I made a snap decision; if nothing was done, we would run aground heavily on the other side of the river...

 

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Chapter 14

Previously…

I gazed out of the windscreen and saw the northern slipway up ahead coming closer and closer. We hadn’t slowed down and didn’t look as if we would. It didn’t matter, nothing mattered now. I just wanted to sleep––

–But I didn’t sleep. The others were dead to the world, but I was still awake. I glanced at my bare knee and noticed that I had gashed it quite badly and it was bleeding.

The noise was deafening. There was no reduction in the volume as we approached the bank. The green fog swirled about me, invading, clinging, making me want to tear my mask off and end it all.

I couldn’t see much, but out of the window, I could see the north bank of the river fast approaching with nothing to stop us crashing into it––

And now the story continues…

Erskine to Dunoon

I made a snap decision; if nothing was done, we would run aground heavily on the other side of the river. It may not harm us because, let’s face it, the ferry was only going a little faster than walking pace, but if we didn't slow down we might jolt the bus forward or scrape the bottom of the hull but as I was the only one awake–for some reason the fog wasn’t affecting me–I would try and get up to the bridge. I grabbed a grubby towel and put it over my nose and mouth. Wincing I stood up. I was very conscious of the pain in my leg, but I had no more time to think. Very soon we would collide with the slipway.

I ran outside, my eyes smarting from the fog, unable to see very clearly as the green mist swirled around me. I had thoughts in my head of doom and destruction and just wanting to lie down and accept what was going to happen, but every step I took, I felt a stab of pain that distracted me from such thoughts.

I rushed across the deck, up the steep metal steps and wrenched open the wheelhouse door. Mr MacTavish was lying on the floor, his arms outstretched as if he was trying to reach out to someone. His smouldering pipe was clutched in his hand. I moved quickly to the lever that controlled the engine and moved it to the centre which I hoped would neutralise the engine.

I could feel the heavy vibration through my feet die down slightly as the engine responded to what I had done.

I had no idea if I had done the right thing. It seemed like we were approaching the slipway faster than I wanted. I just held on to the lever–waiting–waiting––

~ §~

The green fog was beginning to drift away now and I could see things a bit more clearly. The other fog–in my brain with its equally strange effects–was clearing too.

Were we slowing down?

Yes, I could see for certain that approach to the bank was slowing noticeably. There were other levers and one that might have been some sort of brake, but I dared not use it in case I made the position worse.

Slower and slower we went but did not actually stop until we scraped into other side with a slight jolt. I teetered forward a bit myself, but it wasn’t too bad. Mr MacTavish had rolled over on impact and I could see his face now. He looked as if he was asleep. I bent down–wincing slightly as my leg was quite painful–and touched his face. He was still slightly warm, but there was no doubt that he was dead, because his sightless eyes looked up at a point high above my shoulder. I gently closed his eyes and stood up. I had to see how the others were.

Looking out, I could see the ferry was stationary, the chains holding it in place. She had run aground on the slipway, but not as gently as she would, had Mr MacTavish been driving her.

I wasted no more time and went down the companionway to the car deck and boarded the bus. The others were still asleep, except Ben, who had just woken up as if from a nap. He stood up, stretched and with tail wagging came to me.

‘Hello, boy; well, the fog doesn't seem to do you much harm does it? Let’s go up front and see if the there’s any damage.’

Ben followed me out of Bessie as I went forward; luckily, she–Bessie–had not moved so that was a good thing. Walking forward on the flat deck I was aware that the engine was still chugging away, but I hadn't a clue how to stop it: fortunately the mechanism that pulled the chain was stopped. As far as I could see there was virtually no visible damage. The chains had held us in position and I think that the only damage that could have been done was when the hull of the ferry had scraped the submerged section of the slipway. I had been on this ferry before, some years ago, and wondered what would have happened had I not been able to slow her down. The very thought made me shiver.

I lowered the loading ramp to the slipway as Mr MacTavish had shown me, and Ben and I made our way to dry land. The chains seemed to be secure and should hold the ferry there until someone came along and discovered her.

Stopping for a moment, I wiped the blood off my leg with the towel that was still in my hand. It was a nasty gash and was still bleeding slightly. I would have to get that sorted out when I had time, but for the moment, I took the scarf from round my neck and tied it roughly in place. Glancing to my right, I noticed the bank of green fog in the distance heading towards the centre of Glasgow. I wondered how many people were still alive in that great city.

