‘Perhaps he did forget to charge the battery before he went out,’ Wendy said, her voice shaking, ‘and if he had no power, he’d have no torch either. How on earth will we ever find him?’
‘We will,’ Ross said firmly as they got back home. ‘We’ll need a few minutes, and then we’ll set off and do a thorough search.’ He looked at Wendy. ‘Are you fit enough to walk back up there? You don’thaveto come, you know.’
‘It still really hurts, but Imustcome! I’d never forgive myself if he was lying injured somewhere and I wasn’t there…’ Her voice crumbled. ‘I’ll just get another sweater.’
‘I think we should prepare ourselves for a long walk in the dark,’ Ross murmured to Ally as Wendy made her way upstairs. ‘The silly fool’s got himself lost somewhere that has no phone signal, or else – like she said – he didn’t charge it up before he left. Maybe he’s tripped or something? Who knows?’
Ross went out to search in his car for the powerful torch which he took with him everywhere – a hangover from his days as a vet delivering lambs at midnight. Ally fetched her warm coat.
‘We’re taking the dogs, aren’t we?’ Ally asked as Ross came in with the torch. She noticed how excited both animals had become when they saw coats being produced.
‘Definitely,’ Ross said. ‘They could be invaluable and will probably find him before we do.’
Wendy had reappeared and, after a few minutes, they all set off on the well-trodden path towards Loch Soular. It had suddenly become pitch-dark, the moon hidden behind some heavy clouds, and so they were relying on Ross’s torch to see the way.
‘Give me an arm each, girls!’ Ross said cheerfully as he shone the torch ahead. ‘Can’t have either of you tripping over!’
Ally did not like walking in the dark at the best of times and, to be sure, this was not the best of times. Both she and Wendy stumbled a little as they made their way carefully along the rough path. At least the heather had been flattened over time, mainly due to Ally’s walks, and again this evening by the runners.
After fifteen minutes, the clouds rolled back, and the moon appeared just as they neared the loch, producing a silver glow on the surface of the water. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
Ally had never seen this lovely wee loch by moonlight before, and she was enchanted.
‘I think he was going to cut across over there somewhere…’ Wendy pointed vaguely to the right.
‘Then there must be a marker there,’ Ross said. ‘Didn’t you say something about flags?’
‘Oh yes,’ Wendy said. ‘Red flags. That’s how he knew where to go.’ She pointed again to the right. ‘It’s disorientating in the dark.’
Ross swivelled his torch around as they veered in that direction, the dogs bounding ahead.
It was Ally who spotted it. ‘Look! Overthere!’ She walked ahead, trying not to stumble. Ross was now pointing the torch towards Ally, and they all saw the little red flag anchored into the ground and the path alongside.
‘That’s it!’ Wendy exclaimed excitedly.
‘OK,’ Ross said, ‘this is the race route, but are you sure this was the wayhewas heading?’
‘I don’t know,’ Wendy said, her face falling. ‘Greg was in charge of the map, and when I left to go back to the malthouse…’ Her voice broke.
‘Let’s keep going then,’ Ross said quickly.
At this point, Wendy began to call out, ‘Greg! Greg!’ But there was total silence as they shuffled on.
Ally noticed that the dogs appeared to be getting excited and sniffing everything more than usual. They’d covered about a hundred yards when both dogs, who’d been running ahead, began to bark excitedly.
‘Something or someone’s around,’ Ross said quietly as they carried on walking more slowly, with Wendy continuing to call out, ‘Greg! Greg! We’re here!’
Ross shone the torch around, concentrating on the two barking dogs and said, ‘Stay here!’ to the two women before walking forward to where the dogs were and where there was a large rock embedded in the ground. In the moonlight, Ally could see Ross standing stock-still for a moment before bending down. ‘Oh my God!’ he said.
Ally and Wendy rushed across to where he was standing, then stood, rooted to the spot.
Lying on his back, clearly felled by a blow to the head, was Greg Watson.
FOURTEEN
Wendy screamed before collapsing beside the body of her husband. Ally stared in horror, wondering if she was going to be sick. Ross checked Greg’s pulse and then got straight onto his phone.
‘Body found on the moor, near Loch Soular,’ he said calmly. ‘We need urgent police and ambulance.’
