Straight to You Page 0,65

age as my father. A bushy, white beard gave him the appearance of a harmless and unseasonal Santa Claus and I sat up, suddenly glad of a little company. I collected my belongings together and acknowledged the amiable man.

'All right?' I asked. 'How are you doing?'

'Oh, I'm not too bad,' he said in a deep, dry and throaty voice. He seemed unable to control the volume of his voice and, although I was only a couple of feet away from him, I felt sure that I would have been able to hear his every word if I had been a mile further up the road.

'I don't want to seem like I'm beggin' or nothin',' the man continued, 'but you wouldn't 'appen to have something to drink in your bag would you?'

The man's lack of diction and his rustic accent were strangely endearing and I agreed to share a little of the bottled water which remained in my rucksack with him. I hoped that I would be with Samantha soon after daybreak and I felt sure that I wouldn't need all that I carried in the bag. My new companion walked away from the roadside and back into the field and I followed him.

The man dropped to the ground, sat on the grass for a moment and then lay back and looked into the star-filled sky above us. I stepped over the tow hedgerow and walked towards him across the brittle grass. The feeling of the dry, hard ground under my aching feet reminded me of the time I had spent with Samantha in the field and it was hard to believe that it had only been two nights ago. So much had happened in the meantime that it felt as if we had been apart for months. As I walked towards the man I made a silent vow to myself that in a further two days' time I would be holding Sam close to me once more.

I sat down on the rough ground and pulled the rucksack from my aching shoulders. I undid the straps and fastenings, took out what little food remained and drank from one of the last remaining bottles of water. I passed the half-drained vessel over to the man who raised himself up onto his elbows and emptied the plastic bottle in two gulps.

'That's better,' he said as he wiped his mouth dry with a dirty hand. 'I appreciate that, mate.'

'It's all right,' I said quietly.

After a couple of silent minutes had passed, the man spoke again.

'Where you headed?' he asked.

'To the coast,' I replied. 'I'm trying to reach my girlfriend.'

'Better hurry then,' he said and he started to laugh. 'I don't think you got that long left!'

'I know.'

I looked over at the man who lay on his back with a wide, lazy smile plastered across his face. Even if his conversation was less than stimulating, the company was a welcome interruption to the dark monotony of the stifling night.

'What about you?' I asked. 'Where are you going?'

The man shrugged his shoulders and, for no immediately apparent reason, began to laugh again.

'Dunno,' he said. 'I'm just walking around.'

'Isn't there anyone that you want to be with?' I asked, cautiously.

'Nah' he grunted. 'I've just walked out on her.'

The man turned his tired head and, seeing the puzzled look on my face, began to explain.

'I've been married to a real cow for nigh on thirty years. I never had the bottle to get up and get out until tonight when I just decided to go. I figured that the end of the world was as good a reason as any to leave and that was it - I just got up and went.'

He lay back down on the grass, chuckled and then began to laugh uncontrollably once more.

'You should'a seen it!' he roared. 'Right in the middle of dinner it was. I just got up and pissed off!'

I smiled and then began to laugh. Soon, and for no real reason that I could think of, I was laughing as loudly as the man at my side.

'Should've seen 'er face!' he screamed, the tears rolling down his dirty cheeks.

'The world might not end,' I said, trying to be more serious. 'Things might get back to normal. What are you going to do then?'

He wiped his eyes and, for a fraction of a second, a look of intense and obviously false concern spread across his face.

'It bloody better end,' he said, trying not to laugh again, 'If it don't then