***
Alex, Mary, Gary and Shark had taken a break for lunch, and were sitting on one of the Black Pathway's many wooden benches, when they noticed that the blue sky was darkening and becoming obscured with mist and cloud.
"Where did the sun go?" Asked Alex, as he watched the moorland mist roll in. "I don't like the look of this." He continued.
"It's just some mist. Stop being such a fucking wuss." Replied Gary.
"I'm not being a wuss," argued Alex, "I just don't want to be up here with that stuff coming down."
"Why not? It's not going to hurt you." Gary tried to point out to his friend.
"Yeah, it could do. It might make us get lost." Alex responded.
"We're not gonna get lost though, are we? All we have to do is follow the pathway. It’s not rocket science.” Assured Gary.
"Yeah, but I seem to remember that the pathway isn't too clear once you're on the moor." Said Alex.
"Well, we're not on the moor yet, and, if there's still mist down when we do reach it, then we'll just have to take things slowly." Advised Gary.
"I like it. I think it's creepy." Smiled Shark, who was enjoying the change in tone that the moorland mist brought to the flat-lands.
"Weirdo." Commented Alex Crennell. Mary elbowed him in the side.
"Stop being horrible." She scolded her boyfriend, playfully.
"Well, it's true." He remarked, and with that, he was rewarded another nudge from his girlfriend.
Shark munched on a cheese sandwich, ignoring Alex's jibes. She turned to Gary.
"We haven't seen another soul up here on the pathway so far. Is that normal?" Shark wanted to know.
"This place doesn't get many visitors during the winter. If we were sat here in, say, three months time, in spring, then we'd probably be moaning about the amount of other walkers up here with us." Answered Gary. "I'd be surprised though, if we didn't see anyone else doing the hike over the next few days."
"I already have." Said Alex, muscling in on Gary and Shark's conversation.
"You 'already have' what?" Asked Gary.
“I’ve already seen another couple of walkers. When we were back by the bridge, and I went for a piss, there was someone walking behind us, in the distance. And just a few minutes ago, there was a person up on the glacial ridge. Maybe it was the same hiker who I saw earlier. I dunno.” Advised Alex.
“It probably was." Said Gary. “Some hardcore nutter who’s having the time of their lives high up there, on some narrow fucking ledge, in all the mist.” He grinned.
"Hey, maybe Alex saw the ghost that you were telling us about earlier! The one that hangs out by the bridge.” Joked Shark. Alex gave her a dirty look.
"It wasn't a ghost, stupid. I know what I saw. It was another hiker, walking the trail." He retorted.
“I was just kidding.” Pointed out Shark. “Stop being so fucking touchy.”
"More likely the person that you saw by the bridge was someone from Coldsleet out walking their dog up Leeton Hill." Suggested Gary. "That part of the trail is quite popular with dog owners." He added.
“No. Whoever it was, they didn't have a dog." Pointed out Alex.
"Yeah, well Gary, they might well have had a dog, but it was probably running around in some undergrowth or something, maybe having a shit… I don’t know. You just didn't see it." Argued Gary. He took a sip of water from his bottle, and looked up at the glacial ridge that run parallel to the Black Pathway; it's summit had completely vanished under the mist that was now rolling in fast from off Coldsleet Moor.
The group finished off their lunch, and continued walking along the flat-lands, getting closer to Coldsleet Moor.
"Right, everybody. We're almost off the flat-lands now… notice how we're beginning to climb again? I know that it's pretty difficult to see much in front of us at the moment, but we're right on the western edge of Coldsleet Moor." Said Gary.
"Terrific." Replied Alex, sarcastically. He turned to Mary, lowering his voice. "We could all be down at 'The Stagecoach' right now, enjoying a few beers and some pub grub. Instead, we're stuck up here in the mist and the cold." He moaned.
"Well, it was your idea to do this." Replied Mary, who was slowly beginning to get irritated with her boyfriend’s constant griping. "Look, Alex, we could always just turn back and head home… go out tonight, have a drink or two…" she suggested. Truth be known, Mary Broderick wasn't enjoying herself very much either, and Alex's moaning was just making matters worse.
"What? Do you think we should?" Asked Alex, who no longer cared about completing the Black Pathway. After four hours of walking, he'd already had enough, and his feet were beginning to hurt, too.
"Well, the weather's not exactly ideal for this sort of thing, is it?" Mary pointed out. "If you want to call it a day and head back to Coldsleet, then I'm more than happy to agree to that." She continued.
Gary Ackley and Shark walked close behind the couple, listening in on their conversation.
"Sounds like Alex is gearing up to quit." Mumbled Gary.
"Sounds like they're both gearing up to quit." Agreed Shark.
"I told you, didn't I? I said that Alex wasn't up to this." Said Gary.
"Yeah, I know. I didn't think it'd be quite this soon though… looks like the prospect of heading up onto Coldsleet moor in all of this mist is really freaking him out." Observed Shark.
"Well, that's Alex for you… he tries to come across as the hard-man, but he's just a great big pussy." Giggled Gary.
"You can say that again… he's pretty pathetic, plus he never stops whining." Concurred Shark, and they both began to laugh out loud. Just in front of them, Alex Crennell was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Alex Crennell could sense that Gary and Shark were laughing about him. He looked back, over his shoulder, and stared at the two of them, with suspicion in his eyes.
"What are you two giggling about?" He wanted to know.
"Mind your own business." Gary instantly replied, smirking.
"No, come on, I want to know." Alex went on. "You're laughing about me, aren't you?" He asked, his voice wobbly with paranioa.
" Like I just said, it's none of your business." Said Gary, standing his ground.
"Oh, for Christ's sake, just leave it, Alex." Sighed Mary. "They could have been laughing about anything." She tried to reason. Alex turned to his girlfriend.
"No, Gary was laughing about me. I can always tell when he's taking the piss out of me." He advised.
"Oh, what a load of crap. HOW can you tell, Alex?” Jeered Mary.
"I just can!" Was Alex's response. He turned back to Gary and Shark. "So, come on, let's have it, what were you laughing about?" Alex repeated his question.
"You can ask as many times as you like… it's none of your business." Reiterated Gary Ackley.
"I told you, Alex, just leave it, they're not doing any harm." Said Mary. Alex didn't like this. My fucking girlfriend should be sticking up for me, not them… he let go of Mary's hand, and then stopped walking.
"Right, that's it. I've had enough. Let's go home." He declared, calling a halt to the group's hike along the Black Pathway. Alex Crennell had had enough.
Chapter Nineteen
Alex stood on the Black Pathway and wiped at the sweat on his forehead with his hand.
"Me and Mary have been talking about it. We think that it's stupid to carry on with this hike, what with the weather and all." Said Alex.
"It's just a bit of mist. It'll clear." Replied Gary.
"And what if it doesn't? In a few hours, it'll be getting dark, too…”
"By which time, we'll have walked over Coldsleet Moor, and be heading into Knighton." Interrupted Gary.
"Not if we get lost, we won't." Snapped Alex.
"We're not gonna get lost. I've told you before, Alex, all we need to do is take things slowly, make sure that we're following the track, and…"