CHAPTER 16
“Got everything? Last chance!”

Dad was shutting the car’s boot as he spoke, so I just nodded and joined Alys in the back seat, her bag already in the back along with our sleeping bags. Dad slipped into the front passenger seat, clicking on his seat belt before turning to us as Mam pulled away.

“Some more advice, information, whatever you want to call it. The train is one we picked because it goes straight through, no changes, so you shouldn’t get lost. Geoff or one of their family will meet you at the station, where there is a car park out the front. Just wait outside the main doors, and don’t wander off. Nansi and me, we’ve sent Steph’n’Geoff a cheque each, so you will have extra cash available for the weekend—don’t waste it! They say the site is really safe, so don’t worry if you get lost; just find somewhere that is easy to spot, and ring. Both got tooth brush and clean knickers? Sun cream? Phasers set to stun?”

Typical Dad. The first part of the month had been a good one, weather-wise, but the season was just starting to break as we left, and our luggage included a full set of waterproofs each that included ‘cagtrousers’ and broad-brimmed hats. Mam drove us with easy familiarity, as the route was basically her daily commute and the station isn’t that far from the University. We found a space by the buffet to offload our luggage, and Mam took the car to find a spot in the parking area as Dad led us into the buffet, where Alys’ parents were waiting. Nansi Edwards was just as direct as my father, laying down a set of rules at a level that was, in my opinion, not quite suitable for someone under ten. It took me a few seconds, thinking back to that advice from Mrs Preece, to ‘read the question, and the answer that came up was simple worry. Mr Edwards was far clearer, going straight to the point over some teas and cakes.

“First big trip for either of you, as independent travellers that is. Stay on the train until Shrewsbury. Keep your tickets safe. Wait at that station for your lift, and confirm who it is before you get in any vehicle. And have fun. We’ll see you back here after the weekend, so we demand some decent pictures. With smiles in them. Now, sup up, and we’ll see you to the platform”

A large rucksack each, together with a rolled sleeping bag, were all we carried. It started to rain just as our train was due, and I watched the skirt flapping about Alys’ knees and hoped she had a pair of trousers as well as her waterproofs. A hug as the train announcements were made bilingually, and we were off.

We didn’t have reserved seats, but it seemed the traffic was all to Wales rather than from it, and we managed to find seats facing across a table, so that we could both see the passing scenery while our legs ‘accidentally’ tangled together underneath.

Some pleasant views of the hills, then right past Conwy castle before Llandudno, followed by what seemed like a never-ending stretch of caravan parks. Alys rubbed my leg with her foot.

“Never, EVER, moving here, love!”

I looked up nervously in case any of the other passengers picked up on that word, but they all seemed to be speaking in English, especially the older woman who couldn’t seem to spend a second without shouting into her phone. I turned my eyes seaward, hoping to see something other than mobile homes, so of course the line cut inland for several miles. Eventually, though, we emerged from some pretty grim stretches of housing to see what looked like a golf course and some grassy dunes--- then yet another caravan park. I was slowly sinking into despair when we emerged onto the very edge of the land, a broad sweep of murky water stretching out across a huge bay—the Dee estuary. Alys perked up, looking to spot birds as we rumbled past the mudflats, then laughing at the very odd sight of what looked like a small ocean liner seemingly sitting on the beach.

Very odd.

There were some small towns next, some factories and what looked like an airport with a couple of old jet fighters next to the railway line, and the estuary vanished behind us as we pulled into Chester, the guard announcing that we had crossed the border. A viaduct over a race course, and then a surprisingly small station. That was when I panicked, as the train pulled away again going backwards. It was only when the guard announced the next ’stations stops’ as Wrecsam, Rhiwabon, Yr Waun, Gobowen and Shrewsbury/Amwythig that I was able to relax. That was also when it really struck me that Alys and I were travelling together, but for the first time on our own. At least until we arrived at Shrewsbury, it was just the two of us, and nobody else. I reached across the table to take her hand, and it was so good, so sweet, and so utterly terrifying. Mam’s words came to me, about so much of me being held by one other person, and of course that mood was broken by the muttering of some horrible woman across the aisle. Alys must have heard her more clearly, for she simply called across to her, “Nothing for us to be ashamed of from us. You, however…”

She followed up by poking her tongue out at the harridan, while lacing her fingers fully into mine, which of course set me to blushing and giggling, simultaneously, and with a humph of indignation, there was a gathering of belongings and a rapid departure for another seat.

My heart was almost leaping from my chest with mingled terror and joy, but Alys just raised her free hand.

“I have my uses. Now, I shall take a moment of peace, please. I wish to peruse the publicity material I have procured”

She couldn’t hold the straight face for long, so after another burst of giggles, she slipped into the seat next to me, and we cuddled together as we used her phone to look up each of the acts listed for the festival and the land outside our window slowly became flatter. It was with some surprise that we heard the announcement for our final station, and we scrambled to grab our rucksacks and bedrolls.

The station looked a little shabby, and the exit was downstairs along a little tunnel, but once outside we could see castle walls towering above the car park. Everything was paved in stone blocks, and we found a space to one side of the wood and glass doors, doing our best to avoid the shifty-looking young men smoking nearby. No sign of Geoff for half an hour, until a Volvo estate stopped in one of the pick-up spaces, and a slim woman in her forties or so walked across the cobbles directly towards us, a broad smile on her face.

“Enfys and Alys?”

After we nodded, the smile became a grin.

