Love, Loss, Lochs and Bears

“There it is!” Jo squealed, through gritted teeth. She had always wanted to see the wizard train and there it was. Being the first to arrive at the viewing point, she had become more and more irritated as more families turned up, blocking her view so she had to move several times. Small children bounced up and down on their toes in eagerness to see the beautiful steam train, it's shiny red carriages and black polished chimney. Jo secretly pleased to be able to share the experience with them. A whistle sounded some distance away and soon enough the train appeared in front of them in all its glory. Jo was just slightly disappointed it wasn’t closer. She longed to feel the draft of the train through her hair and the smell of the coal and steam wafting around her nostrils. As soon as it arrived, it had gone. Families began to leave, their chatter echoing in Jo’s ears long after, a sadness in her because deep down, although surrounded by people, she felt as if she had experienced it alone. Already saddened by the loss of her grandfather, for a moment she thought she might cry, but managed to hold herself together, make her way back to the car and onto Fort William to her tent near the base of Ben Nevis.

Her drive back to camp down the long, winding forest road made her weary. Trees careening by on either side, left her feeling like she was weaving herself, inadvertently braking from time to time when she felt she was going just a little bit too fast. Logging trucks rushed by, their rusted red framed cages cautiously holding recently felled pines. Their branches stripped, naked trunks rocking gently with the momentum of their onward journey.

At the bottom of the hill a sharp right hand bend appeared in front of her. Braking hard, she gasped as the corner rushed at her. The left hand wheels of her car brushed against the grass, slowing her down further. As she glanced out of the window, the reality of her lucky escape hit her. A ditch ran alongside the road, probably three or four feet deep. As the light was beginning to fade, it was virtually impossible to see what was at the bottom of it, though she didn’t particularly want to know. Panic began to set in, her breathing quickened. Just slow down, Jo.

Bringing the car to a standstill, she reached across to put her hazard lights on and dropped her head gently onto the steering wheel in an attempt to compose herself. She opened the window halfway, allowing the gentle breeze which floated across the loch immediately to her right to rush around her face.

“Hello?”

“Hello?”

With her eyes closed, Jo wasn’t sure if she heard a voice or not.

“HELLO?”

Louder this time.

Jo raised her head from the steering wheel, looking about her. Fear at first, then laughed telling herself to not be so stupid. There’s no-one in the car with you.

“Hey. Down here! Please help me!”

Jo glanced to her left, spotting a small reflection in the ditch next to the car. She hadn’t noticed it before. Maybe the light had been different, but she definitely hadn’t seen it. Opening the window opposite her, she removed her seatbelt and raised herself slightly from her seat to look over the edge of the window, towards the ditch. A voice called again.

“Hey, can you see me? I’m down here!”

As if staring through a lens which had suddenly come into focus, Jo saw a face staring up at her. Nothing else, just a face. A young man’s face, probably mid twenties and not much older than her.

“Bloody hell, you frightened the life out of me!”

She replied.  

Jo looked back to her seat and made to open the car door, only for another large logging lorry to rush by, sounding its air horn as it did. She took a sharp intake of breath. For goodness sake.  

Safely getting herself out of the car, Jo walked around the front of her car and stood on the bank, looking downwards.

“Oh”

Below her, in the ditch, a young man was sitting in his car, a black mid-sized hatchback, wedged in and unable to move. Neither he or the car were going anywhere anytime soon, she surmised.

“Are you hurt? Is everything OK?” Stupid question, she thought.

She asked, leaning towards him to see if she could see anything visible.

“Well, my neck hurts, my toes are a bit tingly, and I can’t open any of the doors. I can’t move enough to open the boot, either. So I’m totally stuck!”

Jo sniggered, putting her hand up to her mouth. She didn’t mean to laugh, it was just that the whole situation felt totally ridiculous. I mean, how did he get down there in the first place?

“Gee, thanks. So are you going to do something or what?”

Jo glared at him.

“And just what do you expect me to be able to do? Have you called the police, or the breakdown people?”

He scrunched his lips together, eyes widened in embarrassment and if she had been able to see his cheeks in the fading light she would have noticed they’d gone a pale shade of pink.

