We went to the top of the garden and turned right, heading towards the crest of the hill and then along the path to Winterborne Minster, which was my new favourite route. Mostly because it avoided Lilbury.
At the crest of the hill, man, and dog both stood surveying the lie of the land. “I think we should move, Kenny,” I told him. “How does the Outer Hebrides sound?”
The tongue loll I received was not a definitive answer.
There’s a pretty bit of the lane to Winterborne where trees overhang it on both sides, and it becomes very closed off, forming a canopy. You feel as if you’re in a magical pixie kingdom. Some kind of Lilliputian fantasy.
Over the past few weeks, it’d been delightfully cool there compared to other parts of the walk, but today we didn’t need the respite. However, force of habit now saw me tramping down the small hill towards it, with Kenny beside me.
There were few cars on this road. Why, all last week, I hadn’t seen a single one. There were probably fewer today with the overcast weather giving people an excuse to stay at home for the first time in weeks.
We trotted our way down, and I clicked Kenny back on his lead after we’d climbed the fence. I was whistling a tuneless ditty, and Kenny was exploring some new places he hadn’t sniffed. I wasn’t thinking about Simon or Guy … ahem, I wasn’t thinking about … certain people. I wasn’t fixating on whether my career was about to go up in smoke; I wasn’t worrying about Ollie. Nope, my brain was empty. And that’s where it all went wrong.
The birds were chirping, and the sun was trying to peek out of the clouds as we made our way through the trees. Far in the distance, I heard a car’s engine and made a mental note to walk closer to the edge in a minute or so when it got to us.
The car approached quicker than I had predicted, and I dutifully moved us off to the side like a good citizen. I looked behind me to make sure it wasn’t some vast SUV that I’d have to clamber halfway up the stone wall that lined the road to avoid. If I hadn’t, I’d probably be dead.
The car was barrelling down on me at a million miles an hour. “Oh, shit,” I said. My stomach dropped, and instinct kicked in.
“Kenny, run, boy!” I yelled and frantically tried to get away.
Kenny started to bark up a storm as he outpaced me. “Go, boy, go!” I yelled. I’d never forgive myself if he was hurt.
What the hell was happening? The massive black car was now fewer than twenty metres away from us and was veering well over to the side of the lane, one of its wheels on the grass, aiming straight for us.
Ahead, I could see where the trees ended and the verge opened to a few metres wide on each side with space to climb the stone wall and get into a field. I had to make it another hundred or so metres, and we’d be okay. There was no way to jump the fence in the trees; the bank it ran on was steep, and, though dry after several weeks of no rain, it was made of loose dirt that, no matter how gainful you were on your pins, would have you falling backwards as you slipped and slid.
The car was now right behind me as I sprinted as hard as I could in loose summer shoes. It bumped up against the back of my legs, and I nearly went flying. I dared to look back to try and see the driver, but it was all shadows, and the act almost cost me as my legs fumbled and nearly ended up under the wheels. The car pulled alongside us, and just in time, I let go of Kenny’s lead, as it blindsided me and I went flying into the bank.
As soon as it had come, the car disappeared. The driver veered back onto the road properly and sped off in a cloud of dust.
I lay there in a heap on the bank. “Ow.” I didn’t seem to be dead or particularly hurt, but being thrown several feet by a car was, I can tell you now, dearest reader, not exactly a pain-free experience.
It was several minutes before I could stand up. The world was spinning, and my legs were jelly. I couldn’t see Kenny anywhere, which was making my chest ache. If they had hurt him, I would rip this fucking county apart to get revenge.
Eventually, I managed to get to my feet and, like a newborn lamb, wobbled my way along the path. The entire outer side of my left leg was covered in dirt and had a graze underneath it from where I’d landed after going flying. My right leg, which had taken the brunt of the whack, was throbbing with pain, as was my elbow, which had taken a portion of the hit too. Everything was going to hurt for days. My limp was a thing of beauty.
I stopped walking as I came to the end of the trees. My heart thundered in my chest so hard I thought it would explode. I was dripping in sweat. My legs were still unsteady.
I leaned over and rested my hands on my lower thighs, sucking in deep breaths. The jingle of metal alerted me. Kenny was coming towards me, with his lead dragging along behind him, the catch on it making the noise.
“Good boy,” I said and kissed the top of his head. He licked my leg. I stood up straight, which, oh, ow, that was a mistake. That’s when I noticed the car had come back. About a hundred metres further down the hill. Waiting. Its engine running. It had clearly driven down the lane, found somewhere to turn around and then come back to finish the job.
“The killer,” I whispered. This was the person who had murdered Riz.
My heart was beating so hard in my chest that I feared I’d vomit. Oh, God, the person who’d shot Riz in cold blood and possibly tried to kill Jed was in that car, and they wanted me dead. Maybe they’d been watching Riz’s house. They might know what I knew.
Panic started to fill me. But I didn’t have time for it to settle as the car revved, and its wheels squealed. It hurtled towards me.
“Shit.” I was standing in the middle of the road. Where could I go? Could I vault the fence in time? What about Kenny?
It all happened so fast. Before I even had time to dive, it was on me. I cringed, flinging my hands over my face, like that would save me. I screwed my eyes shut.
There was an almighty shriek. And then nothing. For several seconds, I stood there, my eyes closed. Then my mind clicked; the sound I had heard was a handbrake stop.
I dared to open an eye. The car was no more than a metre from me. Its engine running. But it hadn’t hit me. I opened the other eye.
A car door opening shook me out of my daze
