Black Pike

John Riddington

Description

When Nicolas' dad is offered a job in a brand-new place, he and his brother Mathew tentatively move away from everything they have ever known. Their new home is surrounded by greenery and Black Pike nearby. Nicolas is immediately drawn to the looming mountain and feels its pull. The very next day, he and his brother begin their first journey up it. Although they are unsuccessful in reaching the top, they persevere. As they settle into their new home and school, they meet James, a young farmer who, along with the boys, makes an important discovery atop the mountain that is being threatened. Join Nicolas and Matthew as they embark on a life-changing venture that shapes them for the rest of their lives.Riddington's Black Pike is a story based in the purest of landscapes. Riddington has created characters with the best of intentions and their genuine love and appreciation for nature is truly heart-warming.

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 mars 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528907637
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Black Pike
John Riddington
Austin Macauley Publishers
2018-03-30
Black Pike About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen
About the Author
John Riddington is a retired teacher with a deep, lifelong interest in the British hills and mountains. He has made over one-thousand, one-hundred summits and has guided two-hundred-and-seventy groups to the tops of peaks, mostly in England and Wales. He has reached the summits of all the major peaks in England and Wales in addition to some in Scotland, at all times of year, and in all kinds of weather. Also, he has led many more groups in rural locations in England, Scotland and Wales.
Dedication
Dedicated to Paul, Jen, Mark and Martina, and to my constant companions, Steve, Mike and Andy.
Copyright Information ©
John Riddington (2018)
The right of John Riddington to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781786936776 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781786936783 (E-Book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2018)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Chapter One
As the car drew away down the familiar street and past the houses he knew so well, Nicolas felt deeply unsettled. He felt slightly sick and yet excited. When he thought about it and tried to work out his feelings, they seemed to be a mixture of fear of the unknown and the loss of the old, comfortable places and the friendship of his close, best friends. He stretched his head round to take one last look back as the car rounded the corner and his own street disappeared into history. That street would never be the same again, he thought, even if we went back now, to the empty house. They were leaving familiarity forever and going to goodness knows where, certainly, nowhere he had ever been to before; but at least, he had his family with him. Mum and Dad were in the front seats and Matthew was beside him. Always there. Matthew seemed to be lost in his own world and Nicolas wondered if he too was feeling the same as Nicolas was, yet, he could not speak to Matthew because he could not put into words, how he felt.
They arrived at the house in near darkness. Nicolas had not seen much of the landscape during the drive, because he kept nodding off. The journey had seemed to last for ages. The car had just climbed slowly up a narrow road, after leaving the lights of the small town, half an hour before. The headlights showed the passing of fields and lanes, and later, open country. The odd looming shadow of a tree, caught for an instant and lost to the dark. The car slowed again, this time not for a gate or a narrowing of the road; there was a moment of numbing silence as the noise of the car engine stopped – they had arrived. Between arrival and bedtime, he was drowsily aware of the house being opened, lights switched on and soon after, they all went to bed. For a short while, Nicolas and Matthew lay in their beds, aware of the silence; there were none of the familiar street sounds, no shouts and no dogs barking in the distance. It was if they were the only people breathing. They were too tired to talk and soon fell asleep.
Next morning, Matthew was first to wake and he yanked the curtains to see what it was like outside. The brightness woke Nicolas, who rolled out of bed and was at the window, eager to see where they were. From the first glance, he was captivated by the new landscape. A stone wall topped with moss and small plants marked the boundary of the small field, nearest to the house. In front of them, the green land beyond the wall sloped gently away, pocked with outcrops of light-coloured rock. He could see, far away beyond the open land and the fields, the sea, and further out a long, low finger of land disappearing into the far distance. They stared for a while, taking in the new scene, saying nothing and imagining, what there might be to discover behind the rocks and deep in the folds of green. To their left in the distance, they could just see the edge of a huge mountain. They had the whole summer holiday to explore, ages before they started at their new school. They washed and dressed, and while they were all having breakfast round the table in the kitchen, they talked about where to explore first. Nicolas wanted to go up towards the mountain, feeling drawn to its brooding bulk. Matthew was content to explore nearer to the house. Nicolas wondered if they would be allowed just to wander about anywhere. Matthew just asked.
