Highland Runaway

Chapter 25

The ice disappears and the snow returns as we weave our way through the labyrinth of trees that greet us once we make our way through the opening. When I ask how Adam knows where to go, he tells me that there’s a path underfoot that we’re following, but I’m almost certain that I can feel myself stepping onto the roots of multiple trees, as though we’re not following any path at all.

                      I follow Adam’s lead as well as I can, but every so often I feel him stop and wait a few metres ahead.

                      “You shouldn’t have brought me with you – I’m so slow,” I tell him truthfully, and I watch as he laughs and walks back to meet me. Covering both of my hands with his, he lowers his face to mine and smirks, his eyes never diverting from mine. “I’m serious,” I say, but this time I’m focused on his smirk, his stare, his closeness and I find myself smiling within seconds of speaking.

                      When Adam doesn’t turn around and continue walking, I recognise the shift in our situation from a few days ago. Whereas before he would have offered one last smirk before walking on, he now stays where he is, slightly crouched, his lips still curved upwards, his eyes still focused on mine, his hands still covering my own.

                      “Can I ask you a question?” He whispers almost inaudibly, and I can feel a part of me crushing as our tiny moment ends. I nod, though, and bite my lip. “I asked you to go to the Highland Games with me as a kind of reserve, I guess right?” I slowly nod my head, unsure of what he was getting at. “What if I was to ask you as my date for Thursday?”

                      I didn’t know what Adam was going to ask, but that certainly wasn’t what I had imagined. Perhaps he was going to ask if I was too out of breath to continue, or maybe he was wondering if I’d had a good day… I didn’t expect – well – that. The surprise quickens my heart rate.

                      “What if you did?” I challenge him, but my confidence fades as Adam leans closer than he’s ever been before.

                      “What would you say?” he asks and, despite his smirk, I hear the intrigue in his voice. “Hypothetically, of course.” 

                      “Of course,” I reply, my face falsely serious, but I know I’m biting my lip as I speak. “I guess it would be rude to say no, don’t you?”

                      “I think it would be incredibly rude!” I find myself giggling as Adam grins, but as he pulls his face away from mine, I can hear my laugh becoming strained in disappointment. “Besides,” he continues, standing up to his full height, stretching out an arm to me, “I’ve already entered us in for a reel, so I kind of needed you to say yes.”

                      The threatening sky has deserted us an hour later, leaving only the undisturbed snow as proof of today’s blizzard. Once we started moving again, we were walking for fifteen minutes longer until we couldn’t venture any further; a small beech fence divides us from an open void which looks as though it’s a two hundred feet drop into a sea of icy rocks below.

                      Beyond the emptiness, is a summit of a mountain, tall and sharp like a spear, and I realise how high we have been without noticing all this time.

                      “Not bad, eh?” Adam asks, and all I can do is nod, my eyes still absorbing the sight before me. The fading light would normally concern me, knowing we have to walk back to Lochnaheife as the sun begins to disappear, but the pink light peeping out behind the mountain top has me breathless and wanting more. As I continue staring out, I imagine myself extending my hand, grabbing a ball of light from above and putting it in my pocket to burn later.