Return to Oban

by Ruth Hay

“It’s for you, Ashley”

  “Who would be calling me?”

  Anna Drake just smiled and handed her the phone.

  “I was wondering if you were free this afternoon? I have a few hours off but Dr. Williams is taking a holiday starting tomorrow and so this may be my last chance to see you for some time.”

  “Oh, Edmund!” She thought quickly. “I guess that would be all right. I seem to remember I promised you a meal. Would you like to take a walk to the top of the hill first and then we can eat after we have worked up an appetite?”

  She knew she was rushing along with the offer when she had no idea what she was going to cook and a schedule of work she had intended to do, but it seemed unkind to refuse the doctor an opportunity for a decent meal and some exercise in the fresh air.

  “That’s uncommonly generous of you, Ashley. I am looking forward to seeing you later. About two o’clock, if that’s convenient.”

  “Absolutely! See you then…………… and Edmund, wear your climbing boots!”

  “I’ll do that. Bye!”

  He was gone and she had now two new items in what had been already, a full agenda.

  She reported her plans to Anna and received an unexpected comment.

  “I’ve been thinking about the young doctor’s living accommodations. It does not seem right that he works so hard for the town and has little or no amenities on his down time. Would you like me to ask Fiona if her house in town is currently rented?”

  “Does she have a house of her own as well as the castle and the new eco house? She is a rich woman!”

  “Well, she was not rich at all originally. She inherited her small stone cottage near the seafront when her Granny died. It’s rented out to holidaymakers mostly, but it has tiny rooms, all with basic furnishings.

  In case you got the wrong idea about Fiona, you should understand I have never known anyone more hardworking than she is. She supported herself by working two jobs from a very young age as her Granny was the only family she had. She may seem like the fine Lady of the Castle now, but I can assure you, Gordon Campbell is the lucky one in that partnership. She will keep his feet on the ground no matter what happens.”

  “I can see you have great respect for Fiona, Aunt Anna, and I think your idea is a brilliant one for Edmund Jansen. I won’t say a word about this today, of course. If it works out for him, I’m sure he will be delighted.”

  “Good. Now, let’s see if we can squeeze in some book material into what is becoming a busy day for you. What did you find upstairs in the storage closet?”

  Ashley’s heart began to beat faster. This was the tricky part.

  “Well, I think you should check it out for yourself. You will be surprised and I hope pleased, with your discoveries. As you suspected there are several of Lawren Drake’s sketch books up there.

  I’ll get ahead with preparation for a meal for three while you investigate.”

  “Sounds intriguing! Go ahead, Ashley. There’s a pork roast in the larder and the last apples from the tree for applesauce or apple crumble if you feel ambitious. Edmund Jansen looks like he could use a good meal for a change. Don’t tire him out on the climb.”

  * * *

  By one o’clock, Ashley had seasoned the pork and prepared applesauce. She thought custard poured over pound cake and jam would be a filling dessert and she set the sliced cake out in dishes. She also made a timetable for Anna of when the roast should go in the oven and added a reminder to leave enough milk for custard. After the domestic chores were done she had headed to the office. She was just about to solve the preliminary organization of the proposed book’s contents and she needed an hour’s work on that before Edmund arrived.

  The one thing she forgot to do, was to check on her aunt.

  The result of this omission was that Ashley was upstairs dressing for a hike when Edmund Jansen arrived and she suddenly remembered she had no clue what her aunt’s reaction to the sketches was. It would have to wait until later.

  * * *

  They set off up Helen’s Hill in good spirits despite a final warning from Anna to watch the weather.

  Ashley was annoyed that she had not had time to listen to the radio weather report but she looked up to the top of the hill and estimated they could be up and back before any serious change occurred.

  Edmund puffed a little as they reached the last section. He declared he must be out of shape as he was no stranger to climbing on the east coast.

  “I am more of rock scrambler, I confess. Going over cliffs and down to the sea is more my speed but looking out to sea never gave me views like these. You can’t tell until you get to the top that the mountains connect up like this and run for miles in all directions. How far can you actually go?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know the answer, Edmund. I believe going west from here is how you can get to Bev and Alan Matthews’ place. It’s not too far.”

  “Could we try that? You could tell me the history of Helen’s Hill on the way.”

  It seemed like a simple plan. They passed by the deep tarn, full of water from the recent rains and Ashley pointed out the rock formation that was a favourite place for climbers to rest.

  “Helen Dunlop, or Fraser, or whatever one of her many names you prefer, was the woman who bought this property including the hill we are on.

  She lived here alone for many years and few people in Oban knew much about her. She was a private person for reasons Anna Mason only discovered after years of investigations.”

  “So there must have been a relationship between your aunt and this Helen?”

  “Yes, but it was far in the past, I believe. In any case it was a tragic story and Helen gifted the house and property to her only surviving female family member in Canada.”

  “I am guessing that was your Aunt Anna?”

  “Right!”

  “It was a wonderful gift.”

  “Indeed it was! You wouldn’t know it now, but at that time, Anna Mason was a far different person with a life in Canada that had not gone the way she had hoped. My grandfather, Anna’s brother Simon, told me she gained a whole new perspective on life when she decided to keep the Estate Farmhouse.

