I left Hathersage by way of the Hope Valley, making a stop in Castleton for simple tourist games, and a longer one for a boat ride in the Speedwell cavern. That one nearly fell apart, though, as LC froze at the entrance.
Maz and Ish had a quiet chat with her, Ish reporting back to me with a frown.
“Caves, Dad, Being locked up in one, to be exact”
“Ah. Hadn’t even considered that. What do you think?”
“What I am thinking right now is that I am glad those bastards are dead, but Mum is being clever. Telling her that Kawan might like to go instead, while she and Elsie wait outside for us. Anything else I can try?”
“Tell her there’s a boat ride”
“Really? Underground?”
“Yes. That’s why I picked this one rather than, say, Bluejohn or Treak”
“Right… Give us a minute then, Dad”
The bear ploy worked, and the boat ride even more, and LC was clearly entranced. Needless to say, her reaction quickly transformed into that she had shown in the climbing, and we were asked if she could do it again.
It wasn’t the shout we had heard at the crag, though, but much quieter and more hesitant, clearly still frightened at making a personal request. I explained a few things to her, and in parallel to the others, of course, as we had a cuppa before leaving.
“What it is here is that we have left the gritstone behind, love. That’s the rock with the jams. It’s why that part is called the ‘Dark’. This bit now is a different rock, one called limestone. It’s a very pale colour, so this area is called the ‘White’. It’s…”
Sod it, I thought, It’s only money.
“Right, then. We are going to go up a very steep road, where you will see lots of limestone. It’s called Winnats Pass. We’ll then turn off along a road that keeps falling down, because the hill above it is crumbling, to another cave. No boat, but lots to see. Would you like that, love?”
She nodded, slowly. Maz leant closer to her.
“Remember Neil?”
A rapid nod, accompanied by a broad grin.
“Well, Neil likes going into caves, to take photographs. Maybe he would like to see some of yours?”
Whatever you say, dearest wife, do not mention the diving.
So yes, we drove up the Pass, with its maximum steepness of twenty-eight bloody percent leaving me a little worried, before turning off to loop round the end of what had once been the Edale road. Before they had finally given up trying to repair it. Photos, park up at the second cavern, donate a huge sum of money once again, and then more cash, because my wife and our daughter each got a pendant of Bluejohn.
I could economise later; it was time to live in the ‘now’. Our child was slowly coming out of her shell.
We continued along Rushup Edge before joining bigger roads, something I had not been looking forward to, past Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge until we hit the ring road past Manchester airport, which left me thinking of Caro and Penny, and their term for the Birmingham stretch of motorways, the ‘Soul Sucker’. Past Runcorn, and memories from so many years ago, of yet another hell-on-Earth children’s home, which simply added another layer of value to my child, as she was out from hell, no Eurydice lost at the last moment.
“Dad?”
“Son?”
“What’s up? You’ve gone all tense”
“Sorry, Ish. It’s just, well, thinking about escapes, horrible places. There was a really bad one in that town we’re passing”
“Mersey View”
“You read about it?”
“Lexie told me about it, Dad. She has a friend who was sent there, and her and Di, their lot, they had the case”
“Oh shit. Sorry, girls”
“Not happening again, Dad”
How the hell did Di and Lexie ever manage to sleep? As I learned more about them, I understood so much more fully why Lexie and Enfys were so close. Ish was so right, yet again.
I put Runcorn behind us, physically at least, and concentrated on the traffic as we bypassed Chester and approached Connah’s Quay.
“Girls? We’re about to leave England. Another country for you! Watch for the sign… just coming up… There you are!”
‘Croeso I Gymru’ indeed.
“Dad?”
“Carolyn?”
“I couldn’t read that”
I was struck by an obvious question, which was how on Earth Maz had managed to teach our daughter so much, including actual literacy. If it hadn’t already been at maximum, my respect for my wife would have peaked just then.
Ish took the lead, yet again.
“They have their own language here, love. You’ll see it on the signs, stuff in both languages. The people we will be staying with, they speak it2
“How will I know which one is right, though?”
A fair question, but one with no easy answer. Ish was still working, though.
“Well, shall we see what we can spot?”
That was followed by some excruciatingly mangled pronunciation from each of them, particularly when we passed some motorway services (‘Gwasanaethau’), but it lifted the mood delightfully. We were soon on the Expressway proper, and after passing the Scouse Riviera, we hit the coast near Abergele, and its “Not a real one, love” castle.
LC was entranced at seeing the sea once more, but wanted to know where the mountains were, as the inland hills clearly weren’t up to her standards.
