Cass clambered into the passenger seat of the pick-up. ‘Apart from my passport, I’ve got water, sticking plasters and some bananas, if that’s what you mean. I never travel without them.’ She didn’t mention the more personal items. He didn’t need to know about them.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Even before they’d set off Cass had realised this was a huge mistake. The talk round the dinner table had been all about when the hurricane might hit. The answer was dawn, just as Austin and Cass set off in Austin’s pick-up for a little airstrip he’d heard about near the main airport.
At first it was the tops of the trees that were being tossed about but then the gusts of wind became more intense, buffeting the vehicle. Austin was struggling to keep it on the road and Cass held on to the door and the dashboard in front of her, gripping so hard her fingers went white. She knew if a tree fell on them, they’d be finished.
When they had to slow right down to negotiate a huge pothole, she put her hand on Austin’s arm. She had to shout to make herself heard over the wind and the rain. ‘We have to go back! This is utter madness. We could be killed at any moment.’
Austin didn’t even look at her. ‘No way. We’re going to get on that flight.’
‘But the plane won’t be able to take off.’
‘But I’ll be there the moment it can.’
Then he set off again, battling with the steering wheel, the wheels of the truck spinning in the mud. Now she couldn’t make herself heard while they were moving. But the state of the road meant she had another opportunity as yet again they were stopped by a tree which had to be driven round.
‘Seriously! Austin! We’re risking our lives.’
He looked at her. ‘You want to get out?’
‘No! I want us to turn round. Go back to where we can be safe!’
He shook his head. ‘Not happening.’
Cass looked about her. The rain had turned the road into a river of mud. ‘We can’t go on!’ she shouted.
‘OK,’ said Austin, putting the pick-up into gear again and moving forward. ‘You can get out. But I’ll say when.’
‘I don’t want to get out!’ she shouted, but he appeared not to hear her.
They slithered and slipped, sometimes forward, sometimes sideways, often backwards. Cass was in a state of anxiety that was just short of terror. She thought only of the next inch to travel. She had no idea when death would come but she was fairly sure it would in the next couple of hours.
At last, Austin stopped. For a few moments Cass thought he’d come to his senses. They were only a couple of miles from a small town and she thought maybe he would go there and get out of the torrential rain and gusts of wind that could easily have swept them off the road, had it not been for the trees which gave them a little protection.
‘OK, get out. I’m going to the airstrip on my own.’
Cass couldn’t believe what he’d said. ‘I can’t get out in this!’
‘Do you want to carry on with the journey?’ Austin demanded.
‘No—’
‘Then get out.’ He leant across and opened her door. Then he gave her a great shove.
Cass barely had time to grab her day bag which fortunately was on her knee, then she was sprawling on the road, slipping and sliding in the mud, unable to get to her feet.
Austin didn’t wait for her to stand up or to get her rucksack, with all her things in it, out of the back of the pick-up. He set off into the weather, skidding madly, sending a cascade of mud over her.
Cass was drenched in seconds. Stunned and disbelieving, she sat there on the ground, in a small river, clutching her bag to her chest. Somehow she got to her feet, then put the strap of her bag round her neck and secured the main part with the belt of her shorts, so it wouldn’t flap around. She’d risked her life for the contents – she couldn’t lose them now.
She had no idea what to do. She staggered to the nearest tree and clung to it so she could keep herself upright; this seemed like a positive action. But she had no clue about her next move. It was hard to think clearly when cold water was pouring down on to your head.
She heard a huge crack and, just a few feet in front of her, saw a huge tree break and fall. She gazed at itfor several seconds, her heart beating like a tiny bird’s. Then she realised that the tree had formed a sort of bridge. If she could get to it, it would give her at least a bit of shelter.
She wasn’t sure how long it took her to get from where she had been thrown out of the pick-up to the tree, but it was slow progress as she struggled through the river of mud. Eventually, however, she got there. It was so wonderful to be out of the cold shower the heavens were throwing down that it felt like safety. But she knew it wasn’t. She had to make a better plan. But what? There were no options. She would surely die here.
Gloomy thoughts went through her mind and, of all of them, it was the idea that she’d never see Ranulph again that made her the saddest. They’d shared so much, been through such a lot together. She was sure that if some years passed, the age gap would shrink. Whether he would ever love her as much as she loved him, she couldn’t know. But surely she loved him enough for both of them?
