Oblivion 3 Chapter Eight Reading an old newspaper cutting, James Burton frowned, he had never been able to decide whether it had been a hoax or not, this lion-man which over a year ago had the whole of New York running scared. At the time he had found it most interesting. Believing for decades that the being Ignatz had sent to him, had in all probability died, he began to wonder otherwise when he saw all those reports and that photograph. Still he wasn’t in the league now for doing anything about it, he had given up on all that years ago, believing it would lead nowhere, though he would always be keen on hearing about any one else’s success with it. Folding the newspaper cuttings, he put them along with a copy of Mich’ael Reidel’s hospital address into an envelope, sealed it and posted it off to Fabian Frances in Germany. *** *** *** When Mich’ael finally woke, he opened his eyes to one of the dearest faces he had come to know. As Jacob Wells, sat at his bedside, he smiled when Mich’ael opened his eyes. “Mary, look I do believe he is coming round. Press that buzzer will you, someone should see this.” then “Mich’ael, welcome back, its Jacob here, Jacob Wells, how are you feeling.” “Groggy” came the reply, as Mich’ael tried to focus, and then as his senses returned, “How long have I slept for?” “Not slept Mich’ael you have been unconscious, three days, following more surgery, I do believe everything is put back into place now, though it will be some months before you will feel better.” Mich’ael struggled to sit up, and Father went around to put more pillows behind him, “Is that better Mich’ael, would you like some water?” “Yes thank you. Do you know what it was I broke?” Mary leaned over to pat his hand, “Jacob has only just arrived this evening Mich’ael, I haven’t filled him in yet, this is something you can both hear. You broke seven vertebrae, slipped two disks, broke three ribs, and both your legs were fractured, also one finger was broken. I’d say you were very lucky to be here.” “Will I be able to walk again?” “They don’t see any reason why not. At the moment it is the swelling which paralyses you, once that has gone down, they tell me you will walk again, but you may always be plagued by pain in those places, especially during the winter, or damp weather.” Mich’ael let out a great sigh of relief, “That is good news. I don’t know what I would have done if I couldn’t walk again. Probably thrown myself into the abyss the first chance I got. How’s Devin?” “Not so good. He suffered two terrible heart attacks. At one point they pronounced him dead. If it wasn’t for that emphatic connection he and Gerry share, and the one Catherine shares with Vincent, he would not be still clinging to life. He is still in a coma, on a life support machine, so I can’t tell you more than that.” Father answered gravely, brushing his tears away, with the back of one hand. Mary added, “He broke three vertebrae, one leg, one arm, and dislocated his shoulder on the other side to the break, he is much the same as you, still paralysed while the swelling exists. The thing none of us can work out is how it all happened.” Mich’ael blushed, and spoke very quietly, “I’m afraid I am to blame for all this. Devin was dead against it, so behind his back I used some explosives to break up some machinery, and Devin believes the explosion caused the earth to open up within the mountain. Devin told me it would be unwise to use it, but I wanted to get back home, and thought using explosives would save us several days work. All this is my fault.” Furious, Father pushed back his chair, and stood up. “That you have suffered much for your error Mich’ael is obvious, but I am afraid for the moment this revelation of your stupidity and the fact that my son’s life hangs in the balance, leaves me with one thought in mind. Until such time as Devin comes round, I will not speak with you again.” With that he left the room, shutting the door hard behind him. Mary looked hard at Mich’ael, “ How could you do something so thoughtless, no not thoughtless, if Devin bade you not to do it, then it was pure selfishness that made you go ahead with it. I’m sorry Mich’ael, I can’t forgive you for what you have done, not until Jacob does.” She rose to her feet, and followed Father out into the corridor, closing the door firmly behind her, leaving Mich’ael feeling so wretched that he wished he had died. *** *** *** Vincent felt exhausted. He hadn’t slept in almost twenty-four hours. Ever since Catherine had managed to get free of Scott he had been with her every step of the way, as she made the long and tiring journey through the mountain passes, back through Italy and began the long trek to Austria. Had she of seen any vehicles at all, she would have flagged them down for help, but had seen no-one, and the road was up and down so much that her feet were