“Just coming, love. We turn inland just here… right. Soon be there”
I drove down the Conway valley, through Llanrwst, where we stopped at the Co-Op and loaded up with breakfast necessities, to the junction at Betws. Over the Waterloo Bridge and park.
“Right, you lot. Time for something to eat, and there are outdoor shops here, and two of you need some extra stuff. It can rain a bit here, so you ladies need jackets. Food first, pick up some extra breakfast stuff as well if we see it, then up the hill”
“This is a pretty town, darling”
I took her hand, still feeling delight at having the chance to do so once more.
“It’s a bit twee, love, and it is a real tourist trap. Gets very busy, but I still like it”
“How far do we have left to go?”
“Only about half an hour, now. Might take longer, because I want to stop a couple of times”
“Views or bladder, man of mine?”
“Depends on how much tea we have, woman of mine”
Kawan came with us in his carrier, of course, and after we had eaten some chip-based meals, it was the old round of camping and outdoor shops, and that was when I had the stab to the heart. Maz noticed, of course, and took me aside for a moment as Ish big brothered our girl.
“What’s up, love?”
“Just memories, Maz. Caro. My lost one, I mean”
“Talk to me?”
“Ah, she was a gear hound, especially about tents. We’d go from shop to shop, bit like this, and she’d hand me her purse so that she couldn’t do an impulse purpose of a new tent or sleeping bag, whatever”
“Want to call it a day, then?”
I drew in a deep breath, counting more blessings than I could ever have earned, and shook my head..
“No, love. Deep end, jump in, and…”
Suddenly, I found myself laughing. Maz just waited until I ran down, then simply said, “Well?”
“Nothing clever, love. Just that I was talking about jumping into the deep end, then remembered how hard it can rain here, and, well, silly thoughts, silly times”
She stepped forward into my embrace.
“Not silly, not at all. Now, I intend to buy a new harness and some bits to hang off it, and Carolyn needs something as well.
A memory hit me, a little girl awaiting my gloves.
“Chalk bag, Maz. Penny adapted one for Enfys, so that she could carry essentials with her”
“Such as?”
“Sweets, mostly. Lollies, I mean”
Another financial hit, but it was fucking Cousin Suleiman’s money, in the end, so bugger it. We came out with a new jacket each for three of them (Ish was STILL bloody growing), a chalk bag and a couple of krabs for LC, a decent harness for Maz, and two new guidebooks, to Llanberis and Ogwen. Oh, and that third one, that sort of slipped into the basket, the North Wales slate one.
They also had fleece hats in all sorts of sizes, especially a Welsh flag one small enough for both a little girl and her friend. Oh, yet again, and a spare SD card for a little camera. It seemed I was exactly the sort of customer the shops liked.
Arse.
Back to the Vauxhall, and on up said hill past the waterfall, zig-zag bridge and Ugly House, so many memories of trips with Kul or Bets and her family warming me with each landmark. Of course we drove past the Brenin for the view across the twin lakes, as well as the long layby at Little Willy’s with the drama of Tryfan unfolding magnificently as we approached.
Those were most definitely camera moments.
“We stopping at the secret bridge, Dad?”
“Not today, son. I really want to dump the car for a bit, and we’re almost there”
“Understood. It’s the club tonight, isn’t it?”
“Yup. That’s why I fancy a bit of a lie=down before we get moving again”
“Excuse me, are you Mike Rhodes?”
“Do I know you?”
“Oh, sorry. We met a few years ago. I’m Alun Wallis. Camped in here”
I was still a little lost, until he said, “One of Debbie’s girls is my daughter”
“Guitar?”
“That’s me! Oh, um, I saw the news as well. I am so sorry, not sorry, if you see what I mean. I’ll just say that I also have a daughter who was lost and found. Are you staying here?”
“No. Mate’s bunkhouse in Bethesda”
He grinned happily.
“Cow tonight, then?”
I was most definitely warming to him.
“Yup. Who’s driving you, then?”
“Ah, it’s my penance. Booked some taxis for the return, but getting the bus down from Idwal Cottage”
“How many of you here?”
“Fourteen, all told. Most of them are up on the Glyderau today, or at the Perving Slab, as they call it”
Ah. I remembered hearing that one.
“Going to be a busy night, then”
“Hopefully! Hi. I know Mike here from the folk club. I remember you, son, but not quite as big as you are now. I’m Alun Wallis, here with my daughter and a load of her friends. Are you all climbers?”
To my astonishment, LC was first to reply, holding up Kawan as she gave him a very firm, “Yes! We like jamming!”