“Forgot my phone. Haven’t got breakdown cover. Er, yeah”

Jo tutted. Who on earth doesn’t have breakdown cover around here? And what kind of fool also forgets their phone?

“Eh? You’re joking, right?”

Jo replied, in disbelief.

“You’re lucky I found you then, aren’t you? You could have been there all night! Hang on, I’ve got my phone in the car”

Jo turned carefully on the bank so as not to end up in the same predicament and made her way back to the car to get her phone. Once retrieved, she returned to the side and began to dial.

“I don’t even know your name, do I?”

Jo said, exasperated, though quite liked the idea of being someone’s knight in shining armour.

“It’s Jake. What About you? How do I know you’re really phoning the police? Maybe you’re going to pretend to call them then just leave me here to be eaten by bears”

He joked, though Joanna really wasn’t sure right at this moment in time.

“Don’t be so bloody ridiculous. Apart from anything there aren’t any bears in Scotland. And, and…. Oh just shush, will you”

The numbers on the phone sounded as Jo pressed each button in turn and it rang out to reach the emergency switchboard.

“Yes, I need some help, please. I’m just outside Fort William on the Mallaig road with a man whose car is in a ditch…… no, I don’t know how he got there, I just found him there. He’s in his car, yes, but he can’t get out because the doors are wedged against the side. He says he’s got neck ache and his toes are tingling but he seems OK otherwise. Alright…. Yes, alright. Thank you. My name? Yes, it’s Joanna Smart. Thank you so much. Yes, alright. See you soon.”

And with that, she hung up.

Looking down at the car she spoke again to Jake.

“They’ll be here as soon as they can. Though apparently there’s another big accident just down the road and it’s blocked. You might have a bit of a wait, they said. That’s what happens when you live at the end of the world and there’s only one road in and out”

“Great”

Jake replied.

“Look, Jo, do you mind if I call you that? It’s just that I had an ex who insisted I called her Joanna and it makes my teeth itch every time I have to say it. Nothing personal”

Jo laughed out loud. How insensitive does one person have to be?

“How rude!”

Jake laughed.

“Sorry, Jo-anna”

She laughed back but said that actually most people called her Jo so it would be absolutely fine.

“So, are you going to leave me here in the cold while you go back to your nice warm house?”

Jo wasn’t sure how to respond. How she’d give anything to get inside her cosy tent right now and snuggle down into her sleeping bag, but it would be dark, lonely and chances were that right now she wouldn’t be able to get there anyway if the road was shut.

“Well, if you’re nice to me then I’ll stay and keep you company. It’s not like I’ve got a cute puppy or a good book to get back to, anyway. But I’ll try and come down there a bit, shall I? I feel a bit exposed up here!

Jake laughed and tilted his head to one side, as if beckoning her closer.

“Owww, that hurt”

Now she was closer, sat lower down the bank and more level with Jake, she could see he had short mousey hair, shaved down the sides and spiky on the top. He wore a pastel green shirt. She couldn’t see below that and wasn’t going to make any attempt to, either.

“So, what happened, then? How did you end up down there?!”

Jo asked, pointing at the car.

“You won’t believe me if I told you. It was a deer. There are hundreds of them around here. No bears. Just deer and squirrels, red ones of course. They’re the best kind”

Aww, thought Jo. He likes animals.

“Ran right out in front of me from the loch side, though no idea why. Maybe he’d been for a swim!”

They both laughed.

“Hmmmm, I suppose I believe you. You don’t seem like the drink driving type, though this is a flash car, I bet it goes a fair whack?”

Jake exhaled, laughing a belly laugh.

“This heap of junk? It might look the part but it’s like driving a lawnmower”

Jo giggled, her eyes bright. She liked being here, afterall. He was funny.

“So, Jo. What brings you here? On your own and not from around here, I’m guessing”

Should she tell him? She’d only just met him but she liked him and he seemed trustworthy. And even if first glances and impressions were false, it’s not like she would ever see him again. And what was that old saying? It’s good to talk.

“Well, I’m not from around here, as you so put it, Sherlock Holmes. I live in Birmingham but drove up here for the peace and quiet and to give myself some time to get my head around stuff. My grandad died a few weeks ago….”