I felt grimy and dirty from the coal stoking and all that had happened since. I was really looking forward to finding somewhere where we could get cleaned up and out of these stinky clothes.

‘Come on, Ben,’ I called. He had gone off to the side to lift his leg and was now sniffing a dead cat.

‘Ben, NO! You don’t want to catch something nasty’

Reluctantly he came over, his expression seeming to accuse me of dog cruelty or something equally sinister. I had no time for his nonsense because I had to check that the others were all right.

‘Come on, Ben. I’ll get you some biscuits later.’

As I climbed in Bessie, I could hear groans as the others started to wake up. I went straight to Arthur and he seemed all right as he was looking up at me and smiling. Judging by the smell, though, he had nothing to smile about.

Several boxes had fallen over and it was all a bit of a mess. Before we set off properly we would have to stow everything away securely.

‘Where am I?’ came from one of the seats near the front. I went to see how Eve was. She was rubbing her head.

‘Oh, my head’ she groaned, ‘and I’ve gone and wet my ,knickers again!’

I smiled. ‘Judging by the smell you aren’t the only one. Thank heavens for leather seats.’

She looked at me suspiciously. ‘Judging by the smug look on your face, I don’t suppose you’ve done it?’

‘No, but I have been busy saving everyone’s lives.’

‘What?’

‘We’ll talk later. There’s some aspirins in the medical box. Do you want to fish some out for everyone?’

‘All right, but there’s something fishy going on here.’

‘Well,’ I laughed as I glanced around noticing signs of movement from everyone, ‘we are on a river!’

Ten minutes later, everyone was more or less awake. So we wasted no time getting off the ferry. After lowering the loading ramp and starting the engine we disembarked, drove up the slipway and along the Erskine Ferry Road. We stopped off on a verge at the side of the road and then proceeded to clean up ourselves and Bessie.

We only had bottled water, so had to make do with a lick and a promise–as Mummy used to say–but after we had changed, we felt a wee bit cleaner and all set to face the world–sort of–

Jeanie brewed up some tea. The other’s throats were quite dry after the oxygen, and I, of course, never turn down the cup that refreshes!

As we sat on the verge, I told them about the fate of old Mr MacTavish and all that I had done. They were all sad and we just sat there in silence for a few moments.

Then Jeanie piped up. ‘Your leg, it looks awful. Does it hurt?’

‘A wee bit.’ I confessed, gingerly undoing the now-ruined scarf and peering under it; there was a jagged tear about two inches long which looked angry, red and sore. It felt like it too!

‘Oh, Alex, that’s bad we’ll have to sort that out.’

Eve came over and had a look.

‘That needs stitches,’ she declared.

‘Oh, hark at Doctor Eve,’ I retorted, a bit peevishly.

‘It’s no good having a go at me. If you don’t have that seen to, it’ll turn septic.’

‘She’s right, you know,’ Jeanie added, ‘the last thing you need right now is an infection. There’s nothing for it, we’ll have to stitch it up’

‘You can’t do that.’ I cried, feeling very squeamish all of a sudden, ‘and anyway, we haven’t got any anaesthetic.’

‘Oh yes we have,’ Jeanie replied with too much smugness in her voice for my liking,

~ §~

Bessie’s back seat filled her full width so it was used as an improvised operating table. Lots of hot water was boiled up for some reason and Jeanie had found some clean sheets and things. I was wearing only my knickers down below and my leg had been cleaned up first with boiled water, allowed to cool down first and then the wound was dabbed with surgical spirit which made me scream and nearly faint.

Nicola, Arthur, Sarah and Julie were outside, out of earshot–I wished that I was with them.

Amongst the things that Jeanie had taken from the hospital and other places were some syringes of cocaine, needles and surgical thread and a couple of books which she was poring over. She was evidently going to be the surgeon and Eve the nurse. I would like to have said that I have every confidence in them, especially as Jeanie was great with needlework normally. But she had never sewn skin together–and I wasn’t at all happy with pain.

‘Okay, Allie.’ Jeanie told me in a firm, no nonsense manner, ‘Lie down, shut your eyes and think of nice happy things.’

‘How can I do that with you hovering over me with a dirty great syringe with a huge needle?’

‘Oh, don’t be such a baby,’ she said as some of the liquid fountained out of the end of the needle. ‘It’ll only be a little prick.’

Eve kept wiping my brow with a cold wet hankie and was really getting on my nerves. ‘Will you stop that,’ I cried.

