Interrupted Journey

Chapter 6 - Footpath

They had been walking for about four hours when Elizabeth suddenly stopped.

"That's enough," she said decisively. "We need to stop, rest and repack. You're going to strain something if you try to keep going."

Andrew was about to protest. The push to keep moving north was powerful but, after a moment he agreed. They were all at their limits.

"We need to think about where we are going, too," he said. "This canal is heading straight towards a couple of big cities and, by now, they'll be no better than London."

Finding a place to camp in the dark was not easy but eventually they found a small field sheltered by some trees. The boys were asleep within minutes and, when Elizabeth went to cover them up with the tarp, she saw that Martin had taken Annie into his sleeping bag with him.

"Martin seems to have adopted her," she said with a smile as she kissed the three good night but Andrew didn't hear her. He was asleep too.

For the first time since the trip started, they all got enough sleep. It was early afternoon when Andrew woke to hear Martin and Annie whispering together in their sleeping bag.

"You didn't wake me," he said to Elizabeth.

"I fell asleep too!" she confessed.

"No harm done!" he said with a smile. "We certainly all needed it!"

While they prepared a heavy meal - heavy in that it involved a number of tins - they inspected the contents of Mike's rucksack. The main weight was about twenty military ration boxes. Three - or two at a push - would be enough to feed them all for a day.

In addition to basic travel supplies, there were also two boxes of ammunition for the rifle and one of shotgun shells. 'Weight,' Andrew thought, 'but an impressive level of insurance."

The funny backpack that Elizabeth had been carrying, strapped to the top of her own, turned out to be a child carrier integrated into a rucksack. Martin and Annie seemed to have grown quite attached to each other so Elizabeth spent a little while adjusting the carrier for Martin then moved some of the kit from his old pack into this new one.

After they had eaten, they repacked, shifting weight from their overburdened shoulders into the trolley then Andrew spent some time inspecting the new rifle until he was satisfied that he could at least fire it if he had to.

"They say you should never put it into automatic mode until you know what you're doing," Elizabeth informed him surprisingly knowledgeably.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Didn't you ever read those books from Mary?"

"I never got round to it," he admitted.

He would have dearly loved to try a couple of shots but it would make too much noise so he had to be satisfied with dry firing the weapon.

The more they looked at the maps, the clearer it became that they would have to get off the canal. They were heading straight towards a heavily populated area. It was David who noticed a long distance footpath leading north east alongside a small river. It seemed to lead through open countryside. The only problem with that route would be a major river crossing - more an estuary, really - but Elizabeth had already suggested using a railway bridge which she had found on the map. They hoped it would be less dangerous than the main roads which were the only other crossing points.

By this time, it had started to get dark so they packed up, hoisted on their packs and set off.

A few hours later they reached the viaduct that marked their turn. With some trepidation, they left the towpath that had been their home for the last week.