The Samaritan of PINTO

Clunk! Clatter! Clink! The car bounced up and down on the steep, crater-filled mountain road. Photographer Ian Allen and I had already been travelling for hours, on our way to Penlyne Castle in the Blue Mountains. The journey had started back in Kingston and now we were near a place called Pinto, really, really high up on the St Thomas side of the mountains.

The surroundings were spectacular, but the situation was not so pretty. Straight ahead was a bumpy, muddy track that used to be a road. To our right, a deadly fall.

"So um, maybe we should turn back?" I reasoned.

"No, man, just line up the car properly," was Ian's response. Sure, I was the one driving and could've just refused to keep going. But, I didn't want to be the one to chicken out first, so on we went. I gripped the steering wheel as tight as I could and gunned the engine.

We got to a particularly steep incline that, unfortunately, was also particularly muddy. I made a quick decision on the best spot to drive and went for it. My heart was racing and for a second, it seemed we were actually going to make it, then - plunk!

Huge hole

The front wheels of the car fell into a huge hole that had been camouflaged by mud, and refused to come back out. We were stuck, almost vertically, on a slippery mountain road! I looked out the window and down at the wheels. Mud. Thick mud that was only swallowing more of the wheels, the harder I tried to get them loose.

We hopped out of the car.

"Ah, Geez."

It was as lonely a road as you can imagine. Nothing but fog, mud and trees. It occurred to me that we hadn't seen anyone for miles. No vehicles, no one walking on the roads. What were we going to do? We certainly couldn't walk all the way back. There was no phone signal, so we couldn't call for help either.

I looked up to the heavens in desperation, only to see a colony of vultures starting to circle the area. An eerie omen.

Ian and I stood around pondering the situation for the next few minutes, then, a cough. I knew I heard someone cough. Someone was walking downhill and was just around the corner. Salvation!

Not five seconds later, there he was, bouncing his way down the hill. Now salvation took an odd form, in an ageing, bearded fellow with rather red eyes, wearing waterboots and a cap. He smelled of smoke and was quite mellow.

"Wah happen to unnu yah now?" he said. I pointed out the wheels that were lodged in mud. "Oh, unnu stuck. Eh eh," said he, casually.

The man took his cap off and scratched his head. "Wah we ah go do yah now?" he said.

Beep! beep! I could hardly believe my ears. I whirled around and saw a small, black jeep coming up the road. I nearly jumped with excitement. As the jeep came upon us, it screeched to a halt. The driver hopped out. He was about 50 years old with a slightly greying beard. There was also a woman in the jeep. She was holding a baby and poked her head out the window. The man walked over to us.

To the rescue

"Wah kinda problem unnu into now?" he asked. We explained the nature of the predicament.

"It can rock out?" he asked. I told him I wasn't sure. "Well, mek we try," said he. Of course, I was the unlucky soul chosen to sit behind the wheel while the others rocked the car back and forth. My duty was to hit the gas as hard as I could while they tried to dislodge the wheels from the mud. But all I could imagine was them getting the wheels loose and me heading straight over the precipice to certain death. I swallowed hard and went for it. Rockity rock! Vroom! Rockity rock! Vroom!

After a few minutes, success! Fortunately, I was able to regain control of the car as soon as it got out of the mud. The precipice was kept at bay. I parked the car at a safe, sturdy spot and got back out.

"Unnu alright now den," said the driver of the jeep. We thanked him for his assistance and with only a smile and a wave, he was back in his vehicle and on his way again. I never even got a chance to ask him what his name was.

Meanwhile, the mellow waterboot-wearer hung around long enough to see us off. Of course, this time we were heading back down the hill. Penlyne Castle would have to wait for another time. We had both had enough mountain adventure for one day.

Where should Robert go next? Tell him at robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com