freeline102 - Flipbook - Page 217
SI LLEWELLYN
t h e new arrivals had my at te n ti o n. I c o u l d ju s t a b o u t m a ke o u t
what was unfolding as tha t s i d e o f t he la ke i s i l l um i n a te d by
s t reetlights. Around 2 0 lu m p s e m erg e d f ro m t h e p ro c e s s i o n
o f cars, shouting ob sceniti es i n wh at I b el i eve d to b e Po l i s h
o r some other Eastern Eu ro p e a n l an g u ag e ! Fo r t h e n ex t h a l f
a n hour, I watched these l o o n s k n o c k s eve n b e l l s o u t o f e a c h
o t her in what looked like a s ce n e f ro m Fo o tb a l l Fa cto r y! I wa s
c o nvinced Danny Dyer wa s go i n g to p o p u p a t a ny m o m e n t ,
s h outing, ‘YOU M UGGY LIT T L E C …’. A ny way, at t h e e n d o f t h i s
c l andestine battle, they sim p ly s h o o k bl o o d i e d h a n d s , ju m p ed
b a ck in the motors and drove b a c k up t h e b um py t ra c k t h a t l e d
away from the lake!
On any other lake, this wo u ld b e u n u s ua l to s ay t h e l e a s t , b u t
t h is was no ordinary lake; t hi s wa s t he Cl ub La ke or t h e Pe t t i n g
Z o o as it became kn own. T h a t l i tt l e d o o z y i s j u s t a s n i p p e t o f
what happened during my ye ar o r s o th e re . T h e a n gl i n g a n d
t h e events that I will expo s e ove r t h e n ex t fe w p a ge s o c c u r re d
b e tween late summer 2 01 6 a n d N ove mb e r 2 0 17 . S o , w i th o u t
f u rther ado, let’s set the s c e n e a n d t a ke yo u b a c k to my f i r s t
e n counter with this specia l p i t a n d th e re al i s a t i o n th a t n o t h i n g
t h at good can last forever.
I t was a halcyon summer S un d ay af te r n o o n , a n d a f te r a p ro p e r
S u nday roast at my parents ’ h o u s e, my li tt le J a c k Ru s s e l , N i g e l ,
was being his usual boiste ro u s s el f , a n d I wa s d e s p e ra te to g e t
o u t and have a look at a few c a r p l ake s i n th e l o c a l v i c i n i ty. M y
f i rst port of call was a ver y l o c al c lu b l ake , a m e re t h re e m i l e s
u p the road that came wi th a fe ar s o m e re p u ta t i o n . S o , my l i t t l e
f u rry companion and I ju m p e d i n t he o l d M i n i a n d b u m p e d
a l ong the pothole-ridden t ra ck to wh at wa s s o o n to b e c o m e my
l i t tle bolt-hole. Even tho ugh s u r ro u n d ed by a h o u s i n g e s t a te ,
FR E ELINE 95