Maz gasped.
“Oh! I forgot! That video, darling. Carolyn, we said we would show you Ish when he was little. I have it here…”
She played it through a few times, Ish almost blushing as Carolyn informed him how little he was, while Alun made appreciative noises along with vows never to challenge me at arm wrestling, before quietly admitting that his reason for still being at the camp was a blister from wearing the wrong socks.
“Still got my guitar, though. See you all later, then”
He was off back to his tent, as LC stared after him.
“Dad”
“Yes love?”
“Do you…”
She paused, looking hard at Ish, and then at her mother, before continuing.
“Do… do we have friends everywhere?”
Maz hugged our girl.
“We have friends in lots of places, darling, which is why we go there. If we haven’t, we try and make new ones. Dad has friends here. I know some of them from talking to them like you did with Smiley Beard, and he has others that I’ll meet tonight, and you are right, my love: our friends, all of them”
It felt unnatural driving straight past Idwal, but the afternoon was almost gone, and I did indeed want a stretch out on a mattress before the evening, so it was down the hill, away from the big mountains and into Bethesda and up to the front of the bunkhouse, where a small area was coned off for us to park. The first one out to greet us from the building was Keith, who simply, wordlessly, hit me with a monster hug, before offering his arms to Maryam, which was when I realised he was crying. He reached past her to shake Ish’s hand.
“Could you got down to the house, mate, and let them know you’re here? It’s just Pen and Alys at the moment”
He turned back to Maz, apologising for his weakness, and she just hauled him back into her embrace as she called for LC.
“Darling, this is Keith. He is a very old friend of your Dad, so he’s our friend as well, and… Penny! We meet at last, meet properly, I mean”
Things got a little messy and soppy just then, as Alys and the rest of us danced through hugs single and combined. Alys made jokes about whether we now qualified as real sand gropers, while complimenting Kawan’s hat, and then we jointly dragged in our bedding and breakfast supplies, preparing our nests for later.
Our more serious heads vanished once again, of course, as soon as Enfys arrived, and then Vic and Nansi. We all settled into the bunkhouse for its greater room, as tea was prepared, and that video passed around yet again. Penny seemed clamped to Maz, Ish was comfortably chatting with our former house guest and her parents, while Enfys all but grilled me.
“Right, Neil and the Woodruffs have called, and they are each about an hour or so away. Neil told us that my old harness fitted Carolyn, so we need to know: climber or not?”
I called across to our daughter.
“Carolyn? Enfys here has a question”
There was the usual look of apprehension, but she came to me, and I waved at Enfys to go ahead”
“Carolyn, I sent you my old climbing harness. Did it fit you?”
A slow nod, and I could read her mind: is this woman taking it back?
“Well, good. Did you like the climbing?”
This time, it was the slow blossoming of her smile.
“Yes!”
I squeezed LC’s hand.
“What did you say afterwards, love?”
“DO IT AGAIN!”
Enfys snorted with happy laughter.
“Did you do it again, then?”
“YES!”
“Well, well. What grade did you put her up, Uncle Mike?”
“Um, some little boulder stuff. Usual”
“Right”
“Then a Mod, a V Diff, an HVD and a Severe”
“Sorry? At six?”
“Well, a couple of them had a long reach at the start, so I gave her a bit of a lift, but she loved it. You like jamming, don’t you, love?”
“YES! HAND AND FIST!”
LC paused for a second, before asking, “Is there climbing here?”
Enfys reached out for her other hand.
“Oh, lots. But I was thinking of going somewhere really easy. I might think of somewhere more interesting, and---Of course! Mum?”
“Daughter?”
“Have you still got that box with my old rock boots in? My kiddy ones, that I kept growing out of?”
“Yes. Under the stairs, as far as I can remember”
“Diolch! Now, Carolyn, I started climbing when I was very little, as well, so I had rock boots, but my feet kept getting bigger. Would you like them for yourself?”
“Can I say yes, Dad?”
I was adding up the extra weight of what we had already purchased, in terms of excess baggage fees, and Alys noticed.
“You’re thinking about overweight luggage, aren’t you? I had the same thing when I came back. Here’s our offer: you leave whatever here, we pack it for you, and send it by surface mail, package, thingy. Deal?”
“You can say ‘yes’, love”
She didn’t say anything, just breaking free and running, straight to Neil, who was still holding his lid. She was a climber, though, and she was up and in his arms in a second.
“Hiya, all! Can someone please take this, as I seem to have acquired a little girl from somewhere”