“I’m sorry to hear that”

Jake interjected.

“And well, it hit me hard. I looked after him while he was ill. Dementia, he had. He was my hero. We did everything together when I was little. He taught me so much. I just needed to get away after he died”

Jo paused for a moment, feeling herself becoming more emotional. She’d realised that all of a sudden the temperature seemed to have dropped and shivered, putting her hands around her arms.

“That’s about it really. I’m camping by Ben Nevis. It really is stunning, isn’t it?”

Jake nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve climbed it a few times but not for a couple of years. A friend of mine fell the last time we went up there. He’s OK, mind, but he’s not going to be climbing again anytime soon. But I’ve promised him that one day we’ll get back up there together”

“Sounds good. Can I come?”

Jo suggested.

Jake guffawed.

“You’re kidding, right? Have you seen it? You need practice to get up there, it’s a long way. Not being funny but you don’t look the mountaineering type”

His eyes twinkled as he said, knowing he’d more than likely get a reaction. She seemed the feisty type.

“Oi! I’ll have you know I was the West Midlands climbing champion, 2015. I could take you on anyday!”

Jake seemed impressed, raising his eyebrows and smiling.

“Well, that sounds impressive. Let’s do it then. When I get out of this, er, predicament. Anyway, where has this rescue party got to?”

Jo made to stand up, got half-way then slipped, down the bank to the side of the car, almost through the window. She levelled with Jake’s face, the pair of them staring straight into each other’s eyes, pausing tensely for a moment and saying nothing.

“Hi”

“Hi”

They laughed.

“I’ll be right back”

Jo giggled, making a second attempt to return up the bank.

In the distance she could see blue flashing lights, though unsure as to whether they were coming this way or were still in attendance further down the road.

“I can see lights”

She informed Jake, who tried in vain to see them also, still unable to move from where he sat.

“It’s because of my incredible charm and handsome good looks, probably”

She laughed.

“Dream, on. Not sure I’d go for someone stuck in a giant hole half way to Mallaig. It’s really not all that attractive”

“Thanks”

Jake replied, pouting, pretending to be sad.

Trees all around them reflected the flashing blue lights of the emergency vehicles approaching, as darkness was now almost surrounding them, even though it had only been about an hour since Jo had made the call to them.

“Thank god for that. I was starting to think I‘d be stuck with you all night!”

Jake said to Jo, who tutted and gave him a cheeky smile.

“Thanks you too. I thought I was going to be stuck here, bored to death listening to you witter on about deer and squirrels!”

A police car pulled up alongside Jo’s car, a policeman wound down his window.

“Hi there. What’s going on here then?”

Jo turned around to face Jake and the car and waved out her arms towards him.

“This marvel is what’s happened!”

The policeman stared at Jo, not knowing quite what to make of her response.

“Well, let’s see what we can do, shall we. Recovery isn’t far behind and nor is the ambulance. We’ll have you out of there in no time”

Jo sighed. Thank goodness for that. 

Moments later the recovery vehicle and ambulance arrived. After brief introductions and explanations as to what had happened, Jo moved her car to allow the recovery vehicle next to Jake’s stuck vehicle and she watched as firstly, the roof was carefully but brutally removed from before the paramedics moved in.

“Jake, isn’t it? It’s okay, try to keep still and we’ll have you out as soon as we can”

Jake smiled, though inwardly he was scared, despite the bravado.

“Thank you”

He replied, his eyes roaming to see if he could find Jo in the melee.

It took half an hour to free Jake from his car and placed him in the back of the warm ambulance. The lights blinded him and he scrunched his eyes up as they adjusted.

“Is Jo still here?”

He asked, trying to move his head in vain, now that it was trapped inside a collar. From one entrapment to another.

A voice called from outside the ambulance.

“Hey, I’m still here. Are you OK? Do you want me to come with you to the hospital? Or I can stay and babysit this heap of junk out here, stop the bears stealing it” She giggled.

“Oh, they’re welcome to it. Yeah, would you come with me? I’d really appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you for everything. And anyway, don’t you think we should swap numbers if I’m going to beat you to the top of Ben Nevis?”