Things happened quickly then. Blooded, one of the robbers dived out of the car, machine-pistol in hand, and smashed through the door of the nearest cottage. A short burst of fire followed. Bob immediately shook himself, tried his dead radio and cursed. Then, out the corner of his eye, he saw the cottage door open once more, whereupon Dr Paul Bannister appeared, the machine pistol next to his temple.
Bob Barnes stood and watched, realising the doc must have been making a house call. 'You alright, doc?' he said.
'Yes, but Mr Giles has been wounded in the arm. He says if any more police turn up, he'll kill us both. You're to find him another car and leave it outside.'
At that, the door slammed shut once more.
Back in the house, Paul Bannister looked at the armed gunman. 'You know you can't get away, don't you,' he said.
'And why don't you shut up,' replied the gunman.
'At least let me see to Mr Giles.'
The gunman looked at the person he had shot. 'I didn't mean to do it,' he said, 'I just panicked.'
Paul assessed the gunman in front of him, realising he was only a boy. 'You don't have to make it any worse,' he said.
'It's alright for you to say that. You're not the one on the run.'
Paul noticed sweat appear on the youth. He could sense his mind in turmoil. 'Look,' he said, 'I'm a doctor. I could speak for you. Give a good word. Say that you weren't really that bad.'
'And why would you say that,' said the youth.
'Because it's obviously the truth.'
Paul looked out the window. Saw two other men still unconscious in the overturned car. 'They're older than you,' he said. 'I suppose you were dragged into whatever you've been doing.'
The youth smirked. 'You could say that.'
'Then give me the gun, and I'll help you.'
Paul held out his hand. The youth bent his head, thinking.
He seemed to come to a decision, and Paul remembered thinking of the previous conversation with Bob Barnes. Indeed, it was just at that point that Bob made his own appearance, bursting through the window like Superman on heat, and landing squarely on the youth and bringing him down.
He was just in the process of cuffing him when he realised a burst of fire had been let off.
'Well that's one in the eye for you, eh, doc.'
But as he turned he realised it wasn't in the eye, but the chest.
'Doc!' said Bob, shocked.
Dr Paul Bannister lay still on the floor, in a pool of blood.
About the Author
1955 (Yorkshire, England) – I am born (Damn! Already been done). ‘Twas the best of times … (Oh well).
I was actually born to a family of newsagents. At 18 I did a Dick Whittington and went off to London, only to return to pretend to be Charlie and work in a chocolate factory.
When I was ten I was asked what I wanted to be. I said soldier, writer and Dad. I never thought of it for years – having too much fun, such as a time as lead guitarist in a local rock band – but I served nine years in the RAF, got married and had seven kids. I realized my words had been precognitive when, at age 27, I came down with M.E. – a condition I’ve suffered ever since – and turned my attention to writing.
My essays are based on Patternology, or P-ology, a thought process I devised to work as a bedfellow to specialisation. Holistic, it seeks out patterns the specialist may have missed. The subject is not about truth, but ideas, and covers everything from politics to the paranormal.
I also specialise in Flash Fiction in all genres, most under 600 words, but also Mini Novels - 1500 word tales so full they think they're bigger.
Connect with Anthony
Smashwords Author page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/anthonynorth
Anthony's Website: https://anthonynorth.com/
Anthony's Blog (inc current affairs): https://anthonynorth.com/blog/blog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anthonynorth
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anthony.north.330
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