Previously…

Dolly was running almost flat out, at about fifty miles an hour–certainly faster than she normally went–and up ahead I could see that it was somewhat brighter as we were emerging from the wood and very soon we would be out of the trees and up on the moor.

Dolly wasn’t used to such long journeys, especially at this giddy speed. Let’s face it, a few miles normally knackered the poor old lady. I could sense that her two-cylinder engine was labouring somewhat, and I knew exactly what was going to happen as I had driven her several times when it had happened previously. It gave me an idea. I had just one chance to do this and I prayed that it would all work out all right. I gripped the steering wheel hard and put my foot down on the accelerator…

‘BANG!’

Dolly misfired–the man jumped and looked behind–I pressed his seatbelt button, releasing it and then I aimed for the nearest tree.

We crashed head on, the man went halfway through the windshield with a scream and I was jolted forward, wrenching my neck and shoulders badly. Without thinking, I unclipped my seatbelt and pushed the car door open. It was miraculous that it could still open as it creaked badly as I pushed, but it did open and I stumbled out and ran for cover.

From behind a tree I could see that the car was smoking from the back. The man, who was halfway on the bonnet, looked a terrible mess but was still moving. His face was badly lacerated and rivulets of his blood were running down Dolly’s bonnet. Then he looked at me. I would never forget those cold eyes. What was left of his face was a bloody mask, with no expression that I could see and then…the petrol tank exploded and poor old Dolly was engulfed in flames.

I could feel the hot pressure of the explosion knocking me off my feet and the last thing I remembered was my back hitting a tree––

And now the story continues…

‘Samantha…Samantha, can you hear me?’

I didn’t feel like waking up so I just ignored the nagging voice.

‘SAMANTHA, WAKE UP, YOU DOZY COW!’

I cracked an eye open and wished I hadn’t. It was all fuzzy and I couldn’t see straight. It reminded me of the fall I had in Marcia’s surgery all those years back–no, hang on, that was only a couple of weeks ago. Then, everything sort of focussed and I could see again. I was lying on my side next to a tree, it looked a bit scorched. There were loads of people in those fluorescent jackets milling about and a strange burning sort of smell– petrol, rubber and something else...

I was finding it hard to catch my breath and every time I took a breath, I could feel a stabbing pain in my ribs and collarbone.

‘Sam, thank God!’

I looked up and that was a mistake as my neck now hurt as well, but I nearly forgot that as I could see Abby’s sweet face looking down at me.

‘Hi, Abby!’ I whispered.

She came in close. ‘Hi, yourself; you look like you’ve had several rounds with King Kong.’

‘Thanks for cheering me up,’ I gasped, as she swam out of sight and a woman with a yellow jacket replaced her.

‘Right, Samantha, you are still in one piece except you have a couple of broken bones and a few other things. We need to get you to hospital. A chopper is on the way so you can do it in style. How are your aches and pains?’

‘Aching and paining,’ I said with some difficulty as I still found breathing rather hard.

‘Well I’ll give you a jab and that will help.’

‘I can’t stand needles.’

‘You prefer pain then?’

‘Point taken.’

Then I gave a wheezy laugh at my unintended pun and that made me hurt even more. I could feel a little prick (that thought made me giggle too, for some reason, increasing the pain) and then a few moments later, things seemed to dull down a bit. In the meantime, an oxygen mask was fitted over my nose and mouth before I was put on a stretcher thingy and strapped in tighter than I thought was strictly necessary–even my head was strapped–and then waited for my ride in a chopper. Abby was with me and I gazed into her loving eyes. I could sense that there was a whole lot going on nearby. What with sirens, banging metal cutting and blue lights flashing all around and then there was that strange burning smell which, to my confused mind, reminded me slightly of a barbecue––

I gazed up at Abby. She had been crying for some reason.

‘Is Colin dead?’ I asked, my voice muffled by the mask.

‘Colin?’

