Gaby Book 26 On The Edge by Maddy Bell Copyright© 2021 Madeline Bell Seventeen - it's a birthday overshadowed by its predecessor and successor and Gaby's looks set to follow that pattern. There are however big decisions to be made, should she grab life by the horns and experience everything it has to offer or take the more conservative, safer route through life. This volume, the 26th in the Gaby series has all the elements of classic Gaby, bike riding, teenage angst, developing relationships, grist to the mill for our heroine as life in the Ahrtal ticks on.

 
"So where now Dave?” Mum enquired as we reconvened at our transport an hour later.
"Bit more sightseeing?” Dad suggested.
"We're in your hands Dave,” Erika replied.
"Girs? Darren?”
"Sure,” Daz agreed.
Kat gave a shrug, "Its what we came for today.”
"What she said,” I added.
"In that case,” Dad grinned, "Times a wastin'!”

The bus wasn't quite so hot this time, we'd left it in the shade and with the windows open – we were sat about five metres away, so the air conditioning soon had us down to a more comfortable temperature. The road dropped down for another couple of kilometres to where we dropped onto the TF-1 autobahn. Not that we were on it long, five K tops and one of those was through a tunnel, there literally wasn't any more motorway.

It didn't seem to be a problem though, there wasn't a lot of traffic as we headed into Santiago del Teide where we turned onto the four three six which was signed for Buenavista del Norte – where we rode to on Saturday. It was pretty obvious that we had to cross a mountain to get there, what wasn't immediately obvious was just how the road attained the summit. The climbing started pretty much as soon as we exchanged the village for the scrubby countryside.

A few gentle bends led us quite rapidly up to the first 'pins, giving us glimpses of the coast southwards before another set of bends took us down again. Not for long, another few hairpins and we were gaining height again up to a tiny village remote enough to have avoided the trappings of the tourist industry. Its neighbour however was not so lucky, car parks, shops and restaurants aplenty ensured ample visitors, we however continued through, the road consistantly gaining altitude.

Across to our right a higher range of hills rose above us, it wasn't a great surprise to find our road turning back on itself a couple of kilometres further on to climb the mesa. A final kick saw us over the top and the descent started from Las Portelas down a series of wide loops before the coast appeared ahead of us and a set of hairpins dropped us to the coastal plain. I think everyone bar Dad thought we were going to stop in Buenavista but instead of going into the town we took a left out through huge orchards and acres of glass houses.

Even they soon came to a halt to be replaced by spectacular cliffs and ocean views as the road hugged the coastline. It wasn't long before, straight as an arrow, the tarmac headed down toward the sea and a couple of minutes more before Dad had the bus parked above the black sands of, according to the signs, the Playa Punto de Teno.

"End of the line folks,” Dad grinned, "We have to walk from here.”
"To where pray,” Mum enquired.
"Punto de Teno, its the westernmost point of the island,” Dad supplied.
"Hmm,” Mum allowed, "Guess its worth a look.”

And so the six of us walked down to the lighthouse and along the boardwalk to the viewing platform, its a nature reserve so you are restricted to the official paths. Then we made our way around to the tiny bay where we used the toilets, the only nod to visitors beyond the car parking. It was nice, if thats your sort of thing, I prefer my scenery to have trees and a bit less wet involved.
 

"Could murder a coffee,” Daz sighed as we climbed back to the bus.
"Yeah,” I agreed, "I bet a kiosk here would be a right little earner.”
"It is a nature reserve,” Kat pointed out.
"And?”
"Sometimes Bond,” she sighed.
"We can stop in the town,” Dad suggested, "Pretty sure I saw a couple of places the other day.”

We loaded up and retraced to Buenavista where we found a coffee shop cum hamburger place at the bus station. The coffee and cake was passable, the burgers and pommes tempting but we had a decent lunch and by the time we get back from here, dinner will be almost upon us. Of course, just about every other customer through the door purchased some variation of burger and fries, the gits!
 

