by Joanna Neil
‘I’ll go and see to him,’ Ross murmured. He went off towards the ambulance bay, and after that Katie only saw him briefly throughout the day as their paths crossed intermittently while they were treating their patients.
At the end of her shift, she put on her jacket and readied herself for the journey home. A phone call stopped her as she headed for the main doors, and she paused for a while to listen to what Jessie had to say.
‘I won’t be home till late this evening,’ Jessie told her, ‘so don’t worry about the evening meal—just fix something for yourself. Josh is going to come over to my new house with me to sort out a problem with the builders.
‘I think they’re messing me about, working for a while on my house and then leaving it to go and sort out someone else’s property, only they keep asking for interim payments without doing the work.’
Katie frowned. ‘I’m glad you have Josh to help you deal with that. No wonder the alterations have taken longer than you expected. It’ll be good if you can work it all out.’
‘It will. I’ve been lucky that you’ve been able to put me up for the last few weeks, but I thought I’d be moving out long before this.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Katie said with a smile. ‘You know you can stay as long as you like.’
‘Thanks. You’re an angel.’ Katie could hear the smile in her voice, but then Jessie’s tone changed, as she said quickly, ‘And there’s another problem...young Jack from next door has gone missing. His parents have been looking for him for the last two or three hours, but they can’t find him anywhere. They told me they’d been arguing about something, and they think Jack took fright and went off.’
‘But he can’t have gone far, surely?’ Katie’s brows drew together, and she looked up to see that Ross had come to join her by the doors. He paused, ready to key in the pass code, but waited when he saw that something appeared to be wrong. She mouthed silently to him that Jack had run away and he watched her in concern.
‘I don’t know,’ Jessie answered. ‘I joined in the hunt for him, and they contacted all his friends’ families, but we came up empty. They’ve called in the police. Freya’s out of her mind with worry. On top of all this, she says he’s not been too well today. Nothing specific, just that he had a tummy ache and he’s been feeling sick and wouldn’t eat anything.’
‘Yes, he said he felt sick this morning. His poor mother must be frantic, waiting at home for news. I think I’ll join in the search if they haven’t found him by the time I get home.’
‘I thought you might want to do that. I expect Josh and I will join in as well once we’ve been over to the house.’ Jessica rang off, saying, ‘I’ll see you later, Katie. I hope they find him.’
‘So do I.’ Katie pushed her phone down into the pocket of her jacket.
‘It sounds bad,’ Ross commented. ‘Where will you look for him that they haven’t tried already?’
‘I’m not sure.’ She lifted her shoulders in a helpless gesture. ‘They’ve concentrated the search locally so far, but I guess they’ll widen it now. I know Jack’s fascinated by the offshore island. We walked together with Baz along the strait when the tide was out a couple of evenings ago, but I told him he shouldn’t go there on his own because it was dangerous at high tide, and I’m sure his mother would have told him the same thing.
‘Then again, he might have gone into the woods to hide. I suppose. I imagine they’ll be doing an extensive search there.’
He nodded. ‘Look, I have to go to an important meeting right now, but afterwards, if there’s still no news about him, I’ll come and help with the search.’
‘Okay. Perhaps I’ll see you later.’
‘Yes. But let’s hope it’s all sorted out before then.’
Katie drove home, her mind full of chaotic thoughts. There was anxiety for young Jack, but it was tinged with anguish over her relationship with Ross. He was talking to her as though all was well, but there wasn’t the same intimacy in his manner towards her as there had been before, and she was beginning to realise she didn’t like that at all.
Jack’s mother, Freya, was white-faced and tearful when Katie saw her a short time later. ‘I don’t know what can have happened to Jack, Katie. I keep thinking, what if he went to the loch?’ She wrung her hands in despair. ‘I don’t know what to do. I want to join in the search, but I have to stay here and look after the little one and wait in case he comes back.’ She clutched Jack’s small sister close to her as though she was afraid she, too, might disappear.
