Chapter 39 #2
As the scene played out in her head she realized if she refused to go up, he’d find another way to kill her.
There were plenty of chances to get rid of an unwanted woman in this sort of country.
His father had probably ordered him to do so.
She looked around. Not a single sign of human habitation.
No cottage to run to. No car coming up the road.
She was quite absolutely alone. But Melrose had warned her. Now she was prepared.
“All right,” she said, giving him an encouraging smile. “I’m willing to give it a try.”
“Good girl,” he said and she read the relief on his face.
“But only if you go up first so I can see that it’s not too hard. You show me how you go up and then I’ll know.”
“All right,” he said. “If you insist. So we start right here and we go up this rock and then it’s quite simple until we get to .
. .” He climbed as he gave the running commentary.
He was now well above her, moving easily.
“This is the only tricky bit,” he called down. “You have to grab on here and . . .”
He turned to the rock face above him, looking away from her.
As he hauled himself up Emma took her chance and ran.
The ground was uneven and unstable. Fallen rocks lay amid the grass.
She was terrified of falling or twisting an ankle.
She reached the Land Rover and glanced inside.
He had taken the key with him. Damn. She scanned the scene ahead.
Not a tree in sight. But she heard the sound of running water over to her right.
She followed the sound. Just like at the Fairy Pools a stream had cut its own little channel.
In a second she was down over the side into the streambed.
Ice-cold water rushed over her feet as she flattened herself against the bank. She heard him shouting out.
“Emma? Where are you? Don’t be silly. Come back. We don’t have to go up if you don’t want to. Emma—don’t be a bloody fool. Look, I’m sorry if you got scared. We’ll just go down to lunch at that hotel, okay? Please come back . . .”
She heard his voice, echoing from the rock face, getting closer.
She moved along the bank to an overhang, then spotted a bush growing out.
She eased herself under it, squatting amongst its roots, and waited.
He was getting angry now. “Damn you. I don’t know why you’re acting so crazy, or where you think you can go from here . . .”
She heard his feet crunching on rock as he came close, then he moved on.
“Where the devil are you, you stupid bitch. Don’t think you can hide forever.
” Until this moment she had questioned whether she was completely overreacting and Andrew meant her no harm.
Now that she heard the cold anger in his voice she knew he had meant her harm.
He did mean her harm. She remembered his annoyance when there were other cars at the Fairy Pools.
Perhaps he had intended to shove her over one of the higher waterfalls onto the rocks there.
She peered up through the foliage of the bush.
He was heading around the mountain where there were rockfalls, places to hide and wait for her at the bottom of the cliff face.
She had two choices: to hide under the bush until he gave up and went away, or he found her, or to follow the stream downwards in the hope that she’d get to the road and a car might come.
Perhaps those tourists whose cars were parked at the Fairy Pools might decide to come in this direction.
She ran through possible scenarios in her mind.
If she came to a spot further down the stream where there were more shrubs or even trees, she could hide then hit him over the head with a rock when he came near.
But even the thought of doing that made her feel sick.
How hard did you have to hit someone just to knock them out?
She peered up again. Andrew had disappeared amongst the rocks.
Emma took her chance and moved down the stream.
The icy water had now numbed her feet and legs, and she was shivering as she stumbled over slippery rocks, but she kept on going.
At last she neared the road and she saw that a small stone bridge passed over the stream.
This was her chance. She glanced up, could not see Andrew, then darted under the bridge.
She would be quite safe here unless he looked underneath.
And she could hear any approaching car, climb out and wave it down.
Standing in damp darkness, shivering in the cold, time seemed to stand still.
How long before Andrew gave up and left without her?
Or would he wait here, by the road, knowing she had to appear eventually? It was a chilling thought.
She looked down at her watch. One o’clock.
There was no indication that the Land Rover had moved.
How long could she hold out here? Wouldn’t he think of checking under the bridge when he came past?
But she had no other choice right now and surely some sort of vehicle would come past before the end of the day.
At last she heard the sounds she had been dreading.
The crunch of tires coming down that rocky track.
The Land Rover. But at the same time she picked up the sound of a car approaching from the other direction.
Cautiously she peered out from under the bridge.
Yes. A car was coming up the hill towards her.
And the Land Rover? It was driving slowly down the track, presumably looking for her.
Which one would arrive first? That was the problem.
It was a chance she had to take. If she let this car go by, how many more would pass by today?
She climbed up onto the road and stood waving her arms. Then she recognized the vehicle.
It was a blue Hillman Husky. She ran towards it, waving like a crazy person.
The car sped up as it came towards her, then screeched to a stop as she collapsed, gasping, onto the bonnet.
“Miss Callander. Are you all right? Thank God I found you.” Jock got out and took her into his arms. “Are you hurt?”
“Get in,” she said. “Let me in quickly before . . .”
The Land Rover had reached the bridge and turned onto the road. Jock opened the passenger door for her then gave her a questioning look. “What the devil was going on here?”
“Don’t wait, just go,” she said.
He didn’t hesitate but jumped into the driver’s seat, gunned the engine and swerved past the Land Rover. Emma heard Andrew shouting but he did not give chase.