BooksBarbecue
Back With or Without You Save as PDF
Chapters (84)
  1. Chapter one
  2. Chapter two
  3. Chapter three
  4. Chapter four
  5. Chapter five
  6. Chapter six
  7. Chapter seven
  8. Chapter eight
  9. Chapter nine
  10. Chapter ten
  11. Chapter eleven
  12. Chapter twelve
  13. Chapter thirteen
  14. Chapter fourteen
  15. Chapter fifteen
  16. Chapter sixteen
  17. Chapter seventeen
  18. Chapter eighteen
  19. Chapter nineteen
  20. Chapter twenty
  21. Chapter twenty-one
  22. Chapter twenty-two
  23. Chapter twenty-three
  24. Chapter twenty-four
  25. Chapter twenty-five
  26. Chapter twenty-six
  27. Chapter twenty-seven
  28. Chapter twenty-eight
  29. Chapter twenty-nine
  30. Chapter thirty
  31. Chapter thirty-one
  32. Chapter thirty-two
  33. Chapter thirty-three
  34. Chapter thirty-four
  35. Chapter thirty-five
  36. Chapter thirty-six
  37. Chapter thirty-seven
  38. Chapter thirty-eight
  39. Chapter thirty-nine
  40. Chapter forty
  41. Chapter forty-one
  42. Chapter forty-two
  43. Chapter forty-three
  44. Chapter forty-four
  45. Chapter forty-five
  46. Chapter forty-six
  47. Chapter forty-seven
  48. Chapter forty-eight
  49. Chapter forty-nine
  50. Chapter fifty
  51. Chapter fifty-one
  52. Chapter fifty-two
  53. Chapter fifty-three
  54. Chapter fifty-four
  55. Chapter fifty-five
  56. Chapter fifty-six
  57. Chapter fifty-seven
  58. Chapter fifty-eight
  59. Chapter fifty-nine
  60. Chapter sixty
  61. Chapter sixty-one
  62. Chapter sixty-two
  63. Chapter sixty-three
  64. Chapter sixty-four
  65. Chapter sixty-five
  66. Chapter sixty-six
  67. Chapter sixty-seven
  68. Chapter sixty-eight
  69. Chapter sixty-nine
  70. Chapter seventy
  71. Chapter seventy-one
  72. Chapter seventy-two
  73. Chapter seventy-three
  74. Chapter seventy-four
  75. Chapter seventy-five
  76. Chapter seventy-six
  77. Chapter seventy-seven
  78. Chapter seventy-eight
  79. Chapter seventy-nine
  80. Chapter eighty
  81. Chapter eighty-one
  82. Chapter eighty-two
  83. Chapter eighty-three
  84. Chapter eighty-four

Edie wheeled round. Her eyes widened in horror. Pressing her face against the full-length window of the restaurant was indeed the last person she’d expected to see. Her mother. She dropped Pip’s hand like a hot brick. Even more surprising, lurking behind her frowning parent was a rather dashing man in smart slacks.

Chapter fifty-three

Chapter fifty-three

Dean and I are taking a hike to his village—a mere two hours away—where he’s going to show me his home and introduce me to some of his friends. I feel quite nervous about it, as if I’m going to meet his parents—except his parents, of course, are safely out of the way in the US of A. And I think it indicates an inherent switch in my perspective that it’s not the four-hour round trip by foot that I’m finding daunting.

‘Are you ready to make tracks?’ Dean says.

‘Yes.’ The thought of a day alone together is utter bliss.

We trek gently downhill, away from the camp, and on the stretches where we are completely alone, hold hands as we walk. Monkeys swing through the trees above us, chattering as they go. The scenery is softening as we walk, along with my muscles. My tension feels like an onion skin—each day I manage to shed another layer and I didn’t realise quite how many layers there were. My tension is one bloody big onion! It’s not an iddly-piddly spring onion, it’s a great hulking Spanish dobber.

We squeeze against the side of the narrow trail as a mule train of a dozen pack animals passes by, the bells of their colourful, plumed headdresses jingling and their hooves clip-clopping on the stones as they take essential supplies to the highland areas by the only route that’s available in the Annapurna region. How the lucky 10 per cent of the world’s population who own cars take them for granted!

The last part of the walk is down a wide meadow and we pick our way down slippery stone steps enjoying the open vista above Bengas Tal Lake. Tiny houses cling to the side of the hills like colourful Lego bricks.

As we approach the village, the children run down from the fields shouting, ‘Gora! Gora!’ Foreigner! Foreigner!

‘These are some of the kids that I teach,’ Dean says as they hit us at full tilt and wrap themselves round his legs.

So, clearly, the chant is for my benefit. They swarm round me, noisier than the wild bees, all smiles and shouting.