Katie gave her a hug. ‘I’ll take Baz out with me and we’ll see if we have any luck,’ she said. ‘Do you have anything that Jack has worn recently? If Baz gets a scent, he’s really good at following the trail.’
Freya found a sweater that Jack had been wearing earlier that day, and a short time later Katie put on her jacket and went outside with Baz. She gave him the sweater to sniff and he wandered around the garden a few times, before apparently picking up the little boy’s scent on the path.
His tail wagged in excitement and he pulled on his leash, anxious to be off. For once, instead of making him walk to heel, Katie let him lead the way, but as they hurried away from the house and along the coastal ridge, she began to wonder if this was all a mistake.
After all, the boxer was still a puppy, only a few months old, with no scent training as such. Every now and again he became distracted, pausing to examine a hillock, or a fascinating clump of heather, and she began to think they might be setting out on a wild-goose chase.
Then he headed for the narrow strait that linked this island with the small islet to the north, where the only inhabitants were grey herons that nested in the woodland by the loch and roe deer and other species of wildlife.
Katie looked uneasily at the encroaching tide. Twice a day the sea crept in and covered the strait, leaving the islet cut off for several hours from the main island. Watching the channel slowly become narrower, she had a horrible feeling that they were fast running out of time.
‘Are you sure you know where you’re taking me,’ she asked the puppy, ‘or is this another adventure trip for you? We have to find Jack...hopefully before the tide comes in.’ She let him sniff the sweater once more.
His tail wagged happily and he pulled Katie further along the sandy passage.
She would give it another fifteen minutes, she promised herself. That would be enough for a quick look around, and then she would start the return journey. With any luck, she would make it back home before the sea covered the strait.
Baz forged on ahead, plunging along the heather-clad hillside and into a valley cut through by a fast-running burn. Then they came to a small copse and he stopped for a moment or two, as though he had lost the trail.
Katie looked around in despair. ‘Is this it?’ she said softly. ‘Where do we go now?’ She crouched down and stroked the dog’s silky ears. ‘You’ve done your best, I know. You thought you could find Jack, but it looks as though he isn’t here.’
She sighed. ‘We’d best go home. It’ll be dark before too long, and the tide will cut us off if we don’t hurry.’ She didn’t know why she was talking to the puppy. He couldn’t understand a word she said, but his ears had pricked up at the sound of Jack’s name.
He nosed around in the undergrowth for a while, and then started to explore the rotted trunk of a tree that must have fallen during a winter storm. She let out the leash to its longest extent so that he could roam a little further, and after a second or two he disappeared from sight. He yelped excitedly a couple of times and she frowned. Had he found something?
She walked around the fallen tree, picking her way over tangled roots and leaf mould. The bole of the tree was massive, hollowed out in parts where it had decayed, and at first she couldn’t make out what she was seeing, because the clothing was dark and matched the colour of the bark.
/> Then she gasped as realisation dawned and shock rooted her to the spot. Jack lay huddled in the shelter of the tree, beads of perspiration covering his brow, his breath coming in short rasps.
‘Oh, Jack, thank heaven. You’re safe now, sweetheart. I’ve got you.’ She quickly knelt down beside him and gently cradled him in her arms. He winced in pain as he turned towards her.
‘Where does it hurt, Jack? Can you show me?’
He moved his hand weakly over the right side of his abdomen and her heart sank. The boy was sick, and she had the horrible feeling that it wasn’t just a simple stomach upset that ailed him.
She carefully slipped off her jacket and wrapped it around the boy. Then she took out her mobile phone and dialled the number for the police and ambulance. There was no dial tone and, in shock, she stared blankly at the screen. She couldn’t get a signal. What should she do?
Her heart began to thump wildly, and she looked around in dismay. They were out here in the wilderness, and Jack was far too ill to walk anywhere. There was no way she could get him across the strait before the tide came in and covered everything in its path. They were stuck here on this small island.
