Chapter 54: Over The Edge and Beyond

"That Day" (Louisa's flashback continues)

Martin drove them all there in the Lexus, with Dad beside him up front. Louisa was stuck in the back seat next to the horrid Jonathan, who was fingering the shotgun the whole time, as she stared at the back of the two men who meant most to her in the world.

It was a confused commotion at the cliffs, with Martin, Jonathan, and the Colonel arguing, but at least she was free and breathing the fresh sea air, not cooped up in the sweltering car, or worse - tied up in the surgery.

Poor Ted Hammett was lying unconscious on a ledge, where Al had seen him fall, but it seemed he was actually suffering from a bacterial infection that was somehow related to him stealing chough's eggs.

Then Bert arrived with his plumber's van and it became clear that Martin was going to have to rappel down the cliff to get to the patient. It was equally clear he did not want to do this, but he rose to the situation, stepped into the harness, and began the climb down, with the aid of the winch and the Colonel holding the line taut.

Louisa and the others watched anxiously from the cliff edge as he carefully made his way down.

Then his descent stopped with a jerk. The winch ran out of cable and Martin was left dangling a few feet above the ledge, helpless, clutching his medical bag in his left hand.

"It's only another few feet!" Louisa cried.

"That's the end of the cable," Bert said. "Hold on!"

Bert drove the van closer and suddenly there was too much cable. Martin fell the rest of the way to the ledge, right onto his patient. To Louisa, watching from above, he seemed stunned for a moment but quickly sprang into action to examine the poor man.

She was horrified to see what he meant to use Bert's drill for, but she had confidence in his ability to handle this unconventional surgery. Ted's eyes popped open and Martin bandaged the wound, keeping his nausea at the sight of blood under control.

Gripping his patient to him, Martin was then winched up, leaving the drill forgotten on the ledge. Al had to free climb behind them, still with the bag he had been sent to retrieve slung over his back. Louisa and the others helped them up.

"Don't touch his head," Martin cautioned, as they laid Ted on a blanket.

Jonathan could not be distracted from his mission. "Gimme that bag."

"Ohhh, you're kidding right?!" Al responded.

"Give it!"

Trying to tend to his patient, Martin had had enough. He got up and grabbed the gun away.

"Gimme that," Jonathan persisted.

"No!" Martin barked, pulling off the harness and stepping out of it. "Pauline, call an ambulance. Tell them to expect a man with an intracranial bleed, treated successfully by emergency trepanation. Accompanied by a really annoying man who needs sectioning under the Mental Health Act."

"Me?" Jonathan seemingly couldn't understand why anyone would find him annoying.

Pauline was too upset to call, so Louisa gently took the phone from her to dial 999, happy to have an excuse to step away from the commotion. It wasn't easy to explain the situation to the dispatcher but she managed to stay calm and do it.

Louisa finished her call and snapped the mobile shut. "On their way," she said, walking back to Martin. She dabbed gently at the scrape on Martin's face.

"Oh… thank you." He seemed touched by her concern.

"Martin. Um…" She wasn't sure what she wanted to say, feeling self conscious that her father was watching, so she moved away to talk to Dad. She didn't know what to say to him either.

"I do love you," he said. "I better go."

"Dad? Bye," was all she said as he walked away.

Meanwhile, Martin was engaged in an escalating argument with Jonathan, who had somehow managed to get the bag back. Louisa was relieved to see at least he didn't have the gun again.

Furious, Martin grabbed the bag, they scuffled, and he hurled it over the cliff to the ledge where they had just been.

KABOOM!

Everyone was shocked into silence. In the distance sirens began rapidly approaching.

"Excuse me," Martin. He took his medical bag and stalked away.

As the police finally arrived from Delabole they went after Dad, who had not managed to get far on foot. Ted and Jonathan were taken off in separate ambulances, and Martin, Bert, and the Colonel drove everyone to the station to give their statements.

