Mel, Tab, Mewla & Cathy - Their Exmoor Holiday

Chapter Five


  All in all it took us till after five o'clock to get back up the path. We all slipped and fell at some point during the climb, and by the time we got to the top we were all climbing on our hands and knees, and it was all we could do to grab onto some tufts of heather and pull ourselves onto the clifftop. Mewla, however, grabbed onto gorse and yelled extremely loudly. We all had a good drink, then set off across the clifftop back to the carpark.
  Mum and Dad were waiting in the car when we got there. We must have looked a right sight - dusty, dirty, covered in plasters, sweating buckets, and generally messy. Mum's face said it all as she got out of the car. Cathy was limping now, as her grazed knee was hurting quite a bit.
  "What on Earth's happened?" Mum said, as we all stopped walking. Mewla sat down on the ground with a bump, as if someone had pulled her legs out from underneath her, and the rest of us lolled against the car.
  It's that damn path to the cove." Cathy explained, half-grinning. "It's so steep, you wouldn't believe, and we've slipped and fallen, and the earth is so dry and stony that we've all got covered in dust, and...."
  "Can I get in the car now?" Mewla pulled herself up and flopped into the back of the car.
  "Well it all sounds jolly dangeous to me!" Mum said, helping Cathy in, and closing the door after Tab and I scrambled in. "I don't think you'd better come here again. Why, any one of you might have slipped and fallen a long way!"
  "We wouldn't, Mum." Mewla said. "There are things to grab onto if you slip. And..."
  "That's not the point, Mewla!" Mum said. "I don't want you slipping or falling at all! Come on - let's get back to the hotel or you won't have time to rest and freshen up before dinner."
  I'm not sure what happened on the way back but the next thing we knew was that we were back at the hotel and Mum was waking us up. She picked up our bags for us as we all got groggily out of the car. But even the climb, being knackered and hungry, and feeling filthy and sweaty didn't depress us, and we managed to have a giggle as we all went in and up to our suites.
  "Well, we've got an hour and a half or so before dinner, so I think a cool drink and a shower are in order!" Cathy said, unlocking her suite. "We'll pop in when we've freshened up, okay?"
  "Sure." I said, as Tab and I disappeared into our suite. "See you in a bit."
  Tab flopped down in the chair as I closed the door.
  "Oh, a soft seat!" she grinned.
  "And you're putting dust and dirt all over it!" I laughed.
  "No, I left all that in your Dad's car." she smiled.
  "Well if you're going to flop there, I'm going to leap in the shower." I said. "I feel so filthy it's unreal."
  "Okay, go ahead." Tab said. "I'll put the television on or something."
  I felt amazing after I had had a shower. I didn't smell of the sea anymore, I didn't feel as if I had sand everywhere, my hair felt clean and smelt nice - it was wonderful. I wrapped myself in the thick, soft towel that was folded by the shower, tied my hair up in a smaller one, and went through into our suite, where Tab and Cathy were watching the television.
  "Mewla insisted on having a shower first." grinned Cathy.
  A little while later, we had all had lovely refreshing showers and were sat on the verandah in our dressing gowns, drinking orange juice.
  "Ahh, this is the life." grinned Cathy.
  The sun was getting a bit lower in the sky and was looking beautiful over Bossington Hill and on the sea.
  "So do you think Mum will let us go there again?" Mewla said, sipping her juice.
  "I don't know, possibly." I said. "I think she was a bit concerned when we told her all about slipping down the path, and when she saw the state of our legs and things, but..."
  "We'll be okay next time." Cathy said, examining her bandaged knee. "She knows we're careful and that we don't do silly things."
  "Yes, I suppose." Mewla said. "I hope she does, I want to go again!"
  "Don't we all!" Cathy said, puting her glass down on the table with a clink, and getting up. "I've got a hidden cove to find!"
  She went back through into our suite, then called us.
  "Come on - we'd better get ready for dinner!"
 

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  We all managed to look quite presentable for dinner, in our pretty evening dresses, and with our hair and make-up freshly done. Even though I hadn't been asleep, I didn't feel as tired as I had felt when we got back to the hotel earlier, and I think the others felt the same. We bumped into Mum and Dad on our way down to the dining room, so we all walked in together and sat down at our table.

TO BE CONTINUED............