Page 59 of Wild About You

‘Do you want me to come with you?’ I said, thinkingplease say no.

He grinned. ‘Nah, I’ll be fine. Log on to GPS if I’m not back in oh, six hours.’

I carried on working and we all tutted at each other about English summers, but there was something unnerving about the intensity of the wind and rain. At half four, Tally took a call from another tenant who said there was flooding. ‘They said one of the fences has washed away along with a bank at Elder Edge. The Stonemore ponies might get out,’ she said, a distinct note of panic in her voice. ‘You need to do something, Anna.’

I sat very still, trying not to panic. The Stonemore ponies had been introduced to an area of the estate before I arrived: four Exmoors, with the right to roam over a specified area. But if they got out, and panicked in the storm, God knows where they would end up.

‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ said Fi, but there was a look of worry on her face and she picked up the phone and dialled Jamie.

He was down in five minutes, in full storm gear. I felt a little jump of tension at the sight of him, but he didn’t look at me. ‘Walkie talkie?’ he said to me expressionlessly and I fetched him another handset and a set of keys for one of the Land Rovers.

‘Surely Anna can do this?’ Tally squawked. ‘I mean, it’s her job really. And you’re hardly expendable, my lord, unlike her.’

‘Er, thanks, Tally.’ I said. ‘What are you going to do, Jamie?’

‘I’ll work it out when I get there,’ he said.

I took a breath. Time to put my big-girl pants on. ‘I’ll come with you,’ I said. ‘You might need help.’

‘It’s fine.’

‘Tally says it’s my job, so just let me come with you,’ I said. ‘Fi, can you keep an eye on Callum on GPS?’

‘Of course.’

Jamie hadn’t looked at me in the eye once since he’d walked in. Now he shrugged, and was gone before I’d even got my waxed jacket over my shoulders. ‘I take it that’s a yes,’ I said to Fi, who was looking after him with dismay. I put my hand on her shoulder as I passed. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘Have one of those scones I made. The baby needs the extra calories. We’ll be back before you know it.’

She squeezed my hand, smiling, but the worry hadn’t faded from her eyes.

Jamie drove in silence at a speed which I didn’t think was advisable, especially when we hit a bump and my head hit the roof. It was still pouring and the sky was the colour of dishwater; as I stared at it, a vein of lightning flashed across it accompanied by a crack of thunder so loud that I had to try very hard not to squeal.

‘This weather is unbelievable,’ I said.

‘Just a bit of precipitation,’ he said, eyes fixed on the track ahead.

Thanks to some fancy off-road driving, we got to the ponies quicker than I thought possible. But the report that had come in was not correct. There were some trees down but the boundary was still secure, and the sensible Exmoor ponies were all gathered in their shelter, munching hay, so they’d clearly recently been tended to. It took us 45 minutes to check the boundaries and shamble back to our Land Rover. Our journey back started a lot slower: the rain was flying sideways, the wind was blowing in huge gusts, and the windscreen wipers could hardly deal with the intensity of the rain.

‘Is it my imagination, or is it getting worse?’ I said, watching Jamie as he hunched forwards, peering through the water-lashed windscreen.

‘Tiny bit,’ he said, under his breath.

We’d gone barely 200 metres when at a turn in the track, and to the accompaniment of a rumble of thunder, we found a huge tree down in front of us. There was another flash of lightning and an immense crack of thunder that felt as though it was reverberating through my body. I swore under my breath.

I was just regaining my composure when I noticed that Jamie was hurriedly putting the Land Rover in reverse. I looked out of the nearside window and could see nothing but rain and the lowering clouds.

‘I know another way back,’ he said. We were weaving down the hillside on narrow tracks when he braked hard and we skidded to a halt. ‘What the hell…’

‘What’s wrong?’

Finally, he actually looked at me. ‘It doesn’t normally look like this. I think there’s been,’ he cleared his throat, ‘a landslide. Just a small one, obviously, but the track is…’

‘Gone,’ I finished his sentence for him.

I did the thing I always do in grave situations. It’s annoying, but I can’t help it. I started laughing. Then there was a crash of thunder and I stopped laughing.

‘Are you alright?’ he said. ‘Anna, I think we’re going to have to get out and take shelter. I don’t know another way. My normal response would be to stay in the car but this weather…’

‘It’s fine.’ I didn’t want him to complete the sentence. I had a vivid vision of the Land Rover being taken out by a tree or a landslide and rolling down the vast hillside into oblivion. ‘Woah…’ My voice wobbled. I had opened my door. Two foot away was a sheer drop. ‘Shit shit shit.’

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