by Joanna Neil
A few minutes later her phone rang, and she seized it eagerly. It wasn’t Lorna, though. It was the ambulance service, calling her out to attend to what they were calling a ‘major event’.
‘We need you here as soon as you can manage it,’ the controller said. ‘If you can get hold of Ross, we need him, too. He’s not answering his phone, so it may be that he’s in an area where he can’t get a good signal.’
Izzy rang the landline at the castle and Maggie answered. ‘He’s busy with the preparations for this evening’s Hogmanay celebrations,’ she said. ‘He’s been out and about all morning fetching supplies, and then he’s been sorting things out in the cellar and what have you. I’ll see if I can find him.’
Izzy hurried to get into her emergency medic uniform. ‘Where are you off to?’ her mother asked.
‘The railway line by the embankment,’ Izzy said. ‘You were right about the branch coming down—except that it was more than a branch, and it came down just as the train was approaching. The driver pulled on the brakes, but he didn’t quite make it in time and the first carriage of the train has derailed. We need all the help we can get. We don’t know how many people were on the train. I don’t even know if Lorna is one of the people who are injured.’
Her father started to put on his coat. ‘I’ll come with you,’ he said. ‘They may need help with lifting. I expect Steven from next door will come along, too.’
Her mother did some rapid thinking. ‘I’ll organise some vacuum flasks, for soup and the like. You go on ahead. I’ll get someone to drive me there.’
Izzy drove as fast as she dared, given the road conditions. Steven and her father followed on behind in Steven’s car. Izzy didn’t know what to expect, but any derailment was likely to be very bad news.
Ross was there ahead of her, tending to the wounded who were being brought out on stretchers. ‘So far we’re dealing mainly with broken limbs and cuts from twisted metal. There’s been nothing too serious up to now.’
‘Lorna was supposed to be on this train,’ she said. ‘Has there been any news of her? I keep trying her phone, but there’s no answer.’
He shook his head. ‘Nothing so far. All the people who were in the carriages behind the first one have managed to get out, and they’ve been taken to the community hall. Lorna wasn’t among them.’
He waved a hand towards the carriage. ‘We’ve brought out everybody we could reach, but there’s still a part of the carriage that we can’t enter. The metal has buckled, making it difficult for anyone to get in there. And we can’t go in through the windows because they are too distorted.’
‘What about the fire crew?’ Alice looked around. She couldn’t see any heavy lifting equipment in place.
‘They’ve brought in as many people as they can, but with the holidays they’re short-handed. Some people have gone away for the New Year. The lifting equipment is on its way, but it will take some time to get it into position.’ He looked concerned. ‘The trouble is, I know that there are people trapped inside, and I’m worried in case they need urgent help. There’s a lot of glass about, and if they have been cut they could be bleeding badly.’
And Lorna could be one of them. ‘Is there anything we can do to get through to them? I’m quite slender, so perhaps I could squeeze into a small gap?’
‘Maybe if we have a word with the fire crew and gather together some helpers we could sort something out.’
In the end it was decided that there was a small section where it might be possible for Izzy to squeeze through into the compartment. The men worked together to open up the section, using what equipment they had to widen the space. Inside the cavity they could hear somebody groaning in pain. After a while the sound stopped, and Izzy began to worry.
‘I’m going in now,’ she said. Her father, Ross and Steven steadied the metalwork while she struggled into the cabin. She shone a torch around. In the far corner a woman lay crumpled between the seats. It wasn’t Lorna, and she couldn’t see anyone else in there. There was a lot of blood, and as Izzy investigated she could see that it was coming from a large gash on the woman’s arm.
‘I’m going to apply a pressure pad to try to stem the bleeding,’ she called back to Ross. ‘And I’ll put in an intravenous line.’ She worked quickly, giving the woman oxygen and trying to resuscitate her. Finally the woman’s eyes flickered, and Izzy breathed a faint sigh of relief. ‘We’ll get you to hospital as soon as we can,’ she said.
