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A lunchtime stone clear, hampered by the thick crops that still have not been harvested, but still nice to be out there making a difference. When I started this people all said that I'd never get to Chapter 166. A weird number for them all to choose. But I proved them all wrong.
I did the evening dog walk out on my secret field.The one I podcast from is just a decoy one to fool the Ftone Ftafi, but my true love is another even bigger field over the way. You can see one of my cairns from the other side of the valley.
As I entered the field through what I considered a pretty narrow entrance through the hedge I was surprised to see a full wing mirror lying on the ground. It would be a very wayward driver who could lose such a thing here. I picked it up and put it on a nearby cairn anyway. It was one of those that had that warning that objects in the mirror might appear larger (or is it smaller) than they are. I wanted to take a photo, but had left my phone at home.
As I walked and fubbuteoed some ftones I became aware of a family car driving up the field. This was a bit weird, but the crop had been harvested in this field and I figures that maybe the farmer was checking stuff out. Weird he was in a saloon rather than a land rover or tractor, but how else would he have got on the field? The entrance I'd just come through was surely too small for a car. I wasn't putting two and two together yet.
The car was some way away and seemed to be heading towards a bumpy bridleway that would be just about accessible for a car, though not comfortable to drive over. But then neither was this field. The car seemed to turn towards me. It was some way away, but I now didn't think it was the farmer. It seemed to be full and the back window was open and was there a head popping out, laughing? I couldn't see. But suddenly it felt like this might be a dangerous situation and my spidey sense told me to get out of there asap. It seemed more likely to be joyriders than anything else and though they might just want to give me a fright or chuck something at them, I didn't want to give them the chance.
Oh, could the wing mirror have come off this car? You think, Sherlock?
I still doubted it. The entrance was so tight and there was cairn and a sign almost right in front of it. But the tightness of the gap did provide an explanation for the severed wing mirror.
I got back through that gap, now totally convinced that it couldn't possibly have been the way the car got in. Too narrow, the cairn and sign hadn't been hit and there were not tyre marks through the undergrowth, but twenty seconds after I emerged through the gap, the car followed (lucky for me that I hadn't just been entering at that point. It headed off up the hill in the other direction. I couldn't read the number plate or see the perps, but I assume they may have been young men, having a laugh, most likely in a car that didn't belong to them.
I mentioned it on the village Facebook page and someone from the farm said they'd block the entrance up straight away (went past the next day and there were wooden stakes in the gap). I was actually quite impressed that the joy riders had done this- had spotted the gap and worked out they could go through. I was only sad that I hadn't been podcasting this. There have been fires and storms and phantom drones and morlocks and all sorts happening during the podcast, but I'd love to have heard my monologue for this one.
I will miss this village.
