The Christmas Day Cyclist by Peter Brunsden

Author:Peter Brunsden
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803816357
Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing
Published: 2023-11-06T12:24:28+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

George got up immediately and held her by the arms. She leaned against his shoulder sobbing. “Do you know exactly where she is?”

She pressed herself away from him. “Yes—we let out a lot of our land to a farmer. He found her by the entrance to his fields.”

“Has an ambulance been called and the police?”

“Yes both.” She lifted her arms from her sides. “Look, I’m shaking. Could you drive me there please? It’s all paved roads on the estate so no problem for the car.”

“Of course.” They all went out and Gladys took the wheel with Maisie crouched beside her, giving her directions away from the Hall and the outbuildings surrounding it and out alongside farmland interspersed with fences and trees. The side of an ambulance came into view ahead of them parked on a circular tarmacked area. A bent, misshapen bike was visible beside it together with a small group of people bending and kneeling. Gladys bought the car to a halt and with a cry Sarah tore the door open and hurtled towards the group. The others all got out but George put out a hand to prevent them from following. “That may well be a crime scene,” he said.

He spotted a man in a brown jacket and matching cap standing nearby and he walked round the side of the field towards him. “Hallo,” he greeted him. “We were visiting the Hall when we heard the news and brought the lady here. Did you call this in?”

The man nodded. “Yes, I farm this land here as a tenant of the Hall. I saw it all happen. I was over the other side of the field there.” He pointed behind them. “The car deliberately hit the bike.”

“The car?”

“Oh yes—a dark coloured saloon it was, an Audi I think.”

“It couldn’t have been an accident?”

“No way. There’s an entrance there which we use for deliveries and for me to get my tractor in and out. The car came in fast, went straight for the bike and then drove out turning left towards Oxford. Sarah goes biking up that track most days. They must have been watching her and knew her routine. I came running over and called the ambulance on my way because I could see she wasn’t moving. When I got to her she was alive but in a lot of pain. I held her head up until the ambulance arrived here and tried to staunch the blood.” He showed his hands which were streaked with red. “The bastards could well have killed her. I started running and shouting straightaway. They must have seen me and took off before they had the chance to run over her again. I got part of the number plate.”

As he finished a police car with its siren screaming slewed to a halt by the ambulance. The crew were in the process of loading a stretcher into the back of the vehicle. There was a short conversation before the ambulance with its own siren at play took off at speed.

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