but only until she had passed on. She knew this because she had not gone far along the road before their joined laughter came to her again.
The next time she had seen him was one day not more than a fortnight ago. She had passed the cottage on the fells at least a dozen times since the autumn and had seen no-one at all, but this day they were all outside looking at something on the road, Mr. and Mrs. Maclntyre and Andrew Maclntyre, and when she came up to them she saw that it was a small terrier bitch with puppies. A different scene from that which she had come upon the first day she had passed the house, for now the mother and son were laughing at the antics of the pups and the father was looking on. Mr. Maclntyre she saw should have been a tall man, but he was very bent and stood with the aid of a stick. His body looked like that of an old man but his face was that of a man in his fifties.
Neither Mrs. Maclntyre nor Andrew had introduced him to her, and after passing the time of day with them, and remarking on the sweetness of the puppies, she had continued on her way feeling as if she had trespassed on their property. They were using the road as if it was their garden, and she was left with the impression that she had walked through it without asking permission.
She now climbed up through the wood until she reached the flint road, and here she hesitated as she had done once or twice before when she had the desire to explore the quarry, really explore it. She had been as far as the end of the road and looked over the barbed wire into the vast crater that the workings had left. The water in it, the accumulation of the rainfall of years, was blackish and forbidding, and it had always checked her adventurous desire to walk round the perimeter of the quarry or to find out if there was even a way around it, for from the end of the road there was no sign of a path. Yet from her first visit she knew that someone went into the quarry, for in one place the barbed wire had been pressed down to make easier access.
So today when she looked at the wire she thought, "Where one can go another can' and she was under the wire and in the enclosure of the quarry before the thought had finished in her mind.
Once over the wire fence she stopped. It was strange, but she had the feeling that everything was different on this side of the wire; it was as if the quarry had no connection with the wood. The atmosphere in the wood was soothing; here only a few steps within the wire, she felt a surge of unrest, even fear. When she found herself half turning towards the wire again, she murmured aloud, saying, "Don't be silly'
and then, surprised at the sound of her own voice, she closed her eyes and smiled.
There was no possible way of her getting to the edge of the crater from where she stood, for bracken, bush and bramble had entwined to make an impregnable barrier at least thirty feet wide, and only because this sloped downwards could she see the water. And from this distance she guessed she must be looking almost into the middle of the quarry.
The only way clear enough for walking was by the wire fencing, and this did not lead to the quarry but away from it. Yet she had only followed it for some yards when she saw to the left of her the narrow cutting in the wall of bracken. It was just wide enough for one person to walk through, and as she stood looking at it there came to her again the feeling of fear, but this time it was intensified and she had the urge to turn like a frightened child and dash out of the enclosure.
Was the land boggy and this feeling a warning? Tentatively she put her foot among the grasses, but the ground felt rock-like. Hesitating no more, she entered the path. Although it was open to the sky, it seemed dark inside. She walked quietly and slowly, wondering with a quickening of her heart beats what she would find round the next corner, for the path twisted and turned continuously until it came abruptly to an end.
She was
The next time she had seen him was one day not more than a fortnight ago. She had passed the cottage on the fells at least a dozen times since the autumn and had seen no-one at all, but this day they were all outside looking at something on the road, Mr. and Mrs. Maclntyre and Andrew Maclntyre, and when she came up to them she saw that it was a small terrier bitch with puppies. A different scene from that which she had come upon the first day she had passed the house, for now the mother and son were laughing at the antics of the pups and the father was looking on. Mr. Maclntyre she saw should have been a tall man, but he was very bent and stood with the aid of a stick. His body looked like that of an old man but his face was that of a man in his fifties.
Neither Mrs. Maclntyre nor Andrew had introduced him to her, and after passing the time of day with them, and remarking on the sweetness of the puppies, she had continued on her way feeling as if she had trespassed on their property. They were using the road as if it was their garden, and she was left with the impression that she had walked through it without asking permission.
She now climbed up through the wood until she reached the flint road, and here she hesitated as she had done once or twice before when she had the desire to explore the quarry, really explore it. She had been as far as the end of the road and looked over the barbed wire into the vast crater that the workings had left. The water in it, the accumulation of the rainfall of years, was blackish and forbidding, and it had always checked her adventurous desire to walk round the perimeter of the quarry or to find out if there was even a way around it, for from the end of the road there was no sign of a path. Yet from her first visit she knew that someone went into the quarry, for in one place the barbed wire had been pressed down to make easier access.
So today when she looked at the wire she thought, "Where one can go another can' and she was under the wire and in the enclosure of the quarry before the thought had finished in her mind.
Once over the wire fence she stopped. It was strange, but she had the feeling that everything was different on this side of the wire; it was as if the quarry had no connection with the wood. The atmosphere in the wood was soothing; here only a few steps within the wire, she felt a surge of unrest, even fear. When she found herself half turning towards the wire again, she murmured aloud, saying, "Don't be silly'
and then, surprised at the sound of her own voice, she closed her eyes and smiled.
There was no possible way of her getting to the edge of the crater from where she stood, for bracken, bush and bramble had entwined to make an impregnable barrier at least thirty feet wide, and only because this sloped downwards could she see the water. And from this distance she guessed she must be looking almost into the middle of the quarry.
The only way clear enough for walking was by the wire fencing, and this did not lead to the quarry but away from it. Yet she had only followed it for some yards when she saw to the left of her the narrow cutting in the wall of bracken. It was just wide enough for one person to walk through, and as she stood looking at it there came to her again the feeling of fear, but this time it was intensified and she had the urge to turn like a frightened child and dash out of the enclosure.
Was the land boggy and this feeling a warning? Tentatively she put her foot among the grasses, but the ground felt rock-like. Hesitating no more, she entered the path. Although it was open to the sky, it seemed dark inside. She walked quietly and slowly, wondering with a quickening of her heart beats what she would find round the next corner, for the path twisted and turned continuously until it came abruptly to an end.
She was
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