covered in blisters, and her skin badly sunburnt. Thankfully she was able to find fresh water streams to quench her thirst, and some blackberries to eat, but her strength was failing. And only Vincent’s strength carried her onwards. Her first night alone on the mountain had frightened her. The strange animal sounds, the realisation of the danger she was in, the mountains were the home to rabid dogs. “How much further do you think it is Catherine?” Vincent asked her. Wearily Catherine answered, “I think I have covered about forty miles, I need someone to help me, Vincent, is Gerry still trying to reach Devin?” “Yes, but he is not responding. Peter should be back today. One of the helpers told us he was leaving Austria last night, he and Father should have passed in mid-air. As soon as he lands, we shall have word to him, then he can telephone your hotel to speak with Father, or Mary or Mouse, and get help on to you. You must stay near the most frequented road Catherine, or they will not find you.” “Vincent you should rest. There are a clump of trees coming up, I could rest there also, let us both sleep for a few hours. I don’t think I can walk any further.” “Very well, Catherine, but know that I am near.” “I love you Vincent.” “And I love you my Catherine.” *** *** *** Marie had been concentrating hard, reaching out to Mich’ael when she at last heard him sobbing. Distressed at the sound she called out to him louder, until at last he reluctantly replied, “Go away Marie, I do not deserve your love, but for me none of this would have happened.” Marie did not understand the reason for his sorrow, only the need to make him listen, “Mich’ael, Cathy need help. Call someone help Cathy.” Frowning, Mich’ael did not understand. Cathy was here wasn’t she, in Austria, why did she need help? Pressing the buzzer, Staff Nurse Hammond hurried in, and he spoke to her in Austrian, “Can you fetch Mr. Wells, tell him it is urgent.” The nurse hurried away, coming back shortly, to tell him, “Mr. Well’s will not come, he say’s he does not want to speak with you.” She closed the door. “No!” Mich’ael called after her, “you don’t understand.” He pressed the buzzer again, and it was some time before the same nurse returned, Irritated she told him she had better things to do, then relay messages, “Please” he begged her, “Tell Mr. Wells, I have a message from Marie, its urgent, Cathy needs help.” Nurse Hammond went out, and walked towards the room where Devin Wells lay surrounded by his family, intending to relay the latest message and get on with her work. But on the way a doctor who asked for her to accompany him as an emergency was coming in confronted her. The nurse quickly took a piece of paper, scribbled down the message, and put it inside her pocket. Visiting time over, Father, Mary, Timmy and Mouse made their way back to the hotel, “I can’t understand why Catherine didn’t come in today, it is most unlike her Jacob, she has spent every waking moment at Devin’s bedside.” “That’s probably it dear, I expect she went for a lie down and hasn’t yet woken, she’ll be all the better for it tomorrow.” Father told Mary as he steered her through the doors with a hand on her elbow. “Yes you’re probably right, I will feel better when I get to the room to see for myself though.” “You’re sharing with Catherine?” “Yes, why?” Father steered her away from Timmy and Mouse so he could not be overheard, “Perhaps Catherine would be grateful not to be disturbed. You could perhaps share my room tonight.” His eyes twinkled with mischief, and Mary knew he was just having her on, so he was unprepared for her reply, “That would be wonderful Jacob, I’d like that very much, we get so little time to be together privately.” Father’s face was a picture, and Mary slapped him playfully, “Jacob, if you could only see your face. Really it doesn’t matter, I will go to my own room.” Recovering enough to argue, Father told her, “No, please, I would be...I mean..that would be lovely, I’d love to share my room with you my dear.” Mary laughed, “Oh Jacob, you really aren’t used to this are you, never mind, the more familiar you become with sharing your bed again, the more you’ll come to like it.” Father chuckled, “You know Mary, you are quite outrageous do you know that. I think I rather like it.” “Oh its nothing. I’ve been taking lessons from watching Catherine and Vincent that’s all. Sometimes you know the love between those two leaves me quite breathless.” She told him honestly. It had also made her long for affection before the day when Jacob had asked her to marry him, by the love that shone out from the two of them, Come to that no one in the tunnels had been unaffected. A lot of romances had sprung up since Catherine had entered Vincent’s life. The two of them made the others believe in fairy tales. The following morning, Catherine did not come down