on the grass.’

‘The others all moved off at a quarter to two. Faisal and I remained. I indicated to Steve that I would stay with him. At two o’clock I stood up and offered him my hand. He took it and struggled to his feet. In between some ooh’s and aah’s he said, ‘I shouldn’t have come.’

‘If you want to go back down from here, I’ll come with you.’ I told him. He looked as if he really wanted to but then he said, ‘No, I’ve come this far, I’m going to see the summit.’ ‘I don’t think we’re far off now,’ I said, ‘So we can take the last bit slowly.’

‘I could still see the backs of the last two of our group way up ahead, so we set off. I led the way walking single file. The paths weren’t very clear, but with the rest of our group having gone up ahead, their footprints in the dusty soil were easy to follow.’

‘Faisal did his best to keep up with me. Every so often I slowed down a bit as I saw he was dropping back. After half an hour I said, ‘Let’s have another short break, we can’t be far off now.’ Faisal just threw himself down on the grass as soon as I suggested it.’

‘Don’t just lie still,’ I told him thinking of what Bert was always saying. ‘Keep moving your legs about a bit then you won’t seize up.’ We sat for ten minutes, and I kept reminding him to move his legs. When we got up to move on, he seemed to manage easier.’

‘Even so, he couldn’t stop himself crying out as he took the first few steps. I just walked off and left him to follow me. The last bit seemed to take ages, and we got slower and slower. But when I checked it had only taken us half an hour.’