Its only about thirty five kilometres from Buenavista to Puerto de la Cruz and its all on good roads, even with a bit of traffic it only took half an hour in the minibus. It seemed like a good idea to get a shower before dinner especially as there was no immediate sign of any of the 'stay at home' crowd. I was just finishing off when I heard the door go.

"That you Mand?”

Well who else would it be?

"Heya.”
"Good day?” I asked poking my head out of the door as I dried the worst of the wet from my locks.
"Pwwwf, okay I guess, you?”
"Yeah, not bad, we went up Teide on the cable car then to this lighthouse place on the coast. You been at the waterpark all day?”
"Not all day, we didn't go in till just before lunch, Tal and Gret wanted look around the shops, not that theres a lot there.”
"I bet all the decent shops are in that mall place,” I suggested.
"You might be right, i think Tina and Anja went there, you finished in there?”
 

"I hope you all enjoyed the downtime,” George mentioned, addressing us after another 'healthy' evening meal, "Back to the serious stuff tomorrow.”
"There's always a catch,” Roni quietly opined.
"So,” the Boss continued, "We'll drive over to our base for the day, we'll be doing some testing and fitness modeling, I'm told the area we are going to is well off the beaten track so we should have the roads pretty much to ourselves. Usual time at reception please.
I'll just touch on Thursday, obviously Tina and Gaby are doing the challenge, the rest of you will do a ride around to Teide so you can support them. Questions?”

There being none, we were dismissed to our own devices for the rest of the evening.
 

"So what're we doing then?” Daz asked, all the youth squad plus Roni having migrated to the veranda.
"Karaoke?” Gret proferred.
"There's kickball on tonight,” I observed, "Can't see them prefering our yodeling to the European Cup.”
"For someone who hates football you seem to know an awful lot,” Mand suggested.
"Its on the chalk board,” I pointed out, er pointing at said information.
"How about the Mall place?” Roni suggested, "Its open till ten.”
"Well I'm game,” Tal told us.
"More shopping Hen?” Josh complained.
"There's probably a games arcade or something,” I guessed.
"What ya reckon Daz man?”
"Probably more exciting than painting my nails,” Daz joked.
"Ooo, nail painting,” Mand hammed.
"We getting a taxibus then?” Gret queried.
"Unless you want to walk like two kilometres?” Tal told her.
"Thats settled then,” Roni declared, "Back here in ten, I'll get reception to order the bus.”

Why not go straight away? well duh, we've got to get our bags and I for one am not going without at least some lippy and mascara.

"Trainers or sandals?” Mand mused as I gave my kissers a coat of 'Desert Rose'.
"You shopping or running?”
"Sandals.”

"Where are you off to?”Mum enquired when we nearly ran her down at the lift.
"The shopping mall, its open till ten.”
"The others going?”
"And Ron,” Manda supplied.
"Well don't be too late eh.”
"We won't,” I sighed.
"I mean it Gaby, you're here for training, not partying.”
"Yes Mum.”
"Manda?”
"Got it Mrs B,” my room mate confirmed.

"What took you?” Tali asked when we finally reached reception.
"We got caught by Jenny,” Mand advised, "Where're the others?”
"Outside waiting, come on.”

​ The taxi bus ride was barely five minutes, it really isn't that far from the hotel but there's the little matter of the TF-5 separating us from the mall or to give it its full name, the Centro Comercial La Villa. Its probably a good job we were in the taxi anyhow, its quite a warren of roads, car parking and outlets just to get to the pedestrian entrance, pretty its not but I guess you don't come to these places for the architecture.
​  

"Wow, this place is huge,” Gret exclaimed.

Well it was okay I guess, the shops are all on one level arranged along 'streets' that reminded me a bit of the foodcourt at Meadowhell, a rather too neat and tidy version of the old town. A quick glance through at the still bustling crowds bags suggested the usual mix of big brands like Benneton mixed with, I guess, Spanish brands and smaller independent stores.