to breakfast, and unable to wait any longer Mary went along to her room. She knocked hard, louder than she had the night before, when seeing no light under the door had presumed Jacob was right, and that Catherine was sleeping. Going along to reception, she asked the clerk if Mrs. Wells, had already departed for the day, “No”, he told her, “I have been on since late last night, and her keys have been here all the time.” “You mean she hasn’t been to bed?” Mary’s voice rose an octave. He winked at her, “Well, not here anyway,” and flinched when Mary scrowled at him then turned and went to find Father. “I don’t like it Jacob, where on earth could she be. To think while we were together last night, poor Catherine could be laid somewhere needing help. Its terrible.” Father patted her hand, “Don’t fret so Mary, she can’t be far away, when did you last see her?” “Scott was going to drive her to Sonn Alp. She was going to double check that Mich’ael and Devin had completed the work they went there to do. But as far as I know, as soon as she had finished she was coming with me to meet you at the airport.” “Well the best we can do then is take a car and go up to Sonn Alp, perhaps the two of them have fallen, or are injured, come on we had best hurry, I’ll just collect my bag.” “You brought it with you?” “Mary, I never go anywhere without it, you’d be amazed how often I need it. Remember the Orca and the monkey?” *** *** *** Catherine stretched, and rubbed her sore limbs. It had been a damp night, but she had been so tired she could have slept anywhere, now she would have given anything for a long hot bath. Dwelling inside herself, she reached out through the Bond to Vincent. The gentle thud of his heartbeat told her he was still sleeping. He must have been as exhausted as she. Standing she made her way to a nearby stream, it had been the sound of the running water which had given her such a restful sleep, she washed, and drank thirstily, then looked around her. Yesterday, she had been too tired to notice her surroundings. It was a very isolated spot, but immensely beautiful. The orange of the Dolomites providing a backdrop to the emerald pine forest all around her, and the pale blue sky just past dawn shimmered between the peaks of smaller grey mountains in the foreground. By keeping the Dolomites behind her all the time, she knew that she wasn’t travelling in circles. She ascertained that they were some forty miles away, and this gave her some relief to think that she had made quite good progress on her first day. Still water and berries were not substantial enough for such a long trek, and Catherine knew she must seek help. With another many miles yet to travel, she would surely flake out long before reaching her destination. Not wanting to set off before Vincent was there to guide her, she looked around for something more to eat, when a sound caught her attention. Listening intently she heard it again, a soft whining, that seemed to be coming from below her. Lying flat she peeked over the edge of a crag, and was surprised to see a litter of brown and white puppies just a few feet beneath her, and drew her brows together, suddenly wary. They appeared to be alone, but were too well fed to be so, and too young to hunt for themselves. Positioning herself down wind, Catherine watched them, wondering about them, they looked so adorable, she guessed they were some kind of collie, and she hoped if she watched them long enough she would see their mother return obviously from a hunt bringing them something tasty for breakfast. Oh! to be one of that litter, she thought to herself as her stomach rumbled. After a few moments, the puppies suddenly darted out of sight, and Catherine saw the fronds of fern moving, when a large dog carrying a young chamois appeared, barked and sat back, her tongue lolling as her litter devoured the antelope. Catherine smiled, thinking to herself, ‘I hope I can be as self sufficient if the need arises.’ Then slowly she back away, and continued on her journey. As she walked along, she wondered about the collie and her litter. Obviously dogs could travel miles as well as anyone, but it may possibly be that the collie had come from a nearby farm, and Catherine made herself more observant. Suddenly she had a marvellous idea. Looking above and around her, she searched for overhead cables. Wherever they lead she would find a telephone, and where there was a telephone would be people, who would help her. Feeling optimistic, she trudged on, searching for any sign of civilisation, in this remote land. *** *** *** Staff Nurse Hammond came on duty later that day, and headed straight for Devin Wells, room. There was no change, still he lay comatose, and his family had not been in to see him that day. Nurse Hammond found that a trifle strange, so she went along to Mich’ael, whom she found