By Chance & Misadventure

By the time they came back in Jon was sitting up on the floor shaking his head and laughing at the state he found himself in. When they saw this, the three friends; who had moments ago seemed capable of violence the like of which New Abbey and Sam had never seen; had simply laughed picked him up and asked a stunned Sam for another round of drinks.

That casual acceptance of the potentially violent encounter, was what had Sam so cautious now. He didn't want to see a repeat of last night. "Have you lads had a chance to see the monument yet?" he asked.

"What monument?" Asked Jon, looking over at Lee.

"It's a tower on the hill behind the village." Said Lee. "It was put up to commemorate the battle of Waterloo and the troops that died there."

"How far is it?" Asked Matt, seeming genuinely interested.

"About a half hour walk away." Replied Lee.

"Here's an idea." Said Matt, " what say we take a stroll up there and sober up a bit before we head into the town tonight for a proper drink. Sam was pleased to see that the lads all thought this a great idea and was relieved when they finished their beer thanked him and set off for a sobering walk.

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The four friends had been walking for some time, and were almost at their goal. They had passed the time on their trek by chatting about this and that, reminiscing about their youth, nights on the town and of course women. They had succeeded in walking off the effects of most of the beer they had drunk that day.

The monument that was their destination was situated atop a relatively small but very steep hill. A winding path meandered its way up the slope with the aim of taking the edge off the steep climb. Rather than following the path the friends had decided to take the direct route and head straight to the summit. The hill itself was covered with a forest of pine trees. Lee had said that apparently the position of the trees in the forests on this and the other hills around was meant to represent the deployment of Wellington's troops during the battle of waterloo. Lee was often coming up with useless trivia of this nature, but at least this one was relevant, unlike his usual random pearls.

Matt looked up and estimated that they would make the crest of the hill within a couple of minutes. It was a pleasant day, warm without being oppressive and the sun, which was blazing high over head, was shaded by the branches of the pine trees above them, being allowed only occasional chances to break the canopy with an unfiltered shaft of light.

Gradually the trees began to thin out, until eventually they disappeared altogether leaving the crown of the hill open to the elements. At the very centre of the summit stood the stone tower known as the monument. As Matt approached it, he took in its features. It was a round tower, standing he guessed around one hundred feet high, with a width at its base of about twenty feet, it looked like a huge finger sticking up from the ground. It was made of moss covered, rough cut, pale grey stone, with a crenellated top and arrow slits placed around its surface.