Twice in a Blue Moon

by Wilf Voss

"I can see that. . . Where did you find it?"

  "I came into the office, after I had taken you to hospital, I saw it lying on the floor."

  "What in here?"

  "Yes it was just lying on the floor here. By the filing cabinet." Amanda pointed to the floor.

  "But why? How could it have got in here." Adam looked round. "What do you keep in there?"

  "That's where I keep the personal files for everyone on the yard, all the staff." Amanda stood up. "I always keep it locked.." She pulled the drawer which slid open. "What? I'm sure I'd locked it." Adam looked through the tabbed files. Each tab had a name typed onto it, the name of a staff member.

  "Your file is missing."

  "I don't keep my details in here, just in case this ever happened. Everyone else's are in there." She sighed. "It didn't help though..."

  "We have to stop them?

  "But how? I mean, how do we even find them?"

  "I don't know. . ." Adam held the office door open. "Come on I'll walk you home."

  ***

  When they reached the cottage Adam waited at the front gate.

  "Aren't you going to come inside, just for a moment?" Amanda unlocked the door.

  "No thanks, I had better get back to the yard." Adam smiled. "You'll be okay."

  "See you in the morning Adam." Amanda watched as he walked off into the darkness. She stepped into her cottage. She clicked the light switch, but nothing happened. "Oh!" Amanda stumbled forward. She heard a noise coming from the kitchen. "Pinkerton? Is that you?" In the half light Amanda saw a person standing, waiting for her. "You? What are you doing. . .?" Amanda's sentence was cut short.

  ~~~

  Chapter 8

  Adam had not been able to sleep, he stood watching the lightning streak across the dark sky. The rain fell heavily, chilling the air. He thought only of Kate worrying that she would die, he hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye, or to tell her that he loved her.

  Adam thought back to the first day that they had met. Kate had come from Cornwall, where she had spent her life working on her parents farm. She was pretty, blond and slim. Adam had been attracted to her from the very beginning. He remembered the first time her had talked to her, the way she had smiled coyly. The time he first took her to the pub, and how they walked home together.

  Now she had gone. If only he had looked after her more, if only he had walked round to the back yard with her. If only. There were always so many ifs and buts. He glanced at his watch, three o'clock. Perhaps he should try and get some sleep. Adam walked across the yard, just before he got to the flat he saw a shadowy figure go upstairs. Adam paused, perhaps someone else couldn't sleep either, as he went upstairs there was no one around. Adam shrugged his shoulders.

  ***

  Adam went down onto the yard. The other staff had started feeding already. He went into the feed shed.

  "Hi Adam!" Caroline clattered a feed bucket down onto the floor and started filling it with pony nuts and bran. "Did you have a good night?"

  "I didn't sleep much." He looked outside the door. "No Amanda again?"

  "No. Not yet."

  ***

  Kate woke up. There was another person in the room. Bound with a large quality of nylon rope. Currently the person was lying on the floor facing the opposite direction. Kate gasped as the woman rolled over.

  "Amanda what are you doing here?" Kate tried to shuffle her chair towards her. Amanda's eyes widened, a cloth gag stopped her from saying anything. The door of the room burst open.

  "Ah! I see you have met your friend again." He smiled at Amanda. "I'm so glad you could join us. We have been expecting you. . . "

  ***

  Adam paced up and down. It was lunch time and Amanda had not turned up for work. He decided there was only one thing to do. Grabbing his jacket he started off down the driveway. He ran nearly all the way to the cottage, slamming the door-knocker hard when he arrived, there was no response, he rattled the door again. Still no response.

  Pulling out his bunch of keys Adam found the one that opened the front door of the cottage, Amanda had given it to him, in case of emergencies. He was sure that this was an emergency. Opening the door he saw Pinkerton rushing towards him, meowing loudly, he picked up the kitten and put it on his shoulder, Pinkerton clawed him.

  "Amanda! Are you there?" Adam looked through the kitchen and the living room, and then he dashed upstairs. Amanda's bed had not been slept in, he looked in the cupboard there were her clothes hanging up ready to be worn. "No. . . No!" Adam yelled. He ran back downstairs. As he stepped off the stairs he saw a small white cloth pad, he picked it up and sniffed it, the powerful chemicals made his head spin. Looking down he saw a line of muddy footprints, Amanda always took her boots off before she came into the house, she got paranoid about people making a mess of her cottage. He could only presume the worst. They had put two and two together, and quite frankly it would not have been too difficult to work out. Adam felt so guilty. He sat down. Pinkerton leapt from his shoulder and meowed again. "Oh I'm sorry are you hungry?" Adam walked through to the kitchen and dished out some cat food from an open tin. As the kitten ate, purring quietly Adam sat beside it. "If only you could talk. . . You could answer this. . . If only." That famous 'if' again. . . It was always if. Adam waited for the kitten to finish before picking him up again and grabbing some cat food. "You're going to have to live with me for a while. . . I hope it's only a while." Adam sighed.

