LOVER’S LEAP

By Bob Francis

Mussoorie, at an average altitude of six thousand five hundred feet, is in the foothills of the Himalayan chain. In April the town shakes off its winter mantle and springs into life, with swarms of visitors arriving to relax in the cool hills and escape the heat of the plains. The bulk of visitors on short leave, government officials, military personnel, businessmen on  holidays  head for the main  hotels, Charville  the Savoy and Hackmans .Others, who intend to spend a few months in the  hills, rent  cottages  for the summer, returning to the plains when the monsoon  breaks in mid June and the worst of the heat is over..

The setting for this story is Mussoorie in the nineteen twenties. 

Colonel Lightfoot and family decided on Mussoorie as a summer resort because he was based in Delhi It was a convenient overnight trip to visit his family during weekends while continuing to work at his post during the week. So he, his wife and beautiful eighteen year old daughter rented a cottage on Waverly Hill for the summer.

Mary Lightfoot was tall, blond, slim and elegant and her daughter Elyse was equally striking   looking. Both enjoyed meeting people and made friends easily.  For the women there was plenty to keep them occupied during the week when their men were away working in the plains; plenty of shopping, riding or tennis during the day, entertainment every evening at the hotels and ballrooms and dinner parties with friends at night. 

John and Margaret Johnson were a wealthy business family from Lucknow, holidaying in Mussoorie.Their only son James, very tall, slim and very handsome, was a junior officer in the  Lighthorse  regiment  based in Dehra Doon just twenty one miles from Mussoorie.  He spent every weekend he could spare with his family. 

In the course of events the two families met and became firm friends James and Elyse found they both liked the same things and enjoyed dancing at the Savoy, films at the Picture Palace, hiking through the hills and of course riding which they both loved passionately. Weekend after weekend was spent together and gradually their friendship developed into love. Eventually James proposed, Elyse accepted, and   their engagement was announced in the Times of India and the Statesman. They began making arrangements for a celebratory party. Their parents were delighted with the turn of events and who could blame them. Sometimes marriages are made in heaven.

But the best laid plans often go astray. James’ regiment was suddenly posted on active duty to the North West Frontier Province, fighting the Afghan tribes. Colonel Lightfoot was transferred, on promotion, to Bengal, and soon  the tyranny of distance separated the families and of course Elyse and James. All that the two lovers could do was to keep in touch by post; and this continued for some months.

Finally the two families, despairing of ever getting together to finalize arrangements for the marriage, decided that they should meet in Mussoorie. By taking leave from their posts at the same time they both arrived at the end of May and since they could only get a few weeks leave decided to stay at Hackmans’ Grand Hotel instead of renting a cottage.

So now both families were able to spend time together. They approached the Chaplin of Christ Church for the wedding arrangements and booked Hackmans’ ballroom for  the reception. The young couple found that they were now more deeply in love then ever and were becoming quite excited at the prospect of the wedding. Dreams were dreamed and plans for their future shared. They were so in love, so young, so lucky!

It was now early June and the Monsoon had arrived in earnest. Constant showers, thunderstorms, heavy rain and mist covered the hillsides everywhere. The mist swirled into every nook and cranny completely enveloping the scene one minute and, as the wind changed direction, the next minute opening up to restore the full view of what lay ahead. Everything was damp and clammy, not a pleasant time to be in the hills but all this passed unnoticed by the young couple so deeply in love.

On the day before the wedding the weather suddenly cleared and having been housebound by the recent heavy rain they decided that it might be a nice day for a pleasant ride around the hill known as Camel’s back. This was one of the few level roads in Mussoorie.The road wound round the hill for a couple of miles providing glorious views of range after range of the Himalayan mountains.  It was popular with both visitors and locals for a quiet pleasant stroll or gentle trot if on horseback. And so the young couple saddled up and set off for their ride around the hill,  side by side, engaged in happy banter.

Far above, high in the sky a Golden eagle circled, on the lookout for prey. It spotted a likely meal, a dove, far below, and began a slow, circling   decent increasing its speed with each circuit. Without warning as so often happens during the monsoon, a heavy mist suddenly descended, engulfing the road ahead. Sight was limited to just a few yards. The eagle, committed to its plunge, swooped through the mist, the dove frantically dived for shelter  but unable to see clearly, instead  struck  Elyse’s horse directly between the eyes. The horse reared up in a panic and galloped madly away, completely out of control. James, hearing the cries of the terrified young bride to be, spurred his horse forward, and raced after her. He tried to grab the reins of her horse and succeeded. With all his strength he pulled hard to slow the terrified animal but to no avail. He found himself being dragged along, now totally out of control  charging ahead but he hung on for dear life and would not let go...

They did not see the sharp bend directly ahead....

It took two days to recover the bodies from the deep valley and another to arrange the funerals. Deeply shocked by the tragedy the town rallied around the families. The funerals were attended by hundreds of mourners. Col. Lightfoot resigned his Commission and they returned to their home in Surrey. The Johnsons sold their business and moved to Mussoorie to be near their son. The lovers were  buried side by side ,together for all eternity. 

So is it ‘kismet’ that rules our lives or do we have a say in our future, for what occurred that day would  probably not have happened at any other time of the year.

If only the sky had been blue and bright and sun filled, 

If only the eagle had not been hungry, the dove  not  blinded, and the  air clear of mist.   

If only they had not gone riding that day. 

If only....

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bob Francis was born in Mussoorie India and migrated to Australia in 1967.

He is married, has two adult children, one grand-daughter and one great-grand daughter.

He retired from teaching in 1989. He has done ten years of woodwork mainly furniture for family and friends and also ten years of video doing semi professional work. 

He is now into writing and has self published a book this year named  'The Charzi Tours', which he has sold to family, friends and over the net. He writes short stories based mainly around the Mussoorie area, intending them for self publication in book later this year. He can be contacted at bishopbob71@hotmail.