I saw a painting in a gallery near the Abbey. It was beautiful and I think I’ll treat myself to it if I accomplish my goal. It’s my incentive to climb those steps.
The gallery isn’t huge, but the floor space is clear so it gives the appearance of being bigger. It’s actually in two parts, divided by a wall with an archway opening through to both sides. I was interested in the original artwork, which is the bigger of the two sections. The walls are covered with all sorts of paintings in various sizes. There’s a small counter where the cash register and all the usual accoutrements of a shop are kept. The gallery is painted in a nice pale green, which is restful on the eyes and doesn’t detract from the paintings on display. It was nice and warm, not only in the physical way but in the feeling it instilled in me. I felt very comfortable being the only customer in there.
The gallery owner, Jamie, is great and we clicked right away. She’s going to keep the painting to one side for me, and has promised to buy me coffee if I complete the steps.
So my first day exploring the town has gained me a friend, if I can be presumptuous enough to say that. I’ll have to see how it goes when I pick up the painting. Maybe she was just being nice to a customer. Although I can’t believe she buys them all coffee.
Tomorrow I hope to climb the steps and see if I can get to the top without stopping. I really want that painting, but I won’t buy it unless I do. I wonder if they have a first aid post with oxygen masks ready at the top.
Lucy read back what she’d written, while she finished off her glass of wine. She chuckled at the last bit, thinking she probably would need first aid when she got to the top.
Although she didn’t know what she was so worried about. Lucy wasn’t that old, barely two years into her sixties. She was five foot eight, slim with very good muscle tone and an athletic look that went with it. However these days it took a little more effort to keep it that way. Lucy had a glow about her, having spent most of the summer in the open air tending her garden. She much preferred being outdoors, than having to be cooped up when the weather was bad. Even then she could be found wrapped up and taking a brisk walk around her local park. Lucy had short strawberry blonde hair, which she was able to keep off her face just by finger combing it when it got in her way. There was a soft natural curl to it so it was easy to keep tidy. Lucy’s face was reasonably free from the tell-tale signs of age, with only a few lines. Her best friend, Vanessa, said she looked more like she was in her mid-forties, than the sixty-one she was at present.
Only for another ten days, and then I’ll be a year older. I wonder what the next year will bring.
She was lucky enough to be very healthy, and she kept herself fit. All through her life she’d been involved in some sport or another. Her favourite being field hockey, where her position had been goalkeeper. Nowadays, and at least three times a week, she cycled to the gym where she had a short workout. Lucy loved walking, preferring that to taking the bus into town. She swam a couple of times a week so her stamina was very good but she did have a problem with going uphill, preferring to walk or cycle on the flat.
That preference wasn’t going to stand her in good stead for a flight of steps as high as the Abbey ones. Lucy realised she would have to rely on her stamina, sheer grit and determination.
Chapter Three
THE MORNING OF her little adventure arrived. After breakfast and a mug of strong coffee, Lucy got herself ready for the assault on the steps. She set off at a good pace, not stopping to look in the shops on the way. Lucy decided she had to be single minded and determined, nothing else would do. She made sure she walked on the opposite side of the road to where the gallery was. She peeked quickly but noticed it was still closed. She crossed over and on consulting her watch she realised it was only nine-thirty. The sign on the door said the gallery opened at ten. If she didn’t make it to the top in one go today, she would take a different way home so she wouldn’t have to walk past it. Lucy didn’t want to have to tell Jamie she hadn’t made a successful attempt on her equivalent of Kilimanjaro.
She didn’t know why Jamie’s opinion of her mattered, but for some reason it did. She wanted to impress Jamie, and that was way too much of a foreign concept for her. She wondered what Jamie had said or done to make her feel this way.
She arrived at the bottom of the Abbey steps and put these and other thoughts out of her head. She could finish her self-analysis later.
She looked up the ever rising steps and realised it was not going to be easy. She marvelled at the people trudging up them, wondering if it was their first time too.
Oh well, in for a penny in for a pound. She took a deep breath and started up on the first step.
One, two, three—
It was certainly going to be a feat of endurance and stamina.
Ninety-five, ninety-six—
Lucy’s heart was hammering in her chest as if it was trying to beat its way out.
One hundred and fifty, one hundred and fifty-one—that’s it. I’m done. I. Can’t. Go. Any. Farther. Bloody hell, it’s only another forty-eight steps. Shit I really can’t manage them.
Lucy gasped and took in several deep breaths as she stood looking at the view. People walked past her as if they were only on the first few steps. Gradually her heart resumed what seemed to be a more normal rhythm. Her breaths evened out and she began to feel back in the land of the living, and not at death’s door. Giving herself more time to recover and pretending she’d stopped to take pictures, she got her camera out and took some shots from step one hundred and fifty-one. Even from here there was a spectacular outlook. People were coming up and she took pictures of the view with them in it to give the views a bit of perspective. She put her camera away and feeling invigorated, finished climbing the last of the steps that had defeated her. They ended just at the bottom of the graveyard, on the leeside of the church.
