She is sitting on the low bridge outside the village waiting for him. ‘Are you alright?’ she asks. He gets off his bike. ‘I’m fine,’ he replies. ‘Nothing happened’. He looks at her. He knows she is relieved. ‘Good,’ she nods. She jumps off the wall. ‘I cannot stay. They think I’m at home’. She runs up the lane behind her house and disappears around the corner. He gets on the bike again and cycles home.
They had been let out early. It was a beautiful early summer afternoon. The others had cycled on ahead. There was just the two of them. ‘Will we go down the field?’ He suggests ‘we have plenty of time’. They leave their bikes outside the gate and climb over it. They run to the bottom of the field. They lie down beside each other. He can smell the grass and the flowers from the hedge. Above, the sky is almost completely blue except for a couple of slow moving clouds. Lost in her own thoughts, she is silent.
‘Will I get undressed?’ he asks. She does not answer. ‘What do you think?’ he asks again. ‘Suit yourself,’ she says ‘but hurry up. We haven’t got all day’. He gets up and quickly takes off all his clothes. He lies down again on his back. She leans over to look at him. He tries to grab her but she pushes him away. ‘Behave yourself. Do as you’re told,’ she says, slapping his arm. She moves her leg over him and sits on his chest. She pins down his arms on either side with her bare legs. She is laughing now. ‘You are very bold. You know what you get when you’re bold?’ She leans in closer.
‘You dirty brats,’ the man shouts. She freezes. He can feel her heart beating. The man must have crept up and is standing over them holding a stick. She turns away off him and stands up. ‘Leave us alone,’ she shouts. The man glares at her. ‘Go home, I know you,’ the man snarls and starts swinging the stick at her until she backs off. She looks at him. ‘Don’t leave me,’ he starts to cry. She is always calling him a big baby. The man chases after her swinging the stick again until she reaches the gate. He looks up. He knows she has left him. The man comes back and stands staring at him. The sky has darkened and he feels cold.
‘Stop that. Come back. I mean it’. A woman’s voice. Shouting from a higher field. The man’s face flushes with fear. She shouts again ‘Leave him alone’. The man turns and runs towards the field. He stands up. The man has now crossed the ditch and is running up the hill towards the woman. An old woman with white hair. He gets his clothes and goes behind the hedge to dress. When he is finished they have both gone. He cycles back towards the village.