Magic In The Mountains

This whimsical short story by Alice Elliott welcomes you to a brand-new Special.

Jess had never believed her younger sister’s fanciful story about the spirit of Cobble How . . .

NOT long now, Jess!” Sarah squealed from behind the wheel of her 1970s-style campervan. “Oooh, let’s see who spots Lake Windermere first!” Jess responded with a bright smile which she knew didn’t quite extend to her eyes.

Whilst it was truly wonderful to see the outlines of the majestic mountains appearing in the distance and watch the fields grow lusher and greener as they approached the Lake District, Jess couldn’t ignore the searing pangs of sadness in her heart.

It had been Sarah’s idea to take this weekend away.

“It’ll be like old times,” she’d said.

“Wouldn’t you prefer to spend your first child-free weekend at a fancy hotel with a spa?” Jess had asked. “We could have a bit of luxury for once.”

“No, I fancy a trip down memory lane,” Sarah replied. “I’m longing to get out in Daisy again without being pestered for a snack every three minutes or interrogated as to whether we’re nearly there yet!”

“Daisy” was the name Sarah and her husband, Mark, had given their campervan, which they’d bought soon after they’d met.

They’d had to take out a loan for her, but Sarah had always insisted that she was worth every penny.

Daisy-chains were doodled all over her blue-painted sides and she had long black “eyelashes” above her headlights.

She was quite a sight on the road and often inspired waves, smiles and beeps of the horn from other drivers.

Mark would shake his head and pretend to dislike Daisy, but everyone knew he’d never give her up.

Their two young children, Freya and Rory, had grown up with the van and loved their family getaways.

Jess sat back in the passenger seat.

The road had narrowed and steepened now, and there was green forestry all around. Sarah had already given a triumphant whoop when she finally spotted the aquatic blue of Lake Windermere.

Jess hadn’t had a trip out in Daisy since Freya had been born, a little over four years ago.

As much as she adored her niece and nephew, some quality time with her younger sister was long overdue.

It had been rather a difficult year so far, and now that June had arrived, Jess could only hope that the second half would be happier than the first.

Tears welled in her eyes when she thought back to her break-up with her boyfriend, Rick.

She’d realised the

relationship was in trouble when he first told her he was looking for a new job in London and hoped she’d join him when the right role came along.

Jess had always known that city life would never suit her.

She was happiest in the quiet country cottage they’d shared in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

It had never been enough for Rick, though.

Jess had always been content with her job as a bookkeeper for a small chain of farm shops and never wished for more power or a higher salary.

Her ambitions lay with her country crafts business, and she spent her spare time sketching, knitting, felting and sewing.

She sold the scarves, hats, bookmarks, brooches, greetings cards and other bits and bobs she created.

People told her she was good and she was finally daring to dream that her little enterprise might become a full-time job.

“Best of luck, Jess,” Rick had said, before he got into his car on the morning of his departure for London, having landed an impressive new job in the banking industry.

They’d both fought back tears.

Jess couldn’t help wondering if the relationship had been her one and only chance to get married and have a family.

Had she thrown it all away just because city life didn’t appeal?

It was hard to see her younger sister enjoying what she had always wanted and Jess could only conclude that sometimes life simply had other plans.

Rick hadn’t been in London long when he sent her a text message to say he’d met a lovely new lady at work.

Jess was in her midthirties now and all that she yearned for felt further away than ever.

“Oh, wow, I can’t believe we’re finally here,” Sarah said as she steered Daisy round a sharp bend and through the gates of Hawthorn Corner Campsite.

“I wonder how much it’s changed.”

Jess and Sarah had grown up with regular holidays at Hawthorn Corner.

Their parents had owned a touring caravan and quickly identified the Lakeland site as one of their favourite retreats.

Nestled deep within ancient woodland, Hawthorn Corner offered a real escape from the pressures of day-to-day life.

Once Sarah had driven Daisy through the site gates, they found themselves navigating familiar winding roads which were barely big enough for one vehicle.

Tall hawthorn trees lined the sides of the road, scattering pools of dappled light all over the forest floor.

It was late afternoon but the sun was still shining high in the sky.

“I wonder where they’ll put us,” Jess said aloud.

Almost every pitch offered a woodland view.

Some were dotted round a small pasture which the site owners had turned into a mini football pitch with a couple of swings and a roundabout, too.

It wasn’t long before they’d checked in at the reception building and been handed their pitch number and welcome pack.

“It’s barely changed at all,” Sarah said as they drove to their allocated pitch. “What a relief.”

“I know,” Jess murmured in reply, though, truthfully, the familiarity of the campsite was proving rather unnerving.

