Free A Bit of Earth by Rebecca Smith

likely.’
    They put on their cagoules and headed out into the rain.
    An hour later they were back, full and happy with the taste of old, cheap fat on their lips, and many butties under their belts. Felix had fistfuls of leaflets from the hotel lobby. Now what should they do? Guy turned on the TV. Nothing at all worth watching. It was half past six. Still too early for bed.
    â€˜Fancy a bath in a hotel bathroom?’ he asked Felix.
    â€˜Maybe tomorrow, Dad. I’m going to make a list of all the things I want to do on holiday.’
    Guy’s spirits seemed to rise, and his heart to sink at the same time. The list would contain things that Felix had spotted that were far too old for him, or that Guy was too inadequate to cope with. Susannah, he remembered with a pang, had always been the one to make a ‘To Do’ list on holiday.
    â€˜Couldn’t we just go for walks and muck about on the beach?’ he said feebly.
    Felix was already sifting through the leaflets. He had spotted yet more in a folder on the bedside table.
    â€˜Pan for Welsh Gold,’ he read out loud.
    â€˜We could do that,’ said Guy. That sounded fine.
    â€˜Pony Trekking … Mountain Adventure Centre … The King Arthur Ex, um, something.’
    â€˜Experience,’ said Guy. ‘I thought King Arthur was Cornish.’
    â€˜Maybe he went pony trekking,’ said Felix. ‘Paintball,’ he went on, ‘I’d love to do paintballing. Please, Dad, I saw it on TV. It’s really cool.’
    Didn’t Felix realise that they just weren’t the paintball type?
    â€˜We’ll see,’ said Guy.
    â€˜Can we go to that place with machines by the beach?’ said Felix. ‘I’ve always wanted to go in one of those.’
    â€˜Um, I think you have to be twelve or something,’ said Guy.
    â€˜Some of those kids in there looked my age.’
    â€˜I expect they just weren’t very tall,’ said Guy.
    â€˜Dad!’
    â€˜Maybe.’ Guy unfolded the OS map and spread it out on the bed. ‘Come and look at this. Now this is where we’re staying. These tracks are footpaths … We could walk in a big circle, start here, it’s just by the beach, then along this path, this is a waterfall. Looks like a big one too. Then if we carry on up here, I don’t think it’ll be too tricky for us, we should get a really great view. Then along here… This tells you how high up you are, and how close these pinkish lines are to each other tells you how steep …’ His voice trailed off. How he loved looking at OS maps. He really could spend the rest of his life doing it. You could really lose yourself in one. Look at it for hours and hours. Imagine being one of the people who first drew them … There were so many walks that he and Felix could tackle, of course he would have to make some allowances for Felix’s little legs.
    He looked up from the map. Where was Felix? Oh, asleep. Asleep in his clothes on top of the bed. Guy found Felix’s pyjamas. He thought that he had packed two pairs, but he could only seem to find the blue and green stripy bottoms and the top of a pair that Uncle Jon had sent from Australia, a print of jolly kangaroos in boxing glovesholding flags. He managed to get Felix undressed and into the crunchy hotel bed (did he detect a waterproof sheet?) without really waking him. Then what to do? Guy could eat the complimentary Highland Shortbread biscuits, or make himself a cup of tea in the little stainless-steel pot. He could watch TV with the sound turned down. He could take a bath and then watch the rain falling on the balcony. He opened the doors very slightly, just so that he could hear the sound of the sea.
    The next morning it was still raining. They had the hotel breakfast, and by eight forty-five were all ready to go. Guy wondered how to fill the impossible hours. They walked along the sea front. Nothing was open