They reached Whitfield Hall, a rustic lodge that has been providing accommodation to visitors for over one hundred years, just as it was getting dark. They had enough time to organize their gear and for Kenneth to take a nap before catching a ride in a Land Rover to Hagley Gap. The journey from Whitfield Hall was a short two or three miles, but they were precarious miles that could not be traversed by a road car. Kenneth doubted whether the RAV4 would have been able to make it. This no doubt accounted for the steep US$20 per person charge for the journey. It was not a journey for the faint-hearted, or the unskilled.
It was 10pm when they got to Hagley Gap and joined a much larger group of people who were congregating there.
‘Have you been before?’ a bright-eyed young woman asked Kenneth. She was short, maybe five feet, give or take an inch or so, dark-skinned, chubby-ish, but more muscular than overweight, and had short curly hair. She was carrying a massive rucksack on her back.
‘No,’ Kenneth smiled at her. ‘My first time. And you?’
‘My first time too. I am so excited, but also a little apprehensive. Never done anything like this before. Hi, I’m Juliet.’ She stuck out her hand.
Kenneth shook her hand and pointed at her rucksack. ‘I’m Kenneth. Don’t you think you have too much stuff? I hear it is a pretty tough climb.’
‘Too much huh? I just couldn’t decide what to carry. I guess I got carried away. I just finished my first year of med school at UWI, and my friend Michele and I thought hiking to Blue Mountain peak would be a great way to shake off the cobwebs.’
At that moment another bright-eyed young woman walked up with an equally large rucksack on her back and handed Juliet a bottle of Pepsi.
‘Michele, this is Kenneth.’ Michele was tall; probably somewhere about five feet seven inches tall, had a fair complexion, a slender build, but had a fairly voluptuous figure that she carried athletically. Two long ponytails fell down to her shoulders.
Kenneth shook Michele’s hand, ‘You guys could have found an easier way to shake off cobwebs than taking on such an arduous hike.’
‘Yeah, but there is a great saying in Braveheart that has inspired me since I saw the movie – “Every man must die, but not every man has lived”.’
‘But you’re not a man.’
‘Huh? What?’ Juliet and Michele exchanged a glance and then started giggling, pointing at Kenneth.
Sean and Kathy walked up with bottles of water and packets of Ovaltine biscuits. ‘What’s so funny?’ Sean asked, as he handed Kenneth his share of the rations. Kenneth shared the joke with Kathy and Sean.
While laughing, Kathy extended her hand, ‘Hi, I’m Kathy. Don’t mind Kenneth. He’s almost a typical man. He has a few redeeming characteristics, like a sense of humour. And this is Sean. He’s a genius, so he falls outside of the ninety-nine percentile and is therefore atypical by definition.’
‘Hey! What did we do to become the brunt of the jokes tonight?’ Sean complained.
‘Don’t ask. When they get into these moods we can’t say anything and win. Just smile and take it like a man,’ Kenneth groaned. This brought more laughter and jokes from Kathy, Juliet and Michele.
Enthusiasm from the growing horde of people electrified the night air. Kenneth looked at his watch,
‘Hey guys, we should be going.’
Juliet looked around. ‘Where is your guide?’
‘We don’t have one.’
‘You’re going to walk up to Blue Mountain peak by yourselves without a guide, and you’ve never been before?’
‘Sure. How hard can it be?’ Kenneth laughed nervously.
‘I seem to remember someone saying earlier that it was a pretty tough climb.’
‘Yeah, but …’ Kenneth looked nervously at Sean and Kathy.
‘We have a great guide, and I am sure he would not mind you joining our team,’ Juliet chirped.
‘No, we couldn’t do that,’ objected Kenneth. ‘Look at the number of people here. There must be well over a hundred.’ Waving his hand at the large group of people who were mingling around the streets that were bordered by the small wood and zinc structures.
Juliet looked at Michele and chuckled, ‘Oh no. All these people are not with us. There must be three or four different groups congregated here. Our team is only twenty. All UWI students.’
‘No, there are a few lecturers also,’ Michele corrected.
‘Oh, OK. Didn’t know that. So there is no good reason why you can’t join us.’
‘No, we couldn’t. I’m sure you had to pay the guide and make special arrangements or something.’ Kenneth glanced at Sean, seeking help.
‘Don’t be silly. It’s no problem.’ Michele suddenly pointed to her right, ‘Juliet, there’s Professor Jackson. I’ll go and ask him what he thinks.’ Michele took off before Kenneth could object. Kenneth looked despairingly at Sean and Kathy. They shrugged.
