Iain McLeod staggered out of the doorway of Ash Rake House, his wrist gushing blood from a deep and gaping crimson slash wound. Hathaway, on seeing Iain emerge from the doorway had already taken his tie off and rushed forward to administer a temporary tourniquet. As McLeod all but collapsed down the garden path, Robbie saw on the back of his head a bloody wound, as if he'd been struck by something.
"Inside" Iain Stammered "She. . . she's inside. I couldn't. . . She needs help, there's no signal inside"
Blood poured from Iain's wrist, he looked pale as he lurched forward, there was a sheen of sweat on his brow and he was clearly weak. In his hand he clutched a mobile phone, slicked and wet with the blood spurting from his wrist, drops of blood dripped heavily and fast onto the gravel path in front of him.
"Oh God" said Robbie and was about to run through the doorway when something caught his eye to the left of the house, in the field towards the rake. A figure was running away from the house, up the slope that led to the rake and the brow of the hill
"Thompson!" Robbie shouted "Up there, don't let him get away man!"
Thompson was already running up the path before cutting through the garden borders, vaulting over the drystone wall and then sprinting after the figure.
Hathaway, having applied the tourniquet to Iain's wound, had sat him up against one of the walls that surrounded the garden, covered him with his jacket and was on his mobile, calling for immediate assistance.
Still pulling the tourniquet tight with one hand, and with his mobile phone wedged between his cheek and his shoulder, Hathaway was urgently asking Iain about Laura's injuries and relaying them to the emergency services. As he spoke to the emergency control handler something caught Hathaway's eye. He squinted into the distance, beyond Thompson's car, down the track from the house to the road, Hathaway saw a Landrover approaching. He realised it belonged to Sam the caving guide. In the front passenger seat Hathaway could just make out Jean Innocent and next to her, CS Michaels. With a feeling of moderate relief Hathaway's attentions returned fully to his call and he continued to administer first aid to Iain while he got as much information about what might have happened inside Ash Rake House.
Robbie, assured that Thompson was on the pursuit, ran through the open door into Ash Rake House.
He didn't need to worry about how to find Laura; he followed the trail of blood.
Happy New Year folks. Sorry to leave you on the edge of another cliff - but hold on, because the next chapter is well underway - and I hope to update again soon– so until then THANK YOU for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a note. I intended to post this chapter yesterday but FF was/is playing up, I've had all sorts of problems and I couldn't / can't access parts of my account. I hope this chapter posts correctly and apologies for leaving you all on the edge for longer than was intended!
ML x