A Bump in the Road

[chanaud]

For Hunting Tiger!

Even though my body was being jolted around on the bus, I couldn’t help gazing out the gray window and admire the rolling hills passing in slow speed. Like myself, the passengers were silent and took the brutal beating of the antiquated bus. This is my gift from my parents. My last rendezvous before graduate school. Before I have to grown up and become a responsible adult.

Surprisingly, my parents agreed wholeheartedly when I approached this idea to them. Yes, Stephanie, tour Europe. See the world. There’s plenty of time to grow up. But, they changed their minds quickly when I told them how I wanted to see the world. No way, my parents exclaimed in unison. A young woman is not safe in a foreign country without an escort let alone backpacking. After a week of playing travel agent, I came up with an itinerary that my parents approved. Hesitantly, still approved. Besides, I told them. I’ve always been responsible even when I was a young child. I’ve made them proud. Why would they think any different?

And they shouldn’t. For you see, I have goals. First I would like to tour Europe and study the architectural structures that I’ve studied for four long years. It will prepare me to be an Architectural Engineer. After graduate school, I would like to work for a large firm in New York for at least 5 years. Then I will think of getting married. Three years later, I will be ready for children. And of course, I will hire a nanny. I will not waste my degree playing full time mommy and obedient wife.

I landed in London two days ago and spent the time preparing my backpack with necessities and trying to locate Charles Dickens’ home. I’ve asked several Londoners and most looked at me with blank looks and pointed to the general vicinity that the map had located. One young man who I guessed to be around 18 or 19 actually asked me in a crisp British dialect. “And who might Charles Dickens be?” Bloody Hell! Finally, after marching up and down Doughty Street, I’ve come to the conclusion that the modern snow white arch was the doorway to the birth of Pickwick Papers. It was my first disappointment for it was nothing like I had imagined.

I had to take the only transportation to Warwick Castle. If I hadn’t it would have taken me a good week or so to walk. I had expected a modern bus to take me to the famous 1000-year-old medieval castle. But, wasn’t the least bit disappointed when the dilapidated chariot arrived.

I was completely mesmerized by my surroundings. When the bus sputtered, it didn’t dawn on me what had occurred. Only when the bus rolled slowly to the side of the road did my eyes tear away to see the cause. Questioning voices started getting louder. The bus driver just sat there and turned the ignition only to receive constant whining from the engine. It sputtered a few times. The bus shook as a jolt of life was being injected.
BOOM!

My head turned to where the loud noise came from and saw a cloud of dark dust behind me.

 

[hunting_tiger]

Brian

OOC: Brian Nielsen was a 22 year old student from Denmark. He had a short read hair and his eyes were blue. He was a beer lover like all danes seemed to be but he stayed fit nevertheless. He was 6 feet tall with a weight of around 180 pounds.

IC: The last semester had been a disappointment for me. I had missed almost all tests since my relationship with Lene had ended. All motivation had gone so I decided to take a break from university for 6 months. My parents supported my decision and when I told them that I wanted to hitchhike around Europe they had encouraged me to go.

My journey had started a month later. When I looked out of the car window and saw the English landscape passing by I had some difficulty to believe that it was only a week since I had jumped onto the truck that had taken me all the way from Copenhagen to London. A week that had been filled with visits to some of London's major attractions like St Paul's, Downing Street and Sir Francis Chichester's "Gipsy Moth IV" in Greenwich.

The old farmer that drove the car asked me about my plans and I told Joshua that I wanted to go north and that my first stop was planned to be at Stratford where I wanted to visit both Henley Street and Ann Hathaway's cottage. I told him that i thought that I as a Dane should see where the writer of Hamlet was born even if I never had read a book from him.

When he heard I was from Denmark he turned to me and said.
"Then you should go and see the Castle that once was built to protect our beautiful Ethelfleda from your ancestors".
He told me the story about the 'burh' that was built by Alfred the Great to protect his daughter from the Danish Vikings. A burh that later developed and became the castle that now is known as Warwick Castle.
"You seem to have good legs lad so take the opportunity to walk between Warwick and Stratford, it can't be more than a days walk for you."

