It is an
area of stark contrasts and attracts a variety of visitors.
The Quarry
Hill side of the park to the west, as the name suggests, was heavily Quarried
over several hundred years, though more extensively during the industrial
revolution, the Quarries have been un-worked for over fifty years and nature
had reclaimed them and former pits had become lakes and were very popular with
anglers and the sparse shrubbery and woodland made it popular spot with
courting couples, whereas the northern crags and fells were popular with
climbers and more hardy folk, it was also where the village of Springwater was
to be found, which was where 30 year old Greg Monroe owned and ran the Black
Swan Hotel, although he was not a native of Springwater.
Greg was
6ft tall, wiry build with short brown hair and he was born and raised in the
large sprawling village of Dulcet-on-Willow, beside the gentle shallow River
Willow, which ran unhurriedly from the Pepperstock Hills to the more vibrant
River Brooke.
His parents
had retired to a Villa in the Greek Islands and the six bedroom detached house
was left jointly to him and his brothers, Colin, four years younger, who lived
and worked in Australia, and Alex, two years younger, who had the house to
himself the vast majority of the time.
Greg
himself only got back to the Village of Willow a handful of times each year.
He loved
Willow and the village was very close to his heart and he always felt at peace
when he was home.
The
downside was that it was situated in the Finchbottom Vale, which nestled
comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling
Pepperstock Hills in the north, but however attractive it might have been, it
was featureless in many ways and that was a problem for Greg, and that is
perhaps why he was drawn to the scenic
Pepperstock Hills National Park.
His love
affair with the region began when, as a 12 year old boy, his Scout troop had
their Summer Camp at Oxley Ridge.
Following
his first adventurous fortnight he returned to the Park whenever he could and
after University he used his degree to get a job working in the Park, and after
five years, when he heard the owner of
the Black Swan was retiring, he bought him out.
When he
took it on it had 30 rooms and was aimed more at the lower end of the market, a
hiking boot and Cagoule flophouse, Greg reduced it to 20 en suite rooms, aimed
at a more discerning clientele and after three years the Hotel had built up a
solid list of regular guests and had a high overall occupancy rate.
Jane
Broomfield was also born and raised in Willow and had also fallen in love with
the scenic Pepperstock Hills National Park from an early age, although she was
unable to make the move Greg had, her family did not have the financial resources
that the Monroe family had, the Bloomfield’s were by no means a poor family, as
they had a long established Pharmacy in the village, but she still had to work
for a living, so she worked in the shop and
had to content herself with regular long weekends and short breaks.
But that
year her father had been very ill so she had to do a lot more hours in the shop
while he was recovering, so when she drove up to Springwater at the end of
August it was her first visit for 7 months.
The upside
was that her Dad was now fully recovered and as she had missed numerous trip to
the Park she had more money in the kitty than usual at her disposal so she
decided to treat herself to a week at the Black Swan Hotel in Springwater.
However she had a nightmare of a journey due
to a 6 car RTC on the Expressway, so she phoned ahead to notify the Hotel as
she would be arriving well after the check in time, as she didn’t want to start
her holiday by sleeping in the car, fortunately the woman she spoke to said
they would arrange someone to be there to check her in.
The person waiting at the Black Swan to check
her in was Greg, who was on call for the National Park
Rescue Team anyway, which was why he was dressed for the hills, and it was
10.45 when he saw headlights through the window so he walked to the door.
As he looked out he saw the headlights go out
and a figure exit the car, it was too dark to see her in detail but he could
tell by the way they moved that it was a woman, it was only after they
recovered their luggage from the boot and walked towards the Hotel, and she was
under the lights that he could see her in more detail, 5ft 8, dark hair, slim
figure, skinny legs and disproportionally large breasts.
When he opened the door to let her in, he
noticed her hair was actually black.
She was attractive rather than pretty, with
pale blue eyes, and her face was expressionless, tiredness from the journey he
assumed.
