Chapter 11 #3
They made the journey to the mountain top easily.
At this time of year, the silvery rock was washed clean between scraggly clumps of wild grass and occasional clusters of heather and clover.
Overhead, the sky had turned to an obstinate grey veil, diluting the sun as if determined to keep its lustre in the shadows.
Ros expected the clouds to burst open at any moment with rain to wash the pink-hued walls that lined parts of the path.
‘Famine walls?’ Shane murmured and she presumed he wasn’t asking so much as confirming.
‘Yes, they litter the whole island, but in summer time, with the weather bright, they’re fantastic when you look across the land and see them.’ They were pink and mellow in straight lines going nowhere at all, but standing to attention all the same.
‘It must be very striking,’ he said and his voice was unexpectedly soft.
‘I think so, but then maybe I’m just carried away on the notion of the place,’ she said to cover over her embarrassment.
They climbed the final hundred yards in silence.
It seemed as if their long strides were in step most of the way and by the time they reached the summit Ros was ready to sit and drink some coffee to catch her breath.
‘I think I understand now,’ he said as they lay back against rocks that had managed to dry off in the morning breeze.
‘What’s that?’
‘Why you called this place your adventure…’ He looked at her.
From here, the view across Clew Bay was amazing.
Forty or more islands dotted the bay. Beyond the unfettered view it felt as if you were looking towards the end of the world.
‘Yeah, that’s what you said yesterday and I didn’t understand.
I just saw bogs and rocky fields, and then one of the men down at the pier said that there are days on end when no boatman worth his salt will even think about landing on the island. ’
‘That’s very true.’ They had been cut off for almost a week after Christmas.
Ros thought it was the most glorious thing.
Thankfully, she had Max’s old chest freezer to work off.
It had been packed up with fish and shop-bought bread and frozen berries that he must have spent most of the summer picking out of the hedges on his daily rounds.
It was probably lucky he wasn’t coming back; she had put a real dent in his supplies.
‘And I suppose, when I think of adventure, you know, well, I think of trekking in Peru or doing voluntary work in some third-world country that welcomes Westerners who are happy to build homes even though the closest they’ve ever gotten to construction was a box of Lego or a three-D jigsaw puzzle.’
‘Yeah, well, each to his own,’ she said.
That really marked out the difference between them.
Well for some. None of that mattered now.
At this moment, the only thing that concerned her was being here, in this rook’s nest above the world, and she just wanted to enjoy the view.
They sat there for a while in silence, both keeping their thoughts to themselves.
The actual work of testing the running streams took very little time, as she knew it would.
They had already taken samples on their way up and the return journey to the cottage would be made on the east-facing side of the mountain.
Over here, farmers let their sheep graze freely and you were as likely to run into a giant red deer as you might a herd of wild mountain goats.
‘You’ve done a good job here,’ he said as he took the final sample. The water was clear and there was evidence of thriving biodiversity with frogs, newts and even, in the lower reaches the previous day, salmon making their way back to breed.
‘Thank you,’ she said and, this time, she willed herself to look him in the eye, because as much and all as she had enjoyed her time here, she had worked hard, she had given it her all. It had truly been a labour of love, but for that no less a demanding job at times.
‘You’re welcome,’ he said and when he looked at her, for just a moment, she thought she saw something else at play behind his smile. Was he flirting with her?
They walked back to the cottage mostly in silence. Occasionally, Shane would comment on something he spotted in the distance, a falcon overhead or the waves crashing about a trawler making its way out to deeper waters.
‘So, that’s it.’ He stood awkwardly by his boat later before setting back for the mainland.
‘I mean, I probably won’t see you around, you’ll be finishing up soon and then back to city life,’ he said and it felt as if he was asking her something, except she wasn’t entirely sure what it was.
As they stood there, she almost forgot about the fact that he had been so dismissive of her the previous day.
For the briefest moment, she held her breath as a wordless tension sat between them and she wondered if he was going to lean forward and kiss her.
Then the screech of a seagull broke the spell. Just as well.
‘Hey,’ a familiar deep voice called from along the pier. ‘I’ve been looking for you, the vet’s just finished on my farm. He’s calling out to a sick calf over on the other side of the island, so he should be back at yours in the next hour or so…’
‘Er, yeah, thanks…’ Ros said, but she was completely discombobulated. What had just happened? Had Shane McPherson just been about to kiss her? She looked up at him now, distracted by Jonah Ashe, bloody nuisance of a man. ‘Sorry, I better get back to George.’
‘Hope he’s all right,’ Shane said softly.
‘Fingers crossed,’ she shouted as she backed away from him.
‘Ros,’ he called to her again, took in the space between them in a few long strides. ‘Just… if you did find yourself over in Ballycove… um, if you fancied lunch or dinner or something, you know… give me a call, yeah?’
‘Yeah, that might be nice,’ she whispered, feeling her stomach flip because he was standing so close to her now.
‘Do you want a lift back or not?’ Jonah pressed the horn on his awful jeep.
‘Sure.’ Ros sighed. She didn’t want to get in the car with Jonah, but it was a long walk back and she’d scaled a mountain already. ‘I’m coming.’ She rolled her eyes and Shane smiled as if they were sharing a joke just between them, before giving her a final wave and turning back towards his boat.
Ros climbed into the jeep with hardly enough time to fasten her seat belt before they were roaring away from the pier and out into the open countryside.
‘So, that’s the boyfriend, is it?’ Jonah glanced across at her.
‘No. He’s a work colleague,’ she said but she wanted to tell him it was none of his business what their relationship was.
‘Just as well.’ He shook his head as if confirming something.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ she snapped.
‘Well, he’s a bit…’
‘A bit what?’
‘Smooth. Girl-in-every-port sort of fella. Not really your type, I’d have thought…’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Well, he’s very,’ he waited, as if trying to decide on a word, ‘worldly, I suppose.’
‘And I’m not?’ What did he think she was, some sort of yokel like himself?
‘I didn’t say that.’
‘You didn’t have to and I’ll have you know that we get on very well together and…’ She felt her blood boiling. What right did Jonah Ashe have to go putting his oar in?
‘I’m sure you do.’ He shook his head and smiled to himself as if he knew something more than she did.
‘What is it you’re dying to say?’ Was he trying to annoy her?
‘Actually, no, I don’t think I want to know, keep your comments to yourself.
For your information, Shane McPherson is a lovely, professional guy and he’s probably the only fella I’ve met since I’ve been here that I’d even consider going on a date with…
’ She could hear her voice rising, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.
‘And, yes, if you must know, he did ask me out, but I haven’t agreed to go on a date with him, just yet. ’
‘Hmph.’ Jonah was staring straight ahead now, his features set in a mixture of cold fury and resignation, as if none of this was exactly news to him.
‘But since you’ve already made your mind up about him, I’ll take that as a positive sign, because I have a feeling that you and I will never agree on anything, Jonah Ashe.’
‘No skin off my nose,’ he said in a low voice that made it more than obvious he’d had enough of listening to her.
As they made their way back, bumping along the uneven roads, Ros’s mind wandered across the water with Shane McPherson – maybe she would look him up and go for dinner with him.
Why not? After all, he was attractive and interesting and, certainly, he seemed to love the countryside as much as she did.