The Path
On waking, he immediately looked for Marnie’s reply and, in its absence, finished packing. Opening the curtains made no difference to the light in the room and through the rain’s veil the Moors looked dank and saturated. He would not get lost, he was sure of that, but it would be a long, wet march to Egton Bridge, in clothes that were still damp from yesterday, with nothing to see but the inside of his hood.
‘I can run you into Scarborough if you fancy,’ offered Graham at breakfast. Microwaving bacon had not been a success either and Michael brushed his teeth to shift the taste, then left the money for the accommodation on the chest of drawers, plus twenty pounds extra, and went downstairs to say goodbye. The stay had been top-notch and he would be sure to give it five stars, and now the front door was open. He hesitated on the threshold as if it were a parachute jump, and Graham laughed. ‘I leave for Scarborough in an hour.’
‘No, it’s got to be done.’
‘Well, here’s my card if you change your mind.’ Michael slipped it into his pocket. ‘Just get to the nearest road. I’ll find you.’
‘Can I ask something?’ said Graham.
‘Go on.’
‘Why on earth would you do something like this?’
No one would know if he gave up now. No one would care if he dipped his toes in the North Sea or dropped his pebble on the beach. No weight would be lifted from his shoulders. There’d be no sense of closure, of liberation or change. The only mild motivation was a sense of completion, the ability to say that he’d done it, though Cleo aside he was not sure whom he could tell. Back in the Honister Pass, that first day alone with Marnie, he’d refused a lift on the bus because he would only be cheating himself. He remembered her face in the back window, writing in the steam as it drove away.
‘Because I don’t want to go home,’ said Michael.
‘We all have to go home sometime.’
Michael smiled, raised his hand and stepped out into the rain. ‘Silly bugger,’ said Graham, and at the front gate, Michael stopped, then turned and walked back to the house. Graham had not even closed the door.
‘Actually,’ he said, ‘I think I will take that lift, if you don’t mind.’