The Forest by John Wainwright

Author:John Wainwright [Wainwright, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Crime
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Back at the cottage I took a hot shower, changed into dry clothing and packed the holdall. Nobody at the house knew I was back and I wanted to keep it that way until I’d visited Raymond. I dressed for the weather and, with Sal accompanying me, set off for the shelter and Raymond. My cursed foot prevented me from travelling at more than a stumbling hurry, but I made good time.

When I called to him from the shelter of the birch he at first made no answer. He was still in bed… presumably asleep. But when he did reply he was in a bad mood.

“Where the hell have you…”

“That’s enough!” I stepped into view with the Smith and Wessen pointed and cocked. There was a rasping quality to my voice as I said, “Little brother, don’t push me. Take my word for it, since you saw me last I’ve had enough. A tiny pressure on this forefinger and at least one of my problems goes away.”

I watched, as he climbed awkwardly from the sleeping bag, then sat on the edge of the camp bed.

Without undue emotion I said, “Father’s dead.”

He stared.

“Appropriately enough at a police station,” I added.

“How—how…”

“His heart gave out. He lost his temper once too often.”

“Good God!”

“It can be argued,” I mused, “thatyou killed him. You stole this thing.” I moved the revolver. “A man called Rucker—a detective—learned about it. Learned about his habit of leaving it lying around, loaded and ready. Learned that it had been stolen… by you. He arrested Father, Father wasn’t amused and his heart couldn’t stand the strain. That in a nutshell. Killing people—attempting to kill people—you have quite a flair.”

“Who told them I took it?” he muttered.

“Nobody. Just that it was there to be taken, and that somebody took it.”

For a moment he looked sad, and I don’t think it was play-acting.

As if trying to fully convince himself, he murmured, “For all his faults, I liked the old devil.”

“I didn’t,” I replied bluntly. I bent to unzip the holdall. “Now… that leg of yours. Get back into the sleeping bag, fasten it as high as it will go, but leave the leg out. Hands inside the sleeping bag. And a solemn warning, dear Raymond. Anything that even looks like trickery, and you’ll be able to tell Father how sorry you are… personally.”

He did as he was told. Exactly as he was told. I think the leg was giving him hell and that, plus the news of Father had, for the moment knocked all the fight from him. I’d brought what I wanted—what I thought I needed—and the holdall was packed tight with food, drink, plus all I could find for make-do-and-mend surgery. I had no qualms. I’d handled injured animals many times. Mended their wounds and nursed them back to health. Whatever was necessary as far as my half-brother’s leg was concerned would be done.

When the coverings had been removed, it was a mess. The bone was set out of alignment; I hoped the two ends had not yet knitted because if they had agony was on the agenda.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.