Chapter Four

"I'm sorry, John." I ignored her, sucking down another lungful of smoke. I was sitting against the metal bumper of a police car, the cold burning through my long coat and trousers. Somewhere, I could hear the hippy protesting the line of questioning and demanding that I pay for his new camera. Rachel sat down next to me. "I really thought we'd cracked it," she said sadly.

"Well, we didn't. It was just a colossal waste of time." I snarled, exhaling noisily, "We've done nothing but catch a holidaymaker with a weird interest in dilapidated buildings and we're back to square one – can someone please shut 'im up and get 'im out of here!"

"John…"

"Leave me alone, Rachel."

She left to go talk to the hippy and I sat, staring up at the darkening sky. I stubbed the remains of my cigarette out on the road and reached for another. "Where are you, guv?" I murmured, "You were trying to tell me something… what?" I pulled out my notebook and flipped it open at the page with my guv's last message scrawled on it. I read it over, tapping each word. Around me the others were leaving, the throaty roar of the engines pointedly ignored.

I wrote the last section out again on the next page, 'YOU CAN DO IT JOHN FAITH."

Faith. Why faith? I wrote it out again, staring at the word. Faith. Faith.

Taylor came over, his helmet jammed low on his head. "Sir, we need to go back to the station."

"Faith, Taylor. What did he mean by faith?" I passed him over the notebook.

Taylor took it. "I dunno. You've given it a capital letter, though, sir. Look." He wrote it out again underneath, this time with a lower case 'f'. "Faith: that's a girl's name."

"Yeah. Remember that case? The bairn? Bloody lucky we rescued her –"

I froze.

I was dimly aware of Taylor shaking my shoulder. The puzzle clicked into place. Faith had been kidnapped and held for ransom. We'd found her wrapped up in a –

In a –

I jumped up and staggered over to one of the last remaining cars. Taylor chased me, "Sir?" I pulled open the door with more force than necessary. "Sir!"

"Call the station. I have an idea of where Gently might be being held." The instruction was shouted through the window as I twisted the key viciously. The engine snarled. "A stable, Taylor, we found Faith in a stable!"

"Wait!" I didn't hear any more. Instead, I put my foot down.

The hills flashed past, the setting sun dancing over the green crests. Stable, stable… I'd seen a stable down in the valley! It was as good a place to start as any. I pulled up to a stop on the hill and grabbed my binoculars from the glove compartment.

They were a little dusty, but I squinted through them. Yes, that was an old horse track, disused by the looks of it. I couldn't see the car, but I assumed that Raleigh must have dumped it nearby so it wouldn't cause any suspicion.

I sat back against the car seat, rubbing my knuckles against my hand. Now what? If Gently was being held down there, then it was likely that Raleigh was nearby. Also, I would need to get him to safety before even attempting any kind of showdown with the escaped criminal. Hissing through my teeth, I snagged the map off of the passenger seat and located the track. I smiled. I was in luck.

Just as the map said, the main road petered down to the tiny track not half a mile from the stable. I slowed the car, frowning. There was a little hut near the stable. It was in much better shape than the other, squat shape. Raleigh was likely in there; it was warm-looking and concealed from the road above as well as close enough to the tiny stable that Raleigh would be able to keep an eye out for escape attempts. Sweat was beading on my forehead as I realised the stupidity of my plan.

But I was committed to it now. I got out of the car, grabbing a torch from the boot. It's getting dark, I told myself repeatedly. There's no light on in the hut. You're wearing grey and black. Gently needs your help.

I crept along beside the track; it was made of little stones that rattled disconcertingly with each step, so I stayed on the grass instead. There was no movement from the hut. I moved quicker, keeping the torch off.

The stable door was locked, but it was only a sliding bolt. It made a horrible metal screech as I hauled on it and I glanced back at the hut, heart thumping. Nothing.

The door swung open and I stepped inside, almost overwhelmed by the stench of wet straw. I flicked the switch on the torch, igniting a beam of white light. My first sweep only revealed several stalls filled with rotting hay and a few chittering rats. "Guv…?" I called out softly as I moved forwards between the line of looseboxes, checking each one. "Guv?"

Then, weak and barely audible, I heard in the darkness, "… John?"

"Guv!" The torchlight picked out a shape crouched against the far wall. I ran over, grinning in relief. My smile faded however, when I reached DCI George Gently's side. The light suddenly felt harsh and I had to swallow my fear.

He was a sorry sight. I was almost glad he was blindfolded so he couldn't see the pure horror on my face. Both wrists were chained to a pipe in the wall; it was above him and to the right, forcing him into an uncomfortable-looking twist. His shirt, pristine three days ago, was grey, stained by sludge and blood. He stank too, of sweat and soil and piss. "Guv, it's OK. I've found you. I'll get you out of here…" I tried to keep up the soothing litany as I reached out with trembling hands to remove the foul-smelling cloth. It fell away and Gently blinked, ducking his face out of the light. "Sorry," I directed the torch down, scaring a rat.

He shook his head. "It's alright, John." His voice was gruff, but it was because of thirst, not fear. I almost smiled; old soldier.

I knelt down, fishing out my handcuff keys, only now getting a good look at Gently's face. He was startlingly pale under the three-day beard; with an impressive shiner and swollen lip to match. As he turned his head away from my scrutiny, I glimpsed blood crusted in his hair. "You're hurt." It just slipped out.

"A little."

His skin was icy, fingers almost blue. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that he was hypothermic. "Raleigh said…"

The gaze turned on me was intense and not at all confused. "And do you believe everything that a bastard like Raleigh says?"

The first cuff unlocked and Gently lowered his arm with an audible groan. His hand was shaking, but I didn't know whether it was because of the cold or his illness or even the way it'd been trapped above him. Maybe it was a combination of all three.

"He said you were feverish." The second cuff came off revealing dark bruises. Self-inflicted most likely, I thought.

He laughed bitterly, "I got water twice – drugged both times. Gritty. No choice unless I wanted to drink me own piss, so yeah, I was a bit…" he waggled his hand. "Raleigh?" I didn't answer, instead shrugging off my coat. Gently glared at me and repeated, "Raleigh. Did you catch 'im?"

That reminded me of our shortening time frame. "We need to go, guv. Can you walk?"

"Did you catch Raleigh?" Gently waved away the offer of my coat.

I ignored him and dropped it around his shoulders, "Guv, don't be thick, you're freezin'. I need to know, can you walk?"

He flushed and looked away, biting his lip.

I stared at him, already knowing the answer, but needing to hear it. "Please, guv. Can you walk?"

"… No." Gesturing violently at his legs, Gently added, "I'm… it's the MS, John, and the cold. I can barely move…" He looked up at me, eyes far too bright. "I'm sorry, John."

"Don't be stupid." The anger was boiling in me, uselessly. Trying not to show my sinking pity, I slung his arm over my shoulder and hauled Gently up. He leant heavily on me, cursing. The first step I almost overbalanced, Gently tripping over his own feet. My heart sank. Every movement he made was so slow, so sluggish, and he was trembling. I could feel every shiver and it scared me shitless.

How the hell was I going to get him back to the car?

We began to hobble back towards the door, towards the brightening, moonlit night. Every step was a chant; almost there, almost there, almost –

And then a shadow blocked the way.

Dun, dun, dun! Just a note to say that the updates may get quite sporodic at this point and that there's around eleven or twelve chapters to this story. Thanks for reading!