It was as if she’d travelled right back to her childhood.

Jess could almost hear a younger Sarah calling for her in the distance, and the cries of the other kids they’d played with every summer.

The names came back to her with no effort at all: Tilly, Becca, Tom and Lisa.

They’d played rounds of hide and seek, rounders and tag on summer days that seemed to last for ever.

With a stab of pain she thought of Adam, an older lad with startling blond hair whom she’d always admired from afar.

Then Jess thought back to the games she and

Sarah had invented by themselves.

Hawthorn Corner was a place of magic for them, and home to a whole host of woodland spirits.

The sisters would sit in the caravan on rainy days and draw pictures of the tree fairies, water nymphs and mountain sprites whom they truly believed inhabited this glorious patch of countryside.

“This is Mossy Banks,” Jess would murmur as she drew a figure covered in greenery, looking down from his grassy bank at a rushing brook below.

“And his best friend,

Misty Rivers,” Sarah would add, as she’d start to sketch an ethereal figure emerging from the water to greet the green man.

Each tree had a spirit within it, too, and they loved imagining the personalities of Oak,

Willow, Ash and Hazel.

Thorny Hedges lived in the shrubbery, whilst Rosy Garland ruled over the wildflowers.

The girls delighted themselves with the lives and adventures of their imaginary friends.

Their favourite, however, was Ferny Slopes, the alpine spirit whose home was Cobble How, the sprawling mountain which overlooked the campsite.

“Can you hear her?” the sisters would whisper to each other on walks up the slopes with their parents.

In the wilds of the isolated and rugged terrain Jess and Sarah liked to imagine that their mountain friend was calling to them.

They felt they could hear her laugh in the bracing wind and, whenever the sun peeped out from the clouds overhead, it was if the warmth of her smile was beaming down on them.

“I have something to tell you,” Sarah had confided in Jess on the night before her wedding after a few glasses of fizz.

“A couple of years ago, on a walk up Cobble How with Mum and Dad, I swear I heard her.

“You know, Ferny? Our mountain friend.

“It was a light and fanciful voice, drifting over the hills in the gentle summer breeze.

“She told me that love was coming to me. It was literally the next weekend that I met Mark! How strange is that?”

Hawthorn Corner was a place of magic for them

“I think you’ve had too much plonk,” Jess had replied with a giggle as she tapped her sister’s champagne flute. “It’s a lovely story, though.”

The sisters parked Daisy on their spot, which was, as it just so happened, right by the football pitch.

Jess found she couldn’t stop the memories from buzzing in her head. If only she could travel right back to her childhood and perhaps drum up the courage to speak to Adam.

Maybe then she wouldn’t have wasted so much time on Rick and might be in a different situation today.

Right on cue, there was a shout from the football pitch as a fair-haired man of around forty or so called out to a small boy to pass the ball to him.

A slightly older lad was playing with them, too.

“Gosh, he looks just like that boy we used to see here as kids,” Sarah remarked, as she gazed over at the pitch.

“Didn’t you have a crush on him?”

“Of course it’s not Adam, Sarah,” Jess replied, a little more sharply than she’d intended.

“That would be such a coincidence, and who knows how much he’s changed over the years.”

“Adam!” a female voice called from one of the touring caravans nearby.

“Can you help me with the boys’ tea?”

Jess looked over to see an attractive woman standing at the van door.

“What did I tell you?” Sarah laughed. “How funny is that?”

“Hilarious,” Jess answered as she started to unpack her bag.

She was struggling to keep her tears at bay.

Fate seemed determined to stick the knife in extra hard this holiday.

The last thing she needed was to see her long-lost crush happily married with a couple of sons.

She was already looking forward to going home.

“I propose we get a walk in before we settle down for the night,” Sarah said once they had unpacked. “It’s a pleasant evening.”

“Good idea,” Jess responded as she stood up and reached for her walking boots.

Left to her own devices, she might have just sat on the little campervan sofa all night, but she knew that getting out into the fresh air would do her good.

“Let’s make our way to the foot of Cobble How,” Sarah suggested.

“We won’t have time to get all the way up the slopes, but I wouldn’t mind at least seeing them tonight.”

Jess felt the gentle evening breeze ruffle her hair as she nodded.

The air was warm and the woodland grass smelled sweet and fresh.

It wasn’t long before they were out of the campsite gates and making their way up the narrow country lane to the foot of the mountain.

“Let’s just have a quick ramble up the path,” Sarah suggested.

The sun was low in the sky now and the fields and forest were glowing in its golden rays.

“We might as well,” Jess agreed.

