Page 28 of A Summer of New Beginnings
‘Hey, princess, have you had any trouble? Do I need to be sorting anyone out?’
Zara giggled. ‘No, Dad, honestly. Everyone so far has been lovely. Very friendly.’
‘Have you hadany of that haggis shit yet?’ There was a loud whack and her younger brother Will shouted, ‘Ow! Mu-u-um! What did you hit me for?’
‘William Bailey, you do not swear.’
He sighed in that typical teenager fashion and huffed. ‘Sorry. So, have you then, Zee?’
Zara was laughing by this point. ‘Well, Wills, all I can say is don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it, mate. You’d be surprised.’
‘Ugh! Theymake it from sheep eyes and all sorts, you know.’
Zara’s laughter increased. ‘They do not! I’m not on an episode ofI’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, you know. I’m not being forced to eat weird stuff. The food has been really good so far.’
‘Ah, but I bet you miss your mum’s Sunday dinners, eh?’ her dad chimed in.
‘You lot are acting like I’ve been away months.’
‘Well, it does feel like along time, darling. We can’t wait for you to come home.’
Zara sighed. ‘Yeah, me too. But my work needs me. I’ll be home before you know it.’
‘See, that’s my smiley girl. I knew you’d be all right. You just needed to hear your family’s voices.’
‘I think I did, Mum. Anyway, better go. Love you all.’
‘Love you!’ came the response in unison and she hung up. She felt so much better just for thatbrief chat with the people who grounded her. She wiped her eyes and checked her itinerary for the campsite details and set off once again.
Once she had checked into the site and her tent was set up, Zara sat on the picnic bench right beside where she had pitched. Once again, the view of the water spread out before her like a huge living canvas. She brewed up some coffee on her little foldawaystove and relaxed, eyes closed for a moment.
‘Hiya. Are you cycling the NC500?’ A voice with a Geordie accent dragged her from her trance-like state. She blinked her eyes open and looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun. A woman clad in bike leathers stood over her, her dark hair tied in a ponytail.
Zara squinted and adjusted her hand. ‘Erm, hi. Yes, I am.’
The woman nodded and squattedbeside her. ‘Thought so. Look, me and my friends are touring the Highlands on our motorbikes. We’re here for the night and thought we’d head into town; find a pub with some live music. We thought we’d invite you. We saw you arrive and presume you’re on your own, seeing as we didn’t see anyone else turn up with you. Us girls have got to stick together, eh?’
Zara glanced over to the group of fivewomen who were sitting outside a cluster of tents. Their bikes were lined up beyond, all shiny and silver with huge chunky tyres. The women waved and so Zara waved back. ‘That’s really nice of you. But I don’t want to impose.’
‘We insist. You get yourself freshened up. I’ve stayed here before and the showers here are really good. We’ll have a bite to eat and then we’ll set off. Carrie’s doinga barbecue, if you fancy a burger. Although I must warn you, she’s a veggie so there’s no meat.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘But anyway, if you can’t stomach meat substitute just come over anyway.’
Zara smiled. The thought of a veggie burger that she didn’t have to cookorbuy sounded fantastic. ‘Deal. Thanks again.’
‘No problem. Oh, I’m Joan; the one with the blonde hair is Carrie.’ Joan held outher hand and Zara shook it.
‘I’m Zara.’
‘Good to meet you, Zara. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the gang when you come over. Now go get a nice long soak under that hot water, lass. You look like you deserve it.’ Joan stood and walked back over to her group of friends.