Lucy was pissed off knowing she should have been able to manage it in one go. But she was more annoyed at the fact that she was so close yet she might just as well have been at the bottom. There was no way she was going to do that last little bit.
Lucy sat on the bench that was conveniently situated at the top and got her water bottle out from her backpack. She drank greedily before taking a deep breath and looking around her. The view from the top was indeed worth the climb. She put her water bottle back, stood up, and started to walk to the other side of the church through the graveyard. Quite a few of the headstones were almost black, making her think they looked like miniature sentinels alongside the Abbey. Lucy looked at them and read what was left of the decaying inscriptions she could still discern through a couple of centuries of weather erosion. She wondered at the people buried beneath and what they had been like. How had they lived? How had they died? Whether they had a good life or not. She tried to give them features and personalities and to imagine them walking the cobbled streets of the old town. Lucy could see in her mind’s eye the ladies in their fashionable Victorian garb with their gentlemen beside them, and behind any unmarried couples, a chaperone for reputation’s sake.
She carried on toward the cliff, which was fenced off to prevent any accidents. Lucy sat on a bench at the side of the fence and looked out across sea. She saw a rather large ship in the distance, which may have been a passenger liner. Taking her camera out again she snapped off a few shots of the ship and some smaller boats that were more than likely fishing the waters outside the harbour. Or perhaps they were tourists taking the opportunity to enjoy the late summer warmth. It didn’t look too rough in the waters outside the confines of the harbour.
Finally feeling back to normal, Lucy kept her camera out and put her backpack over her shoulders. She decided to explore the Abbey and try to take some atmospheric shots of the ruins. She liked the thought of tramping through Dracula’s derelict Abbey. It appealed to her sense of mystery and intrigue.
The blue sky and odd white clouds would make a good background. Lucy felt quite small once inside the Abbey walls. It was probably m
ade worse because there was no roof. Although it was in disrepair you could still see its majesty and authority over everything. Lucy’s first thoughts on seeing it from her car when she arrived still held true. It was guarding Whitby and would do so through the worst storms that could be unleashed on it. No matter what was thrown at the Abbey, Lucy knew it would stand strong. The fact that it had been neglected and abandoned upset her. She hated seeing such wonderful buildings falling apart.
After spending more than an hour taking pictures and exploring the Abbey, Lucy went back down the steps, which of course was so much easier. She wanted to find a place to have coffee, making sure she avoided the gallery on her way.
JAMIE LOOKED OUT of the gallery window for about the thousandth time that day. She checked her watch and noted it was five o’clock, time to close the gallery.
“JJ, what is going on with you today? You’re like a cat on a hot tin roof,” Jamie’s assistant, and best friend, asked.
“Nothing, Selena, I’m fine.”
Her voice was sharp and Selena winced. “Well, that told me, then.”
“Oh jeez, I’m sorry, Sel. I’m just out of sorts today.”
“Okay what gives? Tell me everything, you know you want to.” Selena leant on the small counter.
“It’s nothing, honestly.” Jamie wasn’t even sure herself what was going on.
“If I believed that I wouldn’t be bothered, but something has put a bug up your arse.”
“A woman came into the gallery yesterday—”
“Ha, I knew there was something and it’s to do with a woman, eh? This is very interesting, pray continue.”
“She’s just a customer and we clicked straight away. I was hoping to see her today, that’s all there is to it.”
“No, no, no that’s not all there is to it. Jamie Jones does not get bent out of shape over just a customer. Come on, JJ, spill the beans. You’re getting yourself in a bit of a state,” Selena said, gentling her voice.
“Okay, you’re right, she didn’t feel like just another customer. Her name’s Lucy and I think she’s here on holiday. She saw that painting in the window and—”
“I wondered what happened to that, I didn’t see a sales slip for it though,” Selena interrupted Jamie.
“I put it aside for her.”
“Why? You never do that for anyone. What makes her so special I wonder?”
“If you’ll stop interrupting me, I’ll tell you.”
“Sorry, the floor is all yours.” Selena mimed zipping her mouth closed.
“She said she was going to treat herself if she managed to climb the Abbey steps in one go. She intended to attempt Kilimanjaro, as she called it, today. Lucy said she’d come back and pay for the painting afterwards, and she agreed to let me buy her a coffee. She asked if it could be put aside, and I said I would do that for her.”
“Well this Lucy must have made quite an impression for you to break the habit of a lifetime. What’s she like, this woman who has obviously thrown you for a loop?”
“She’s about my age, maybe a little younger, and has fairly short blonde hair. I think she exercises a lot as she looks very fit. She’s quite slim but still has curves from what I could see. She’s a little shorter than me by a couple of inches, and has a really attractive smile. We have the same kind of humour and well, we just hit it off.” Jamie’s face lit up and she was smiling by the time she finished her description of Lucy.
“Wow, this Lucy has certainly made an impression on you, JJ. Is she gay?”