‘Yes Colin Statham, the man who…who…’

It was strange, I realised that I did know his name. When I thought before, that is when he was abducting me, I didn’t remember. Katie had told me it and it had gone clean out of my head.

‘Yes, honey, he’s dead.’

‘He–he told me that he killed Nigel.’

‘Don’t worry about that now–’

‘Is Dean’s mum okay?’

‘Yes. Dean rang the police soon after you were taken. According to Trevor, he was nearly wetting himself over the threats to his mum, but he couldn’t let you be taken by that monster. His mum is safe, though–she wasn’t aware that she was in any danger.’

I became aware of the sound of a helicopter in the distance, coming closer. I started to cry.

‘Are you in pain, love?’

‘N–n–no, but I killed Dolly––’

‘–Oh, honey, you didn’t kill her–I blame that on Colin.’

‘B—But I killed him too!’

‘How?’

‘Dolly misfired–I made her do it–and then I undid his seat belt when he wasn’t looking and made Dolly bang into a tree.’

‘That scumbag deserved what he got and Dolly saved your life. You are much more important than a car.’

Before I could say more, the sound of the helicopter was so loud that I couldn’t carry on talking to Abby. I wanted to know so much, but it would have to wait. The injection that I had been given was really kicking in now and I was feeling a bit woozy and sleepy. Pity really because I always wanted to go up in a helicopter––

I felt the stretcher being lifted and moved and the “choppery” noise got louder. I could feel a bump and then a door sliding closed. A warm hand was holding mine and I knew it was my Abby. It made me smile as I sort of drifted off to sleep…

I wakened to a beep, beep, beep noise. Once again, I was a bit disorientated as I tried to work out who, what and where I was. Then it all came back and my eyes snapped open.

I nearly had a heart attack, as there was a face swimming before me at about six inches.

‘Bloody hell!’ I shouted, or it would have been a shouted but it came out more like the croak of a frog.

She backed away a bit and I realised that it was a doctor. Well, the white coat and stetha-thingy was a bit of a giveaway.

‘Well, so you’re back with us then? Good. Well, Samantha, you will be pleased to know that you are in not too bad a shape. How do you feel?’

‘Thirsty,’ I whispered.

The doctor went to my bedside table, poured me some water, then helped me sit up slightly so I could sip it. I had aches and pains everywhere, but it wasn’t too bad and I assumed that they had given me something for the pain. When I had finished, I lay back on my pillow with some relief.

‘We gave you something for the pain.’ –Told you so!–

‘You might feel a bit woozy, but don’t worry, we’ll reduce the medication as and when. Now,’ she said sitting by the bed, ‘I’ll tell you what we found when you came in. You do want to know?’

I nodded and that hurt too, even though my neck was in some sort of collar thing.

‘Right; the bad news is that you have a broken collarbone, two broken ribs, your left lung partially collapsed, you have soft tissue damage in the neck and shoulders, not forgetting various cuts and bruises.’

‘What’s the good news?’ I said in a slightly less of a Kermit or was that a Miss Piggy type of voice?

‘You’ll live.’

‘Oh.’

‘Yes, you are strapped up more or less like an Egyptian mummy in places and you have a drain to sort out the lung problem. You will be staying here for about a week and because we don’t want you running around the hospital, we have fitted you with a catheter. Not very nice but there you go. If you must go running off with strange men, what do you expect?’

I looked at her suspiciously. ‘Are you friends with Marcia?’

‘Mmm,’ she smiled, ‘we went to med school together and she’s my best friend. She’s outside now with Abby and half of the inhabitants of Penmarris.’

‘Oh,’ I said.

‘Look, I can only let a few people in and then you must rest, okay?’

‘Okay.’ I sighed as she smoothed down the sheets and then left the room.

I looked around as best I could in my cocoon-like state. It was a nice room, with tasteful wallpaper, a plasma screen TV and soft lights.

‘Wow,’ I thought, ‘no wonder the NHS is costing so much!’