  Adam opened the door, looking down he saw a plain white envelope lying on the doormat. He picked it up, shuddering when he realised that it was addressed to him, he ripped it open roughly. The letter consisted of newspaper cuttings.

  Adam Bishop,

  If you want to see your sister alive you had better find ten million pounds. You will be contacted regarding collection.

  Adam almost laughed, ten million pounds, that was stupid. He looked at the envelope, perhaps the postmark would give him a clue. . . There was a stamp, but no postmark. He folded the letter and put it in his pocket.

  ***

  Adam picked up Pinkerton and some tins of cat food and started to make his way back to the yard. As he returned he saw Caroline standing outside the office.

  "Hello Caroline." They both walked inside.

  "Hi Adam.. And who is this?" Caroline took Pinkerton off Adam's shoulder, the kitten purred loudly.

  "This is Pinkerton he is Amanda's kitten. . . I wonder could you look after him for a couple of days you see Amanda is. . ." He paused, watching the change of expression on Caroline's face. "She is a little unwell, so I think she has enough to do looking after herself."

  "Okay! I'd love to!" Caroline beamed. Adam opened the desk drawer and placed the letter inside.

  "That's strange?" Adam frowned.

  "What's up?"

  "I had a book of matches in here, and they seem to have gone."

  "Oh sorry about that." Caroline pulled the match book out of her jacket pocket. It was open and there was a match missing. "The pilot light on the gas cooker isn't working, I know there are usually matches in the drawer."

  "Don't worry about it." Adam looked down at the match book. On the inside there was a set of letters and digits written onto the cardboard in biro. "Now that is strange." Adam looked at the writing. "S..X..6..2..0..6..3..5. Does that mean anything to you?"

  "What? No.. It doesn't mean a thing to me?" Caroline shook her head.

  "Never mind. . ." Adam sat down at the desk. Caroline left the office. Adam toyed with the matchbook. Perhaps the writing was a clue? But a clue to what? He put it back in the drawer. Now he had to work fast to try and save Amanda and Kate. . . But he had to know where to go, and what to do

  ***

  Amanda's gag had been removed, her hands tied above her head. She strained against the ropes.

  ***

  Adam had to take out another hack. Caroline led out a horse.

  "Why are you riding out today? Where's Karen?" />
  "It's Karen's day off." Caroline mounted.

  "I really wanted you to stay back here and look after the yard." Adam sighed. "But I suppose that it will be okay running itself. . . I need someone good escorting this ride, we've got a load of people. I really don't know where they all come from!" Adam smiled warmly.

  "Lets go then." Caroline walked her horse out of the yard.

  ***

  The weather had been fine when they started out, but by the time they had ridden for two hours the rain was pouring down. Adam dismounted and handed his horse over, he walked into the office with Caroline. Lighting the gas heater.

  "I hate this weather!" Adam dragged his wax jacket off and hung it on a hook. It dripped, forming a puddle on the floor. Caroline pushed her hair back. The office door opened and one of the customers walked in.

  "Excuse me?" The woman walked into the office. "That was a great hack Thank you!"

  "That's fine, I'm sorry that the weather wasn't so good."

  "I was just wondering? Could you tell me where the pub we stopped at is? I would like to take my husband there, but I don't think he would like to ride there!" She laughed.

  "Well, let me show you on the map." Adam stood up and walked over to the large map on the wall. Adam traced his finger across the green and grey until he found the small pub. "Ah it’s not really close to much.. How can I explain where it is."

  "I'll take a map reference for the place, I can find it on one of my maps." She wrote down an eight digit number. "Thank you. . ." Adam looked down at the paper.

  "Could you explain that to me?" Adam pointed to the number.

  "Yes of course. There is a grid running across the entire country, it's marked on the Ordnance Survey maps. It allows you to find any place using a reference number. If you look at this number, the first two digits, 'SX' tells me what map to look for. In this case 'SX' is the Dartmoor map, the next six digits correspond to the grid on the edge of the map."

  "If I gave you a reference could you point it out for me?" Adam smiled.

  "Yes of course!" The woman smiled.

  "Could you look at this?" Adam showed the woman the number written on the matchbook.

  "Of course. Let’s see, it’s in the Dartmoor area, because of the SX. And so it is. . ."The woman looked across the map and then pointed to a small box on the map. "There it is! It’s that small farmhouse."

  "Oh great!" Adam reached across and put a green map pin onto the map. "Thanks that's really great." The woman smiled and left the office.

  "What was all that about?" Caroline looked at the green map pin.

  "It might be something I'm looking for." Adam smiled.

  "Come on. . . Let’s have some dinner!"

