Chapter 23
23
C ally had spent most of the day in the staffroom online taking part in the training module for the new system. She was now under one of the counters in the shop trying to locate a part of a payment dongle that had cracked off, bounced across the floor, and skittered under the counter. She frowned as she heard the Shipping Forecast get closer and saw Birdie's pristine white shoes appear next to her head. The tone of Birdie's voice made her stop on all fours mid crawl. She didn’t like the sound of Birdie’s voice at all . With a massive surge of adrenaline, she panicked, knowing something was very wrong and edged out backwards as fast as she could.
‘Is your phone off?’ Birdie asked. Her tone tight, abrupt, and snipped.
Cally patted her pocket. Her phone wasn’t there. ‘Err, I left it out on the back. What’s up?
‘The manor is trying to get hold of you.’
‘What? The manor? What for?’
‘It’s Doreen,’ Birdie replied by way of explanation. It didn’t explain anything.
‘Oh right. What’s wrong?’
‘I don’t know. She sounded harassed.’
‘Weird.’
‘I said you’d call,’ Birdie said flatly.
Cally picked herself up from the floor and brushed herself off. ‘Okay. I hope it’s nothing serious. I wonder what’s happened?’
After walking into the back room and locating her phone. Cally frowned to see loads of missed calls from a few different numbers including Logan’s mum.
She called Logan’s mum, Anne. ‘Hey, sorry I missed your calls, it’s Cally. Is everything okay?’
Anne sounded terrible . ‘No, no, not at all. There’s dreadful news.’
‘What? Oh my god, is Logan okay?’
‘No, I mean, yes, it’s not Logan. Do you know where he is?’
‘He said his phone was playing up. He’ll be on the train back now if he made the one he said he was rushing for. He was out of battery just as he was getting to the station. What’s happened?’
‘There’s been an accident.’
‘What. Who with?’
‘Alastair and Octavia have been involved in a plane crash. Alastair is not in a good way. He is in surgery at the moment. I’m sorry to say that it’s touch and go. I don’t know what to do.’ Anne started to ramble. ‘He was airlifted there. We need to get in touch with Logan. Right, he’s on the train. I’m going with Cecilia and Reg now. Someone has to make sure the horses are sorted out. Doreen will have to ask one of the gardeners.’
Cally took charge. ‘Oh God! Oh, okay. I’ll go to the station. Don’t worry. I’ll sort it here and tell him. I’ll text you to keep you updated. I’ll talk to Doreen, and we’ll work out the horses.’
Anne swore. ‘Logan needs to get to the hospital. You two need to come. It’s very serious, Cally. It’s not looking good. We are leaving now.’
‘Right. Understood. You go. Don’t worry. I’ll do everything. Just text me the details of where we need to go.’
Cally listened as Anne continued, then said goodbye, put her phone on the counter and raised her eyebrows.
Birdie stood with a concerned look on her face. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Alastair and his girlfriend have been involved in an accident.’
‘Doreen said it was an accident, but I didn’t want to alarm you.’
‘Alastair’s in surgery. They couldn’t get in touch with Logan. He spoke to me just before he was getting on the train. I think it might be best if I go there now and wait for his train to come in. Is that okay?’
‘Of course! Do you want me to drive you?’
‘Umm. No, I’ll scoot around there and see if Logan took his car. If not, maybe you can come and pick us up?’
‘Sure. I’ll keep checking my phone.’
‘Yep.’
‘Let me know how you get on.’
Cally grabbed her bag and jacket as she headed for the door. ‘Will do. Thanks, Birdie.’
Cally's mind turned over as she hurried towards the train station, weaving through the familiar streets of Lovely Bay. Anne had sounded awful on the phone, and Cally’s brain struggled to process the information that Alastair had been in a plane crash. As she approached the station, she could hear the distant whistle of an approaching train. She hoped that Logan had made it and she quickened her pace, practically jogging the last few yards to the entrance.
Just as she was hustling through the station approaching the waiting room and then the ticket barrier, Nancy came out of the office, her arms full with a towering pile of box files. Nancy frowned at Cally’s face. 'Everything okay, our Cally? You don’t look at all good. What’s up?’
‘There’s been an accident.’
‘What? Where? In the chemist?’
‘No, Alastair.’
‘What up at the manor?’
‘No, he’s gone away. Long story.’
Nancy looked confused. ‘Sorry, so why are you here? Where is he? Can I help?’