I wanted to look at the plumbing arrangements under the sheets but then sort of shied away from it. The thought of tubes coming out of different places made me feel a bit queasy. Being one of the founder members of the Hypochondriac Society meant that above all else, I was very aware of every crook and nanny of my body and the thought of all that medical stuff going on down there made me a bit uncomfortable to say the least. No, what I was unable to see, I could ignore–I hoped.

The door opened and Abby and Jocasta came in. I smiled as I saw them wade through the deep pile carpet and over to the bed.

‘Hi.’ I smiled.

‘Ooh, you sound just like Minnie Mouse,’ Jo remarked.

‘Na, Betty Boop,’ said Abby with a smile and a kiss on my chapped lips.

They drew up chairs and sat down. It didn’t appear necessary for me to speak and I assumed that they had orders from the doctor not to make me talk much.

‘Well, this is a fine pickle,’ said Jo, ‘when David and I picked you up on the moor that time, we thought that you were a nice quiet girl and would take to our village like a duck to water. Then, all of a sudden, lots of things happen and there’s more going on in Penmarris than in an Agatha Christie novel or in Midsomer*. Mind you, that’s good in a way because we have been accused of being a boring, sleepy community and that can’t be good––’

‘–Be quiet, Jo. Can’t you see she’s been through the wars––’

‘I was only saying–’

‘–And you a vicar’s wife, too. Where is all the caring, compassionate, wipe-the-fevered-brow stuff that vicar’s wives are supposed to do?’

‘Sorry, got a bit carried away there. David and the brats send you their love, by the way.’

‘Thanks,’ I whispered.

‘That’s the tube they stuck down your throat,’ continued Jocasta with only marginally more tact and finesse than a bull in a china shop.

‘Jo, give it a rest,’ said Abby with exasperation, ‘Sam doesn’t like M-E-D-I-C-A-L talk.’

‘I can spell, you know.’ I gasped. I was still a bit out of breath and put that down to the lung thing.

‘Sorry love. Look; lots of people are outside and it’s obvious that they can’t come in, but there is one person we want you to see, I’ll go and get her.’

Abby went out and Jo carried on telling me things. ‘Dean Clump is with the police and telling them what happened. The police found the gun in the burnt out wreck and they won’t be coming after you, though they do know what you did with the seat belt. Self-defence they called it. This Colin character was a bad man and had hurt a lot of people. Although I’m a vicar’s wife, I must say that I think the world is a better place without him.’

As I heard her words, I could feel myself getting very tearful.

‘Oh, but I killed him, Jo,’ I said as sobs now wracked through my body. The medication was keeping the pain at bay somewhat, but not from my mind. I had killed a human being!

Jo hugged me as tightly as she could around the cables, tubes and things and it was sometime before I would settle down. Jo wanted to call for a nurse, but I didn’t want to make a fuss.

‘Look Sam. He took you by force and had every intention of killing you. He had killed before and would no doubt do so again. Don’t beat yourself up over it. He reaped as he sowed. Do not mourn the man, just be thankful that he can’t hurt anyone else.

I was still rather tearful and didn’t hear the door open as I was wiping my eyes with a tissue and blowing my nose.

‘Sam.’

I looked up at the sound of Abby’s voice.

‘Oh!’

Abby had Heather in her arms wrapped in a white blanket!

She came over and with some difficulty I put my arms around our lovely baby.

She looked at me and I looked at her. I smiled, my pain forgotten for the moment. Her little fingers were sort of waving at me and she looked lovely, pink and healthy, although she was small, she was perfectly formed and I was so happy to see her.

‘She can come home with us as soon as you are well.’

I looked up at Abby with delight. I already felt better and this was the best tonic I could ever have!

‘Ooh look, she’s smiling at me,’ I said.

‘That’s the wind,’ said Jo, knowingly.

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* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsomer_Murders

Please leave comments…thanks! ~Sue

My thanks go to the brilliant and lovely Gabi for editing, help with the plot-lines and pulling the story into shape.