The Winter We Met by Samantha Tonge

Author:Samantha Tonge [Tonge, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800241664
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2020-10-07T23:00:00+00:00

22

‘I’m excited to be visiting Springhaye’s equivalent of Uluru,’ Nik said as the path we’d been following started to incline.

‘Um, it’s more of a small hill – but has an unusual tradition and there’s a lovely view of Amblemarsh.’

Pebble Rock was a little steep as you neared the top and Nik offered me a hand. I hesitated before slipping my hand into his, wishing we weren’t wearing gloves. He heaved me up and Buddy followed. We stood on the plateau. There was a wooden bench the other side, just before the far edge.

‘Wow!’ He put down the rucksack and went over to bend over piles of pebbles that lay all around. ‘There must be hundreds of stones and so many messages and hearts. Is it okay to touch them?’

‘Go ahead.’

He picked one up. ‘Sharon loves John, 2016. They remind me of the padlocks lovers fasten everywhere in Paris.’

‘It started on New Year’s Eve 1999. Remember how the world decided we were going to fall foul of the Millennium bug? That computers’ systems would fail in important areas such as utilities and it would lead to widespread chaos – and some religious groups believed it was the end of times?’

‘Yup. I was thirteen, I went to a mate’s beachfront house for a barbecue party and we all held our breath at midnight but the lights stayed on and gadgets still worked… talk about a disappointment.’

‘A group of teens from Springhaye decided to paint a stone each that they found in the forest and leave it up here – something to be remembered by if the apocalypse arrived and they didn’t survive.’

‘There’s nothing like a bit of drama at that age,’ said Nik.

Not for me – although I did remember fitful sobbing when someone told me Zac Efron had a girlfriend.

‘Some painted on their favourite pet. Couples dating shared a stone like the one you picked up. The Silver Swan’s landlord was one of that original group of teenagers and painted a football on his and wrote Manchester United Forever.’

Carefully Nik searched through the stones. ‘I’ve found a pet. A black and white Labrador, going by the picture. Patch. Much loved. RIP 2009. Some of these are beautiful. Have you ever left one?’

I gave him a sheepish look but trusted Nik with my secret that only Oliver knew about. I went over to the pile on the left. I dug underneath it at the back and eventually found a flat bright red stone. I passed it to him.

‘Jess loves Steve 2007. Tell me more,’ he said and handed it back. I returned it to its place, underneath the pile.

‘Must I?’

He took my arm and led me to the bench. Buddy jumped up next to me.

‘Over the years it became a tradition for youngsters to leave stones here on New Year’s Eve. Other people would leave them all year around, when a loved one died or for other reasons but teenagers stuck to that date. All my friends came up here. We were in Year 11.

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