Out of The Blue (5 page)

“Maybe not. Let’s keep going to the top of the hill. Mike said he thought he saw a small group of female red deer on the other side a few nights ago.”

“Really? Are they common?”

“Not round here. He didn’t get a good look, so they could have been roe deer, which is probably more likely.” 

We continued up the hill, relying on the moon to provide enough light. 

“Celebrities always seem to die in threes don’t they? Or is that electricals?”

I giggled. “I think that’s electricals.”

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty much.”

“But didn’t Richard Griffiths die a few months ago?”

“Who?” I asked.

“Uncle Monty from
Withnail and I
. Haven’t you seen it?”

She sounded like it should have been compulsory viewing. “No, I don’t think so.”

“He was in the Barry Trotter films. Played his mean uncle.”

“The what films?”

“Sorry, I mean Harry Potter. He’s known as Barry Trotter in our house. My parents’ house I mean.”

Oh my God! She’s as mad as a box of frogs. We came out here to do a night walk to see if there is any nocturnal life and she hasn’t stopped talking since we got here. I checked my watch, wondering how long it would be till she conked out from sleep deprivation.   

“Sorry, I don’t get to see a lot of TV,” I said.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing that can’t be rectified … with a little time and effort.”

I turned to her, taking on board her last statement. “I see … and you’re willing to take the time to educate me on these things.”

I must have surprised her. Even in the shadowy light, the expression on her face at my remark brought to life the rabbit in the headlights look. If no other wildlife reared its head I could at least cross rabbit off my I-spy wildlife list.    

“Maybe. We should probably start before any more actors pop their clogs. Who’s going to be next?”

It warmed my heart that despite the look on her face, the words that came out were confident. I smiled in reply, enjoying the repartee. The thought of Jamie trying to educate me on anything sounded pretty exciting to me.

I slowed down as we made it to the edge of the woods. Crouching down in the long grass, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jamie do the same next to me. Using the binoculars again, I scanned the edge of the smaller stand of woodland set higher up the hill. Nothing.   

Turning towards her, even with the shadow of her cap, I could see the glint in her eye. “You’re totally crackers, you know that don’t you? Should I be worried that I’m out here in the middle of nowhere at silly o’clock with you?” 

“No, no, I’m a very reliable individual … honest.”

How did she make it sound so dishonest?

“You do realise, in the short time I’ve known you, that’s the second time you’ve had to say that to me.”

“It is? Well, it must be true then,” she said with a grin.  

“I’ll believe you.” I held her gaze for several seconds before turning away. Using the binoculars again, I scanned the lower woods that bordered the boot-sucking bog area. Bingo! There were a small group of roe deer munching on the brambles.    

“Here.” I handed her the binoculars, pointing with my other hand towards the target. With my hands free, I pulled a small spiral-bound notebook and pencil from the side pocket of my trousers.

“Wow!” were the only words that escaped her parted lips as she watched our neighbours on the edge of the woods. Even in profile, I could see the smile stretched across her face.

“What type are they?”

“They’re roe deer: Capreolus capreolus,” I replied. “How many are there?” I asked as I made notes on the date and location on a clean page.

“Umm.” She pulled the binoculars away, offering them back to me.

I waved her off. “I trust you. Do any of them have horns?”

She turned to look at me, a little confused. I dreaded to think what was going through her mind right now. Using my forefinger, I made a little horn shape on top of my hat. I knew the answer to my question already; I had scanned them when I first spotted them but I wanted Jamie to know I trusted her to do it. She giggled slightly before returning to her observations.

“There’s two, no three of them … No, I don’t think any of them have horns.”

“Do they have any markings?” I questioned.

“Er … No, I don’t think so. They’re a, er … browny-red colour. I thought they’d look a bit like Bambi, white dots on their backs.”

I smiled as I made more notes. “They’re older females. Only fawns have those markings. They’re one of our most common native deer, but it’s always nice to see them.” Sometimes the unobtrusive sighting of wild animals in their natural habitat could lighten a bad mood, change your perspective or generally make you feel good about yourself. On this occasion, I didn’t need the help. Being out here alone with Jamie was plenty. I liked the way she made me feel a little nervous and quiet at the same time. It had been a long time since a woman had had that effect on me. She made me want to make her happy and keep her that way just to see that smile plastered on her face. Of course now it was time for that inevitable question. “Why on earth are you single?”

She slowly turned to face me as I realised I had said it out loud and not just in my head.

“I mean …” I stumbled over my words. “You’re out here at this time of day watching deer breakfasting on brambles when you could be …” I didn’t have to finish my sentence.

“Maybe I have a very understanding partner.”

Her slight smile told me everything I needed to know. I focused on her eyes in the shadow of her cap. “Do you?” I asked, just to play along.

“No.”

We both grinned at her reply then a noise in the distance drew our attention to the woods below. The deer had been spooked; they were barking and dashing back into the woods. I was a little sad to see them go, but I was pleased that Jamie’s effort had been rewarded.                      

“Aw, what scared them off?”

“Not sure. Could be nothing. Let’s go and take a closer look.”

“So, am I a surveyor’s assistant now?” she asked.

“Uh … maybe with a little more training,” I said with a suitable amount of enthusiasm.

“What kind of training?” She barely got the words out before stumbling on the ground next to me.

“Well, not wanting to sound too obvious, but maybe a little less talking and a bit more observation.” 

“Tree hugger!” she blurted out with amusement.

“You must learn to control your anger, my Padawan learner.”

“
Star Wars
! Really? Maybe you’re not such a lost cause in the film department.”

