Author hide-outs

Martin Waddell

When you first meet Martin Waddell, he is a little way off from you. He is leaning with one elbow on an old stone sea wall that crosses the picture away from you from left to right. His hand is held up, waving to you. Beyond him, the sea is calm, brilliant blue and still with the horizon a sharp line in the far distance. The evening light is low, making it difficult to make out Martin's face. The outline of his head, his grey hair, tousled on top, his ears and his shoulders stand out in silhouette against the clear soft pinks and blues of the sky. A tiny streak of sunlight just catches one side of his grey cord trousers and the collar of a white shirt that shows over his thick, blue fisherman's sweater.

Lined up on the wall beside him, closer to us, are some of Martin's books. They are standing on end but they are just too far away to read the titles.

There are two Hotspots in this area. In the first Hotspot, you will find Martin in a corner of his old stone cottage. He sits at an old-fashioned dark brown wood table with some of his books and a computer on it. High up behind him the sun creeps in through a tiny window showing the thickness of the walls of the cottage and turning them a golden orange. Martin looks out at you with twinkling grey eyes over the tops of his great big wire-framed spectacles. When he smiles, he hugs his shoulders up to his ears and his lined face lights up like a mischievous wee leprechaun. As he reads, he shows you the baby owl pictures from his book.

The next Hotspot isn't very far away. In this Hotspot, you first find Martin close up. He wears a thick grey rainproof jacket over a blazer, with a flat cap on his head. As he dances about, telling you his story, goalposts are revealed in a field with a wood behind it. At the end, Martin proudly shows you a badge on his blazer pocket.

Move on. The cobbled pathway beside the sea wall leads away from you, and curves round to the right in the distance. It leads into the shadows cast by a low hill over which the setting sun just peeps. Brilliant white rays of light radiate down over the little village nestling at the bottom of the hill. Close to you on the right, the wall drops down into the dark, glittering waters of the harbour. The harbour reaches from you across to the distant village.

Search for another Hotspot here. Martin moves in this Hotspot from his writing table down to a windy beach. There, wearing his jacket, he walks among rocks and pebbles across the wet sands, the sea grey and misty with spray in the distance.

Move on to your right. You are still on the cobbled path with a metal handrail on your left, the water of the harbour down below it. Across the harbour, the village stretches on along the foot of the hill, white buildings glowing in the evening light. A stone jetty sticks out towards you from the far shore, with a small motor launch moored under its sheltering wall.

There are two hotspots here. At the first of these Hotspots, Martin emerges from a wood and wades through a bank of brown, dying bracken out on to a pathway surrounded by tall evergreen trees that seem to dwarf him.

Move on just a little way to the next Hotspot. Martin sits on a flat rock in this Hotspot. Behind him tumbles a stream that jets and flurries over mossy stones away down the wooded hillside. Two squashy little brown bears squat on a rock beside Martin, Big Bear and Little Bear.

Move on along the harbour path and you will find Martin sitting at the top of a steep stone stair that leads down to the water.

There is a Hotspot somewhere near. In this Hotspot Martin returns to his cottage. He holds out towards you a small picture in an old wooden frame.

Move on. You come to the end of the pathway where it drops into the sea in front of you. There is a view of the village to the left, the houses tiny and blurred far across the harbour mouth. Martin waits for you. He faces you, leaning against the sea wall a little distance away. The sea wall is now on your right as you begin your return journey.

Move on. The wall is very close in front of you now and Martin sits cross-legged on top of it, smiling down at you. His books are on either side of him, the blue sea and sky behind him.

Look about you for the last Hotspot. Martin sits in his big armchair in the last Hotspot ready to read to you. There is a bright stripy blanket over the chair and behind him is the grey stone wall of the cottage and a bookcase full of books.

Move on. There is Martin leaning on the wall waving to you, happy to see you, as he was when you first met him.