unconscious again. “What happened to Mr. Reidel,” she asked the duty nurse,” He’s unconscious again isn’t he.” The Duty Nurse nodded, “We don’t know why it is. He seemed to withdraw into himself, almost as if he wishes to die. We cannot get a response from him at all, it is very baffling.” “And Devin Wells, I see there is no change there, have his family been in at all today?” “No, his Father telephoned to ask about him, but it seems one of their party has gone missing, they are spending the day looking for her.” Nurse Hammond frowned, and extracted the piece of paper from her pocket she had placed there the day before, reading the message over again, ‘Message from Marie about Cathy, she needs help, Urgent’ she had written. Suddenly she felt cold, “Quickly, Nurse Beck, find me the telephone number of the hotel Mr. Well’s family are staying at, I have to speak with his father.” “I’m sorry” the hotel clerk on reception told Nurse Hammond a few mintues later, “Mr. Well’s and his family have already left for the day. It appears that one of his party are missing, and he will be contacting the hotel later this day to see if she has returned. If you leave a message with me, I shall see that he gets it.” “Thank you, will you write it down please. It is urgent, and I shall be off duty for a few days after today, please make certain that he gets it. The message is, from Mich’ael Reidel, he says, received message from Marie, Cathy needs help, urgent. I feel it may be about the member of party that is missing, and this message was relayed to me yesterday, so it is even more urgent now. Please don’t forget will you?” “No, I shall put it in the box with his keys. Don’t worry he will get it, but I don’t know when.” “Could you also leave a note by the telephone, to be relayed to him should he call by phone rather than call in?” “Yes, all right I will do that also.” Nurse Hammond put down the receiver, feeling somewhat easier, at least she had done her best, and she would keep an eye out for the family while she was on duty also. The hotel clerk scribbled down two notes, one he put in with Father’s keys, and the other by the telephone, then finishing his shift he went off duty. Father, Mary, Mouse and Timmy made the silent journey to Sonn Alp, and were relieved when they saw that Scott’s car was not parked outside. “At least that confirms that they left here. Should we take a look around all the same Mary?” Father asked her. “Yes, though we mustn’t climb up the mountain, or go inside it, that is where Devin and Mich’ael fell, it will not be safe, though Scott’s team fenced off the area, there may be other dangerous places. Catherine had intended showing you around herself, she thought you might like to see for yourself where Vincent could have ended up. Of course the place he was actually born was in Switzerland.” “Yes, I would like to see this, while we are here though we won’t stay long, we have to find Catherine.” “I don’t know where to begin looking. I suppose Scott would be the place to start, but I don’t really know where to contact him. Perhaps the emergency services would know.” Father nodded, “Yes, we could call them from here.” Tapping on the car window, the driver rolled it down and they asked him to wait in the courtyard then went in through the double doors. “Catherine told me a little about the place, it seems this room is where she and Devin were interviewed, and this one is where Devin worked on assignments, and the villas that he and Cathy were assigned to are within the grounds.” “So where are the rooms that Gerry and Marie were kept in?” “Oh they’re in the West Wing, that’s the area we mustn’t go into, I think it is also the area where they did all the experiments on Gerry.” Father shuddered, “To think, that could have been Vincent’s fate.” They spent about half an hour thoroughly searching the building and grounds, and calling the hospital services to see if anyone had a contact number for Scott, but drew a blank, finally they called the British Museum, and asked for him there. Dorothy Turner answered, Hello, British Museum, Can I help you?” “Hello, My name is Jacob Wells, I am looking for Scott Phillips, and need to contact him, could you help.” “Is this a personal or business call?” “Its business, you see I am in Austria, and yesterday Mr. Phillips and my daughter-in-law were scheduled to work on an assignment together, but neither have been seen or heard from since. We need to have a contact number for Mr. Phillips to see where they are.” “Well, I don’t know about your daughter-in-law, but Mr. Phillips arrived back here in London early this morning, only he is in conference right now, and I cannot get hold of him.” “But this is urgent, a matter of life and death, please I beg of you, please bring him to the phone.” Dorothy Turner sighed, “Hold on, I’ll see what I can do. What is your