Walking away from Wheal Buckett and advancing upon the forest he thought how wonderful Cornwall was and the thought of going back to Scotland seemed to wrench his heart. As the gradient of the hill that was scattered with rocks and stones, bracken and bushes, became steeper he took one look on the vast stretch of beauty laid out before him and he breathed in the wonder, the view that engulfed his entire mind, the sun setting, colors of red and orange filling the endless Earth and sky above and around him. The metal on his braces were reflecting the dazzling light from above and his striped shirt seemed to radiate a pure white that would have blinded a person directly opposite. His black hair, which was slightly curly and wavy on the top now seemed a lighter colour, almost brown to the gullible eye. A tree to the left of him had been battered out of place and was now in what one could only describe as awkward in position and height. The leaves were still present which was surprising considering the recent storms that had encountered and, hanged on the branches swiftly swaying at a moment of anger from above.
He moved on, trudging through the hidden mud below the grass and the shrubbery that forced you to take a giant step over the nettles that would eventually scrape against your leg, digging through your trousers until it had reached its ambition of stinging you, causing a physical pain that is hard to dispose of.
The path of the forest that William had at last seemed to find by fathoming his way through ,no idea where it would take him but hopefully to his destination, was winding and overgrown clearly slightly neglected for some years, however it was still beautiful with all its wonders treasured abundantly across the seemingly endless tunnel of forestation.
He heard what sounded like the noise of older children laughing and shouting. Making the link between them and the tree climbing challenge he followed the deafening (to a person nearer the hustle and bustle) sound that emitted through the forest, trying not to trip upon the stones and rocks that lay in crevasses upon the ground, embedded and concealed from the wondering eye, catching you at a moment of hallucination or bewilderment, a misleading problem that would suddenly cross you mind.
As he neared, an overpowering wave of general noise floated and hurled through him, forcing him to become bubbled into the excitement that filled the atmosphere catching nearby people, creating reactions of all sorts considering that persons mood and state of mind.
As he neared towards of what he thought was the center of the forest, towards the open space which was clear of any shrubbery, a circle of grassless land, a sudden feeling of agitation overcome him. It started from deep inside him but managed to reach his head, in a poisoning dread of fear. He carried on despite the hindrance from inside, preventing him from collecting his thoughts for the event ahead. Before he knew it he was in the middle of it. Just a vast stretch of people, rather intimidating to one who was used to wondering desolate mountains in absolute solitude. From them came excitement, nothing but for the clearly unorganized situation. However from William came stress from the unknown.
He stood still. Looked around for any familiar faces. He saw none. The faces of everyone seemed to blur into one and his eyes darted around anxiously searching for even just a hint of familiarity.
Then from around the corner came Henry. Henry grabbed Williams arm,” Come William we must be partners,” Henry replied still grabbing William by the arm, urging him forward. William came to the conclusion that you and your partner must get to the top of the tree and collect a flag each and whichever pair won would win the prize of a new boat.
As William and Henry prepared, the crowd started to wait in anticipation waiting to scream for the team they supported and to shout in excitement. The game would be between Henry who partnered with William and Elinor who partnered with Hermione.
Elinor was ready along with Hermione who did nothing but stare at William, Elinor jolted her a few times to grab her attention on focusing on the flags, Hermione seemed somewhat distracted despite this. The tree was indeed the biggest William had seen, it seemed to stretch far above the sky, peaking above the clouds, he was however still up for the challenge although he did not know how well Henry climbed, he still kept a positive outlook upon the event. Also considering the fact that their competitors were both girls and at least one of them looked idle, the other however William believed to have an intelligent air about her which worried him slightly.
The whistle was blown and the ringing sound hurled straight through Elinor’s ears, forcing her to begin the climbing, using her whole body as a force against her competitors. They began at a tie, although as they continued Elinor and William (who had never met) seemed to storm straight ahead. The crowd below shrieked with eagerness and enthusiasm. They had commenced a bet on which team would triumph.
Above Elinor’s head a twig deterred her for a couple of seconds sanctioning her time to catch her breath and call down to Hermione to focus more urgently. Hermione seemed to Elinor undistinguishable, however as she came into view it appeared she was ahead of Henry. William however was ahead of her, but this did not burden her, instead she kept positive and strained to catch up, observing the cautious location of her foot as to not step anywhere which would mislead her from succeeding. She could see the flag above. Shining in the sun. A light blue. Almost blending in with the sky. A few meters away.
As Elinor strode ahead she caught up the pace of which William had customized and, as they reached the top, they both clasped their hands round the bottom of the flag and pulled it out of the branch. The race was still not over however. Hermione was now determined, which Elinor imagined to have arisen by the idea of impressing William. She did not care. Henry was at least one meter below Hermione but catching up fast. Hermione with on extra leap joined Elinor at the top and pulled her flag out before Henry could reach the last 50 centimeters. Elinor and Hermione had won. The whistle was blown and the four climbers could just about hear a tremendous chatter from below.
As Elinor made an attempt to transfer her position and travel further down the tree, she established a branch stalling her way down, interfering with the triumphant success. Hermione carried on down along with Henry. William was surprised how well the girls could climb and had come to the conclusion that they had clearly practiced, as he was sure he and Henry would win. As his eyes wondered, he noticed Elinor was in some state of bewilderment and called over to her,
” Excuse me, is it Elinor?”
“Yes it is,” Elinor said as she tried to break the branch with her foot, “We were introduced were we not?”
“Yes I believe we were Elinor,” William replied trying to remember when they were.
“If you cannot even remember my name then is an introduction of any worth, I have often wondered these things,” Elinor said as she was hurled upside down as the branch was now caught in her shoe.
William’s facial expression at this moment was one of fear mixed with amusement at the position Elinor had found herself. He continued their conversation anyhow,
“Well I suppose having an introduction is just conforming to society’s ways however much it may be of little use.”
William watched as Elinor grabbed onto the nearest branch and swung herself back upright.
“Do you need any help?” William asked.
“None at all I shall be perfectly fine thankyou Mr Hugo,” Elinor replied secretly knowing that she did in fact need a lot of help and had no idea how she was going to recover.
“Very well,” William said,” But I still don’t believe you.” With that he reached over to Elinor and took her arm, pulling her around the branch that had stalled her and setting her free.
“Well thank you for your assistance even though it was hardly needed,” Elinor thanked him and began climbing back down the tree.
“You are very welcome Miss Clark,” William said smirking.
Elinor stopped and turned back up,” I never told you that my second name was Clark…. So you did remember my name, ha-ha very funny…”
“Not at all I just could not remember your first name that was all,” William replied trying hard not to laugh.
“Of