It couldn't have been more than a few miles before Joshua would have had to drop me off and take his narrow road home to the farm when we saw a black dust cloud on the road in front of us. He slowed down and stopped the car behind an old bus that was standing beside the road.

Joshua muttered something about bus companies that never took care of their busses when we stepped out of our car and walked up to the bus. The driver had his front window open and my new found friend winked at me before he turned to the driver and said
"Is there anything we can do to help the Warwick Express today ?" and continued with " I promise to give you a helping hand if you give Brian a free ride up to Warwick".

 

[chanaud]

Stephanie

Voices were heard from the front of the bus. I craned my neck to see whom they belong to, but a woman with a straw hat was blocking my view. Just when a panic started to set in, the bus driver stood up and announced the mechanics were working on it right now.

I had to chuckle at the thought. Mechanics were working on the engine right now? Come on. He’s kidding right?

A few passengers stood up to stretch their legs. Following their lead, I decided it might be a good idea to get some fresh air. I followed a few down the aisle and out of the bus.

Amazingly, there were two guys working on the engine. Unreal, I thought. The European Road Service is far more advanced than the American’s. Simply unreal. From what I can see, they were pleasing to my eye. One was short with blonde hair while the other was tall, slim with red hair. Unlike my shoulder length auburn tresses, his were short and fiery red.

The hilly glen caught my eye. The color was stunning spring green. I breathed in deeply and took several gulps. The air was so fresh, I was consumed to flush out my polluted lungs and fill my air pockets with clean, fresh, unpolluted air you would can’t find in the good U.S of A.

I stood there motionless, my soft brown almond shaped eyes taking in the beautiful natural landscaping sculpted by Mother Nature, herself, when a voice came from behind breaking my revelry.

“You know. Every time, I see God’s country, I just want to strip away my clothes and run naked through the hills as God had intended us to be.”

 

[hunting_tiger]

Brian

The driver agreed to give me a free ride and moments later Joshua was standing with a wrench in his hand looking down at the motor. My knowledge of motors was almost as non-excistent as my knowledge of UFO's so I just stood there and talked with the driver about my vacation plans.

I heard a "Yesss" and turned back towards Joshua and saw him looking up at us with a smile on his face. "I found the fault, it will not take me much more than five minutes to fix this so you better go and get your rucksack".

It wasn't until i was on my way back to the bus with the rucksack that i saw her, a young woman with auburn hair standing beside the road looking out over the glen. I stopped behind her and looked out over the landscape. The beauty of it gave me a vision of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Before I had a chance to stop myself I had put words to my thoughts.

"You know. Every time, I see God's country, I just want to strip away my clothes and run naked through the hills as God had intended us to be."

I heard a "What !?" as she turned around towards me. I could see a frown in her face and was about to try to explain my words when I saw her face crack up in a smile and she said
"I know exactly what you mean, it is a wonderful view"

And it was indeed a breathtaking view, she had a lovely smile and brown eyes of a kind that any man could drown in. I smiled back at her and said
"I hope I will be able to see more of the same beauty during my vacation." and continued with "I am Brian, nice to meet you"

 

[chanaud]

The first thing I noticed was his smile. It was wide and straight accompanied with the straightest and whitest set of teeth. There wasn’t any hidden agendas behind it. It reminded me of home. I couldn’t help responding one of my own. Then I noticed the rest of him. He didn’t pale or disappoint.

“Hi Brian, please to meet you. I’m Stephanie. I didn’t notice you on the bus earlier, but then I wasn’t paying too much attention to anyone. I was too busy watching the hills race with us.”

I turned my attention to the stranded bus. A few passengers followed our lead and were milling around and stretching their legs.

“Do you think we have enough time to take off our shoes and run like mad children?”

I asked with a laugh. Then my voice trailed when I realized I was babbling to this handsome stranger. A blush crept up my neck and to my face.

God I hope he doesn’t think I’m some sort of a nut!

Soft brown eyes peered up at him. He was still smiling at me.

 

[hunting_tiger]

Brian

"Do you think we have enough time to take off our shoes and run like mad children?"