daughter-in-law’s name?” “Catherine.” There was a pause, “That wouldn’t be Catherine Chandler would it?” “Yes, it is, though she is Catherine Wells now.” “She was very good to me, sent me a cheque for my help last time she called, I will see what I can do, hold on.” Father held onto the phone, she was gone several minutes, “At least its not my telephone bill,” he told the others, trying to make light of the situation like he were one to get telephone bills. Finally, after an age, he heard Scott’s voice on the other end, “Mr. Well’s, how nice to hear from you, sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet you. Ms. Turner tells me you have lost Catherine. When did you last see her?” “I was about to ask you the same question, I haven’t seen her at all since arriving. You were the last person to see her.” Scott hesitated, not knowing what to say, how could he cover up, finally he decided to get as close to the truth as he dared, “Catherine wanted to see my home, I was taking her there, when she changed her mind, and got out. Actually we had a difference of opinion. I left her in the Dolomites.” “The Dolomites! The ones in Italy!?” “Yes, she was making her own way back. I’m sorry I had no time to take her back I had a flight booked for London. Look, I wouldn’t worry she is probably on a bus now on her way to you. If you haven’t heard from her by this evening, give me another call.” Father replaced the receiver, he found it hard to speak to Scott without blowing his top. Sadly he turned to the others and told them what he knew. *** *** *** Catherine was footsore by the evening of the second day, and her eyes pained her from searching for the slightest sign of civilisation. She had been disappointed that in such a beautiful place there was no-one in residence. Vincent had helped her to keep her spirits strong, but as the evening wore to a close, she searched for somewhere to settle for another night. At least she had found some wild apricots and peaches, which made a welcome change from berries. It was frustrating that neither Gerry or Marie had been able to get any response that day from Mich’ael or Devin, though Marie had been able to speak with Mich’ael the night before, and Catherine had no way of knowing if anyone was yet looking for her. “I shall find somewhere to sleep the night Vincent,” she told him looking for a suitable location. As best she could she had tried not to stray from the mountain passes, but from time to time in doing so this had left her without cover, and the sun had beat down mercilessly upon her, her neck was red and sore from sun burn. Now as she grew tired, and longed to rest, she found herself once again, a long way from any growth that would have shielded her from the bright morning light, so she settled for a smooth piece of rock behind a crag that was visible from the pass. Taking off her shoes, she rubbed her aching feet, blisters had started to crack open and she knew without a doubt that if she did not find help soon, she would not be able to walk the whole distance in those shoes, nor go barefooted over the rough rocks. Using her jacket for a pillow, she settled down, to sleep, while Vincent’s love spread over her like a warm cloak, making her feel safe and secure. “Catherine,” he told her, “I am going to get word to Peter, but my heart will be alongside you. If you need me, just call.” Catherine nodded, saying yes on the wings of a breath, too tired to talk, and fell into a deep sleep the moment she lay down her head. *** *** *** Father, Mary, Mouse and Timmy returned wearily to their hotel, though they had called there earlier that day, the day clerk had told them there were no messages, having not noticed the one by the telephone. So when Father collected his room keys, the second message was handed to him. Unfolding it, he started to read, “Message from Mich’ael Reidel...damn the man,” he said, reading no further, screwed up the note and threw it into the nearest bin. “If it wasn’t for him... Well let him stew in his own juice, I don’t want to hear what he has to say. First Devin, now Cathy, how many more will be hurt because of his foolishness, his selfishness? And how the emergency services can call off the search merely because it has grown dark beats me, I would have thought that would be the time when a lost traveller would be most vulnerable.” “Perhaps, you should contact Peter, see if he has heard anything from Vincent. Vincent will surely know if Cathy is all right.” “Mmm, perhaps, but if Cathy has deliberately closed down the Bond, Vincent may not know. She may be trying to prevent him from worry or still peeved at him about the other thing. I wouldn’t want to be the bearer of bad tidings to Vincent if he doesn’t already know. The only thing we can do is get up at first light, and hope there is some news soon. Its a pity none of us could