Stargirl of the Edge

Ch 7 - Do you speak Chinese?

Like Chapter 6, this one has a film to accompany it! You can view it under 'Media' lower down the right hand column. How many differences are there between the film and the story? Many thanks for reading. Please vote!

Olivia drove down the lane to the foot of the Edge and then up the small road past the big houses in a few minutes she was at the lay by at the top of the hill next to the main road. She parked at an angle but she was so upset, she didn’t care. She got out of the jeep, Jessie jumped out behind her and she slammed the door shut.

“At least you understand me!” she said to the dog, attaching a lead to her collar, and walked up to the gate. On the tall signpost was written the words ‘To The Edge’ and they followed the straight footpath along by the field. Warning signs said ‘Danger cliff edge.’ About minute later she and Jessie were standing on Castle Rock, the flat rocky ledge about six metres square, close to the highest point of Alderley Edge.  From here there is a magnificent view over many miles. She took Jessie off the lead and stood for a few moments looking out across the countryside towards the city.

The front of Castle Rock juts out over the cliff, like the front of a wide ship, but with no fence or railing. Olivia moved as far forward as she could without falling off. Below her was a drop of many feet. Jessie sat next to her with her mouth open and her tongue hanging out.

Olivia looked out over the Cheshire Plain. Down there, about a mile away, she saw her house, a tiny white speck in the fields, next to the lane. She thought about the happy times she had spent living in that house with her parents and Jessie. Further in the distance, aircraft slowly descended from right to left towards the airport. They looked like tiny insects. In the distance lay the big city and the hills beyond.

Still with her toes just a couple of inches from the edge of the rocky ledge, she looked down. Just one more step and she would fall. There would be broken bones, bleeding, a fractured skull, or worse. But she wasn’t going to do it. She had decided a long time ago, no matter how bad things got, no matter how terrible she felt, she would never do that. She had made that promise, and she thought that everyone else in the world ought to make that promise too.

Olivia gazed at the view for a few more moments, her shiny black hair blowing in the breeze, and then with her right hand she swept it to one side, stepped back to a safer position, turned round and whistled to Jessie. They walked towards the footpath on the left and into the woods.

Jessie walked ahead, then Olivia called her back, and they made their way down the wooded hillside, stepping over rocks and tree roots, until they reached the lower footpath. There was no one around and no sound apart from distant birdsong. On one side, the ground rose of 45 degrees and yet the trees grew tall and straight. The branches at the top of the hill made a complex pattern against the grey sky. 

On the other side, the hill fell away steeply. Olivia paused for a moment, and Jessie did the same, looking around her with her keen eyes, mouth open in a sunny ‘dog smile’.

Olivia turned back along the lower path in the direction of Castle Rock and Jessie followed close behind. They walked along, avoiding muddy puddles, keeping away from the slope, until they reached the section directly under Castle Rock.

Now they were standing below the spot where Olivia had paused to admire the view some minutes before. It was like standing under the bow of a ship made out of rock.  In the reddish brown sandstone there were strange shapes that looked as if they had been carved by a giant.

A little further on, there was a long, smoother curving section of rock where people had carved their names. Someone had drawn a skull-like face that seemed to stare at people passing by. The atmosphere was spooky.