By the next Monday morning, the bags were packed, the bus was hired and the consent forms were signed. James had sent us all to bed early the night before and roused us at six-thirty am. I was lucky enough to hear him coming, which meant I avoided being awoken by the metal of his key pressed against my back, which was the fate awaiting about half of our class. Annisa's scream, in particular was probably what aroused me from sleep. I had no idea one human could make such a high-pitched sound.
James seemed to find our reactions hilarious and practically skipped along the corridor to the kitchen, laughing with glee. Hanien, Eliphia, Annisa and I trudged along with the rest of the class and poured into the living room, kitchen and bathroom. I was halfway through my cornflakes - the four of us were sat on a set of two two-seater couches that directly faced each other - when James approached and hopped onto the back of the couch opposite me. This was the one on which Eliphia and Hanien sat.
James seemed to find our reactions hilarious and practically skipped along the corridor to the kitchen, laughing with glee. Hanien, Eliphia, Annisa and I trudged along with the rest of the class and poured into the living room, kitchen and bathroom. I was halfway through my cornflakes - the four of us were sat on a set of two two-seater couches that directly faced each other - when James approached and hopped onto the back of the couch opposite me. This was the one on which Eliphia and Hanien sat.
"Excited?" he asked with a grin.
"Yeah," Annisa replied, "But Joanne's been warning me about the weather."
"I don't think it's too bad." James cocked his head to the side. "I mean, there are a couple of light showers a day and there's one day with a very heavy shower. Temperatures are around seven degrees, I think. But we'll do lots of exercise and go cycling and walking so I'm sure we'll be warm enough."
"Wait, where are we cycling?" I asked.
"Kirroughtree. You know, the one with the taster loop and the really smooth stane?" James seemed surprised that I knew what he was talking about.
"Stane?" Hanien raised an eyebrow.
"It's a forestry commission thing, I think," James explained. "There are seven stanes - stones, I mean - and the idea is to go all around Scotland cycling the different tracks and getting pictures with the different stanes."
"The one at Glentress has Klingon engraved on it!" I exclaimed, remembering that James was a trekkie.
"Oh yeah, on the way up to Betty Blue!" James nodded. "Betty Blue's one of the tracks. Blue means moderate difficulty and Betty, well, it could just have easily have been Billy Blue. Okay, I'm going to go check on some other people. Still sure about Cream o' Galloway?"
We nodded that we were and relaxed into the couches.
"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ... T!" James declared. He was sat in front of us on the bus but kept twisting around to talk to us. We were on the left side of the bus, very near the front. I sat at the window seat directly behind whoever was next to James and Hanien was beside me, directly behind James. Behind me was Annisa and behind Hanien was Eliphia.
"Tree!" Eliphia exclaimed.
"Nope," James grinned, "I'm not that obvious!"
"Tyres?" Hanien suggested.
James shook his head and giggled.
"Oh, wow!" came a shout from beside James.
"I recognise that voice," Annisa murmured.
"I just saw Peter Capaldi's 'Doctor Who' costume!" the voice continued.
"Oh," I realised, "Essex accent. Whovian. Letter 'T'. Hi, Tom!"
James nodded. "You got it!"
"So... " Eliphia giggled, "The thing beginning with 'T' was Tom Fletcher ... Of McFly?"
"Yep." James nodded.
"What?" Tom whirled round to face us.
"Oh we're playing 'I Spy'," I explained, "He's got a cool coat hasn't he?"
"What - Oh Capaldi?" Tom replied, "Yeah, he's going to be a very 'cool' Doctor."
"Ironic given that the last one taught kids that cool is not cool," James added.
"Yes, well, I guess you need variety," Tom concluded, "So 'I Spy'? Okay, um, I spy with my little eye, something beginning with R.S."
That stumped us. All five of us slumped into our chairs and tried not to look at the smug expression on Tom's face. After a while, we drifted slightly and began to ramble on about X-Men.
"What's ironic," James chuckled, "Is that in the 'X-Men: Evolution' cartoons, Wolverine is Australian! And I could understand if they had an American actor and didn't make him do an Australian accent but they already had an Aussie actor! Why on Earth did he not keep his accent?!"