One by one they were called in to give their eyewitness accounts about exactly what had happened at the Portwenn Surgery and at the cliff, then they were free to leave.

When Martin came out, Louisa was the last to be called in.

Fortunately the detective in charge had realized Martin was not culpable for having blown up a nesting pair of rare birds, but that it was an accident that happened in the course of keeping the mental patient who had caused all the trouble in the first place from making off with some dangerous explosives.

Louisa gave her account of everything, from Dad showing up in the village unexpectedly after many years' absence to the tense conclusion at the cliffs. She pointed out that her father had changed his mind about his criminal plan and been stabbed by his crazy friend, but she was careful to be honest about his role in instigating the whole chain of events.

It took almost an hour to tell the story and she was emotionally exhausted by the end. The constable who was taking the notes thanked her. "It's not everyone who can own up to their old Dad's misdeeds," he said. "You'd be surprised how often people are in complete denial about what their loved ones have been up to."

"Oh, I can believe it," she replied. "That was me once, but never again."

She went out to the waiting room, and was surprised to see Martin sitting there, his mobile in his lap and his head back against the chair, having nodded off. She was touched to see he had waited all this time, long after everyone else had left. She sat next to him and he roused, giving one of his little half smiles when he saw her.

"I thought you might need a ride home," he said.

"Yes, thanks. I was afraid I'd have to call a taxi."

They drove home in companionable silence, with classical music playing softly on the radio as evening darkness fell. As they reached the outskirts of the village, Martin asked if she would like to come back to the surgery for some dinner.

"It's been a long day," he said. "I have some of Joan's homemade chicken soup, if you'd like. I… er, would understand if you'd prefer to go straight home."

"No, chicken soup sounds perfect," she said. "I don't have anything at home. I've had nothing to eat since breakfast. I expect you haven't either."

"Mm." He nodded in agreement.

The Lexus pulled into its designated spot and they went in by the kitchen door. Louisa could see Martin was disturbed by the disorder Jonathan had left behind. She too felt disturbed to see reminders of their recent ordeal. "You tidy up, I'll get the soup ready," she said.

She heated it up, found some salad, and bread and butter, and set the kitchen table. They dined together with small talk, casually avoiding mentioning the disturbing events of the day. "That hit the spot," she said afterward. "The weather's turned chilly, I needed something warm me up."

"Hmm," Martin said, sounding more thoughtful than his usual grunt. "Why don't you wash up. I'll put the kettle on… and, um, light a fire."

"Oh, Martin!" she said, pleased. "I didn't think you ever used the fireplace. The logs must have been stacked in there since Dr. Sim lived here."

"I used it occasionally last winter, it does get rather raw in Portwenn at times, especially with the cottage being up high and facing out to sea. The logs have only been sitting there since March. I do know how to light a fire, you know."

He got the fireplace in the living room going, and set the tea things out there. Joining him, she poured the tea and put some milk in hers.

"Martin," she said. "I want to apologize."

"For what?"

"For getting angry at you the other day, when you said Joan had caught my Dad stealing the Lifeboat money. I pushed my ice cream cone into your face. That was very immature of me. I just couldn't face the truth about Dad then."

He averted his pale blue-grey eyes, as if embarrassed she brought up the incident. "Yes, well, perhaps I was rather tactless about it. I apologize for that."

Louisa sipped her tea and settled back into the sofa cushions. "And do you remember what we were talking about before. I mean, earlier today, before we were… so rudely interrupted."

"Hm, yes it was today. Seems like weeks ago, doesn't it."

"It does, but I haven't forgotten. I told you I wanted you to stay. I never got to hear your answer, but I did hear you tell that man, Gavin Peters, that you were willing to take his course. I need to know, were you serious? I mean, I know you just wanted to get rid of him because of… well, the situation we were in at that moment."

