Running Scarred Read online

  “Ages ago. Ellen said the stone steps down to the river were just too steep and she thought the kids would like this more. Kids be blowed, it’s fantastic fun, but more to the point, it’s also very fast. Takes less than ten seconds to get to the bottom if you don’t bother with the brake. Don’t tell Ellen, but I’ve been tweaking it a bit. You know…The tension and all that. We’ll have to loosen it off a bit when the guests arrive. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt. It’s strung out as tight as it can be right now. Makes it phenomenally quick. Bit of a thwack at the bottom is its only disadvantage. Kills your back, and you’re definitely going to get wet.” David peered over the edge of the ravine. “Look, down there.” His voice was quiet now.

  Patrick looked down and forgot absolutely everything else as he saw Ellen standing at the edge of the surging river. Her face was the colour of chalk, her huge dark eyes obvious in her pale skin. Her long hair was floating about her in the breeze. If she hadn’t looked so petrified, she would have looked simply perfect. A deep groan of longing rose up in his throat.

  And then a man stepped in front of her, obscuring his view. For a second Patrick wanted to shout to the man to get out of the way and then he suddenly remembered why they were all here. He could see that the man’s hair was blonde. Justin was holding Ellen’s arm tightly. He was staring at the river. He raised his free arm as though about to strike Ellen with the back of his hand. Patrick let out a growl of pure fury and grabbed hold of the metal bar above his head.

  Justin was glaring into the surging, swirling water. It was making waves as it raced down the river. It was obviously way too deep for Ellen’s car. They would have been lucky to get across in David’s Land Rover. He wanted to slap her. He held her in tight to his side, the kitchen knife pressed against her ribs, somehow resisting the urge to stab it deeply into her flesh.

  “You little bitch! You knew we wouldn’t be able to get across. Well, don’t think this is going to help you at all. I was going to ask you for more cash, but seeing you all alone like that and with those knives all so handy, well, you can’t blame me for taking a chance. I was thinking of holding you to ransom, but why bother now. I can just slice you up a bit and shove you in here. It’s rough enough, nobody will ever be able to tell if you’ve been stabbed or not. I can forge your signature easily. I’ll just write out a will in my favour. It will be believed, after all, you gave me all that other property. Everyone will think that it was your dying wish that I inherited everything.” Justin was speaking in low menacing tones.

  Ellen was shaking with fear, staring up at him, watching his contorted face. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. He had appeared in the kitchen from nowhere and she had felt more than uncomfortable as soon as he had mentioned more money, but she hadn’t expected him to grab a kitchen knife and kidnap her. He looked positively deranged.

  She tried to buy some time. If it didn’t take David too long to pack her things, then he would be up here straight away to play on the zip wire. He couldn’t resist the thing. He’d see them from the launch point instantly.

  “Please Justin. Can’t we talk about this? Perhaps we can come to some arrangement. I can give you more money, I don’t need to make out a new will.” She knew she sounded desperate.

  “Well you won’t be the one making it, will you?” He pushed her forwards a little more and she twisted away from the river. She didn’t stand a chance in the rampaging water. She turned right around, feeling the knife slice against her jumper.

  The heel of her boot dangled over nothing. She staggered forwards and tried to move to the side, but Justin moved with her, stepping back as he held the heavy knife out in front of him now, its evil point jutting into her stomach.

  “You just don’t get it do you Ellen. I’ve had enough of being poor. I want your money and I don’t just want a bit. I want it all, David’s too if I can get it, and I want this Chateau. It’s wasted on you and your mangled friends. I won’t be satisfied until I have everything.” He was sneering at her.

  Ellen was determined not to cry. She lifted her chin defiantly, trying with everything she had, not to succumb to tears.

  “I don’t understand why you’re doing this. I gave you so much. It wasn’t my fault that you threw it away, but I’m willing to overlook that and help you again. You can have the money, but you’re not getting the Chateau.” She looked up at him and noticed the coldness in his eyes.

