A Matter of Latitude by Isobel Blackthorn

Author:Isobel Blackthorn [Blackthorn, Isobel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gumshoe Books - A Next Chapter Imprint
Published: 2018-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

Respite

Tenesar feels safer at night. The near total darkness, the sky lit only by the stars and a sliver of moon, and I assure myself my pursuer, whoever he is, and the dog, whose ever it is, won't be visiting. To some extent, I can relax.

I gaze into the void of starlight and listen to the ocean but fatigue soon sets in again and I retreat behind my barricade.

Huddled in the corner on the cold concrete, I doze. Before long the grey light of dawn lightens the room and I'm on guard again.

My plans to walk back to Mancha Blanca are compromised by the dog bite. The wound is angry and, together with the broken arm, the hunger, the dehydration, I'm too weak to make it. If I'm attacked again, the animal will kill me. But I can't stay here. I have no food save for that packet of peanuts. The water will run out today too.

In a sudden burst of determination, I grab the weapon and leave the sanctuary of the hut and hobble around the village, venturing further this time, on the lookout for houses with some sort of rear entrance.

My search seems in vain. There are few houses accessible via their rear and every back door I try is well and truly locked. Pushing aside the sense of futility that seeps into my being with every footstep, I keep trying, heading up to the larger, better maintained buildings below the cliff.

I walk down a narrow passage between two houses that I failed to notice when I searched the village before and arrive in a concrete driveway. To the right and left are high walls with no point of entry. It occurs to me I could have scaled that wall and broken into the house through the rear, but not in my current state. It's hopeless. I should be conserving energy. I'll need to leave Tenesar in the afternoon, and head back to Erik's house before I am no longer physically able to do so.

Before leaving the driveway, I round the corner and face a garage door. I try the handle, not expecting it to open. But to my astonishment it does and it's empty. In the rear wall, there's a door leading through to the house.

Surely no one has left that open as well?

I turn the handle and a second later I'm standing in the patio of someone's holiday home. I'm incredulous. I can scarcely believe my luck. The door to the house is open as well. Amazement gives way to practical common sense. I hobble back to my hut and grab my things, making sure to leave no trace of my stay. I hobble back as fast as I am able and as I shut the garage door and lock it from the inside, relief washes through me and I almost collapse. The feeling passes and I lock the other door, cross the patio and enter the house.

I find myself in a kitchen. There's fresh water,

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