  ~~~

  Chapter 9

  Adam woke early, dressed quickly and went down to the yard. Pausing at the feed room, he made up a single feed and silently walked across the yard to feed his horse, before walking back to the office where he started to write a note.

  About an hour later, Adam was mounting up. He glanced at his watch; it would be at least an hour before the rest of the staff would come down. That would give him a good head start. He knew most of the way and could guess the rest. Adam rode off into the darkness. . .

  ***

  Caroline unlocked the office and stepped inside, she saw the envelope addressed to her, picked it up and opened it. There was a sheet of paper inside and another envelope.

  Caroline,

  I have something to do. I have taken a horse and will be out on the moor for most of the day. Please do not try and follow me, I don't want you involved in any heroics.

  If I don't return by the end of the day please give the enclosed envelope to the police. Otherwise, please don't open it.

  Thank you Caroline. I know I can trust you to do the right thing.

  Adam.

  Caroline looked at the second envelope. There was the temptation to open it, to discover what was going on, but Adam had trusted her she folded the envelope and placed it in her pocket.

  "Hello Caroline! What's up?" Karen stepped into the office and sat down at the desk opposite Caroline who shrugged her shoulders and handed her the letter.

  "I think he's trying to find Amanda and Kate. . ."

  "What?" Karen went pale. "Why would he think they would be on the moor?"

  "Well, it's strange. He found some sort of map reference on a match book."

  "A match book?"

  "Yes. . ." Caroline opened the desk drawer and started fumbling around. "It's not here. Adam must have taken it with him."

  "What did it look like? Do you remember?"

  "Yes, he showed it to me. It was black and had blue writing on it. What did it say?" Caroline sat down at the desk. "I remember it was the Blue something... The Blue. . ."

  ". . .Moon?" Karen turned round and looked out the window.

  "Yes! That's right! How did you know? Did Adam show it to you?"

  "Yes. . ." Karen paused and turned round. "This is very serious; Adam could be in a lot of trouble. . . We have to go after him."

  "What! But Adam said that we shouldn't!" Caroline picked up the letter and waved it at Karen.

  "We would be helping him. We have to do it!" Karen frowned.

  "Well if you're sure that is what he would want us to do. . .?” Caroline stood up and looked across the map. "But where do we find him? The moor stretches for miles."

  "What was the map reference?"

  "I don't know. Wait he put a pin in the map. It’s a green one." Caroline scanned across the pins.

  "Don't worry about that, can you tack our horses up." Karen watched as Caroline walked across the yard. She picked up the telephone. ". . .Come on! Come on. . . Yes, it's me, there's a problem. You have a visitor on the way. Yes. . . That's right. I have another one here who wants to act like a hero.” She paused smiling. “No don't worry, I'll deal with her." Karen put the receiver down.