  And then she noticed something else. A huge dark shape was moving swiftly through the air, just above and to the left of Justin’s hairline. She glanced down at the ground again, praying that he hadn’t seen her surprised expression, praying that he wouldn’t turn around for another few seconds. She took another step to the left, hoping he would follow, just as she saw the wire above their heads begin to tremble. Then she stepped smartly back to the right as a whizzing sound could suddenly be heard.

  Justin looked confused at her for a second more, and then he spun round towards the sound, just in time to catch Patrick’s huge feet right in the middle of his chest as he hurtled down the zip wire.

  All the breath was punched out of Justin’s lungs and he was catapulted into the air. Patrick’s momentum carried them on, tumbling them both into the boiling water. Patrick instantly planted his feet on the bottom of the river, standing firm in the swirling waves. He didn’t lose a second. He grabbed the back of Justin’s jacket, before he could be swept away, then he shoved his head deep under the water. He held him there, breathing hard, his blue eyes like glaciers of ice, his expression frightening, until Justin stopped thrashing about.

  Ellen suddenly came to her senses and shouted.

  “Patrick don’t. Please don’t drown him. He’s not worth it. Let him up.” Her voice was strained, trembling.

  Patrick stared up at her. He caught his breath as he saw her tiny figure, trembling on the riverbank. She was shivering with fright, nearly fainting with the surprise of seeing him. And then all the anger left him. She was right. He would spend the rest of his life in prison if the man died. He’d only just escaped from one sort of prison, one of his own making, he couldn’t be shut up in another. He lugged Justin up again and flopped him to the bank. The man’s head bobbed around for a second and then he started spluttering as he tried to sit up.

  There was more of the whizzing sound and then David hit the water with a huge splash. He moved towards the riverbank and launched himself at Justin, landing a massive punch to the man’s nose. Justin was still woozy from the smack in the chest and the dunking in cold water. The punch on the nose finished him. He slipped off the riverbank and back below the surface of the river.

  Patrick pulled him up again and threw him back onto dry land, where he lay, his nose bleeding, gasping like a stranded fish.

  Joe roared up in David’s car. He slammed on the brakes, leapt out and pulled Ellen back from the water’s edge. Then he leaned over and stuck his hand out to David, hauled him up the muddy bank then went back for Patrick. He saluted again and then stuck out his hand to help. Patrick waved him away as he climbed out of the surging, chest high torrent.

  Ellen had fallen against David’s soaking body. She was shaking so violently her teeth were rattling.

  David pulled her into his arms, holding her tight to him.

  “Come on, let’s get you back home. Patrick, can you and Joe deal with this pile of scum? Bring him back to the Chateau. I’ve somewhere we can keep him until we decide what to do with him.”

  Patrick looked at Ellen for a long, silent moment and then nodded once. He bent and picked Justin up by the back of his soaking collar and dragged him towards David’s car.

  Chapter Eleven

  Geraldine was bringing steaming mugs of tea to the kitchen table. Joe and David were sitting either side of Ellen. They were waiting for Patrick. He had volunteered to take Justin to the cellar and lock him in one of the rooms. Patrick was a little unhappy to discover that the rooms were now comfortable and clean. He would have much preferred to cha
in the man to the wall, or string him up by his thumbs.

  Joe nodded his thanks to Geraldine and heaped in three spoonful’s of sugar. He stirred the tea vigorously.

  “Thank God Reeves was here. We might not have even seen the clip if he hadn’t kicked it. And he handled that zip wire like a pro. I bet he hasn’t done that in a few years.” Joe slurped his tea and pushed a mug towards Ellen. She was still shaking, looking dazed and confused. The mug shook in her hand, tea slopped onto the table and she put the mug down again. Geraldine wiped a cloth across the spilled tea.

  David wrapped his hands around his cup and leaned forwards to give Geraldine a kiss of thanks.

  “Yeah, maybe, he was pretty good on it, but what the hell is all that saluting stuff about Joe? I know he’s been in the army but it’s all a bit over the top now.” David was watching the door carefully.