"You almost always change your accent and that's because it's important to the plot of the story. Wolverine was supposed to seem really gloomy and to be honest when I watched the cartoons I always had trouble believing he was as temperamental as he was meant to be because he was always saying things like 'dingo'," I noted.
"So you're saying that Hugh Jackman played Wolverine as American because Australians are too much fun?" Tom summarised.
"Yep."
Suddenly, the bus swerved and I spotted a small car dodging around haphazardly in across the lanes of the motorway and heard the bus driver cursing at it under his breath. The bus thundered onto the hard shoulder and juddered as the driver struggled to right it. Once we were back on course, Tom - that's kid Tom, not Tom from McFly - leaned over across the aisle towards me and tapped my arm.
"Rumble strip," he mumbled.
"Yep!" Tom - the one from McFly - shouted, "You've got it!"
"Okay, I'll go next," Isaac, who was sat next to kid-Tom announced, "I spy with my little eye ... Did that sign say Wigtown?"
"Oh!" James exclaimed, "So it did! We're here!"
The bus trundled onto a gravelly farm path and soon led us onto a flat field of grass. The field was dotted with tents and a few fences. In its centre was a narrow ring of fences that enclosed a few skinny trees and at the boundary to our right was where a more immediate threat than crazy canonist extremists was waiting for James: three horses.
"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ... T!" James declared. He was sat in front of us on the bus but kept twisting around to talk to us. We were on the left side of the bus, very near the front. I sat at the window seat directly behind whoever was next to James and Hanien was beside me, directly behind James. Behind me was Annisa and behind Hanien was Eliphia.
"Tree!" Eliphia exclaimed.
"Nope," James grinned, "I'm not that obvious!"
"Tyres?" Hanien suggested.
James shook his head and giggled.
"Oh, wow!" came a shout from beside James.
"I recognise that voice," Annisa murmured.
"I just saw Peter Capaldi's 'Doctor Who' costume!" the voice continued.
"Oh," I realised, "Essex accent. Whovian. Letter 'T'. Hi, Tom!"
James nodded. "You got it!"
"So... " Eliphia giggled, "The thing beginning with 'T' was Tom Fletcher ... Of McFly?"
"Yep." James nodded.
"What?" Tom whirled round to face us.
"Oh we're playing 'I Spy'," I explained, "He's got a cool coat hasn't he?"
"What - Oh Capaldi?" Tom replied, "Yeah, he's going to be a very 'cool' Doctor."
"Ironic given that the last one taught kids that cool is not cool," James added.
"Yes, well, I guess you need variety," Tom concluded, "So 'I Spy'? Okay, um, I spy with my little eye, something beginning with R.S."
That stumped us. All five of us slumped into our chairs and tried not to look at the smug expression on Tom's face. After a while, we drifted slightly and began to ramble on about X-Men.
"What's ironic," James chuckled, "Is that in the 'X-Men: Evolution' cartoons, Wolverine is Australian! And I could understand if they had an American actor and didn't make him do an Australian accent but they already had an Aussie actor! Why on Earth did he not keep his accent?!"
"You almost always change your accent and that's because it's important to the plot of the story. Wolverine was supposed to seem really gloomy and to be honest when I watched the cartoons I always had trouble believing he was as temperamental as he was meant to be because he was always saying things like 'dingo'," I noted.
"So you're saying that Hugh Jackman played Wolverine as American because Australians are too much fun?" Tom summarised.
"Yep."
Suddenly, the bus swerved and I spotted a small car dodging around haphazardly in across the lanes of the motorway and heard the bus driver cursing at it under his breath. The bus thundered onto the hard shoulder and juddered as the driver struggled to right it. Once we were back on course, Tom - that's kid Tom, not Tom from McFly - leaned over across the aisle towards me and tapped my arm.
"Rumble strip," he mumbled.
"Yep!" Tom - the one from McFly - shouted, "You've got it!"
"Okay, I'll go next," Isaac, who was sat next to kid-Tom announced, "I spy with my little eye ... Did that sign say Wigtown?"
"Oh!" James exclaimed, "So it did! We're here!"
The bus trundled onto a gravelly farm path and soon led us onto a flat field of grass. The field was dotted with tents and a few fences. In its centre was a narrow ring of fences that enclosed a few skinny trees and at the boundary to our right was where a more immediate threat than crazy canonist extremists was waiting for James: three horses.
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