Catlins 2

Walking across a remote, beautiful, and apparently empty, beach I bent to examine the boulders bearing the marks of the molten liquid they had once been, and the flat platforms of stone - of so many colours in regular blocks that they looked like mosaics.
Suddenly I became aware of a small black and white Jack Russell terrier bounding towards me. His joy at encountering me was so great that when he arrived at my feet he bounced waist high to say 'hello' before landing again and rolling over to have his tummy tickled.

Then I heard a voice say 'Paddy, you fool'. It was a woman's voice but deep and gravelly; a voice that suggested both strength and emotion.
When I looked up I saw a woman in faded jeans, peaked cap pulled well down and sunglasses. A woman like a piece of old rope; thin, sinewy,weather beaten,frayed.
Because of the cap and the glasses there was very little of the woman's face visible so that if you asked me to describe her features, I wouldn't be able to do it. But although she didn't struggle to walk towards me, I got the impression of considerable age.
'You like dogs,' she said, watching me patting Paddy and then throwing his disgustingly soggy ball for him.
'I rescued him,' she added. 'I had a dog once who lived to 16 and a half. We went through a lot together. ' She fell silent and gazed into the distance.
'Yes, I like dogs. And know the sadness of losing their companionship after that many years.' I said. Then, after a pause, asked 'Do you live here?'
'This is all my land. But I live over on the other side,' she said, and gestured vaguely with one arm.
I looked around me and saw that there were fields next to the beach and climbing the cliff but that they were overgrown; full of wild grasses about to run to seed.
'Have you been here long?'
'Oh yes,' the woman said. 'I have been here a very long time.'
'Would you let me take your photograph?'
'That's not possible,' she replied abruptly, and brought our conversation to an end by walking off, Paddy following at her heels.

I watched for a few seconds as the pair made their way over the rocks, heading towards the sea. Then I also moved on but just a few steps later came upon a stone bearing a plaque in memory of the first settlors on the land.
Reading the plaque I wondered whether there was a connection to the woman I'd just met and turned to look for her and her dog.
But they'd vanished into thin air.