Her mind clouded briefly. What was she to do? If only Ross could be here by her side. She missed him. With him around, she felt that anything was possible. They would be safe with him, she was sure of it. He would know what to do.
Most of all, right now, she wanted to feel his arms around her, holding her close.
Only he wasn’t here and she couldn’t even talk to him on the phone. He was back at home, and it looked as though she and Jack were set to be together for a long, lonely night. Despair washed over her.
CHAPTER NINE
THE SKY WAS overcast now, ominously grey and threatening rain, and the wind had built up, blowing in heavy gusts that tossed Katie’s hair this way and that, and struck a chill through her so that she began to shiver. Baz was lying at her feet, content to rest after his long trek, his head supported on his front paws.
She looked down at Jack, tucking her jacket around him. He hadn’t been saying very much, simply lying there for the most part with his eyes closed. Now, though, he muttered gruffly, ‘I’m going to be sick again.’ And he turned his head to one side and vomited into the undergrowth. He cried out with pain from the exertion, and when it was over Katie helped make him more comfortable, wiping his mouth with a tissue from her bag.
His fair hair was damp with perspiration, and she was afraid that his fever was getting worse. Somehow she had to get him to shelter, out of the way of the storm that was brewing.
Exhausted, he settled back in her arms once more. ‘I’m going to be in trouble with Mum and Dad,’ he said wearily, looking thoroughly miserable.
‘Why would you think that? I’m sure your parents are very worried about you.’
He shook his head. ‘I took a piece of cherry pie from the fridge,’ he said. ‘I was going to give it to Baz, but I ate it myself and it made me poorly. They’ll be cross with me.’
‘Is that why you ran away?’
He nodded, and Katie smiled. ‘I don’t think they’ll be cross, Jack,’ she told him. ‘I don’t think it was the pie that made you sick.’ She laid a hand lightly on his forehead, brushing away his damp hair. ‘I think you have an infection of some kind. It’s probably nothing to do with what you’ve eaten.’
She looked around. ‘But we need to get you under some kind of cover,’ she said quietly. ‘I think there’s a bothy somewhere around here where we might be able to get out of this cold wind. If I could just remember where to find it.’
She frowned. Ross would know where it was. He’d mentioned it to her once when they had been talking about the surrounding islands, and he’d said he’d stayed in the cottage one night when he’d been a teenager and he’d left home after an argument with his father.
She hadn’t been to this place in a long time, and she racked her brain, trying to think where the stone-built cottage was located. It had been made for this very purpose—to shelter any unfortunate souls who were unlucky enough to find themselves stranded out here. But where was it?
She peered through the trees, trying to make out shapes through the descending gloom. There was a rough-hewn path winding its way through the copse that continued to the meadow beyond, and in the recesses of her mind she saw the image of a white-painted building that dominated the hillside.
‘You can’t see it until you come out of the copse and walk on a bit,’ Ross had said, ‘but once you get up there it’s a wonderful experience. It overlooks the valley, and on a clear day you can see for miles around.’
‘Okay, Jack,’ she murmured. ‘I’m going to lift you up and carry you. I know you’re in pain, but I promise I’ll be as careful as I can be.’
She looped Baz’s leash over her wrist and cautiously lifted Jack in her arms, trying to disturb him as little as possible. Even so, he moaned softly with the movement.
They followed the path for five minutes or so before she stopped to take a breather, leaning against a sturdy oak and using a low branch for support. She daren’t put the child down for fear of hurting him, but her arms were aching under the strain of carrying him and she hoped it wouldn’t be too long before they reached the bothy.
Then, faintly, in the distance, she thought she heard someone calling her name. Her eyes widened. It wasn’t possible, was it? Could it be?
The sound came closer, became louder, and she called back, ‘I’m here. Ross, we’re over here.’