I just stood there smiling at her as I saw the blush on her face. It was a blush that only made Stephanie look prettier and for a moment I lost my words as I saw her eyes looking up at me. I finally kicked of my shoes and grinned at her ... "I'm ready whenever you are"

She followed me and said .. "Do you see that old oak over there ?"

Before I had a chance to answer she was on her way yelling "Last one there is a rotten egg"

I took off after her but couldn't gain on the 5 yards she had got in the start not that it did matter to me since seeing Stephanie run ahead of me was like seeing poetry in motion. Stephanies long legs helped her jump over every obstacle and the warm summer breeze blew her auburn hair backwards.

Stephanie was still ahead when we arrived at the oak. She turned around towards me with the smile of a winner in her face. My first impulse was to kiss her but I didn't dare since I wasn't sure how she would react. Instead I sank down into the grass and looked up at her and said
"Let's have a rest before we go back to the bus"
She followed my example and I turned towards her
"I wish we had a nature like this back home in Denmark, I love all the small creeks that every valley seems to have."

"We have nothing like this were I live back home in USA either"

We sat and talked for a while until we heard the bus driver honk his horn.
"We better get back or the bus will leave without us Brian"

The bus took of a few minutes later with me on the seat next to Stephanie. She seemed to be travelling alone just like me and with a bit of luck this would give me a chance to get to know her better.

I told her about my plans to travel around in Europe for the next months and that I was on my way to Stratford but had been persuated by the farmer to see Warwick Castle before I went there.
"I might take a walk from Warwick to Stratford just to see some more of this beautiful landscape ... What are your plans for the near future Stephanie ?"

 

[chanaud]

“Warwick to Stratford?” I pulled out my map guide and leafed through the pages until I found Stratford. Our heads huddled close, as if to share a secret, to read the directions together. It was getting warm in the cramped bus, and I didn’t mind.

Not bothering to lift my head, I exclaimed. “What fun! And it’s not even that far, maybe about 9 miles or so. You wouldn’t…”

Brian’s eyes danced merrily. “Wouldn’t what, Stephanie?” His Danish accent whispered in my face.

“Well… I would love to walk, too, but been afraid to because of feeling unsafe. So, if you wouldn’t mind, can I tag along. Just to Stratford, then I promise to leave you alone. Scouts honor.”

I held up two fingers, shaped like a V. Brian cocked his head, his eyes perplexed of the meaning.

“Ok. You got me, I was never a Girl Scout. I do keep my word though.”

 

[hunting_tiger]

Brian - Inside the Castle

I smiled happily towards Stephanie
"I would love to have your company, nothing can go wrong if I have a Girl Scout as company can it ?"

She gave me one of those peering looks that I already had learned to love and said
"Of course not Brian...... I think this is the best way to walk don't you ?"
Stephanies finger pointed towards the map and I tried to follow the route she suggested.
I leaned towards her seat and we sat there close together discussing and laughing about our hike. Was it only me or did she feel the same attraction, I wasn't sure but with a bit of luck I would soon find out.

The rest of the trip went fast and we arrived at Warwick Castle. We picked up our rucksacks and started to walk towards the gate. Stephanie pointed towards the Gatehouse and said
"I have always wanted to see a Castle like this"
It was easy to hear the excitement in her voice but that was nothing compared with how she reacted once we were inside the Castle. She was looking everywhere, her eyes were shining like a kid in a candy store and I have to admit that even I was fascinated by the beauty of the Castle.

"Let's start at the Tower over there Brian"
As we walked towards the Tower I remembered that Stephanie told me that she studied to be an Architectural Engineer and when we came closer she pointed upwards toward to the parapet
"Do you think that there is any chance that we can go up on that platform ?"

"I'm not sure but the view over the Castle must be wonderful from above" ... "maybe we can .."
before I had a chance to continue Stephanie was on her way towards the guard outside the tower. I smiled for myself as I started to follow her thinking ... who needs a guide when you have an Architect as your company.

 

[hunting_tiger]

I thought that it was time to leave a couple of freshly baked croissants in here to see what happens.