Lucy - Now Completed!

Part 24 - 26th June 1969

Lucy kept walking, driven by her anger and sadness and wanting to create as much space between herself and Paul as she could. Twenty minutes into her walk, she started to slow down, her driving anger taken over by tiredness! She stopped by the side of the road and leaned against the dry stone wall to get her breath. Although now late June, the day was dull and overcast. Lucy shivered slightly and regretted leaving her coat at home. As she rested she thought about Paul. Would he come looking for her? Would her beg her to stay? She sighed deeply. She knew she couldn't go back to him now. She had to put her own welfare and that of the child first now, not Paul. She started walking once more until she stood at the brow of a hill. The road stretched ahead, twisting around the base of a hill. Lucy looked around. If she headed across the next two fields, she would cut off about two miles from her journey. Pleased with her calculations, she started by climbing over the wall and heading across the fields.

It didn't take Lucy long to realise that the fields weren't easy terrain to cross despite her sensible flat work shoes. The land was pitted by long ago feet of cattle and sheep using it for grazing. She stopped, debating whether to turn back, but realizing how far she managed to travel in a reasonably quick time, she decided to carry on. At one stage she had to climb the steep side of the hill before the land leveled off. It was hard going and Lucy was forced to stop several times. As it did on the peninsula, the weather began to close in and the sky darkened. Lucy hoped it wouldn't rain, her coat was still in the car at the house. She tried to hurry on but it got rougher under foot and it didn't take long before Lucy was beginning to struggle with sheer exhaustion. She'd had less than four hours sleep in the last twenty four and that, combined with the stress and her recent poor diet, left her drained. She looked around, finding her bearings and trying to decide how much further it was until she reached the town. Clouds began to form and then it began to pour with rain. She tried to hurry on but was slowed down further by the increasingly muddy ground. She fell over several times and was quickly soaked through to the skin by the rain. She took temporary shelter by the side of the wall and closed her eyes. Despite the rain, she fell into an exhausted sleep. She had no idea how long she had been there when a rumble of thunder awoke her with a start. She moved stiffly...she was so cold her teeth began to chatter. Lucy could see it was getting later in the afternoon and she needed to get out of the wet and cold before nightfall.

She stumbled on, and as she rounded the hill she saw a local croft, a tiny house occupied by a tenant farmer who worked the land. She knew the people by sight and hoped that they would help her to get into town. Eventually she stumbled into their front yard and banged on the door.

The door opened.

"Help me please!" she begged before collapsing into a dead faint on the floor. When she opened her eyes she found herself lying on a small sofa in a cosy room. She tried to sit up.

"Wait lass," said a woman in her fifties, "It seems you've been caught out on the moor in this bad weather."

"I'm sorry to bother you," Lucy began, "I was trying to get into town. My car broke down. I thought I could walk it!"

"You're the young lass married to that singer aren't you?" said a man of the same age, "I've seen you in the town."

Lucy nodded then shivered violently.

"I think we need to get you out of those wet clothes my dear," said the woman. "I'm Winnie. You're safe here." She sent her husband out of the room and then gently coaxed Lucy to take off her wet clothes and put on an old fashioned nightgown and dressing gown belong to the woman. "There now. Now then, hot soup is what you'll be needing."

"Please," said Lucy, "I don't want to put you out. Is there any way your husband could give me a lift into town?" She tried to stand up but immediately began to sway, her legs feeling decidedly weak so she sat down heavily. "What's wrong with me?" she asked.