Sleeper's Castle by Barbara Erskine

Author:Barbara Erskine
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007513185
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

17

The shadow had stopped moving at last. The birds must have overcome their caution and landed on the ground. Andy screwed her eyes tight shut, waiting for the cruel beaks to start tearing at her flesh. She felt a hand on her face, touching her forehead. Fingers pressing gently under her jaw, feeling for her pulse.

Rhona!

Her eyes flew open and she let out a cry of fear.

‘Hush, you’re safe.’ It was a man’s voice. His hand touched her forehead again, then he ran his fingers down her shoulder, gently pressing her collarbone. She let out another whimper, her eyes everywhere, scanning the darkening sky, the surrounding hills, the man bending over her. He was no more than a silhouette. She couldn’t make out his face clearly. ‘The buzzards,’ she whispered. Her mouth was dry, her voice no more than a murmur.

‘They’ve gone,’ he said. ‘It was the birds who showed me where you were. Lie still now. Let me see how badly hurt you are.’

She felt him run his hands down her legs as he crouched beside her. The touch was impersonal, professional. He reached her ankle and she couldn’t stop herself letting out another cry of pain.

‘Twisted rather than broken, I think,’ he said. ‘You’ve taken quite a tumble.’

He stood up and she saw him grope in his pocket. He pulled out his phone then slipped off his jacket and tucked it round her gently. Her eyes followed him as he took a couple of steps away from her and punched in a number. ‘Gareth, I’ve found a young woman up here on the moor near the spring at the head of Nant Rhyd-goch. She’s had a bit of a fall and I need your help to get her to the house.’

Switching off the phone, he turned back to her.

‘Are you a doctor?’ she asked. And then she thanked him. Or she thought she did, though no sound came. She drifted off to sleep, opened her eyes and saw the sky growing crimson in the west. It was very beautiful. She tried to smile and must have slept again. When she woke it had grown dark but for the small streak of red on the western horizon. There was another man there now and a pony. Was it Catrin’s? She couldn’t tell. She felt the soft touch of its nose as it lowered its head to examine her. The second man had brought blankets and a flask of something hot, and the two men hoisted her onto the saddle, sitting sideways, wrapped up warm. When the pony started to walk she found the motion restful. Her ankle and shoulder hurt, but not so much now. She dozed. It was dark, but they seemed to know where they were going. ‘Where’s Rhona?’ She remembered saying that out loud. They stopped and asked her who Rhona was and should they go back. ‘No,’ she whispered. ‘No, she tried to kill me.’

The first snows drifted up the valley in mid November and with the cold came conflicting news from every side.

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