Some days you can go from ‘what the….’ to ‘did you see that’ in the merest blink of an eye.
We were out for the morning in the autumn sunshine driving along one of those twisty up and down roads in the Yorkshire Dales bounded on both sides by a narrow grass verge and the characteristic dry stone walls. The sun was in my eyes as we approached the brow of a hill. And there, just below the summit a Peugeot 206 was pulled half onto the verge, hazard lights flashing, the rear door open on the passenger side.
“What a stupid place to stop!”
There was a car coming the other way too. I slowed down even more as we approached. Two ladies of later middle years were by the open door, one standing, and the other bent over and bending down.
“An accident, one of them caught short or perhaps ill? What?
Then I noticed there was something on the ground. One of the ladies was trying to lift it.
“What’s that, a child, a sack, a bag?”
Then I was tucked in behind their Peugeot as the oncoming car drew level, and in the blink of an eye all was revealed before you could utter a “I don’t believe it!”
Both ladies straightened up, one holding the front legs, one the rear of a small deer and proceeded to quickly shove the animal onto the back seat of the car.
I couldn’t stop to ask, so I’m sorry, I simply don’t know. But it’s my guess that somewhere in the Dales tonight there’s a pan of venison sausages sizzling on the stove!
PS – perhaps someone else travelling on the B6265 Pateley Bridge to Grassington road knows more.
Perhaps a wolf in deer’s clothing?
Life is usually stranger than fiction any day. I would love to know what happened….