"Tha Met-ro Centa's bigger,” Josh opined.
"And Meadowhall,” I added.
"Well its bigger than the center in Cottbus,” Gret told us.
"I bet there's a big mall in Berlin,” I suggested, not that I could recall seeing one when we went with the school, "You know, like Centro in Essen.”
"Probably,” she allowed, "There's a bit of one in Leipzig, not like this though.”
"You'll have to take me to this Metro place when I come over Josh,” Tal proposed.
"Aye,” Josh agreed, "So where to like?”

I looked at the plan, its not as linear as a lot of these places, instead there are two main streets with a couple of connecting lanes.

"What about we go down one side and round?”
"Sounds like a plan,” Mand agreed.
"There's Macdonald's™ down the other end,” Daz stated.

Well, what more encouragement do you need? Our gaggle of teens needed none and we were soon exploring the shopping opportunities.
 

You don't need a blow by blow account, well you're not going to get one anyway, Daz and Josh did the 'boyfriend' thing whilst the rest of us occasionally went into a store but mostly checked out the window displays. It was a good mix of shops but that meant that a good number weren't of much interest to our posse, kids fashion, kitchen equipment, mens fashion, well you know what I mean.

We did have a mooch in Pimkie but the stuff was much the same as at home, I was tempted by some of those Espadril things in one of the Spanish chains but Gret pointed out that the same thing was about half the price down in the old town. Maccy D wasn't the only food outlet of course but you know what you're getting so we commandeered a bunch of seats, the lads even volunteered to fetch our 'supper'.
 

"That the time?” Roni enquired even as she twisted my arm around to look at my wrist watch.
"Quarter to ten,” Darren confirmed checking his own time piece.
"Guess we'll have to come back to do the rest,” Mand proposed.
"If we's not doin' more shops does anyone fancy apple pie like?” Josh asked the assembly.
"Apple pie? Where from?” I queried in turn.
"He-ar of course.”
"Those deep fried things?”
"Aye,” he agreed.

It was a no brainer, the lads had fetched our drinks and fries for everyone, I coulda murdered the cheeseburger Josh got for himself, or even a bit of Daz's chicken burger but clearly the lads were immune to my mind bending. So yes, I did want apple pie, deep fried or not. Of course, nothings ever that simple, by the time the Toon got back, it was clear that the staff wanted shot of us so we gathered outside.

"They only had two apple,” Josh advised, "So's I got berry for the rest.”
"Well I'm not fussy,” Ron stated relieving Josh of a hot box.

If you've not had one, they're a bit like a fruit turnover, deep fried and supplied in a sort of tube thing that you hold to eat it from. The filling, whether apple or berries is like that pie filling you get in jars, thick and sweet and when cooked, very hot – you really don't want to bite straight into one fresh from the fryer. Once distributed, we set off for the exit, the direction obvious by the general flow of the remaining bodies in the mall.

"I didn't see that,” Mand mentioned, pointing at a sign for a multiplex.
"Sure, it was down near Macdonald's,” Tali advised.

The film posters suggested that most of the offerings were not exactly world cinema but stuck amongst them was the latest Disney feature Bridge to Terabithia and what I'm guessing is some sort of follow up to that Hannibal thing with the butterfly, Hannibal Rising. I'm more into the sci-fi and adventure stuff myself but my sister is a horror fan.

Bit academic really, we're not here for the cinema, in fact we're not here for much longer full stop. At the entrance / exit we spotted a taxi rank and were soon in a queue of automobilia departing the Centro Comercial La Villa.

"We could come to the cinema tomorrow,” Gret proposed
"It'll all be in Spanish,” Daz stated.
"Probably,” I agreed.
Ever the practical one, Ron had a suggestion, "We could ask at the hotel, you never know.”
"As long as its not some chick flick,” Daz opined.
"You could always paint your nails,” Mand smirked, "I've got some nice pale pink in the room.”
"Ha de har!”
"Just saying, sweetie.”

Any escalation was halted by our arrival back at the Hotel las Águilas and with it a need to procure the taxi fare. Ten euros seemed a bit steep but I guess there are seven of us, to save doing the math and mucking about, I paid, I'm sure I'm up for the day anyhow.
 
Maddy Bell © 20.03.2021