CHAPTER 26
I found myself struggling to keep my grin down, as Betty had clearly planned on shoving Pam in my direction. Shaun’s comments about his local lizard were still at the front of my mind, though, and I took a moment to think it all through.

Was I pleased at Pam’s shift of focus onto Shaun because I was one more roadside lizard waiting for the squish, or for other reasons? She was far from unattractive, and seemed good company, at least so far. Was I tuning all women out, or just her? Was I waiting for someone to enter my life, or just for the next car?

“You okay, Mike?”

“Um? Sorry; miles away, Bets”

“Thinking about Australia?”

“Sort of. Kul seems to have fallen on his feet out there”

“Yeah, but I was looking at a map the other day, seeing where exactly it’s near. Perth. Short answer is sod all”

I watched as Pam made a point of going to the bar to order the next round, and took a mouthful of beer before turning to Betty with a smile.

“Yeah, I read somewhere that it’s the most isolated capital city in the world. State capital, of course. Then I looked at that pic of the brewery, and thought, Mike, my boy, it’ll all be lager, and there’s nowhere even close you can escape to for a decent pint”

Betty waved her glass at me.

“Yeah, but some of us like a glass of better stuff, and there’s supposed to be good wine out there. And sorry about Pam”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, just a thought, aye?”

I put my glass down, turning back to Betty.

“No matchmaking, please, love. Things will happen, or they won’t, and no sense in trying to force them along. Anyway, Shaun and her seem to have hit it off, so the evening’s not been wasted”

“Yeah, but, well. But. What you said, that’s the thing. The isolation. Dal’s off to university soon, and that would have to be in Perth. If we move out there, it’ll be the same for Joe and Amy, and neither of them is as academic as Kul’s boy. If they do their college time here, there’s a load of places, choices. Opportunities that don’t mean having to move thousands of miles away. Yes, I would be off to Oz like a shot, but the more I think about the kids, the less comfortable I feel about a move”

She sipped her own wine, watching as her children bounced pool balls off each other on the pay-to-play table.

“Leaving the next slot for you, Mike. What I said about skin in the game goes for the kids as well. Doug and me, well, we’ve talked it all out, and until they’re through college, that’s us tied to England. Speaking of which… Not England. Would you be up for showing us all a bit of that bit of Wales you go to? Won’t be getting us up any crags, but be nice to see the big hills”

“You worried about me being there on my own?”

My thoughts twitched straight back to myself unroped on the Slabs, and Steph as well, and something must have shown in my face, for Betty took my hand for a couple of seconds.

“No, cause I know you stay with friends. Be nice to be cheeky and use them for an adventure”

“Eh?”

“Kids, love. Let them play at expeditions in that bunkhouse, and me and Doug, we can read maps. I can squeeze onto the back seat with the offspring. Never been over that way, so it will be a first for me and him as well. You okay with the idea?”

Her gaze went over to the bar, where Pam was still standing, despite all of our drinks having been delivered, the woman deep in smiling conversation with our pet ‘cobber’.

“Yeah. Why not? Let me know which weekend works for you. Got decent outdoor kit? Waterproofs?”

She burst out laughing.

“Doug’s got family in Manchester, Mike. What do you think?”

I gave her the obligatory laugh, and settled down to my pint.

Isolation, indeed. Nothing to remind me of certain things, and that note from the clubs had left me in a better state of mind about her grave. Right… If Kul could show the value of the idea, that it made sense economically, then we were Go. Could I step away from that next car?

Either way, a fortnight later we were packed into Doug and Betty’s Volvo as we rolled smoothly along the north Welsh coast before the turn down the Conwy Valley.

“Why not come in from the Bangor end, Mike? Looked simpler on the map”

“Simple, Doug. Popping down to Betws is a much, much prettier way. Kids got their cameras?”

Betty gave an affirmative from the back seat, and I turned back to Doug.

“Couple of good photo opportunities on the road. I’ll give you fair warning before them, but only if the clouds are up on top rather than clagging the valley bottom”

“Will we see Snowdon, Uncle Mike?”

“I hope so, Joe. That’s why we’re coming this way. Great view of Snowdon, then a really spectacular valley”

Amy piped up.

“I need a wee, Mam!”

Joy.

“There’s a supermarket in about two miles, Doug. I know for a fact they’ve got loos. Joe?”

Betty called back.

“He’ll go when Amy does. Give us a chance to get a peace offering for your mates. What do they drink?”

“Alcohol. And tea”

“Men! Ale, wine, what?”

“Keith and Penny are both ale drinkers, but wine is still welcome. Don’t know about the Edwards”

“Who are we staying with?”

“Keith and Pen, the Hiatts. They’ve got the bunkhouse. Edwards are their best mates, so you’ll meet them”

“Right. The Hiatts snobby about cans?”

“As opposed to bottles? Don’t think so. As long as it’s a decent brew”

“Then we’ll get a slab, if they have one, and a couple of bottles. Oh, and usual brekky stuff. That it ahead?”