  ***

  Caroline ran to the deserted tack room. She stepped inside and paused, what was she doing? Sniffing she pulled a tissue out of her pocket to wipe her eyes. "Pull yourself together girl." She told herself aloud and grabbed the tack for their horses. In her rush, she didn’t notice the envelope falling from her pocket as she stepped out of the tack room.

  ***

  "I found the pin!" Karen smiled as Caroline stepped back into the office.

  "Are you sure that is right?" Caroline frowned. "Are you sure you've got the right place?"

  "I am sure that it is right. What are you saying?" Karen scowled. "Do you want to help Adam or not?"

  "I'm sorry. . . I'm just on edge. . . You understand, I'm sure."

  "Of course. . . Shall we get ready?"

  "Okay! Let me just leave a note to the rest of the staff." Caroline opened the bottom drawer of the desk. "What's this?" She pulled out a newspaper. "Someone's cut a whole load of letters out of this paper?"

  "Oh! Someone must be having a joke!" Karen took the paper, screwed it up and threw it into the wastepaper basket. "We should be getting ready if we want to catch up with Adam. . ." Karen held the office door open.

  "Okay?" Caroline grabbed her riding hat.

  "You go on. I'll be out in a moment."

  ***

  Adam folded the map and put it back in his saddlebag. The place he was looking for was on the other side of the moor. He just hoped that he wasn't going to be too late.

  ***

  The rest of the staff had wanted to know what was going on when Caroline and Karen had ridden off onto the moor. They galloped over the hill and into the valley on the other side. Karen slowed her horse to a trot. Caroline pulled up beside her.

  "You're going a bit quickly." Caroline breathed heavily.

  "We have to get going. If we hang about it might be too late for them. Could you live with that?" Karen clicked her tongue and pushed her horse into a canter. Caroline shrugged and pushed her horse on.

  Caro
line was wondering about Karen. She had told her that they should ride out alone and not bring along the rest of the staff. She watched as Karen cantered on in front of her, she seemed to know exactly where she was going; she hadn't looked at the map once.

  Caroline sighed, she had been bullied again, she hadn't wanted to go riding across the moor to try to save Adam. Her first instinct was to call the police, let them deal with whatever was going on. Caroline was normally more apt at ducking out of trouble, back when she was at school she had been bullied constantly by the older girls, every day without fail they would steal her dinner money. That had been why she had played truant, she had started by just hanging around, but then she had started to help at a local riding school. That had been where it had started, she spent more time at the yard than at school.

  She could still remember the arguments on the day that the truancy officer had arrived on their doorstep. Her parents had shouted and yelled, Caroline had sat silently in her room, listening to the argument filtering through the floor. She had been forced to go back to school, soon after she had left again and started working with horses. Caroline wiped her eyes. Perhaps she had made a mistake, but then perhaps she was happy being bullied. She had known nothing else. She pushed her horse on.

  ***

  Amanda still had her arms tied above her head. She couldn't tell how long she had been tied like this because she had blacked out many hours before. They were still in the tiny stone built room; Kate was lying on the floor, her hands and ankles tightly bound. Amanda felt tears welling in the corners in her eyes. It was not for herself, she had cried tears for herself before, and it hadn't done anything for her. These tears were for Kate, she was here for a reason she would probably never understand, or know. Amanda shuddered, if they were killed, she would have condemned Kate to death.

  There was no way out of this situation. No one knew where they were, including herself.

  ***

  Adam rode on as fast as he could, checking the map once more. If he had everything right, there should be a small farmhouse on the other side of the next hill. He galloped up the slope until he was on the brink. He stopped his horse and dismounted, tying its reins to a small tree. Slowly he edged down through the heather until he was crouching within fifty yards of the farmhouse.

  Built from the native grey granite, one storey high and slightly ramshackle. Perhaps this was the wrong place; maybe he had ridden across the moor just to find an empty farmhouse. The door opened, Adam lay flat against the ground and peered through the heather. The person went back into the building. Adam breathed a sigh of relief. There was a click, and something was pushed into the nape of his neck.