Page 29 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
‘It’s just a twig,’ said Jess calmly. They all roared with laughter and Nora had to stand up because she went all weak from laughing too much.
‘You can stand up!’ Patsy said, doing the same, which for some reason just made them laugh all the more.
When they climbed out a few minutes later, they all had big smiles on their faces.
‘You actually look as if you enjoyed yourselves,’ Hilary said, handing them their towels which she’d thoughtfully warmed by the fire.
‘I feel amazing,’ Lois said, looking surprised.
‘Me too,’ said Patsy.
‘It’s so different to swimming in the sea but I realised how much I miss that,’ Jess said.
‘I feel like a right wuss now,’ said Hilary. ‘I’ll come in next time.’
‘We’ll hold you to that,’ said Nora, already pulling on her clothes while the others were still drying themselves.
‘How have you got dressed so quickly?’ Lois said.
‘Practice.’ Nora took her tea flask out of her bag, and a packet of custard creams she’d bought specially. Hilary had popped open some more garden chairs that had been thoughtfully provided by Seb, and they both took a seat while they waited for the others to dress. The fire pit was wonderful. This was probably the worst weather that Nora had encountered so far in her almost daily swims. She’d been very lucky. If Archie did open the lake, something like this would be just the thing. Not only did it help warm people up, it created a nice community atmosphere. Even if someone came to swim alone, they could be sure that there would be a warm welcome and good conversation from others around the fire pit if this group were anything to go by.
‘No sign of Archie this morning,’ said Jess. Nora wasn’t sure whether it was a question, but with everyone’s eyes on her she felt she had to say something.
‘I didn’t think we’d want an audience,’ she said.
‘Too true,’ said Patsy. ‘Is it going to be women only if it’s open to the public?’
‘I doubt it, but I think it appeals more to women. Certainly where I’ve swum before, there are usually way more women than men.’
‘Nora’s going on a date with Archie,’ Hilary blurted out.
‘Hilary!’ Not that she minded people knowing, it seemed unnecessary to announce it quite so publicly.
‘Seb said he might ask you,’ Jess said, smiling. ‘I think it’s lovely.’
‘It’ll be interesting to see what he turns up in, said Patsy. ‘I’ve never seen him wear anything but very old tweed.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with that,’ Nora said, feeling the need to defend Archie, even though on some level she really hoped he wasn’t going to wear double-tweed on the date.
‘Nothing,’ Lois agreed.
‘Easy for you to say when your boyfriend is immaculate at all times,’ Patsy said.
‘Matt always looks alright.’
‘I’ve put a lot of work into getting that to happen,’ Patsy said, which sent them all into fits of giggles again at how serious she was.
‘I could get Seb to have a word,’ Jess suggested.
‘No, please don’t,’ Nora said. She would hate for Archie to feel that she cared at all about how he dressed, because she didn’t. It was obvious to her that he wasn’t exactly flush and she would hate him to feel any pressure to spend any money on clothes for her benefit.
‘Hitting it off with Constance is quite helpful though,’ said Hilary. ‘Constance tried to set them up, not knowing that Nora and Archie were already friends.’
Nora was beginning to think that being friends with Hilary was a double-edged sword. Clearly, nothing was sacred. She seemed happy to share Nora’s personal life with everyone.
‘Hilary, do you think perhaps Nora ought to tell us this sort of thing herself?’ Lois said.
‘You don’t mind do you?’ Hilary said, looking confused that it might even be a problem.