“Miss Bloomfield?” he asked
“Yes, sorry I’m late, bad journey” she replied
“No problem, let’s get you booked in”
So he went to the desk and tapped the keyboard
“I understand you are from Willow” he said
“Yes”
“Me too”
“Oh really” she replied flatly, too tired for
small talk
“Ok, that’s all done” he said and handed her a
key card “You’re in Room 12, breakfast is between 6.30 and 9”
“Thank you”
“Can I help with your bags” he asked
“No, no, you have more important things to be
doing” she replied having noticed the National Park Rescue Team badge on his
jacket.
“I’ll say good night then” he said
Jane made her way up to room 12, and she was
so exhausted that when she had stepped through the door she dropped her bags,
undressed and got straight into bed, and she was asleep in seconds.
The next morning, she was up bright and early,
unpacked her bags, showered and was downstairs eating breakfast by 7.30.
After breakfast she made a brief stop in
reception to report a faulty showerhead and then with her sketch pad and water
colours in her backpack she set off to explore.
It was about three hours later when she was
passing the Bluebird Cafe and she noticed the man from the National Park Rescue
Team sitting outside drinking a coffee, he was dressed differently, in a check
shirt and blue shorts, but she was sure it was the same guy.
She felt a little guilty about being a bit
short with him the night before, and after he had put himself out to
accommodate her, so she decided she would kill two birds with one stone, by
apologizing to him and getting a much needed coffee.
“Hello” she said
“Ah Miss Bloomfield, hello” he responded
“Please join me”
“Thank you I will, but please call me Jane,
I’m sorry I don’t know your name”
“Its Greg” he replied and gestured to the
waitress, who approached the table “Would you like tea or coffee?”
“A Macchiato please” she replied
“And the same again for me please Shannon”
“Ok Mr Monroe” she said and took his empty cup
away
“I must apologize for my behaviour last night”
Jane said “You must have thought me very rude”
“Nonsense” he said “you were clearly very
tired, and for good reason”
“Nonetheless I am sorry” she said and he
nodded
Just then Shannon returned with the coffees,
then after she had gone Jane added
“You were saying that you were also from
Willow”
“Yes, born and bred” he said “Waterside Road”
“Oh the posh side” Jane said scornfully “We
live in the high street”
“Wait a minute “Bloomfield” the Pharmacy” Greg
exclaimed
“That’s us, and I still work in the shop” she
said “this is my escape, it’s my perfect place, I love to walk and sketch and
paint”
“Oh, you paint?” he said “are you any good?”
“I’m ok”
“I’d love to see” he said
“I don’t know you well enough for that” she
said
“I understand, my brother is an artist, he
illustrates children’s books, and he never lets us see anything until it’s in
print”
“So, what made you leave the posh quarter of
Dulcet on Willow?” she asked
“Well I fell in love with the Park when I came
here with the Scouts” Greg confessed “and I’m in love still, with the Glorious
Hills”
Unfortunately, at the moment he said “Glorious
Hills” he was looking at her breasts, but looked away almost immediately.
Jane noticed him looking, but said nothing, he
was not the first and would not be the last, her breasts had been an unwelcome
burden to her since she was 14.
They weren’t huge breasts, but they were huge
enough, but it was the fact that she had a very slender frame that her breast
attracted so much attention.
So, she kept quiet because she didn’t want to
make a scene, and she was enjoying the coffee too much, and to his credit he
had looked away as soon as he realised where his eyes had rested.
They spent a pleasant half an hour sitting
outside the Bluebird chatting about their shared love of both Willow and the
Pepperstock Hills, however there was one
other thing they had in common and that was the their indifference to each
other, they both thought the other were both pleasant and attractive in equal
measure and good company, there was just no attraction, each saw the other as
good friend material but nothing more.
When they parted company and had gone their separate
ways, her back to the Hotel and she assumed he went to the Rescue Station, what
she didn’t know when she left was that he was the owner of the Hotel, she
thought he was just helping out because she was late arriving.
He hadn’t told her because he had no reason to
believe she didn’t know what he was.
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