  Joe wiped his mouth and spoke in an exaggerated whisper.

  “I can’t help it. It’s automatic. He outranks me and you too for that matter. Major Pat Reeves. You probably don’t know him, not being in the same regiment, but I do. He was one of my commanding officers for a time, before he was put in to lead a Special Forces team. Bravest man I ever saw. We used to call him Super, as in “Superman”. It started out because of his name, you know, Reeves, like the film star, but it soon meant something else. He seemed completely invincible. You should have seen him in Afghanistan. He really was like the “Man of Steel” He was awarded the Victoria Cross two years ago for his outstanding bravery, but only received it in December. He didn’t think he had deserved it because he thought it was his fault that his patrol was blown up in the first place. Rubbish of course.” Joe was watching the door too. “He managed to save the rest of his men even after having his leg blown to smithereens. They were about to take out a group of warlords, when a roadside bomb went off. Same sort of thing that did for me.” Joe brushed his face with his hand. “The shrapnel massacred his leg and covered the lot of them in this vile burning fluid the bastards were using then. The whole patrol were injured horribly, and the hostiles were down on them in seconds, but somehow he managed to strap his leg and fight them all off single-handed. Shot seven of them and killed the last two with his bare hands apparently. Then, even when he must have been in agony himself, he administered as much first aid to his chaps as was possible. He kept the men together and himself functioning until they could raise some help. My mate Alex was there, said his whole stomach was literally hanging out. Reeves shoved it all back in and sat there for over three hours holding the wound together. Alex knows that he would never have survived without Reeves. About a month ago he was eventually persuaded to accept the medal, had to go to Buckingham Palace for it.”

  David gulped and glanced nervously towards the door.

  “Christ! The man’s a hero! And I called him a shit and threatened to kill him. I might have to apologize. Depends on what he’s got to say about himself and what he’s been doing for the last few months.” He frowned a little.

  Joe raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  “I doubt if you could kill him. He’s much more likely to kill you. He’s had a load of special training. His group were the elite. Hard as nails, all of them, and him more than the rest. As to what he’s been doing, he’s been getting himself divorced. It was all round the office. There was a right old “hoo har” because he didn’t want his awful wife at the medal ceremony. He said they were divorced, but she denied it. Apparently she was making all kinds of fuss about it. She reckoned she was entitled, but he wasn’t having any of it, said he’d rather not have the medal if she was going to be there. Wouldn’t accept it until the divorce was finalized and she agreed not to go. Apparently the Queen was not amused with his ex-wife’s antics and she agreed to the delay.”

  David pinched the top of his nose and grimaced.

  “God! Now I feel really terrible. If only we’d known all this earlier. How come you didn’t tell us about him before?” David looked accusingly at Joe.

  Joe shrugged expansively.

  “Well I didn’t know it was him before, did I? I don’t have a crystal ball. Nobody gave me a photo or anything. He’d dropped off the radar completely after the bomb. We all just thought he’d been pensioned off. Or perhaps his injuries were too bad for him to come back. None of us could contact him, we didn’t know he’d moved out here and when we saw Ellen earlier on in the year, he’d already gone back. We didn’t see him at all. I don’t remember his last name being mentioned either, Ellen only referred to a Patrick. But that wouldn’t have helped much either. I don’t think anyone ever called him that in the regiment, we only ever used his nick name so it just didn’t click.” Joe defended himself miserably.

  The door opened and Patrick strode into the kitchen.

  David and Joe immediately leapt out of their chairs, stood to attention and saluted.

  Patrick gawped at them and waved them down quickly. They fidgeted uncomfortably before sitting again. Patrick walked towards the table.

  “Would you stop doing that. We’re not in the army now. I don’t want you to salute me every time I appear. It’s embarrassing.” He pulled out the chair opposite Ellen and sat down himself. He grabbed a mug of tea and wrapped his hands around it. He was still wearing his wet clothes and he shivered as the heat of the mug warmed his hands. “Ellen, tell us what happened earlier. We need to know.” His tone was gentle and warm.