“Yup! In here, mate”

The shopping was done efficiently, and for once Betws wasn’t a solid traffic jam. Up past the Falls, the Ugly House drawing laughter from the children, and then the steady ascent past the pubs until we were approaching the Caernarfon turn.

“Down here to the left, mate. There’s a couple of lakes that’ll give you a view”

Past the Brenin, almost to Garth Farm, the oohs and ahs growing more frequent from the back seat, and finally into a favourite lay by, where we all scrambled out, several cameras ready. Joe was snapping away, but Amy was the more curious.

“Is that Snowdon, Uncle Mike?”

“Yes. See the three peaks on the right? Snowdon’s the left hand one”

“Have you climbed it?”

“Many times, love. Bit of a long walk, but not too hard”

Joe was insistent now.

“Can we go up it, Dad?”

“We can, son, if Uncle Mike thinks it’s safe”

There went my Saturday, I realised. Never mind; it would repay them for the lift, and I could do with a day in company. I smiled at them all.

“If it’s a decent day, we’ll do the Pyg track, but we will need to get there early or all the parking will be gone”

Betty murmured something about not getting wrecked that evening, and I grinned.

“Probably down the pub on Saturday night, though, so you will have the opportunity”

I almost dragged them back to the car, and we turned in the road to head back to Capel Curig and the run through the Valley, which brought more gasps and three, count them, photo stops, including the obligatory ‘secret bridge’ one, which left Betty laughing with joy. Finally, we were at the bunkhouse and unloading. I had given Keith a ring as we crested the pass below Pen yr Ole Wen, and two more small persons were waiting to help lift and carry. As usual, they were chattering away to each other, and I had to explain to Joe and Amy that yes, people around that part of the world had their own language. Pen looked a little stressed to my eyes, but she still found smiles for all four children.

“What you up to tomorrow, Mike?”

“Ah, this lot fancy Snowdon, so I thought I’d take them up the Pyg. Get up early for the parking”

“No need. Bus running this time of year, and we have a friend who’ll let us park at the Brenin. Nine of us will fit in two cars”

“Nine?”

Keith, me, two kids, your crew”

She waved at Dafi as he ran after Enfys carrying a rolled up sleeping bag.

“This one… issues, ah? He’s fine with ours, but has been having panic attacks around other boys. Your mate’s lad, well, got his sister with him, so the focus is altered. Anyway, how’s your other mate doing? And his own boy?”

“Ah, we’ve brought some photos up. Thought we’d share them down the pub tomorrow”

Keith called over, “And what’s wrong with at the pub tonight?”

I shrugged.

“I was working on an assumption of the usual shite parking at Pen y Pass, so an early start. I assume we can forget that as a need, then?”

“Yup. And it’s a club night tonight, so usual plan. No paid guest. Your mates like music?”

“Ask them yourself!”

It turned out that all four of them were willing to adapt their musical tastes for the sake of beer and pub grub, so it was a party of eleven that evening, which became a potentially unlucky thirteen, until that man Illtyd joined Steph’n’Geoff at our little group of tables. Beer was indeed drunk, I had gammon and chips, and I almost missed it when Enfys, Amy and Dafi went off to the loo together.

I supposed it was safer that way, and while he was almost ready for junior school, he was still a ‘little’. Nansi caught my eye, after a sharp look over at Steph, and slipped into the chair Bets had vacated on her way to the bar.

“I saw where you were looking, Mike. He’s getting a bit funny about toilets. Teachers say he won’t go into the boys, won’t use urinals. He’s… He won’t really settle with boys, r a lot of the girls. I know Pen had a word with you, but when you’re out tomorrow, just let him go where he wants, please. And he does a CBT, not a stand and point”

Cold Bum Toilet; one of Caro’s jokes, one she had shared with Penny. Squatting in the open rather than standing, hence the name for it. I watched Steph head off to the ladies’ just as all three kids returned, and I wondered.

The weather the next morning was superb, and I was pleased to see that none of my Sheffield friends was wearing jeans, always a ‘NO!’ for the hills. The bus was on time at the Brenin, and all four kids were chattering away, Enfys and Dafi switching seamlessly from English to Welsh and back again. We passed through the little gateway, and yet again had a photo stop when I pointed out the view down the Pass, with the huge open-book corner of the Cromlech. Over the Bwlch y Moch and around the bowl of Cwm Dyli, the kids all bouncing while Bets panted a little, and then that slog up the zigzags to the railway line, which brought some gasps from the older pair of children. That was topped by their delight at finding a café at the summit, where they each sent a Specially Stamped Postcard home before running up the steps to the actual summit marker and even more photos.

I had to kick myself a couple of times in reminder that this was their very first time experiencing things I had done all too many times. And yes: Dafi did insist on using the ladies’ toilets, but he was still smiling when we got back down to the car park.