  It wasn’t an easy decision for her, but it was the right one as it has benefited so many other people.”

  They continued in a westerly direction for some minutes, clambering over tufts of thick grass and skirting the huge rocks that had landed on this level from some unseen higher elevation.

  Ashley soon realized she had gone farther than she had intended as the knoll that was the top of Helen’s Hill vanished from view. With a breath of relief she stepped carefully to the top of a rise from which she could look down on the farmhouse of Bev and Alan Matthews. She continued her story.

  “One example of people who are glad Anna came here, is down there in the valley. Bev was one of Aunt Anna’s friends who arrived in Scotland to visit and fell in love with local sheep farmer Alan. His mother looked after Anna once when she had flu, much the same way I looked after her recently.

  Watch where your feet go, Edmund, and you can see their farmhouse. Bev bakes and serves a farmhouse-style tea to holiday makers in the summer months.

  They were poised on the rise looking downward and counting the sheep racing about on the hillside, when a sudden gust of wind swept upward from the valley and pushed against them with unexpected force.

  “Wow! That’s a strong wind,” said Edmund, as he grabbed Ashley’s arm and pulled her to safety.

  All at once, Ashley became aware that while they were talking and walking along with their heads down because of the rough ground under their feet, the clouds above them had gathered together with frightening speed and what had been a grey day had now turned to menacing dark storm clouds descending around them and blocking out the light.

  Before she could state the obvious, the situation became much worse. As the light disappeared, the icy rain began to pour down from the banks of roiling clouds and they were almost immediately s
oaked to the skin. What was worse was the effect the clouds were having as they pressed onto the mountain tops. She could not see further than a few yards back the way they had come.

  Ashley was shocked into silence, but Edmund was more used to emergency situations and he recovered first. “Do you think we can retrace our steps back to Helen’s Hill?”

  Ashley looked around her again, and saw visibility was rapidly decreasing in all directions with the possible exception of the descent into the valley that led to the Matthews’ farmhouse.

  “I don’t think we have any choice. I should have been watching the weather. The rain will make the journey down this valley dangerous, Edmund, but I can’t see another way. We’ll freeze if we stay up here and as we go down there might be more shelter.”

  “No worries! I’ll lead the way. Remember I told you about my cliff climbing days? This is more like the conditions I was used to on the east coast. Tie your headscarf tightly and pull up your coat collar. We’ll need to watch for slippery conditions underfoot but stay close and we’ll make it.”

  It was twenty minutes Ashley would never forget. They scrambled over the edge and were met with boulders of various sizes that seemed to be vying for the chance to trip up their feet. The knowledge that a wrenched ankle would be, not only painful but also dangerous, made Ashley tense up until she could feel cramp in her calves at every step. Edmund went ahead and reached back his hand for her whenever he saw a difficult section. She leaned against his shoulder gratefully and took in deep breaths, only then realizing she had been holding her breath in fear.

  Her headscarf soon provided no protection as the rain just dripped from it into her eyes. She relied on Edmund’s tall figure and the surefooted way he tested larger rocks for stability before leading her ever downward, step by step. It was slow and laborious progress.

  When they finally arrived onto the upper reaches of a steep meadow, Ashley could hardly see ahead. The mist from the clouds had followed them. The next problem came from their sodden footwear that had gripped onto the rocks but could not manage the grass of the meadow in its slippery state.

  Edmund threw caution to the winds, plopped himself down onto the grass and proceeded to slide downhill for all the world like some school kid on a plastic tray.

  Ashley saw no other option. Abandoning her only overcoat to its fate she grabbed its sides and stuck her feet out in front and followed her companion’s example. Several sheep, on their way to more sheltered areas, jumped aside in alarm as the pair slid by at increasing speeds.

  * * *

  Fortunately, Alan Matthews was watching the sheep out of his kitchen door’s glass panel and saw the unusual sight of two people tobogganing down his field in a rainstorm. He called to his wife to get blankets and hot drinks. Then he donned his long waterproof coat and wide-brimmed hat and grabbed his hiking poles from the tall jar by the door before heading out as fast as he could into the fierce wind.

  He knew there was a fenced area near the farmhouse which the two people could not see from their position. If they struck the fence at the speed they were going there would be an accident.

  Possibly a serious one.

  Calling the strangers all kinds of rude names under his breath, he made his way with the help of the poles, to a spot near the fencing where the two ‘idiots’ might see his signal to stop or turn aside.

  Edmund was in the lead, with Ashley fast approaching, when he realized what was happening.

  By applying brute strength he turned his moving body around to present a broadside barrier into which Ashley, feet first, soon crashed with an impact that stopped her progress but set Edmund rolling out of control.

  Alan had seen the manoeuvre and he bent down to grab the rolling figure. He had thought the two were teens, or even children. He could not imagine who else would be so crazy as to risk life and limb in such a stupid way, but he quickly saw the man and woman were adults. They were both covered from head to foot in mud, their clothes were ruined, the female had lost a shoe and the man had been knocked dizzy by the impact of her body.

