Once she had slaked her lust for her list tick, I whispered in her ear, “Something else for you round the corner, love”

Neil led the way again, back across the wall and then traversing the hillside towards the crags between the dark waters of the lough and the crags of the Whin Sill below the Wall, and Maz’ smile became a grin as I took her hand once again.

“When we went out to Statham’s that first time, and I asked what the rock was, and then said I was familiar with it?”

“That you’d climbed on it before? This is the place, isn’t it?”

“Yup. Hang on… Ish?”

“Yeah?”

“By That obvious chimney, son”

I turned back to my wife.

“Time to crack the flasks, I think. Got that bag, son?”

I settled myself on the grass, as he handed Maz the package.

“Best get these on, Mum”

She squealed with joy as he handed over her rock shoes, Neil laughing as he brought out a rope and some basic protection kit, mostly slings and krabs.

“It’s SRT rope, Maz, so no leading today. Soloing and toproping only”

Her brow furrowed.

“I don’t know…. What does ‘SRT’ mean?”

“Ah. Caving thing. Single Rope Technique. Cavers do more abseiling and Jumaring than leading, so SRT ropes are made with much less elasticity. No need for shock absorption, no abbing ropes suddenly flying up out of reach when we unclip. It’s…”

He had been tapping a finger against his leg until he abruptly stopped speaking, then grinned.

“Back to word counting. Nearly away on an explanation loop there. Anyway, I can set up some toprope belays. Brought two ropes, and… And Enfys sent me something for Carolyn, just in case. Remember this?”

I did indeed remember the child’s harness from all those years ago, but I didn’t want to put our daughter somewhere she might not want to go. Let her watch for a while, make up her own mind. I slurped my tea, pulled on my shoes and waved at the crag.

“Right, people: this is the Whin Sill, and the rock is dolerite, same stuff as at Statham’s in Perth. Carolyn, love, all of us here like a thing we call ‘rock climbing’, or just ‘climbing’. We have places back home, indoors as well as outdoors, where we do this. Smiley Beard and his son also climb with us. We are going to do some here, but you only have to do it yourself if you really want to”

“Why do you do it?”

Maz chipped in with, “Because it’s fun!”, while I thought about that focus that could chase away the demons in one’s life, even if that relief might only be temporary. Not today, Rhodes.

“Right! That is a local joke, because it is always described as both the first and the last route here, as which it is depends on where you start from. It’s West Chimney, but I remember it being called ‘Introductory’, because it’s the first route and it’s a good introduction to climbing. Ish and Mum, friction’s not great here, so don’t rely on it too much. Now, let me show you…”

I took my time over the chimney, so many memories coming with each hold, and secured it at the top with three anchor points before reversing the route. Maz was now in her own harness, another portion of the package I had entrusted to Ish, and as he held one end of the rope, I smiled at my lover before she answered my simple “Ready?” with an emphatic nod. I tied her in with a figure eight knot, and called out the familiar opening words to Ish.

“Take in!”

Some hours later, when we walked down to the pub for our evening meal, Carolyn insisted on wearing her gifted harness over her princess dress, while Kawan wore his own kit, made from an eight-foot sling and a single screwgate krab. My wife simply kept smiling.

-----0-----

The pub was almost empty, save for a group of obvious hostellers in one corner, but the barman had a smile for us.

“Evening, just! What can I get yez?”

His smile dropped almost at once.

“Sorry, but you look like… Neil? Neil Strachan?”

Neil’s face lit up.

“Anth! Great! I didn’t know if… I’ve not been back for…”

“Neil, marra, I… I followed the news, so can I just say how sorry I am? So many years before that bastard… No. Drinks first, marra?”

I nodded, pointing at one of the local ales.

“I’ll have a pint of that, my friend. My son here will probably want a lager”

“No he won’t, Dad! I’ll have the same as you. Mum?”

“Um, a large pinot grigio, please, and…”

She whispered to LC.

“And a small coke with a slice and ice for our daughter here, and could she have another one for her bear?”

As I passed the drinks one by one to the others, ‘Anth’ looked at me rather closely, before dropping his voice.

“I do follow the news. Not much else to do out here when I’m not working. I don’t want to put my foot in it, so please tell me if I have the right idea about who you lot are”

“What idea is that?”

“Kidnap and slavery”

I nodded, and he winced.

“I’ll change the subject, then. I didn’t realise what had happened to Neil and Maddy until I saw that cu--- that arsehole’s trial in the news. How is he holding up?”

I looked over my shoulder to see the others settling into another corner, around a large table.

“Better than he was, mate. Much better. Thanks for your concern”

“Aye, well. You’ll understand that”

Suddenly, he laughed.

“Sorry, Mr Rhodes. Just a joke we have on our website”

“Mike. The others are Ish, Carolyn and Maz. What joke?”

