Chapter 36 - The Road to Granada

Gammelnok felt happy. He had escaped punishment for his part in the kidnapping of the Mayor's son, been made an honourable citizen of the Triana suburb of Seville. An ugly bronze statue had been installed to commemorate his part in the event.

And now he was at last a step closer to reaching his goal of retirement in his English garden. He felt like singing and dancing as he walked the long road to the Sierra Nevada. He was not worried about not getting there in time. After all he had six months to make the journey. What could possibly go wrong?

After a fortnight on the road, he had not made a lot of inroad on the nearly 300 kilometres he had to travel.

But on the bright side, the countryside was ablaze with wild flowers in red, yellow, orange and blue. The sun was shining and his Haversack was replenished on a regular basis.

He had by now seen several gypsy caravans travelling eastwards towards their home after attending the festivities in Seville for the Fair and Easter. None had stopped though, either because they had not noticed the little person walking or because they were too tired to make the effort to pick up a stray. More caravans were now heading westwards to El Rocio, but as they were no good to him, he avoids drawing attention to himself.

After a few months of walking, the summer had started in earnest and the flat open terrain he was crossing provided hardly any shade from the brutal sun. He felt constantly worn out and tired, his age beginning to take its toll on his small body. There was though a slight change in the horizon to the south-east of his route. Hills were appearing in the distance, promising some cool shade and maybe a lake or two where he could rest and regain his strength. It would take him out of his way from his goal of Sierra Nevada, but he still had time. He was after all over halfway there and still had a few months to go to get there on time.

Deciding to head for the hills, he picked up his stride and after a few days reached the foothills of a national park. He carried on heading south-east and soon past a town situated on a hilltop to his left. Large rock faces with fantastic colours of ochre and red dominated the skyline. Not wanting to be in contact with any tall humans, preferring his own company, he soon reached a large lake which stretched as far as he could see, towards hills covered in pine trees promising a nice place where he could rest and recuperate.

He spent a few weeks enjoying the cool shade and pleasant landscape, each day travelling a bit further but regaining his strength nevertheless. He reached a large reservoir and an enormous dam, with two large sluices on one side and a drop of close to a hundred meters on the other side. Crossing the road above was scary, but he continued and soon reached what looked like a cave on the left. It was cool and dark. He found a recess and laid down to rest and hopefully sleep a while.