He put down his teacup and turned to face her directly. "Louisa, I was serious, and I am serious. I want to stay, if you want me to stay, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes. Even, er… if it means going through a two-week course on people skills."

It thrilled her to hear him say this. "And you'll make an effort to try to be more civil, more patient, with the villagers? I know they're enough to try anyone's patience at times, and they're not the most accepting of outsiders, but a little politeness can go a long way."

"Yes, as I said, whatever it takes." He sighed, but she could tell he was sincere.

She leaned forward and took his hand, stroking it. The cuff of his shirt moved up slightly and she was shocked to see his wrist was bruised. She took his other hand and saw that wrist was bruised too.

"Hm," Martin said, seeing her reaction. "Jonathan was, er… a bit rougher in tying me up than he was with you and Pauline. Obviously he saw me as more of a threat."

He ducked his head and in the flickering firelight she could see him look pained. She pushed back his sleeves and ever so gently brought first one wrist and then the other up to her lips and kissed the tender spots. "Did he hurt you anywhere else?"

"No," he replied, his voice now low and subdued. "It was just descending the cliff that caused a bit of soreness, from the, er… harness, and then the fall."

She had to lean in to hear him and then slowly, slowly, she moved her hands from his wrists to his jacket, unbuttoning it and moving up to loosen and open his tie. She moved onto his lap and slowly and deliberately undid each shirt button, with no resistance from him, and slid her hands inside his shirt, against the thin cotton vest, sliding her hands across his chest and massaging the strong muscles of his shoulders. He leaned back on the sofa, his eyes half closed, his breathing now coming in little sighs.

"A nice hot bath is what you need," she murmured. She meant it innocently enough, as a suggestion to sooth his aches and pains, but as soon as it came out she realized how seductive it sounded. She blushed a bit but was fine with it.

The tips of his ears turned pink, his eyes opened wide, and he was about to speak. Then they both felt the vibration of his mobile in his jacket pocket and tensed up a moment. "Don't answer it," she said. He took it out and tossed it on the end table. They eased back down again and her hands resumed roaming his chest. His hands began slowly exploring the curve of her bum. Again he opened his mouth to speak… and the landline rang.

They both tensed up again and groaned. The answer phone kicked on. "Portwenn Surgery," said Pauline's voice. "Please leave a message." Beep.

"Hey Doc, Chippy Miller here. I know you were grabbing up all those pasties at the contest today but I managed to down one of 'em, pasties always been my favourite see, and now, um… well, you were right Doc, they were no good." Chippy paused and gave out a miserable groan. "Feel like I'm gonna die. You've got to come round and take a look."

Martin scoffed. "That idiot!"

"Mar-tin!" she scolded. "He sounds really sick!" She reluctantly began buttoning his shirt again, and moved off his lap onto the sofa. "I suppose the evening is spoiled now. I really should get home. I'm exhausted and I'll be leaving tomorrow."

"What?! Where are you going?"

"The constable said they're transferring my Dad to Dartmoor. I thought I'd visit him there, I have… some things I need to say to him. And I might go stay with a friend in London for a few days, I just… I just need to get away. It's been a trying experience for all of us, but I have to face the fact that I've, well, I've been deceiving myself about my Dad all these years. It's just a few days Martin, I need a bit of space, some time to myself."

She could tell he was sad as he cleared the tea things and brought them back to the kitchen. He took his medical bag and accompanied her to the front door. "Please call me as soon as you're ready to come home." He hesitated. "You know… I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too. I'll be back before you know it."

As he went to open the door, she had a sudden thought. "You know, you could go judge the pig farmers' look-alike contest at Bodmin Fair. It's coming up in a week and I know the farmers would love to have you. Dr. Sim used to do it. It'll get you on the road to people accepting you and it'll take your mind off me being away."

She could see he wasn't too happy about this idea. "Please Martin, as a favour to me?"

"Oh, all right."

She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek and could see the tips of his ears turn pink again. Then they each went on their way.

To be continued…