drive, or we could do more ourselves.” *** *** *** Twenty-four hours later on the other side of the Atlantic, Peter answered the knocking at his door, surprised to see a helper stood there, with a message from Vincent. Donning his spectacles, Peter read the note crossing the room as he did so, to reach for the telephone. ‘Catherine was missing, kidnapped by Scott! Damn the man’, Peter knew he was up to no good, and now Cathy was somewhere between Italy and Austria, all alone, trying to walk back! Putting down the note, Peter dialled the number of Jacob’s hotel before going Below to see Vincent. When the telephone rang next to his pillow, Father could not think what it was. For many moments he thought it was an alarm clock and reached out to turn it off. Knocking the receiver off the rack, he heard a voice, “Hello, Hello, Jacob is that you?” and shook himself awake to listen. Beside him Mary woke, “What is it Jacob? Whose calling, is it about Devin?” Immediately, Father was wide awake, and grabbed the telephone, putting the receiver to his ear, “Hello, who is this?” “Jacob thank God. Its Peter, I have had a message from Vincent. Cathy needs help urgently”. Somewhat relieved to find that Jacob had already put out a search party, Peter hung up, telling him he would call the moment he had returned from seeing Vincent to find out if there was news of her location. *** *** *** The night sounds vibrated around the mountain and bounced in the valley below. Chamois called, owls hooted, mice squeaked, dogs bayed and foxes barked. Catherine heard little, so deep was her slumber, and she continued to sleep long past dawn, waking stiff and sore, and feeling as if she could sleep the whole night through again. Rubbing her eyes, she picked her way barefooted over the crags to a small stream, washed and drank thirstily, then feeling more awake, went back to collect her belongings to seek some breakfast. Had she of been more alert she may have noticed. And had she of been not so weary her brain may have told her to act with caution. So when she put her foot into her shoes, and gave a yelp of pain, she was horrified when extracting her foot, she found a scorpion attached to her toe, its mighty pincers holding on tightly, determined to stay intact. Catherine screamed, she didn’t know much about life in the mountains, but she knew enough that scorpion bites were deadly, and without immediate help she could be dead within hours. Hearing her scream, Vincent sat bolt upright, “Catherine!” He called frantically, “What is it?” Shaking the scorpion, she finally freed it and jumped away as it made to attack her leg. She flogged it to death with her shoe. “A scorpion” Was all she could say. Vincent froze, “Catherine, did it bite you?” “Yes, it bit me, Vincent you must help me find someone, the bite is poisonous.” Quickly she sat down on the ground, bent her foot to her mouth, struggling to fit the toe inside, and sucked as hard as she could, then spat out the poison. She repeated the act for as long as she could before her leg grew cramped and she was satisfied she had done the best that she could. The moment Peter’s arrival was announced, Vincent was running to meet him, they colliding in one of the tunnels, “Peter, thank you for coming. It is worse than you know. Catherine has been bitten by a scorpion, you have to get help to her at once.” Peter did not delay, “Vincent meet me at Catherine’s apartment, we have to work together on this, it is dark so you will not be seen, have you a key, you will have to let me in.” “Yes, but it is back in my chamber, there is no time, come, I can still gain entry, I am certain Catherine will not mind a broken window when her life is at stake, hurry, we are wasting time.” Both men turned and ran, parting company once outside, Peter running across the park towards Catherine’s apartment building, and Vincent to scale his way up to the eighteenth floors from the outside. The moment Father received the second call from Peter, he wasted no time in contacting the emergency services. It was first light, and he gave them an accurate description of the location she was in as possible, explaining that a scorpion had bitten her and that she was English. They wanted to know details, as to who had found out this information, but Father brushed them off with, “No time to explain, we have to hurry.” And he sighed with relief when they actually heeded his words without further question. *** *** *** Hobbling along the mountain pass, at first Catherine did not feel any different save for the swelling on her toe, growing more inflamed by the second, and proving more and more difficult to walk. Still she knew if she was going to stand any chance of survival she had to keep to the pass, even though traffic was so infrequent. This was the way Scott had brought her, but it had now become unbearably