  Ellen looked up from the table slowly. She had been listening to David and Joe trying to comprehend that they were talking about the man now sitting in front of her. She stared at him, still not quite believing he was there. Then she glanced over at David, feeling very nervous. He picked up her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

  She looked back to Patrick.

  “David had gone to get my things from your cottage. Justin came through to the kitchen only five minutes after he’d gone. I didn’t hear him arrive or anything. He was just suddenly there by the door. I was setting up the table so I was ready for the pig.” She shook a little and then carried on. “I don’t know what his plan was when he first arrived, but he took one look at what I was doing and had the knife in my side in a second. I though he was going to cut me.” She sobbed with renewed fright. David scowled murderously. Ellen choked before she carried on. “I had to go with him. The only thing I could think of doing, to leave a clue that I was in trouble, was to tug out my hair clip. I knew David would know that something was wrong immediately. I left it on the table, but it caught the light. Justin saw it and was furious. He hates it.” She looked up at David. “He doesn’t even know that it’s real. He thinks it’s the original one you gave me years ago, David. He threw it onto the floor and dragged me away. I didn’t know where it had landed and I didn’t think you would find it. When Joe just waved us off, I was terrified. I knew if we left the estate you would have no idea where he had taken me.” She stopped and shuddered violently.

  David put his hands around her arms and rubbed them up and down.

  “Patrick nearly stood on the clip. We all knew something was wrong immediately, it wasn’t just me that noticed. It was as good as any distress flare. But why did you direct him to the river? You were trapped down there. It doesn’t seem very logical.”

  She looked at her brother patiently.

  “I thought it would be the first place you would go after you had finished clearing my things. You’ve been mucking about on that zip wire every day for weeks, trying to get it to go faster. It’s practically on free fall now, you’ve pulled the wire so tight. If you had got back here and found I was out and not asking you to do anything in particular, even if you hadn’t seen the clip, you’d be up there like a shot for a bit of fun.”

  David laughed out loud at being found out so easily.

  “Ha! Got me, but actually it might have been more difficult if Patrick hadn’t been at home when I went down there. He was expecting you to leap into bed with him so was a bit shocked to see me. He came charging straight up here to
find you. We reasoned it out between us because nobody had seen the car go past. I hadn’t heard a thing while I was going to the cottage and Patrick had been awake for a while before that. He hadn’t heard anything either. Geraldine had the avenue covered picking flowery stuff, so that just left the track to the river crossing. I had Joe block the road and Patrick and I went to take the quickest way down.”

  Patrick laughed at David.

  “Quick! That’s the understatement of the year. It’s so fast I nearly crapped myself. Last time I did anything like that was back in my first lot of training.” He smiled at the memory but was suddenly quiet again. He reached out a long finger tentatively, and touched the back Ellen’s hand. “Ellen, David says that you don’t want me anymore, that you haven’t had my letters. I can’t believe it, I’ve sent so many. He says you’d given up on me. Please tell me it’s not true.” His voice was suddenly strained to the point of breaking. “Ellen, for God’s sake tell me.”

  Ellen wiped a tear that had sprung to the corner of her eye.

  “I didn’t know what to think any longer. I didn’t know what your original letter meant. You had just gone off with your wife and I thought that you weren’t coming back. I haven’t had any letters from you Patrick. I thought that you must have got back together with her.”

  He wiped his hand across the side of his face. He glanced between Joe and David, his expression strained.

  “I just don’t understand it. I’m not lying about this. After I realized that I had left my phone behind I decided that it wasn’t worth buying a new one. I didn’t think I was going to be quite this long and I swear I wrote every week. I even asked Ellen to come for the medal thing with me, but then I heard some my old mates talking about your hotel. One of them was thinking of booking. I just assumed you must be so busy that you didn’t have time to reply or because I’ve stayed in a few different places, I may have missed your replies. What with the new leg and all, I even went back to my parents for a week, so I was thinking that perhaps your letters hadn’t caught up with me. It never crossed my mind that you thought I wasn’t coming back for you.”