Ten minutes later, the farmer hunt had proved unsuccessful.
In the time between getting out of the Quattro and now, a series of events had occurred;
Firstly, Alex had tripped over a stone in her stiletto heels and landed in Gene's arms (something which certainly hadn't gone unnoticed by the team)
Next, Ray had fallen over a tree, turning both the air and himself blue in the process.
And lastly, Chris had been chased by a sheep and fallen in a pond – much to Ray's amusement.
"I'm not sitting next to 'im on the way 'ome, 'e stinks!" complained Ray,
"Oh, shut it, Raymondo." Gene answered, "You either sit next to 'im or you walk back to London, your choice."
"Guv, there's someone over there!" Shaz pointed to a paddock with wooden fencing surrounding it, "Look, she's on a horse!"
"Right, well, if we can't get us a farmer, we can at least get us a rider. Follow me."
Gene walked over the cobbled yard towards the paddock, and rested an arm on the fence.
"Do you work 'ere, love?" he shouted at the girl in the field,
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute, bear with me!" she yelled back,
"Oh, look Guv, they're jumping!" Chris said gormlessly as he watched horse and rider.
Even to someone like Shaz, who had never ridden a horse in her life, the sight was elegant. A tall, slim girl sat on a black horse without a saddle, a helmet or seemingly any kind of safety precautions, jumping over obstacles that must have been five feet tall. After jumping over a large fallen tree (not, like Ray, falling over one), she slowed her horse and trotted towards the fence.
"Hi, you wanted to speak to me?" the girl asked as she stopped the horse beside the fence,
"Yeah, we're police officers, we're investigating the rape and murder of two girls in London, and we've been informed of an attempted assault around here, am I correct?"
"You got ID?" she asked, stroking the long, black neck of her mount as Alex and Gene produced their warrant cards. She glanced at them and smiled, "DI Drake, DCI Hunt. I'm Chloe Flynn."
Surprisingly, Gene reached out and stroked the horse's muzzle. In answer, the horse, pushed its head over the fence and nuzzled his coat,
"She likes you," Chloe observed, "Her name's Ameera."
"I didn't know you liked horses, Guv." Alex smiled,
"I bloody 'ate them," Ray muttered from behind, "But I don't mind their riders."
"I'll turn her out and come and talk to you – I'm sure you don't want to interview me while I'm up here, you can wait in the office – into the farmhouse, second door on your right," Smiled Chloe, nudging the horse forwards and swiftly undoing the gate, "You have a way with horses, DCI Hunt, this one's usually got a right mood on her." She indicated towards her horse, grinning, before trotting off down the pathway, leaving Ray gazing at her long, slim legs.
I got something like 50 views and only 2 reviews on the last chapter, please write at least a few words so I know I'm not completely wasting my time :P x