I smiled at her reply. I’d heard James use the saying a number of times, but I wasn’t about to burst her bubble and tell her I’d never actually seen
Star Wars
.    

I checked my watch as we made our way down the hill; it was just after 5.00 a.m. Dawn was just beginning to break, bringing a little more light on the situation. As we looked around where the deer were, I pointed in the distance in the direction of the still-retreating beasts. They must have heard us approaching. We were treated to the sight of the three of them dashing away.

Looking around in the dim light, I saw the top of my wellington boot sticking out of the nearby bog. Jamie must have followed my line of sight.          

“Is that your–”

“Yes, it is,” I replied in a slightly clipped tone.

“So, this is where the infamous boot incident happened, is it?”

“It is, and I will get my vengeance on that damn bog,” I replied, a little more playfully. 

She sniggered quietly as I continued to look wistfully at my lost boot.  

“I’m glad to see you’re not letting it get to you.”

I sat down on the nearest log facing the blossoming sunrise, pulling the flask from my rucksack. “Can I tempt you with some hot chocolate?” I asked quietly.

“Oh, yes please. I think I might need to use the bush toilet first. I promise I won’t use your welly.”

“Good, because I plan on wearing it again someday. Not to mention that you would be in full view if you were to use it,” I continued as I poured out two cups of hot chocolate. I looked up to see Jamie had already retreated into the woods looking for the perfect spot. I sat back relaxing in the mildly warm sunshine of the new day. I’m not sure how long I was sat there but the next thing I heard was Jamie’s quiet voice expressing the expletive, “Shit!”

“Jamie? Where are you? Are you okay?” I asked, getting up to look for her.

“Uh … yep, no problem. I just tripped,” she replied a little sheepishly.   

I spotted her coming back towards me; she looked awkward in her movement, both hands behind her back.

“What you got there?” I asked, indicating with my hand still holding my hot chocolate.

“Uhh, nothing … just your long-lost boot.”

She whipped the boot from behind her back. I could see the tideline of muddy gunk around the top. Her hands were equally filthy from retrieving it from the bog. Reluctantly, I took it from her, trying to hold it by its cleanest part.  

“Thanks … I …” I hesitated. The weight of the boot seemed a bit off. “It’s heavy. What’s in there?” I asked as I tipped it upside down, releasing at least a foot’s worth of water and only water, thank God. “Great!” I said as I held the boot upside down at a funny angle to make sure I ejected all the water.

“Well, we did have quite a bit of rain the other night, but I’m sure it’ll dry out,” she said as she ferociously rubbed her hand together to get rid of the mud. 

“I’m grateful it’s just water. Thanks. Here, have some hot chocolate,” I said, leading her back to the log. We sat there in silence for a few moments, both cuddling our plastic mugs of hot chocolate.

“Wow, that’s good hot chocolate,” she mumbled next to me.

I sniggered into my cup.

“Sorry, I start to ramble when I don’t get enough sleep.”

I knew that already from our first meeting in Manchester just a few weeks ago. “How come?”

“How come what?” She genuinely looked confused at my question.

“You didn’t get any sleep,” I clarified.

“Oh, well, I tried. I crashed out on the sofa for a bit, but then I woke up and started watching a film.
Out of Sight
. It’s a Steven Soderbergh film with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, where Clooney is a perpetual scam artist who breaks out of prison and Lopez is the federal marshal after him. It’s from an Elmore Leonard book, so the dialogue is pretty funny.”   

“Yeah,” I said, remembering an Elmore Leonard book I had read a few years ago.

“I think she made a big mistake giving up acting for singing. She was really good in that film.”

I couldn’t recall seeing Jennifer Lopez in any film; I thought she was just a singer and not an actress at all. Well not just; I’m sure she’s very good at what she does. It’s just not my thing. I wasn’t about to share my continued lack of knowledge with Jamie. She already thought I was a media luddite. “I’m not sure she’d agree with you considering how it’s turned out for her.”

“I guess,” she replied, suppressing a yawn. I figured I was boring her again, so I tried to demonstrate my ability to read beyond textbooks and academic journals.

“I read one of his books ages ago … Umm, it was about an arms dealer. They made it into a film with the flight attendant …”

“
Jackie Brown
.”

“That’s the one, but the book was called
Rum Punch
I think. Very funny.” 

“He’s another one that’s dead,” she replied very matter-of-factly.

“Is he?” I was once again amazed by her knowledge of dead people. 

“Yep, a few years ago.” 

I smiled to myself, wondering if he was part of another threesome of dead celebrities, as I finished my hot chocolate. 

Arriving back at Jamie’s, I looked at the dash clock; it was almost 6.00 a.m. and fully light now. I figured I could get a few hours’ sleep before getting back to Bonnington Hall. I turned to see Jamie rubbing the sleep from her eyes after cat napping on our way back. She looked a little embarrassed as she met my eyes; I replied with a warm smile. I was definitely warming to Jamie Buxton and I suspected she felt the same way, too.

“Thanks for taking me with you tonight … this morning,” Jamie said as she reached for the door handle.

“That’s okay. It was … eventful.”

“Oh yeah.” She grinned to herself. “I wondered if you’d like to come round for dinner one night maybe, to say thanks.”

“Uh, yeah, that would be lovely, actually.” I was pretty sick of eating in my room on my own. Hotel rooms and room service are no substitute for your own familiar surroundings.    

“Great! I’ll call you to, er, set it up.”

“Okay.” I giggled at her sleepy manner. “I think you might need to get some sleep.”

“Umm.”