“I don’t know for sure. My gaydar gave off a dull ping, so perhaps she is.”
“Mmm a dull ping, what does that even mean?”
“I don’t know, Sel. I just know I liked her and I was hoping to see her today. I’m sorry I’ve been a grump, let me make it up to you. I’ll buy you a beer after we close up. It’s obvious Lucy’s not coming today.”
LUCY SAT AT the table and started writing her daily entry.
Monday 10th September
TODAY I AM COMPLETELY PISSED OFF!
Lucy looked at the words she’d shouted out on paper. It was exactly right, and how she was feeling at that precise moment.
I can’t believe I couldn’t get up the Abbey steps in one go. I’m fit enough. I go to the gym, walk a lot, swim, what more do I need to do?
I need to do more work on going uphill, as it’s quite obvious that’s my weak point.
I so wanted to go into the gallery and buy that painting. And if I’m honest, I wanted to see Jamie. We got on so well and having coffee together would have helped me get to know her better.
Jamie's good looking and she has a great smile, warm eyes and kissable lips.
Oh my god, that’s the second time I’ve thought that.
Lucy took a large gulp of her wine and wondered at where her mind was going. Why was she having these wayward thoughts? She was regarding Jamie in the same vein as she would a man.
She continued to write in her journal.
I think I’ll attempt the steps again the day after tomorrow, this time I’ll make sure I take it at a steady pace, and maybe, just maybe I’ll do it in one.
Then I’ll be able to go and get my painting and see Jamie with head held high. And why I should be so worried about that I have no idea.
I’d say I’m going through a mid-life crisis, but at my age I think I can safely say I’ve already done that.
Lucy got up to refill her now empty wine glass. She looked out of the lounge window to the green out the front. It was still early at six and there were a few couples walking hand in hand. She wondered if they were perhaps on their way to the pub for an early dinner or just out enjoying each other’s company. Lucy missed that, missed the companionship that being part of a couple afforded her. She’d noticed in the two days of being on holiday, she wasn’t able to talk about what was happening. When she looked at the Abbey steps that first time, it would have been nice to share her thoughts with someone else. She went back to the table to finish her writing.
I think that’s why I enjoyed meeting Jamie, and even though I’m only here for a couple of weeks,maybe we could be friends, well at the very least holiday friends.
Well so much for writing about what I’ve done during the day. It seems I’m exploring my feelings, not that that’s a bad thing. Anyway back to the purpose of my journal
Today wasn’t a good day because I failed in myattempt to get to the top in one go. However, I did find a lovely cafe to have my lunch. It had a great basic menu and while I had lunch I read my Whitby guide. I’ve decided one of my days will be spent at the beach exploring the shoreline.
I also want to go to Scarborough. There’s a bus that only takes about an hour so I may give that a go.
I may even buy some seaside rock and a kiss-me quick hat while I’m there.
Lucy closed the journal and went into the kitchen to start preparing her evening meal.
JAMIE HELD THE door of the pub open for Selena and followed
her in. “Hi, JJ, Selena, the usual?” Ben asked. “Yes please, Ben, thanks.” Selena replied. Ben started pulling two pints of lager for them. “You girls had a good day then?”
“Hardly girls, Ben, but yes a good day. How about you?” Jamie asked.
“Not so bad, and you’ll always be girls to an old boy like me.” Ben grinned at them in a kindly way.
The Anchor was their local and served the best food in their view. It was an old style pub that hadn’t succumbed to the modern themed pub trend yet. There was the ubiquitous slot machine and an old fashioned juke box, but that was all. It was a nice comfy place with subdued lighting and a real log fire that blazed away in the winter. The Anchor was all dark wood, heavy drapes and a well-worn carpet that Ben had said he was going to replace.
“There you go, girls.” Ben put the two pints on the bar top and Jamie duly paid him.
“Thanks, Ben,” Jamie said.
“Are we eating here or just having the one?” Selena asked.
&n
bsp; “Just the one, I’ve got a spag bog I’ve been looking forward to all day.”
“Okay, let’s get a table and have a chat.” Selena led the way to a small table in the corner.
Jamie followed in trepidation, knowing what it meant when Selena said she wanted a chat.
They sat quietly for a few minutes before Selena broke the silence.
“So, this woman has made quite an impression on you, then.”
It was more of a statement than a question but Jamie still decided to answer.
“No, not really. She was just different and I would have liked the chance to get to know her better.”
Jamie returned to contemplating her beer as if it were the most fascinating thing in the whole world.
“Oh come off it, JJ. I can tell she made more of an impression than that.”
“What if she did? It makes no difference, she’s obviously on holiday, and probably straight. Or maybe she is gay and hasn’t realised it yet,” Jamie said, a little more angrily than she should have. “Sorry, Sel, I keep snapping your head off today.”
Jamie watched Selena ruminating over her apology and wondered what gem was going to come from her lips.
199 Steps to Love Page 3