A moment later she saw him striding over the rise of the hill and her heart swelled with relief. He was here. Her prayers had been answered.
‘How did you know where to find me?’ she asked, her face lighting up with joy at the sight of him. He was wearing a backpack, and she guessed he had come prepared for anything. ‘The phones are out—I tried calling for help but there’s no signal.’
‘I know, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you. Freya told me you’d set off with Baz, and I had the feeling you might head this way. No one had seen you for the last hour so I decided to try my luck.’
‘But surely the tide is in by now? Did you come by boat? Could we get back that way? We need to get Jack to a hospital as soon as possible.’
‘I borrowed the motorboat, but there’s no chance of using it to get back. The sea’s way too choppy. It took everything I had to keep it on course to get here.’ He reached for Jack. ‘Here, let me take him.’
‘Thanks. But go carefully, he’s in an awful lot of pain. He’s been sick twice.’
He nodded. ‘Okay. I have him.’ He looked along the path. ‘I guessed you might be heading for the bothy. It’s not far from here, just over the next rise.’
The wind howled around them as they set off, and Katie bent her head against it, shivering as they set off up the path.
‘You should have my coat,’ Ross said, coming to a halt and getting ready to set the child down so that he could take off his soft leather jacket.
‘No, don’t disturb him,’ she said in a low voice. ‘I’m afraid he might have appendicitis, and the last thing we want is for the appendix to rupture. We need to keep him as still as possible.’ If she was right in her diagnosis, the appendix had become obstructed, and inflammation would have set in soon afterwards. ‘It’s not far now, anyway. I can see the bothy from here.’
They reached the building a few minutes later, and Katie held the door open and lit the oil lamps while Ross laid Jack down on one of the camp beds on the sleeping platform. Katie let Baz off his leash and he padded around the room, exploring his new surroundings.
There was just one large L-shaped main room, with all the facilities they might need for an overnight stay, including a wood-burning stove and a supply of cold water.
‘Would you bring one of the lamps over here, Katie, please?�
�� Ross said. ‘I’m going to examine the lad to see what we can do for him.’ He laid his backpack down on the platform and as he opened it Katie realised that it contained a complete medical kit.
‘Oh, you came prepared,’ she said. She might have known Ross wouldn’t leave anything to chance. ‘I should have thought of that,’ she added, with a stab of guilt, ‘but after talking to him this morning, I’d assumed it was just a stomach upset—it didn’t occur to me that he was seriously ill.’
‘I spoke to Freya and something she said about his symptoms during the day alerted me so I thought it best to be on the safe side.’
She laid a hand on his arm. ‘Ross, I’m so glad you’re here. You can’t imagine what a relief it was for me to see you coming up the hill.’
He gave her a quick, warm embrace. ‘I had to come, Katie. I was afraid you’d be cut off by the tide and I thought you might need some help.’ He smiled and began to take off his jacket. ‘Here, put this around your shoulders. You look half-frozen.’
‘Thanks.’ He slid the coat over her, and immediately she felt the warmth that came from his body heat and the faint smell of soft, supple leather filled her nostrils. ‘I’ll see if I can light the stove,’ she said. ‘There are some matches on the shelf. That should soon warm the place up.’
‘That’ll be good.’
‘We need to find some way to let them know back home that we’ve found him,’ Katie said, trying her phone once more. There was still no signal and she sighed in frustration. ‘His parents will be frantic with worry.’
‘Yes, I’ve been thinking about that.’ He began to make a gentle but careful examination of the little boy, while Katie lit the fire and set a kettle of water to boil on the primitive camping stove. There were packets of tea and coffee in a cupboard, along with dried milk, sugar and biscuits. At least they wouldn’t go hungry or thirsty.
She went over to Ross and Jack and set down a cup of coffee on the shelf beside Ross. ‘How’s he doing?’ she asked in a low voice. ‘It is appendicitis, isn’t it? He looks calmer, though—did you give him a painkiller?’