‘Logan’s on the train, but his phone was out of charge because it's on the blink. I’ve been on to him to get another one but he hadn’t got around to it. Now he’s on the train, or at least I think he is and no one can get in touch with him. I presume his phone is dead.’
Nancy balanced the files and checked her phone. ‘Yeah, that’s the train from London just outside the station now. Platform two.’ She clicked a button on the gate, pulled it open, and waved Cally through. She indicated to the gate, ‘I’ll leave this one on the latch, just push it back on your way back. I hope everything’s okay.’
‘Thanks.’ Cally hurried through and made her way to the platform just as the train pulled into the station. She scanned the disembarking passengers anxiously and spied Logan right at the end of the last carriage as if he’d just made the train. She swallowed. He had his bag slung over his shoulder, his suit jacket in his hand, his tie loosened, and he looked tired after a long day.
'Logan!' Cally called out, waving to catch his attention.
Logan craned his neck at the sound of Cally’s voice, smiled, then narrowed his eyes as she got closer and he took in her expression. His smile faltered. 'What's wrong?'
Cally took a deep breath. 'There's been an accident. It's Alastair and Octavia.'
Logan's face drained of colour. 'What? What kind of accident? Are they okay?'
Cally shook her head. 'They were in a plane crash. Your mum called. Alastair's in surgery. I'm sorry, it doesn't sound good.'
Logan swore. His face looked as if the news had physically struck him. 'A plane crash? But they’ve only just left. Where are they?'
'Your mum said Alastair's been airlifted to hospital.’ Cally explained.
Logan’s eyes were wild, he nodded and fumbled for his phone. He waved it and swore. ‘It died when I got to the train.’
‘I know that’s why I’m here.’ Cally squeezed his arm. 'I don't have all the details. Did you drive here and park in the car park?’
‘Yep.’
Cally turned, taking control. ‘I’ll text your mum so she knows what we’re doing. I told her we’d go to the manor first and sort stuff out with Doreen. She didn’t seem to know what was what. Then I’ll drive us to the hospital. Actually, no, let’s just call her. She was, err, a bit, umm, hysterical and not making much sense.’
Cally pressed Logan's mum's number and put the phone on speaker. It rang three times. ‘Hello.’
'It's Cally, Logan’s here. We're at the station making our way to the car. I've just told Logan.'
‘Mum! What the hell? What happened?’
There was a shaky exhale on the other end of the line. 'Oh, thank goodness. Logan, darling, we need to get up there as soon as we can.’
'What happened? How bad is it?'
'It's not good, sweetheart,' Anne said, her voice breaking slightly. 'They were in a small private plane. Something went wrong during take-off. We don't know all the details yet.'
Logan made a choked sound. Cally wrapped an arm around his waist.
'Alastair's in surgery now,' Anne continued. 'He has multiple injuries. Internal bleeding, they said. Octavia's in better shape, thankfully. She's got a concussion and a broken arm, but she's conscious and stable.'
'Which hospital, Mum?' Logan asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
'St. Lucy's in London,' Cecilia replied. 'I’m driving Cecilia and Reg now. Cally said you’d do everything. You follow on behind when you’re done.’
Logan nodded. 'Right. We'll be there as soon as we can.'
'Drive safely, darling,' Anne urged.
'Okay,' Logan agreed. 'We'll see you soon.'
Logan’s face was ashen as they hurried through the train station and made their way to the car park. Of course, Logan’s car was parked about just as far away from the station as it could be.
'I'll drive,' Cally said firmly, holding out her hand for Logan's keys. He handed them over, climbed into the passenger seat, plugged his phone cable into his phone, and stared blankly out the windscreen.
As Cally started the engine and pulled out of the car park, Logan shook his head, his voice hollow. 'I can't believe this is happening. They were so excited about their trip. They’ve not even left the country yet.'
Cally squeezed his hand. 'I know. Try not to assume the worst. Alastair's tough.'
Logan nodded but didn't look convinced. 'Was anyone else hurt?'
Cally shook her head. 'She didn't mention anyone else. The call was very rushed. I left the chemist and came straight to the station. We can ask when we get there.'
Cally didn’t say anything else as she drove through Lovely. The tension in the air wasn’t pleasant as Logan jabbed at his phone and swore repeatedly. As Cally drove past Lovely lighthouse, she cringed. She’d been right all along. A feeling inside had told her there was something around the corner, and here it was, hitting her right between the eyes. There was no way she was going to say anything aloud, but she had a horrible sense of doom that wherever they were headed it was not going to end well. She tried to quell a sensation in her stomach that really bad news was coming their way.