  His every instinct urged him to rail at the pair for their stupidity but he held his peace for the time being. The first task was to get them out of the weather and into warmth as soon as possible. The girl’s teeth were chattering and her hair was dripping all over her face.

  He lifted up the young man, gave him the hiking poles for support and picked the girl up in his arms.

  “Follow me as fast as you can!”

  In mere minutes the trio was falling into the farmhouse kitchen where Bev awaited them with towels, blankets, spare clothes, a steaming kettle and soft words. She gave her husband a cautionary look that said, “Not now, Alan!” and took the girl into the bathroom, leaving the men to sort themselves out at the kitchen sink.

  When Bev emerged some minutes later with Ashley Stanton by her side wrapped in a voluminous dressing gown, it was her look of astonishment that calmed her husband down.

  “Alan, this is Anna’s niece Ashley who has been staying at the estate house, and the young man with his head under the tap in the sink, is the new Oban doctor, Edmund Jansen.”

  That was enough to shock Alan Matthews into silence. He waited until the doctor had squeezed the worst of the water out of his hair and dried his face. Edmund was now dressed in a pair of Alan’s working dungarees fastened around his slender waist with a large leather belt. The wool sweater was also too large but its warmth was more than welcome.

  “Well now, come over to the fire and sit down. Hot tea and scones will be ready in a second and then you can tell us what happened.” She glared at Alan in case he should countermand her orders.

  Ashley asked if she could first phone her aunt to reassure her of their safety.

  “She will be worried sick knowing where we were heading. She absolutely must not attempt to climb Helen’s Hill to rescue us.”

  “I’ll do that for you, Ashley. Help Alan to set the small table by the fire and get the hot food into you.

  You’ll both feel better soon, although your young man here will have some mighty big bruises for a while if I’m any judge of such things.”

  There was a strained silence as Ashley did as requested. She and Edmund could not look each other in the face but they fell upon the raisin and cheese scones as if they had not had a chance to eat for days and soon demolished the plateful, washing them down with copious draughts of hot tea while thawing their stockinged feet at the blazing fire.

  When Bev returned from phoning, it was to inform them that Anna was greatly relieved to hear they were safe and she insisted Bev and Alan return the pair to the estate house along with what could be saved of their clothing and everyone should stay for a meal until the weather had calmed down.

  Edmund tried to refuse the offer of hospitality but Ashley would not hear of it.

  “You probably saved my life, Dr. Jansen, and my aunt will be anxious to thank you in person.”

  Their shoes were ruined so they went out to the big Land Rover in wellington boots and with their other wet and muddy clothes in a garbage bag. It was a short ride to the estate house but already the track off the main road was awash in mud and icy running water.

  Anna met them on the path to the garage with a golf umbrella and she hustled them indoors quickly, exclaiming at the state of them. She had to try to stifle her desire to laugh outright. Ashley and Edmund looked like two bedraggled dogs, heads hung low from a serious scolding.

  She sent Ashley upstairs to change and offered Edmund more suitable clothing from a chest of Lawren’s clothes she had retrieved from the storage cupboard when Bev had told her on the phone what kind of state the two were in.

  As soon as the young people disappeared upstairs to sort themselves out the three friends dissolved in laughter.

  “Have you ever seen anything like that?” exclaimed Alan after he had given an outline to Anna.

  “I am glad I saw what happened,” returned Bev. “No one would believe it otherwise. Nei
ther James nor Eric ever got up to such antics when they were here. This will be a story to tell for decades!”

  “Oh, don’t be too hard on them, Bev. I am sure a few lessons have been learned. The good doctor will feel better once he hears my news, after we’ve eaten every bite of this meal, of course.

  Alan, pour the whisky please. The plates are warming.”

  “Anna, the food smells wonderful. This reminds me of when we all used to gather in the kitchen for food, talk and laughter. We had some grand times here in the old days.”

  “Well, Alan, let’s call it the new days and enjoy every minute we can together. I found something amazing earlier today and I will share it with you later.”

  “It’s going to be a party!” said Bev, clapping her hands with delight.

  Chapter Seventeen

  It did seem like a party once Ashley had changed and dried her hair. She had a moment of shock when she saw Edmund sitting on the window seat wearing borrowed casual clothes that reminded her of Lawren. She wondered if her Aunt Anna had also seen the resemblance, but that lady was busy setting out plates of steaming vegetables beside a platter of sliced pork and a bowl of fragrant applesauce.

  Alan insisted on a toast to the intrepid climbers and as the amber liquid slid down her throat Ashley felt a glow of warmth inside to match the outward comfort of being safe, warm and dry again.

  Edmund was quietly watching as the older people exchanged stories of other events around the big farmhouse table. Anna informed Bev about the new wildcat kitten’s arrival and saw her delight.

  “I never realized how much I missed that wee furry Morag until she was gone. It will be good to have another one around when you are back in Canada, Anna. It’s not a real home without a cat.”

  “Ah, speaking of a real home, I have news for you, Dr. Jansen.”

  Ashley looked up from her custard and cake in surprise. How had Anna accomplished this so fast?

  “You will soon be able to recover from your bruised ribs, young man, in a comfortable bed in your new rental accommodations, thanks to Fiona Campbell.”