Down in the Woods

by Gary Philpott

  “By his mistress, do you mean Lady Felicity Wilkinson?”

  “I most certainly do. I oiled the wheels of romance, or perhaps I should refer to it as lust. That is all it is Charles, lust.”

  “Are you saying Lady Felicity Wilkinson is now having an affair with Andrew Simpson?”

  “I am. And all I have contrived to do is to make my husband seek solace between the legs of that wretched stable girl.” She turned her head towards an opening door.

  “That is rather strange. That was Sarah.”

  “I told you it was Sarah.”

  “What is strange?” asked Harrington.

  “Well, Sarah wanted to know if it was permissible to close the stables for the rest of the afternoon. As you can imagine, with the weather front heading our way, no one will be riding. The thing is; Lester has galloped back to the stables with only an empty saddle on his back.”

  “I assume Lester is a horse?”

  “Yes, Felicity’s horse. He still has a length of string tied to his bridle.”

  “Sorry, I don’t understand the significance of that.”

  “Well, if you plan to tie a horse to a fence or such like, it is not wise to use the rein. If the horse gets spooked, the bit in its mouth can do damage. So you use loosely tie string that the horse can easily break free from. Lester wouldn’t normally do that though, he is a loyal horse who knows his place.”

  “Do you still have Felicity’s mobile number?”

  “Yes, I have it stored in mine.”

  “Phillip!” shouted Katherine scornfully.

  “Phone her, do it now. Katherine, phone her house.”

  “I beg your pardon.”

  “Don’t piss me about. Phone Felicity’s house. Find out where she is. And Phillip, if you don’t get her, try Andrew’s mobile.”

  While the two of them set about their tasks, Harrington phoned his station and had them pull Collins out of the briefing.”

  “No answer on either of them,” declared Phillip.

  “Felicity’s mother said she is out riding,” stated Katherine.

  “Come on Phillip, we’re going riding.”

  “Can you ride?”

  “No, but I can hang on tight.”

  “I see, I’d best phone Sarah quickly then.”

  “You do that. And Katherine, I want you to phone the local police and let them know what is happening.”

  “And what the devil is happening?”

  “Andrew Simpson is somewhere out in the forest with Felicity. And my money is on it being exactly the same place as where your husband and Felicity found the body.”

  “Oh, this is all too much. This cannot be happening.”

  “Believe me, this is happening alright. Now stop pissing about and get on with it.”

  Both men ran out of the house. Katherine put the phone to her ear.

  “We should take my car,” shouted Hetherington-Jones.” I know where I am going.”

  They both quickly climbed into his Range Rover. Harrington was still struggling to fasten his seat belt as they roared off down the drive.

  “Sarah is going to have Hercules ready for us.”

  The ropes cut into Felicity’s armpits as her feet left the ground.

  “I always knew you would look good like this. I have imagined this moment many times.”

  “Sick bastard,” she said faintly.

  “So you keep saying. I am pleased you are still awake though. The girl you found had passed out by this stage. I have changed the ratios since then. This latest batch does seem to be better. Tell me, do you have any sexual urges at this juncture?”

  “Sick bastard.”

  “I will log that as some sexual urges in my record book when I get back to the lab. Now, let me just get this rope around your waist.” He passed it round her body and round the tree.

  “Aaagh,” groaned Felicity, as he pulled the rope tight.

  “Yes, the stomach is a particularly soft part of the body. It is the fact that you ladies taper in there so nicely that makes it such a secure place to tie you around. Good, I don’t think that will come undone. Now, if you will just give me a moment, I will get my syringe.”

  All Felicity could see was a blurred shadow stooping down in front of her. The urge to close her eyes was overwhelming, but she managed to fight it back. Stay awake, she told herself.

  “Try not to move your head.” He reached up and pushed against her forehead with his hand. The rough bark of the tree trunk dug into the back of her head. “Just a little prick.”

  “Yes.”

  “Ah, very good.”

  “Only one ball though.”

  “You bitch.” He slapped her hard on both sides of her face. “Now stay still.”