Juliet smiled at Kenneth, ‘I’m sure it will be OK.’
Collectively they watched Michele, thirty yards away, have an animated discussion with a short, stocky bald man, who they now knew was Professor Jackson. She pointed and gesticulated as the Professor stood nodding, pulling on his Fu Manchu beard. Kenneth leaned over to Sean and whispered in his ear.
‘Who does that guy remind you of? I keep seeing a figure in old black and white pictures.’
Without a thought Sean said, ‘Stalin. Only a black, stockier and shorter version.’
‘Ahh. Yes. I knew I had seen that mug before,’ chuckled Kenneth.
Michele pointed in their direction, and Professor Jackson, adjusting his glasses, looked over and seemed to give a final nod, which prompted Michele to skip back to them with a wide grin on her face.
‘You guys are all set. Prof said it is no problem and insisted that you join us.’
‘We really don’t want to be a problem,’ Kenneth said. ‘And we are planning to leave now, and it appears that your group isn’t ready to leave yet.’
Suddenly, there were three short blasts of an air horn.
‘That’s the signal that we are ready to leave. Isn’t it great? We are ready to leave at the same time. It must be destiny,’ beamed Juliet. She gestured to Kenneth, Kathy and Sean to follow as she turned and walked towards a group that was gathering at the start of a dirt trail. As they got closer they could read the small hand-painted sign pointing up the trail saying ‘Penny Castle’. Professor Jackson was perched on an embankment doing a head-count when they joined the group.
‘I’m glad to see everyone is in such great spirits tonight. And a beautiful night it is too.’ Professor Jackson looked up. ‘As we get higher up the mountain, the stars will stand out even more as we get away from the ambient light of the town. This is my fourth time, and I can assure you it is a wonderful experience and well worth the agony you are going to experience over the next six hours. As is customary, we should arrive at the peak with about three hours to spare before the sunrise, just enough time to take a nap before one of nature’s most spectacular scenes that is not to be missed. The only thing I have seen that is comparable is the sunset as seen from the lighthouse of Rick’s Cafe in Negril, where the purity, warmth and richness of the deep red sun disappearing below the sea on the horizon is unforgettable. Look forward to a similarly sensational scene of the sunrise from the peak.’ A murmur of excitement rippled through the group. ‘Our party is twenty-one strong. We had two late cancellations, but we also have three intrepid adventurers join us a few moments ago. I’m going to end my address now, and pass things over to Neville, our guide.’
A dark man with a small torso, but large powerful-looking legs, climbed up onto the embankment beside Professor Jackson and addressed the group. From the perspective of the group, it was hard to tell if Neville was very tall, or if his height was exaggerated by the fact that Professor Jackson was vertically challenged, but Neville towered over the professor as he looked down on the group from the embankment. Neville spoke for a few minutes about hydration, the terrain, what they should expect to see when they got to the peak, the effects of fatigue, and explained the safety procedures everyone needed to follow, encouraging everyone to be his brother’s keeper.
‘It is not possible for me to keep track of everyone in the group. So if you notice anyone dropping back, or notice anyone missing, please shout and we will stop and take stock of our numbers. Now who are the first-timers? Please raise your hands.’
Eight people raised their hands, Kenneth, Kathy and Sean inclusive.
‘OK. You eight need to be at the front, right behind me so I can keep a close eye on you.’
Kenneth groaned.
‘Let’s get going!’ shouted Neville, as he jumped down from the embankment and purposefully strode up the dirt path. In a few strides, Neville disappeared into the darkness.
Two hours into their hike, Kenneth stumbled and fell. ‘Argh! Ow!’
Neville ran back and stooped at Kenneth’s side. ‘What happened?’ Everyone crowded around to see what had happened. ‘Stand back people! Give him some room!’ Neville turned back to Kenneth, ‘Where does it hurt?’
‘My right foot is killing me. I bucked my toe on a rock. I didn’t think I hit it that hard, but my foot is really throbbing.’ Kenneth grimaced.
‘OK. Let’s take a look.’ Neville helped Kenneth take off his shoe and sock. Kenneth’s toes looked swollen as numerous flashlights shone on them. ‘Can you take off the other shoe so we can compare your two feet?’
Kenneth removed his left shoe and sock.
‘Yup. Looks swollen.’ Neville looked at the shoes that Kenneth was holding. ‘Are those new shoes?’
‘Yes. Why?’
‘Ha. Don’t you know that you don’t buy new shoes to go hiking, especially when you are going to travel across terrain like this? No wonder your feet are swollen.’ Neville shook his head, as did everyone standing around peering down at Kenneth. Numerous ‘tisks’ and ‘tutts’ could be heard murmuring through the group.