‘Ooh, the patient’s getting restless, doctor.’

I sat up waving Eve and her flaming wet hankie away. ‘This isn’t doctors and nurses you’re playing. This is a real live leg, my leg. I don’t want it to drop off so stop playing games.’

‘Sorry,’ they both mumbled as I lay back down again.

‘All right,’ I said, ‘if you are going to do it, please do it and no more games.’

‘Okay, Allie,’ Jeanie replied quietly, ‘we thought that it might relax you. Now, close your eyes; I’ll try not to hurt you.’

Somehow I felt myself grip Eve’s hand strongly. The fact that she only whimpered was a plus in my eyes. I felt the needle go in and the cold liquid that burned after a second. Jeanie did this three times and then stopped. I was pleased then that Eve wiped my hot brow, I felt like fainting, and that was just the injection!

‘Right, honey, that’s that over with. It should go numb in a minute. How d’you feel?’

‘Sick and in pain.’

‘Sorry. I’m trying my best,’ she said, her voice cracking up slightly.

I opened my eyes and saw she was crying. ‘I know, sis; don’t go soft on me now. I’m relying on you.’

I smiled and she smiled back and then carried on reading the medical book. She then started threading the needle that she was going to use, so I shut my eyes again–I really didn’t want to see what happened next.

After a couple of minutes she slapped my leg, although I could hear the slap and feel a sort of pressure, but otherwise it was numb. ‘Feel that?’ she asked.

‘Not really,’ I replied, noting the tremor in my voice.

‘Good, then let’s get on with it–’

It was strange, I could feel the pulling, but there was no pain. It seemed to take ages and then it was over.

‘All done.’

‘Ooh that’s pretty,’ said Eve enthusiastically.

I cracked open an eye and then sat up a bit.

Looking at my leg, I could see that she had done a neat job at sewing the ragged edges together.

‘That’s good,’ I said–and promptly fainted.

~ §~

When I woke up, I was still on the back seat of the bus. It was quiet and I could hear conversations coming from up forward up above the sound of the engine… then I realised that we were on the move. I sat up, squinting down the length of the bus. I saw that Jeanie was driving.

Looking down at my leg, I noticed that somebody had put a skirt on me and I had my leg covered in a crepe bandage. The wound throbbed a bit, but other than that I felt fine. I tried to sit up but felt a bit woozy.

Julie must have noticed me and came back. ‘Awake are we, sleepyhead?’

‘What time is it?’ I asked.

‘Two o’clock.

‘Gosh, I must’ve been asleep for ages,’ I exclaimed.

‘Yes, we thought that we should get a move on, so we are on the road and getting some miles in. We are trying to find somewhere to stop for the night so that we can all have a break.’

‘How is Jeanie’s driving?’

Julie looked a bit embarrassed. ‘Well, she not as good as you and she crashes the gears a lot, and she sometimes says a few naughty words, but other than that, she’s fine.’

‘Oh, right,’ I said, not knowing what else to say.

I sat up and stretched. My leg was throbbing a bit but I wasn’t in any pain. Julie with a smile went back up the bus and sat next to Arthur’s carry cot box. I just sat there for a while getting my mind in gear and looking at the scenery rolling by. I saw a signpost that said Tarbet 5 miles. Looking to the right I recognised Loch Lomond and behind that, the mountain of Ben Lomond, large and gloomy in the now cloudy rain-heavy sky. The roads were wet and it looked like it had just stopped raining–typical weather for up here, but for all that, it was achingly beautiful. Looking out over the loch, there was little indication of the terrible things that had happened.

I love Scotland with her amazing scenery and wonderful people. We were never short of friends–always popping round and looking out for each other when things were a bit hard. The fog had ripped a whole heart out of the community here as well as everywhere else. I missed my parents, as I knew Jeanie did too. The others had all lost theirs and Jeanie and I knew that the chance of our parents or aunt and uncle being alive was extremely slim indeed. For us, this was the last throw of the dice. If they were dead, I didn’t really know what we would do.

I felt hurt, angry, confused, and very unsure of the future–even whether this world actually had a future. The green fog was still around killing indiscriminately, and I wondered when would it all end?

One slight bright spark on the horizon was that I seemed to acquiring some sort of immunity to the fog. I hoped so, because that would be a start.

We arrived at Tarbet a short while later. It was deserted with only a few bodies in the street and two cars that had crashed together and had obviously caught fire.