  In a strange sort of way, those two slaps were helpful; they helped Felicity to stay awake.

  The needle went into the side of her neck. He discharged half the syringe before pulling it out. He then stuck it into her neck again, an inch above the first puncture mark. His thumb slowly emptied the syringe’s contents into her.

  “That should calm you down. It is a lot slower acting than what I put in your wine. If you care to urinate, you will get rid of most of that. I am hoping that you will stay awake for about two hours. I have reduced the dose a bit, so you should wake up again before daylight, though it is possible that some creatures of the night will wake you with their teeth before then. I hope you enjoy the experience.”

  “You are…” choked Felicity … “Dead meat.”

  “Phillip said you were a feisty cow. He also said you were a good fuck. I have to say, I agree with him entirely. I am just going to have one last feel of the goods before I go.” He forced his gloved hand between her legs. “I want something to remember you by.” He gripped tight and yanked his hand down. Felicity yelped loudly as four pubic hairs went with it.

  “There’s one more thing I need to do before I go.” He pushed some cotton wool into her mouth. “I doubt if anyone would hear you, but just in case. Try not to let it get into your trachea.” He smiled a sickening smile.

  “Take hold of my hand.”

  Harrington did as he was told. He also jumped as high as he could. Sarah pushed up on his backside. He swung his left leg over and clung onto Phillip’s Jacket.

  “Ready?”

  The horse was off down the yard before he had chance to reply.

  “Wrap your arms around my chest and hook your feet under my legs.”

  The horse was now cantering. Harrington was bouncing up and down on its rear quarters. He was clinging on for dear life. His situation was not helped by the back of the saddle pounding into his groin with every thump of the horse’s hooves on the ground.

  They veered sharp right at a junction in the bridle path. The falling rain and dark clouds made everything dark and gloomy. Things got even darker as they entered the forest.

  “Come on boy, keep going, not far now,” shouted Phillip.

  Only Phillip saw the shadowy outline of a human ahead of them. Harrington had the side of his face pressed into Phillip’s back and could only see trees flashing by.

  Simpson stood in the middle of the track, like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Hercules charged towards him. Simpson moved to one side at the last moment, only to feel the full force of Phillip’s boot in his face. His nose split open and began to gush blood.

  Phillip took the horse up on its hind legs. Harrington fell into the wet dirt. Hercules pivoted round and Harrington had to roll quickly away as the horse came down again. He was picking himself up off the ground when Phillip suppressed Hercules’ jump, causing his left hind hoof to smash against Simpson’s hips.

  “I will deal with this bastard. You go and find Felicity.”

  “Don’t kill him,” shouted Harrington.

  “Death would be too kind, I want to see this bastard in prison.” He climbed down from his horse and ran towards a groaning Simpson.

  “Aaaghhhh, leave me alone,” moaned Simpson.

&n
bsp; Phillip’s right boot shot up between his legs and squarely hit the target. “Don’t move until the police get here, or I will kill you.”

  Chapter 21

  Jonathan was struggling to put a brave face on things as he stood next to Anna in the SAS check-in queue at Heathrow airport. Each of them was leaning against a baggage trolley with two pink suitcases on it.

  “I have to say babe, I doubt many suitcases go though the X-Ray machine with nothing but shoes in them.”

  “You should have kept half the money.”

  “I took my expenses. And at the end of the day it was your money really. Besides, I doubt if you will ever have the opportunity to shop in Oxford Street again.”

  “Do not look so sad, Jonathan. You can visit me in Riga.”

  “If you don’t mind, I might just give that a miss. I am not a great fan of self-torture. It is best that I just move on and try to forget you, though I doubt I ever will.”

  “I would like you to meet my sister.”

  “Your sister, you didn’t tell me you had a sister.”

  “I think you would call her my baby sister.”

  “So she’s younger than you?”

  “She is younger than you. Two years I think. You would like Laima. Her name means luck. I think Laima would like Jonathan, very much.”

  “Does she look anything like you?”

  “People say we are like twins, though we cannot be this.”