Shining the torch around, she tried to discover if there was anyone else inside the carriage. ‘There was a man,’ the woman said. ‘I think he’s trapped under the seat.’
Izzy went to investigate where the woman had indicated. Her pulse quickened and her mouth went dry as she saw a hand sticking out from under the metalwork. ‘I need some help in here,’ she said. ‘There’s a man beneath the seat. I can feel a pulse, very faint, but he’s definitely still alive.’
It was some five minutes before they could open up the gap wide enough for Ross to crawl through. ‘Your father has his back against the metalwork, holding it up,’ he told her. ‘Steven is helping, and the fire crew have gone to get more cutting equipment. In the meantime, let’s see if we can lever this seat off the injured man.’
He looked around and found a loose bar of metal lying around—possibly one of the handrails, or maybe a piece from the table. ‘See if you can heave the seat upwards while I try to lever it out of the way.’
Between them they pushed and pulled, until they felt the metalwork start to give way. ‘I think it’s coming,’ Ross said. ‘Okay, get your breath and then let’s try again.’
Finally the seat tipped backwards, freeing the man enough for them to carefully pull him away to safety. But then there was a grinding noise and a piece of the overhead luggage rack started to fall away. Ross moved quickly to cover Izzy with his body and at the same time protect their patient. The piece of rack slithered away and fell to the floor with a clatter.
‘Are you all right in there?’ Izzy’s father queried sharply.
‘We’re fine,’ Izzy called back as Ross’s arms closed around her. ‘At least I think we are. I’m not so sure about Ross.’ She looked at him. ‘Are you hurt?’
‘We’re all okay,’ Ross said. ‘Let’s get to our patient.’ He knelt down beside the man.
‘I’m going to put a tube in his throat to help him breathe,’ Ross told Izzy. ‘He’ll need fluids, and splints for his arm and leg. I can see there’s definitely a fracture to the tibia, and it looks as though the arm could be broken, too.’
Both of the injured people were given painkillers. When Izzy assessed their vital signs she found that the woman’s condition was stabilising, but the man’s blood pressure was low and he was in a critical condition. At least he was still alive.
The fire crew opened up the gap so that the paramedics could go in with stretchers, and soon Izzy emerged from the carriage into the light of day once more. Her father looked bone weary from his exertions to keep open the escape route, as did his neighbour.
‘Thank you both for your help,’ Ross said, as he came out into the open air and straightened up. ‘We couldn’t have done it without you.’
‘You didn’t do a bad job yourself,’ her father said. ‘You and my daughter both. I was worried for her safety, as well as for the people in there, but I knew you would look after her.’
Ross’s mouth curved. ‘I would always look out for your daughter’s safety,’ he answered. ‘I love her, and I want her to be my wife. She’s the only one who appears to have any doubts.’
Izzy’s father appeared to be shocked by that revelation. He looked from one to the other but made no comment, and Izzy guessed that he was trying to absorb what Ross had said. ‘I must go and see to our patients,’ she said.
‘Me, too,’ Ross commented, starting to follow her. He paused, turning to look back. ‘I’m not sure that I feel too much like celebrating,’ he murmured, ‘but I don’t want to let anybody down, and the Hogma
nay festivities will go on as planned. It would be good to see you and your wife there with us.’
They went over to the ambulances and supervised the transfer of the injured people to the vehicles. ‘I expect the man will go straight up to Theatre after he’s been properly assessed,’ Izzy said. ‘I still can’t think what’s happened to Lorna, but she definitely wasn’t on the train.’
‘Maybe she decided to come back by road?’ Ross said. He glanced at Izzy. ‘Will I see you tonight up at the castle?’
‘Oh, yes,’ she murmured. ‘Like you, I don’t feel much like celebrating after all that’s gone on today, but I do want to see an end to this year. I’m hoping that the New Year will bring fresh hope for all of us.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘WOW!’ Ross stared at Izzy as though he was seeing her for the first time. ‘You look beautiful. I’m almost lost for words.’