‘OK. I guess I’m the only one who didn’t know that. Can’t change that now. What do we do now?’ Kenneth said sheepishly.
Neville stood, shaking his head and walked around.
‘Well? Any answers?’ Kenneth asked impatiently.
‘Hey, no need to get short with me. I wasn’t the one to go and buy new shoes and corn mi toes,’ Neville snapped back.
Kenneth tried to get to his feet, but stumbled and fell back to the ground. Neville reacted and started to walk towards Kenneth. This caused the crowd to take a step back, and collectively hold its breath. Professor Jackson quickly jumped in between the two men. ‘Come, come. Let’s not get carried away with the testosterone exhibition gentlemen.’ Kenneth tried to get up again, and this time Sean pushed him back to the ground and glared at him. Professor Jackson knelt beside Kenneth and shone his flashlight on his foot. ‘Let me take a look at this.’ He took Kenneth’s toes in his hand and squeezed them.
‘Ow! Hey, take it easy! That hurts,’ yelped Kenneth.
Professor Jackson stood. ‘It’s obvious to me that the injury sustained has made this gentleman lame. Forward progress would be foolhardy. The prudent course of action is to find somewhere in the area to sleep tonight, and make your way down the mountain in the morning.’
Kenneth tried to get up again. ‘No. I can make it. I’m not going to stay here by myself.’
Sean pushed him down again, ‘It’s OK. I’ll stay with him, and make sure he doesn’t fall off the mountain while he is sleeping.’ This drew laughter from the group.
‘I’ll stay too. I can’t abandon my friends,’ Kathy said between the chuckles.
‘OK. That settles it then. Are you OK finding an appropriate location for the night by yourselves? I don’t want to lose anymore valuable time making our way to the peak.’ Professor Jackson was stroking his beard.
‘We’ll be fine,’ grunted Kenneth.
At that, Neville turned and started up the trail. The group quickly filed after him. Michele and Juliet started to follow, then ran back and both kissed Kenneth on the cheek before running off. The group disappeared into the darkness, and soon the sound of the group and the glow of their lights were indiscernible. Kenneth started giggling, and before long he was rolling over in laughter.
‘What’s so funny boss?’ Sean asked, trying to suppress a smile.
‘Yes, what could be so funny? You almost started a fight. Over what? Foolishness!’ blurted out Kathy.
Kenneth stopped laughing, tears streaming from his eyes. ‘Did you like my performance? I thought it was pretty good. Fooled you guys.’ For a moment he sat there looking at the puzzled look on Sean’s and Kathy’s faces, before bursting out in laughter again, while pointing at them. Sean and Kathy stood, perplexedly staring at Kenneth. Kenneth struggled to stop laughing, ‘You don’t get it?’
‘Get what?’ Sean said.
Kenneth took up his right shoe turned it over and shook it vigorously. A small plastic bag filled with pebbles fell out of the shoe on to the ground. Sean and Kathy stood looking at the pebbles and then at Kenneth.
‘You still don’t get it?’ Kenneth said incredulously. ‘I faked the whole thing! We needed to find a way to break away from the group, so about an hour ago I stopped and put these stones in my shoe. I figured they would have no choice but to leave us and continue without us.’
‘You devil!’ Kathy screamed and slapped Kenneth on the back.
‘Ow! Hey, come on. It was the only thing I could think of.’
‘So the fight scene was also an act?’
‘Absolutely! I needed them to think that I really wanted to continue.’
‘Nice. Nice. I like it,’ Sean said, and gave Kenneth a high five. ‘If we were convinced, then they certainly would be.’
‘That’s why I didn’t give you a heads-up. I wanted it to be as authentic as possible.’
‘I don’t know how Jenny puts up with you,’ Kathy said, a smile breaking out across her face.
‘Don’t you worry about that. Anyway, we need to find somewhere to sleep tonight, and then we can get an early start in the morning.’
Sean and Kathy searched the area with their flashlights, until Sean called to Kenneth and Kathy.
‘This looks good.’ Sean waved his flashlight from a small gap in the tree-line about two hundred yards back down the trail.
They passed through the gap and found what looked like an abandoned campsite. There was a small pile of stones in the middle of the site, and the ground was relatively flat, unlike the rest of the steep terrain surrounding them.
‘Yes, this looks like it will do,’ Kenneth acknowledged.
They took out their sleeping bags, and within ten minutes they were each curled up in their bags and fast asleep.