  “Laima, you say, a younger version of you.”

  “Will you come to visit me?”

  “You have just convinced me.”

  Anna laughed. “Maybe we will become cousins.”

  “Not cousins, Anna. Oh bugger it, you can forget about learning English now. Yes, cousins. Cousins, does have a certain ring to it.”

  “Thank you, Jonathan, you are a good man.”

  “And you are one very sassy woman. I would have married you, you know. Even if you left me straight after the wedding.”

  “You are sweet.” Anna leant over to kiss him. “I am glad we did not…”

  “So am I Anna, it would have spoilt a great friendship. I will probably carry on dreaming about us doing so, though.”

  “Maybe you will fuck my sister.”

  Every head within earshot turned their way. At first they just looked at each other in silence, but then they burst out laughing in unison.

  A gap opened up in front of them. As they pushed their trolleys forward, Anna saw a well dressed man approaching. He seemed to be heading straight towards them. Walking behind him was another man in a grey suit.

  “Is your name Anna?”

  “Yes.”

  “You must be Jonathan.”

  “That’s right. Who are you?”

  He held out his hand. “Daniel Wilkinson. I am so glad I found you.”

  “Wilkinson, isn’t that the name of…” Jonathan was not allowed to finish his sentence.

  Daniel held out his hand to Anna. “I wanted to thank you for saving my wife’s life.”

  Anna’s face turned red. “I did not do this.”

  “There were many factors my dear, but if you had not had the courage to step forward, I would now be a widower. Now, come with me. Jonathan if you could take one trolley, my driver will take the other.”

  Jonathan did not budge. “Where are we going?”

  “I have upgraded Anna to first class. You don’t need to bother to queue. Before you go through to departures, I have a proposition to put to you. I will find us a table in that coffee house over there. Please join me for ten minutes or so after you have checked in.”

  Daniel’s driver stayed outside. Anna and Jonathan sat down, both keen to know what Daniel was going to say, but also, both very apprehensive.

  “Now, I know you will be keen to get going, so I will be brief. Despite her wayward ways, my wife means everything to me. We have some broken bridges to mend, and I thought we might try and mend one or two of them in Riga, in a fortnight’s time. I am reliably informed that it is a very romantic city.”

  Anna nodded. Her face still looked incredibly confused.

  “That should give you a bit of time to reunite with your chap. He is a chef, is he not?”

  “He is training to be a chef,” said Anna.

  “Well, they must run courses for such things in Riga.”

  “They do.”

  “My proposition is this. While Felicity and I are mending our broken bridges, I would like the four of us to have a look at a few properties that have the potential to be converted to restaurants. My advisers tell me Riga has an expanding tourist trade, and the demand for quality food outlets is growing.”

  Anna looked him in the eye. “We will help you.”

  “It is jolly kind of you to say so. DI Doyle was right when he said you were a sweet woman, which brings me to my main point. I am proposing a fifty-fifty stake. Felicity and I will own one half. Your chap and you will own the other half. You will both work in the restaurant until such times as the profit margins negate the need for you to do so. My chaps will deal with the legal and accounting side of matters.”

  “We cannot afford this.”

  “No, no, you misunderstand my dear. I will pay for everything. You will only have to manage the restaurant and work in it. Your salary will be fifty-percent of your profits. And of course, all the food you can eat, and hopefully a nice apartment above the establishment.”

  “We cannot ask this.”

  “It is not a case of asking. Unless my chaps have got it wrong, this is a sound investment for me. I want to use it as a feasibility study on a franchise project I am considering. I am visualising a chain of similar restaurants all over Eastern Europe. It will displease me greatly if you decline. I am sure you have a lot on your mind. Here take my card. Email me in the next few days. Of course, you are at liberty to say no, but it would be churlish to do so.”

  Daniel stood and held out his hand again. Anna shook his hand first.

  As Jonathan shook hands with Daniel, he said, “Anna will be in contact, I will make sure of it.

  After watching Daniel walk away with his driver in tow, Anna and Jonathan stood and hugged like they had never hugged before.