“You can go anywhere, as long as, you can still see the house. We are going to be putting the carpets down and sorting out where everything will go. So you can go out together if you want to,” said mum.
Then they were out into the brilliant summer light, through the small gate made of wrought iron, into the new wilderness beyond. There were outbuildings at the back of the house, where the farmer, who had last owned the house, had kept his machinery and in the depths of winter, had housed his sheep. There was still a strong, but not unpleasant, animal smell when they found a way into the first stone building and it seemed to them, not deserted, but as if the farmer might return at any moment to carry on with his work.
There were unidentifiable things, still hanging on the walls and bottles of strange liquids on the shelves. The straw under foot looked quite fresh. The doors to the buildings were in good order and they seemed to have been cared for, until the moment the farmer had left his small farm, to go and live nearer to his family. To Nicolas, it felt as if they were visiting him, although he had left weeks ago. The signs of his lifelong presence were everywhere.
“This is all ours now,” said Matthew, with a trace of uncertainty in his voice. “We could turn these places into anything we like.” They moved slowly, visiting all of the buildings, disturbing the fine dust and making them dance in the sunbeams. Then they were out again into the clear air and then the outdoors recaptured them.
“Let’s see what is behind those rocks,” said Matthew.
They made their way over the rough pasture. Close to the rock, outcrops were much more substantial and impressive; each covered with a maze of cracks, each crack home to some small plant. Behind some of the larger flakes, saplings had taken root and were bursting out, forcing the rock to split and crumble. Below the main face of the rock, was a tumble of small pieces of weathered stone.
“I’m going to climb up and see what is on the other side,” announced Nicolas. “We can still see the house from here, so it is OK.” He began to climb. It was easy, there were flakes of rock to grip and the slope was not steep. His feet found ledges and steps in the rock and his hands felt for the next place to hold almost without him having to think. He kept climbing, not aware of how high he had reached until he heard Matthew’s distant voice from below him.
“Nic, I wouldn’t go any higher – you’ll need a parachute to get down.” He looked down and felt a small lurch of fear. He was a long way away from Matthew and he knew he could not go back down: he was too far up now and he had to keep going. He tried to be calm and to concentrate on the rock, taking extra care with each step and handhold, and then he was at the top.
The rock sloped down slightly further away from him. He was standing on a flat slab, which stretched for a few yards before what seemed like another steep drop. He moved away from the edge and began to think about getting down. He knew that Matthew would be anxious and knew that would have to find a better way back to him. He moved closer to the furthest edge following the slab that started to slope downwards and with a mixture of relief and disappointment found that the land behind the slab sloped steeply up to meet the rock and the drop was not a rocky cliff. He was able to scramble down easily and he was back with Matthew.
“You should try it Matt, it’s easy,” he said. Matthew did not seem very enthusiastic so he left the idea.
During the next half hour they explored each of the rocky slabs in sight of the house, trying to find the easiest way up onto the top. Most of them were not very steep and it was simple to climb them. Matthew became less anxious as they reached each new top. As they sat on the last one, they had a good look round them in all directions. The huge expanse of the land filled most of the view away from the house. It was a calm day and far away the surface of the sea looked still and flat. Miles away in the hazy distance the small white dot of a sailing boat made leisurely progress, hardly seeming to change position for minutes on end. Matthew turned to look behind them.
“Look over there now!”
Nicolas turned to look in the direction Matthew had indicated. Because they were clear of the outbuildings and the house they could see the whole of the mountain for the first time. It looked impossibly massive and far away. The main slope rose steadily through open green land that changed colour as the grass gave way to a mix of heather, rushes and moor grass. Beyond and above that there was rock, at first a pale brownish colour, changing to deeper brown with dark slashes where gullies split the shattered face of