“I’m Geoff’s sis-in-law, Jan woodruff! Sorry I was late, but I took a drive out to the supermarket to get some provisions, and the queues… Anyway, most of the others are off on their bikes, the loons, so muggins here ended up with girl-finding duties. I have your tickets here, just as a sort of password, token, not a mad axe murdering cannibal thing”

She showed us some folded strips of cardboard, our names on them, and I looked across at my other half.

“I think that settles it for me, Alys”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Our names not enough?”

“Nope, but the sense of humour is pure Steph’n’Geoff!”

It wasn’t that far to the site, but we had to queue for a short while behind what Jan called ‘late arrivals’. As we sat, she complained in the gentlest of ways.

“We always get here the night before, stop in a cheap hotel and get here for the front of the line. All the others either do the same or come up with their bikes on the train”

She laughed again, freely and easily, and I found myself really liking her style.

“Yet again, it’s muggins here, and Geoff’s brother, we get to carry all their tents and put the buggers up ready! Even this tank ends up overflowing with kit, I tell you”

Something jumped out from the flow of chatter.

“When you said ‘all the others’, who did you mean, Jan? All we’ were told about was the four of you”

“Ah! Well, the Hairy Horror and her man, his brother and me. Then there’s our daughter and her fella, plus the Johnsons and their boy, and his girl”

Alys was squeezing my hand rather painfully as we sat in the back seats, and something in her expression must have caught Jan’s attention as she looked at us in her mirror.

“Alys?”

Her voice was shaky.

“Yes?”

“Not a problem, love. No threats, okay? You will understand when we get there, but please, for now, just trust me. All safe, everyone and everything”

I turned to my girl, switching languages.

“Together, love. You faced down that cow on the train. Our friends wouldn’t put us anywhere risky. Two together, yes?”

She nodded, her grip on my hand tightening once more.

“Stay with me, love”

“Always”

Jan sat in silence, and much more patiently than she had done for the other drivers, until at last we were through the ticket checks at the gate and rolling up a narrow tarmac road, where she started talking once more.

“We always used to camp off to the right, but that stopped being a quiet area and turned into a morris dancer ghetto, so we are down here by the river now. I am not doing it twice, so we will make all the introductions once we are there. There is nobody at all that doesn’t understand, Alys, so please don’t worry. Right; here we are. You two have one of the rooms in the big tent”

Big? It was huge, complete with a dining room affair at one end. We collected our baggage from the boot, and after a coughed hint from Jan, gave her a hand offloading food and other supplies from the car as well, before we settled into our ‘bedroom’ and laid out our mats and bags. The weather was brighter than it had been in Bangor, but there was still an edge to the wind, and I looked at Alys’ bare knees in an obvious hint. As she grinned and shook her head, Jan called out, “If you two drink tea, it’s brewing!”

We settled into some camping chairs, a steaming mug for each of us, and Jan began her explanation and in absentio introductions.

“Right, our little crowd. You know two of us already, three if I’m now included. Geoff’s older brother, Bill, he’s mine. We have a daughter, Kelly, and her fiancé Mark. They’re up at Newcastle doing their Master’s, so they’re down in that car the other side of this tent. That is my side of things. There is another family with us, and two of them are off with Steph and Geoff on a bike ride, so they’ll be sweaty and off for a shower in a few. The other family are the Johnsons, that’s Eric and Annie and their boy Darren, plus his girlfriend Chantelle.

“Now, I know full well that you are aware of Steph’s history. All you need to know about Annie is that she has a similar history, just a rather shittier past, as have the two kids. They understand, Alys”

She grinned once more.

“And yes, we can be a bit fruity in our language! Now, they should all be back soon, both the lot wandering round the craft shops and the nutters out sweating. Speaking of which…”

There was a whoosh as the zip went up, and then Steph was with us, pulling a Welsh flag headband off and gleaming with sweat.

“Hiya! Tea, now, wench!”

Jan looked up, unruffled.

“Which wench in particular?”

Alys was just sitting quietly, so I made the obvious mock-subservient “Yes’m!” and went to the pot to sort a mug out, as three more people followed Steph into the dining area. Steph raised a lazy arm towards them as she grabbed a seat and then the mug I handed her.

“Enfys, some bloke we both know, Annie and Eric. Three more teas, as you are now duty wench”

I did as asked before turning back to the table. The other two were a small man about the size of Geoff, and a dark-haired woman who was also about their size. I caught her looking from me to Alys and back, and then she smiled, and I felt my remaining doubts evaporating. These were good people, my gut was insisting, and my mind joined in chorus: would Steph’n’Geoff ever betray me? Geoff himself stepped over to me for a hug.

“Pardon sweatiness! We’ll be off for a shower in a few. Tea first, aye? I’ll let these two introduce themselves”

Jan was shaking her head.

“I do not believe this lot. Sit on a train all morning with their bikes, and the first thing they do when they get here is go off for a ride”

The dark-haired woman raised a hand to interrupt.

“Excuse me, but when you’ve been sat on a train all morning, a ride out is the FIRST thing you need, aye?”

She turned to me and Alys, her smile still in place.

“They’ll just take the piss out of each other all day. I’m Annie, and this is Eric, in case you missed it in all said piss-taking. Alys and Enfys, aye?”

Alys waved, and spoke for the first time in what seemed like ages, but Annie started waving her arms and shaking her head.

“No, not me, sorry. Only English. Anyway, once this tea is necked, we are off to shower and change. I spotted the others headed this way as we rode in, so The Edifice is going to get busy”

Alys frowned.

“Edifice?”

“Steph’s name for this tent. Got a practice session at four, so I hope you’ve brought something to play tunes with”

She took another look outside the tent, shaking her head.

“And bloody waterproofs. Arsebollocks!”