There was still plenty of time before nightfall.

They didn’t venture far, but the incline was steep, and before long the sisters were gazing down at a wonderland of emerald leaves and azure pools.

“I can’t believe we’re back,” Sarah whispered.

“It feels like home,” Jess answered.

“Love is coming!”

“I don’t know about that.” Jess sighed. “But I like your optimism.”

“What’s that?” Sarah asked, turning towards her. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You did! I heard you.” “I honestly didn’t. I was just admiring the view,” Sarah said.

“Well, I heard something.” Deciding it was time for some supper and bed, the sisters turned to make their descent.

“We’ll have to come back tomorrow and climb it properly,” Sarah remarked once they were back on the downhill path.

“Sure,” Jess replied, though deep down she felt rather uneasy.

She knew she’d heard a voice.

It had been clear and close by, and although she’d assumed it was

Sarah, the voice had been lighter than her sister’s, now she came to think of it.

Jess was glad to get back to the campsite.

The sun had dipped behind Cobble How now and lights were on in most of the vans. It was time to settle down for the night.

Jess awoke from a deep sleep to a cry from the football pitch.

Sliding from the narrow bunk, she peeped through the curtain to see one of Adam’s boys lying on the stony path.

He was shrieking. His brother stood by, looking shocked.

She pulled on some clothes.

Adam and his wife had already rushed over to him by the time Jess was outdoors.

“My knee!” The child was shrieking as his mum gently pulled him upright.

“It hurts. It’s broken. And look, my shorts are all torn.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s broken, mate,” Adam said in a level voice.

“You wouldn’t be able to stand up if it was. You’ve got a nasty graze, though.”

“I think you were in too much of a hurry to play football,” Adam’s wife added. “What have I told you about taking your time?”

“I can’t play football now in these shorts,” the little boy protested, staring at the rip in them.

He must have landed awkwardly on a particularly jagged stone and the material was pretty thin.

“I might be able to help there,” Jess put in.

The four of them turned to look at her.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

“Red,” the child answered in a small voice.

“We support Liverpool,” Adam explained with a smile.

Jess tried not to notice how the grin ignited his grey eyes.

“Let me see what I can do,” she said, before hurrying back to the van.

“What’s going on?” Sarah asked sleepily from her bed.

It was just past nine o’clock and she’d clearly been enjoying a lie-in.

“I’m just doing my good deed for the day,” Jess replied as she reached for her craft box. She was glad she’d brought it along.

After a quick look through her latest work, Jess found what she was looking for – a patch in the shape of a football.

She had them in white, blue, green and, thankfully, red.

“Look, this will cover that hole nicely,” she said.

“I’ll happily mend the shorts, or perhaps you’d like to let your mummy and daddy do it instead?”

“He’s not my daddy,” the little boy replied. “He’s my uncle Adam.”

“Oh, I see,” Jess replied, turning to smile apologetically at Adam.

She suddenly felt rather conscious of the crumpled clothes she’d flung on.

Come to think of it, the mum did look quite familiar, too.

Jess had forgotten that Adam had an older sister who’d always been too sophisticated to speak to anyone younger than her.

“My brother’s come along to help me out,” the woman explained. “I’m Lauren.” Jess introduced herself. “Now, Harry, what do we say to Jess?” Lauren asked.

“Thank you,” Harry said, and Jess smiled into his large blue eyes.

“Can I have a patch, too?” the other boy asked. “Sam!” Lauren scolded. “Of course you can.” Jess grinned.

“I think you might have just saved our holiday,” Adam said once Lauren had taken the boys back to their caravan.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Jess answered shyly.

“My sister’s husband left them a couple of months ago,” he continued. His smile faded.

“She was devastated but, personally, I think she’s better off without him.

“This trip was already booked so I offered to come. I’ve pitched my own tent outside their van.” “That was good of you.” “I adore my nephews, so it’s a chance to spend some time with them.

“I love this place, too. Lauren and I came here as kids.”

“So did we!” Jess answered, and she explained that she’d also returned with her sister.

“You know, I thought you looked familiar, Jess,”

Adam answered.

His smile had returned and Jess knew she was grinning now, too.

“We thought we might take a hike up Cobble How later today, providing Harry recovers, of course.

“Perhaps you and your sister might like to join us?”

“That sounds perfect!” Jess responded in delight.

She turned to look up at the mountain, which was easily visible from the football pitch.

It might have been her imagination, but amongst the green of the foliage, Jess was sure she could see a tiny figure waving from up high.

“Thank you, Ferny,” Jess whispered, after Adam had gone back to his tent.

“Once again, it looks as if you were right.”

The End.