‘That would be a very strange thing,’ Izzy said. Inside, though, she was glowing at the compliment. She had chosen the dress especially for this evening. It was made of a soft, floaty material that swirled around her calves as she walked. The shoulder straps were thin, lightly spangled strips, and the bodice fitted her to perfection. Her shoes sparkled, too, complementing the straps and the tiny clips that she wore in her hair.
‘Welcome to the ceilidh,’ he said, taking her hand and drawing her towards the Great Hall. ‘There’s dancing in the main reception room, and music in here, too. We thought we’d have the bagpipes later on, nearer to midnight and the welcoming in of the New Year.’
Izzy looked around at the gathering of people. They were all chatting and laughing, and generally making merry. She knew all of them, either from the village or from her work at the A&E unit, and she acknowledged those who looked her way.
Then she stared along the length of the banqueting table. ‘I thought we saw a feast that day when the film crew were here, and again when you set out the food for the people who’d lost their electricity, but this—this is something else again. You’ve done us proud.’
‘Molly and Cameron like it, anyway. Cameron’s eyes were like saucers. He helped us to set it all out, but I think he had a few nibbles along the way, so his tummy’s quite full at the moment.’
‘You must have been so busy doing all this,’ she said. ‘Or did you get caterers in?’
‘It was a combined effort, really, between me and Alice, the children and Maggie. Mary from the shop came along and brought some food to add to the selection, and Greg brought some wine and some friends. Alice’s sister and her husband have come over from the Lake District with their children to join in the celebrations and stay with us for a few days, so Alice is very happy.’ He glanced around at the assembled crowd. ‘Lorna’s here, too. Apparently she came home by car as far as the A&E unit, and Greg brought her in from there.’
‘That’s a relief. Though I rang her parents to find out if they knew anything, and they told me she’d set off with a friend rather than come back by train.’ She glanced at him. ‘Have you heard anything more about the casualties from this afternoon? I rang the hospital earlier, and they said the man was undergoing surgery for chest injuries. Everyone else was doing reasonably well.’
‘Yes, I asked one of the senior house officers to ring me and let me know what was happening. He said that the man had come through the operation all right, and that his vital signs were improving. I guess his New Year gift is that he’s alive to see it.’
She tilted her head to listen to the music that sounded all around. ‘I’m not sure where that’s coming from,’ she said, ‘but it’s beautiful—lovely Highland music.’
‘Ah, that’s from my hidden music system. It’s meant to fill your soul with dreams of romance.’ He draped an arm around her and immediately her senses tipped into chaotic activity. Warmth from his fingers spread along her waist and over her hip, pooling in her abdomen. She looked up at him. She loved this man. Why could she not tell him what he wanted to hear? That she was happy to be with him at whatever the cost?
‘I take it that your father hasn’t said anything about coming along this evening?’ he murmured.
She shook her head. ‘I haven’t seen him since we left the railway line this afternoon.’
‘Never mind. Let’s try to enjoy ourselves anyway. Shall we go through to the reception room? It’s more lively in there. We have people who can play the piano and the guitar, and there are even some who can sing. We might even have a dance together. Perhaps I can persuade you that it wouldn’t be so bad to be married to me? I could make you forget everything else so that there was only you and me.’
He held her close, looking down at her, and she wanted to say there and then, That’s all I want. Let’s do it. Let’s forget the outside world and think only of ourselves.
In the reception room space had been cleared for dancing, and couples moved to the rhythm of the music, all of them having a good time. Across the room Izzy saw that Alice was sitting in her wheelchair and the children were by her side. Izzy and Ross made their way towards her, and a moment later Molly and Cameron went to join their cousins and other youngsters who had come to enjoy the festivities.
The musicians struck up a slow waltz, and Greg walked over to Alice. ‘I’m your Prince Charming,’ he said. ‘Would you like to dance?’
Alice laughed softly. ‘Well, now, I’d like to very much. But I think I might have a little bit of a problem there.’