apparent that the main highway ran through a select part of the mountains, for the pass was far too stony for frequent traffic. Her head began to feel muzzy, and her throat tightened while noises sounded in her head. Vincent’s strength was all that kept her going. And at the back of her mind, she became aware of a saying she had once heard that reminded her of his love as he carried her along. ‘Once I had a dream, I dreamed that whenever I was happy in my life and everything was going well for me, Jesus walked alongside me. As I walked along a beach, I could see the imprints of his footsteps alongside my own. Then I noticed that during the times of my life, when I was most vulnerable, hurting or in pain, only one set of footprints were visible in the sand. So I called to Jesus, ‘Lord, why is it that whenever I am happy and have no problems you walk along with me, but whenever it is that I am hurting or in pain you leave me’ and the Lord said to me, ‘My dear, dear child. It is true that whenever you are happy I walk alongside you and you see my footsteps alongside your own in the sand, but whenever you are hurting or in pain you see only one set of footsteps in the sand, but I never leave you. For that’s when I carry you.’ Catherine felt relieved by those words, knowing that Vincent carried her now, as her own footsteps became sluggish, and all she longed to do was just lie down and slip into peaceful oblivion. *** *** *** “Slow down I think I saw her.” Glen Watson, English speaking paramedic, cried to the pilot, as he circled over the area he thought could possibly be the right place by Father’s description. “Look down there, can you see her, she keeps falling to the ground, and struggling to get up. Can you put the bird down nearby, we may only have minutes left for her.” Jimmy Anderson, checked beneath him, the terrain was rocky, but huge plates of smooth rock made his descent an easy one, he was able to land the helicopter yards from where Catherine had finally come to rest relieved to see help at hand. Ducking beneath the huge propellers, Glen ran towards her, his bag in hand, while Jimmy keeping the engine going, ran to help him. Barely conscious, Catherine managed a weak smile, as gentle hands grasped her, and carried her between them to the waiting helicopter. Soon they whirled away into the bluest of skies, and for the first time in many days, Catherine let out a long deep sigh. “Scorpion.” She managed to utter, pointing to her toe. “We know. Hold still I’m going to give you an anti-serum jab, this will correct matters for you. Then I shall give you one for the pain, and then I expect you will like something to eat and drink.” He smiled gently at her, thinking how beautiful she was, and Catherine thanked him weakly. For some time he worked in silence. Giving her the injection, then checking her heart rate, administered to her sun burn, the cuts and scrapes upon her skin, and then holding a cup to her lips, while she drank thirstily of some hot sweet tea. Jimmy asked her, “That was some trek you underwent, why didn’t the person that sent word to your father-in-law help you further?” “The person? What person?” Catherine asked him confused. “Your father-in-law gave us a specific description of where you were, I recognised it at once. Someone must have contacted him, as you so obviously couldn’t.” “There was no-one, I never saw a soul after Scott Phillips abandoned me.” “Then how did you get a message through?” Catherine knew she would have to give an explanation, “Telepathy,” she told him, “My husband and I share this gift and I was able to keep in contact with him through it.” “My that’s some gift. I can tell you honey, that’s what saved your life. I’d say another five minutes and you wouldn’t be alive now. Why did you travel along the pass though, that’s what I’d like to know. I mean had you have gone along the highway, you would have been home days ago. The pass is only used by goat-herders and wild animals, its a very isolated spot.” “Tell me about it,” ”Catherine grimaced, “The only sign of life was a dog with a litter of puppies.” “You didn’t go near them did you?” Glen asked frantically. “Near them yes, but not close enough to touch, and I was down wind so they didn’t know I was there.” “Phew.” “Why?” “A lot of the dogs around these parts have rabbis, some are almost immuned to it, but if one bit you, I wouldn’t fancy your chances. You know honey, you have been one hell of a lucky woman, but I insist that you rest before embarking upon your newest venture.” Catherine shook her head, smiling broadly, “No chance. The first thing I intend to do is travel eight thousand miles back to my husband, and then take all the rest I need in his arms.” A look of utter amazement crossed Glen’s face as he cried, “Eight thousand miles, wow, that’s some telepathy!” To be continued in Chapter Nine.