Culmination
Thunder was rumbling and crackling across the sky.
'Sebastian!’ Marie called. She felt an odd dejavu. She had been here, not so long ago. Except this time she was soaked, having not even stopped to get an umbrella. And this time she was genuinely afraid. She had slipped and fallen several times in her panic.
'Stupid bloody woman… ’ she muttered to herself as she gained her feet. The rain was getting in her eyes, making it difficult to see anything besides green. She didn’t seem to be able to keep her balance. Marie just kept thinking of what had happened to Janice.
What if...
Her heel slipped on wet grass, and she slid out, landing on her backside, sliding all the way back down to the clearing.
'Shit! ’ Marie fell into a tantrum, kicking the mud with her heels, the wet smacks echoing in the valley.
When her fit subsided, she sat up.
'Ahoy!’ a voice called from the other side of the valley.
She turned to see Dr Cardigan, Rufus, and a policeman, making their way down to the clearing.
She gained her feet.
'Permission to join the search, Captain? ’ Dr Cardigan came up to her, gingerly balancing an umbrella and a cup of cocoa, which he handed to Marie.
'Thank you, kind sir.’
'My pleasure, madam. Now, shall we form a grid? Where do you want us? ’
Marie sipped the cocoa, feeling its warmth seep into her harried, cold body. She felt like she had covered the whole area without looking properly.
She nodded her head.
Rufus came up with a warm, casual embrace.
She burst into tears.
'Hey now...’ He pulled her closer.
'No..I came out here in a total blind panic, trampling all over, slipping and sliding, yelling like a stuck pig...I was just so desperate to find Sebastian...I’m sorry..’
The policeman looked at his own shoes.
'Anyway, that’s my way of saying we have a lot of ground to cover.’
She took a couple of deep breaths, then downed her cocoa. The hot fluid scalded her tongue, but she didn’t mind.
'Let’s get to it. ’
They set off, spaced about twenty meters apart, conducting a methodical search, calling out in turns.
As they neared the cave, about halfway up, they heard gunfire from the Warden farm.
They all froze separately. The policeman reached for his walkie-talkie.
It came again, loud, percussive pops puncturing the air.
The policeman spoke. Waited. Spoke again. Waited again.
They converged without speaking at the cave entrance. There came a barrage of loud booms, followed by more silence. They waited. Another couple of booms.
The policeman opened his mouth to say something, then they heard crashing in the bushes above.
He had already been reaching for his gun when two dogs burst through the bushes, running blind. The doctor’s face twitched into a strange frown, then back to normal.
The policeman took his gun out, but the doctor stepped forward and snatched it out of his hand.
His surprise was almost comical.
The doctor gave him an uppercut to the jaw, knocking him off his feet; he landed heavily, hitting his head hard on the rock.
'Bring him inside, please. ’
He herded them into the cave. Rufus and Marie carried the unconscious policeman between them. Once inside, the doctor took a rope from the floor and threw it to them.
'Tie him up, please; we don’t need him escaping. ’ They complied silently, putting him in a sitting position against the cave wall.
'I feel I must apologise for all the deception. I came here to end things, but I truly had no idea what I was going to do, until I did it. I’m flying blind, so to speak....Life is full of surprises...’