“Ah, we stole it from a pub in Glen Coe, sort of. They have a sign saying something like ‘No hawkers, tinkers or Campbells’, so we have a ‘You’re barred!’ list. A few different categories, like, with a few jokes, but a lot of them are deadly serious. There’s a cooperative one where been banned from a load of pubs: banned from one, banned from all, aye? Then there’s a sort of ‘celebrity nasty’ list, the serious ones, not just a goalie that missed a penalty, like. That cu—arsehole Forbes is on that one”

“Cunt, mate. You can say cunt. Neil is a very close friend, and to a large extent, I have my wife and daughter here only because of his help. We have another friend that owes him her life, so enough said”

“Oh aye? I’ll leave that for Neil to tell, then. All I’ll say is, well, be welcome. Looking at the little lass, I’ll guess you’ve been cragging. Crag Lough rocks?”

I nodded.

“First time for the, er, little lass. First…”

I realised that I was being ambushed by emotion, and took a few deep breaths until I felt I could control my voice.

“My wife, Maz, she has had a bit of a break from climbing, unsurprisingly. Anyway, Neil’s more of a caver, but he knows how to use a rope properly. Bit fussy with it, sometimes”

“Aye. I know he’s a bit trainspotterish, but does that bloody matter? Now, thank you for bringing him back up, letting us see he’s still wi’ wa; specials board is over there, and here’s the main menu. And put your card away, Mike. That round’s on me”

“Thanks, Anth. I’ll be back with the orders in a few”

“Ne hurry. Oh: that pint’s one of ours, so let us know what you think”

I joined the others, passing round the cardboard ,emu as I studied the ‘specials’, which had more than a few oddities I suspected Maz wouldn’t recognise. As I read, it struck me that despite the hair covering in Sumatra. Carolyn had raised no objections at all when offered a traditional pork-heavy breakfast.

She was talking to Kawan, offering him sips of ‘his’ drink while repeatedly undoing the screwgate before re-tightening it and ‘checking.

“Carolyn?”

Once again, she jerked, with a look of guilt fleetingly crossing her face.

“What did you think of the rock climbing?”

I could hear her thoughts: do I say what I think, or might it displease the master?

“It was good. Easier than palms”

Leave that one for now, Rhodes. Maz was watching closely as I asked the next question.

“Did Kawan enjoy it?”

Her most natural grin so far burst from her face.

“Yes! That is why he is so thirsty!”

“Well, back at our home, I have something I made for Ish. It’s like a copy of rocks to climb on. Would you like me to set it ip again for you and Kawan?”

“Which place is home?”

“That place where we had the barbie with Mister Smiley Beard”

“We are going back there?”

“Yes. We have some more friends to meet here, and I know they love to climb. Now, I have to do some long driving tomorrow, so we need to choose what we want to eat. Would you like your brother to help you choose?”

My boy was as reliable as ever, leaning across to talk her through the ‘small bites’ and ‘kids’ plates’. Maz was far more direct.

“Remember those sausages at Soapy Joe’s. darling?”

“I remember a lot of his sausages, love”

“The venison ones. I think that might have been on our first.... They have a venison stew here, with wild mushrooms. Please”

“Neil?”

“The steak and ale pie and mash?”

“Okay. Kids?”

Ish looked at his sister for confirmation, then gave ne their order.

“The gammon for me please, Dad. With pineapple, and chips. Carolyn would like what she had for breakfast, she says: sausages. With mash”

I rose to head for the bar.

“Dad?”

“Son?”

“Where are we going tomorrow?”

“Somewhere for your Mum, son. No climbing, I’m afraid. Neil? Quick chat?”

I led the way outside, Neil looking a little apprehensive, but I smiled as best I could to reassure him.

“Nothing to worry about, mate, just wondering if you would be okay squeezed into the car. Didn’t want to assume”

To my surprise, he laughed out loud.

“I was going to ask the same question about the day after! Bit of walking I’d prefer to do in proper boots”

“Oh! Where are you planning?”

“Simonside”

“Perfect!”

“Where are we going tomorrow, then?”

“Wait and see, mate”

“Right… Carolyn’s still nervous, isn’t she?”

“Absolutely”

“She’s opening up, though. Excuse me…”

He pulled out his phone, dialled and then put it on speaker.

“Ga’I helpio chi?”

“Hiya, Alys”

“Neil! Yay! Where are you to?”

“Hadrian’s Wall, with Mike. On speaker, so he can hear you”

“Hiya, Mike! How are your women?”

I sat on the surge of emotion boiling beneath me.

“Both fine, love. Went climbing today. First time for Maz since, you know, and first time ever for our daughter”

“How did she like it? Carolyn, that is?”

“She’s made a harness for her teddy bear, and of course she was wearing… we got the present from Enfys, and Carolyn is STILL wearing it. Over a princess dress”

“Ha! I will let my darling know: she’s on a shout this evening. Michael, my, our, love, we have so much planned for you”

“Well, if some of our time ends up devoted to lying on our hacks looking at the mountains, that is all we need. That and the right company, of course”

“What are your plans?”

“Couple of days out from here, then Neil leaves us. We head down to Sheffield to see my old team, camp out at North Leas and do some stuff on Stanage, then it’s across to yours”

“My other Dad’s put a chunk of the bunkhouse aside for you, Mike. Will Carolyn be okay with that? If not, we have two houses—three, like the Spanish Inquisition. We have three houses to share. And you have tents as well, yes?”

“Absolutely”

“Then the end of August is a goer, then”