Page 18 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
By the time Toby joined them and it was time to leave, they’d all settled on who they were going to dress up as, even Penny.
‘I chose the wrong book,’ Toby said, as they strolled back to Hilary’s house. ‘The chap I was talking to was irritated beyond belief that it had an edge of comedy to it. What did he expect when it was written by David Mitchell? He was bitterly disappointed. But honestly, I’d never have got through it if it’d been a dry old boring history book. That’s why I chose it, because it seemed like a good opportunity to finally learn some history but have some fun with it.’
‘Oh, love,’ Hilary said, consoling him. ‘You can’t win them all. Did you tell him you enjoyed it?’
‘I tried. He didn’t want to hear it.’
Hilary and Nora couldn’t help giggling at how glum Toby was about the evening.
‘I know what will cheer you up. We’re going to the fortieth anniversary showing of the Breakfast Club at the cinema. We’re dressing up.’
‘Ha! No I’m not!’ Toby said.
‘Oh, spoilsport. I bet you’d look just like Rob Lowe if you had the right clothes.’
‘No thank you. Presumably I’m allowed to attend in my own clothes?’
‘I don’t know if you are. Isn’t that right, Nora?’
‘Honestly, I’m not sure,’ Nora said, diplomatically, but amused by their banter. ‘But you probably want to avoid anyone thinking you’re dressed up when you’re not.’
Toby laughed. ‘Good point. In which case, I’ll think about it.’
‘I could buy you a Frankie Says Relax t-shirt,’ suggested Hilary.
‘We’ll see.’
’Thanks for a great evening,’ Nora said when they got to Hilary’s and she dug her car keys out of her pocket.
‘Glad you enjoyed it. You did enjoy it, didn’t you?’
Now wasn’t the time to debrief Hilary on the conversation with Constance. She’d save that for another day. ‘It was brilliant. Really good fun.’
9
A COUPLE OF days later turned out to be one of those days where Nora had to force herself to the lake. Not because she didn’t want to swim, but because the pressure of everything that she had to do for the rest of the day made her feel as if she didn’t have time to fit it in. Dawn was breaking when she left the house, and by the time she’d walked through the woods, she was greeted by a spectacular sunrise, its orange and pink hues reflecting on the surface of the lake. The moment that she lowered herself off the dock and into the water, she felt the tension ebb away. Because the water temperature was still low, she made sure her breathing was under control before she pushed off, gliding through the still water, feeling as if she was the only person in the world. One loop of the lake took her about fifteen minutes and in that time, the sun rose, lost its beautiful colours and settled into producing a bright late winter day.
Nora dried off, dressed, and wrapped her dry robe around her. She’d brought her flask, but since there wasn’t time to linger, she planned to sip her tea on the way home. As she was about to clamber over the wall, she heard a splash and turned to see that Archie and Tatty had arrived at the other side of the lake. He raised a hand, and she waved back, waiting while he made his way around to her, all thoughts of the next part of her day forgotten.
‘Morning!’ he called when he got closer.
‘Morning.’
‘You’ve already been in.’ He sounded disappointed. ‘How was it today?’
‘Wonderful. The sunrise was amazing.’
‘It certainly was,’ he agreed. ‘Starts the day off on a good footing.’
‘Would you like some tea?’ It seemed only polite to offer, given that perhaps he had come to see her.
‘Ah, no —’
‘I have an extra cup.’ It was a habit from her days at the sea pool when inevitably someone would be grateful for it.
His face brightened. ‘That would be lovely if you have time. You were about to leave.’
All the things that had seemed so important earlier suddenly didn’t seem pressing at all. ‘I have time,’ she said, smiling. His eyes did something to her insides, and she had to try not to stare at him. ‘Shall we sit on the dock?’