‘I can deal with problems,’ he said. ‘I have this magic touch, you see.’ He held out his hands to her, though he was still some small distance away.
Alice carefully stood up. She straightened, took a moment to get her balance, and then she took a faltering step towards him, then another, and then another. He clasped her hands and drew her to him, and together they swayed to the music. All the people nearby watched and clapped, and a great cheer went around the room.
Ross held out his hands to Izzy. ‘Shall we dance?’ he asked softly. ‘I’m definitely not Prince Charming, but I could do a fair representation of a lovesick Scottish laird.’
She went into his arms and danced with him. It was as though she was floating on air. He was everything she needed and wanted, and she made up her mind that for the next hour or so at least she would treasure this time with him and fill her heart with hope that one day her path would be smooth.
It was some time after eleven, when they had eaten all that they wanted for the moment and Izzy had sipped a glass or two of wine, chatting with friends and dancing with Ross, that there was a faint stirring at the other end of the room. Voices became hushed, and people turned to see that Izzy’s parents had walked into the room.
‘We meant to get here earlier,’ her mother said, a little flustered. ‘But the car wouldn’t start. And there wasn’t a taxi—well, there wouldn’t be, would there, when Jock’s at the party?’
There was a faint ripple of laughter throughout the room. ‘You should have rung me,’ Izzy said. ‘You know I would have come and fetched you.’
Her father looked at her. ‘And you full of the drink? I think not. I told your mother I would fix the car, and I did—didn’t I?’ He looked at her mother, his brows raised in a questioning manner.
Her mother became even more flustered. She looked around the room and said, ‘Go on with your dancing, everyone. You’re here to have a good time, not to look at us.’
Ross came to stand beside them. ‘It’s good to see you both here,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t sure whether you would manage it.’
‘Well, I’ve had time to do a lot of thinking,’ her father said. ‘I had to respect what you did this afternoon—looking after the people in the train and protecting Izzy when she might have been injured.’ He frowned. ‘And then I heard that you’d brought in dredging equipment to sort out the riverbed. That should certainly make a difference to my salmon fishing interests. I realise that I might have misjudged you. Maybe you’re not so bad as I’ve been painting you.’
Ross laughed. ‘I�
��m glad to hear it. Maybe you’re not such a grouch as you make out. Anyway, I’m glad to see you here.’ He glanced around. ‘In fact, I was just going to tell everyone about the lighting of the torches. It was young Molly and Cameron who suggested to me that we ought to revive the tradition.’
He addressed the gathering of people. ‘For anyone who wants to join in, we’re going to have a procession around the castle walls. The lighting of the flame is done so that we dispense with the darkness of the past and take the knowledge and the wisdom from the old year into the new one. We forget the bad things that have happened in the previous year and carry the flame of hope and enlightenment into the New Year.’
He looked at Izzy’s father. ‘What do you say to that, Stuart?’
Her father nodded. ‘I think Molly and Cameron have come up with a great idea. Like Izzy said to me a while ago, we should concentrate on the good in people. I’ve been very much taken up with the bad things that have happened in the past, and it took Molly and Cameron to show me that what makes for happiness in this world is the love of family.’
He looked across the room to where Alice was sitting beside Greg. He started towards her. ‘I am sorry for all the hurt that I’ve caused you,’ he said. ‘I know that you did what you did for love, and I respect you for that. Can you forgive me?’
Alice lifted her arms to him and he bent towards her, holding her tight and whispering softly against her hair. After a while he released her, and she smiled up at him. ‘Will you carry a torch for me, Pops?’ she asked. ‘I’m not really up to doing that for myself this year, but I promise you next year I shall join the procession.’ Greg reached over and placed his hand on hers, emphasising that vow and silently offering support.
‘I will, Alice,’ Stuart said. ‘I’ll hold it high for the world to see.’
He turned back to face Ross, and Ross gave a wide smile and said, ‘Come on, then, everyone. We have the torches ready in the kitchen, and we have to do the full circuit before midnight strikes. We want to be back here together to see this New Year in properly, don’t we?’