The main feature in the village was the Tarbet Hotel. Large and imposing, it was used mainly by tourists who wanted to visit Loch Lomond or as a stopover before going on up into the highlands. Jeanie parked in the large car park and switched off the engine.

The views from here of the loch were wonderful as were the mountains and scenery across the water. It seemed strangely quiet and peaceful after the engine was switched off, but not for long, because Arthur, bless him, decided that it was time for some grub.

Jeanie glanced back and saw I was up and about again, so as the others had sorted themselves out, she came and sat beside me.

‘How’re ye daein’, hen?’ she asked.

‘The accent growin’ stronger the nearer we get tae hame?’ I replied smiling. ‘I’m okay, ma leg’s throbbin’ a wee bit but it’s no’ sae bad.’

‘Weel, we’ll stop here the nicht and then gang awa’ on ferrrr Dunoon the morn’s morn; ’s’that okay wi’ ye, hen?’

‘Aye, hen, if ev’rybody agrrrees. I s’pose we could stay at the hotel. Normally ’tis closed for the winter so let’s hope it’s no fu’ o’ deid of bodies.’

‘Amen to that,’ she said, ‘Eve and I are gang tae tak’ a wee look.’

‘I should––’

‘–No, you stay here, nurse’s orders. I want you fighting fit fer the morn sae ye c’n drive–that is, if your leg’s up tae it!’

We both laughed at that as Eve looked strangely at us from the front. I don’t think that she had ever been exposed to our rather rich and wonderful way of speaking when close to home!

~ §~

Jeanie and Eve went to check it over and gave it the all clear. Indeed, they had to break in through a window. It was a bit musty, but after opening a few windows and airing the place, it was fine.

We had a scratch meal in one of the kitchens, using the food and drink that we had brought with us. Outside it was Driech¹–with a fine and drizzly rain the that kept up into the evening when it became heavier and the wind grew stronger off the water. This was good, as we didn’t think that we would have any problems from the fog that night, but we still would keep our usual lookout.

Overnight, we camped down in–of all places–the honeymoon suite. This was because it had spectacular views and we could see what was going on up and down the loch.

As was now our custom, we got undressed to go to bed. We had quickly realised that wearing the same clothes day and night was uncomfortable and unnecessary. I was quite tired, so I snuggled down in my sleeping bag and was soon asleep. I had been let off night guard duty, as I wasn’t a hundred percent, and everyone preferred me to be the driver for some reason, including Jeanie; they had a vote on it so I should be fresh for the morning. I wasn’t going to argue!

We were all up bright and early the next day. We had no night visitation from the green pestilence and the clouds had rolled away, leaving a bright and sunny morning, if, maybe, a wee bit cold.

After a quick breakfast, we were soon on our way again. I had taken an aspirin, and my leg felt all right. Jeanie had dressed the wound again before we left and it looked clean, with no sign of infection, so I was passed fit by Doctor Jeanie.

We carried on along the A83 skirting Loch Long’s northern edge and continuing around with the Argyll Forest Park to our right, heading towards Ardgartan. After skirting the village, we continued up the road going through the beautiful Glen Croe, with the forest on either side eventually arriving at Rest And Be Thankful–such a descriptive name–a high point with wonderful views that spilts Glen Croe and Glen Kinglas. Rest and Be Thankful is where the Royal Scottish Automobile Club holds a hill-climb every year on the old road that has now been bypassed. The old road is so narrow and twisty in places that it is doubtful that we would ever have got Bessie up it.

We stopped there for a break and rested, and were thankful. My leg was aching and I wanted to get out and walk about a bit to unkink my leg.

Julie started a brew up and dug out some biscuits. Everyone had a loo break and Arthur had his nappy changed. It was fresh cold and clear up there and we could see for miles. There was no sign of the fog–I was pleased to say–and as I scratched an itching nipple distractedly I wondered once again what we would find a wee bit later when we arrived in Dunoon. I wasn’t wearing stockings today, because of my sair (sore) leg and the draft up my skirt was a wee bitty cool to say the least!

‘A penny for them?’ asked Sarah, who had come over with a steaming tin mug and a shortbread biscuit–Scottish, of course–that we had found a supply of in the hotel at Tarbet.

I turned to her and took the mug and biscuit. ‘Thanks, Sarah. I was just thinking about what we’ll find at Dunoon.’

‘You aren’t raising your hopes, are you?’

‘No. Not really. I’m just desperately hoping that they are all alive, that’s all.’

We stood there for a moment looking at the reflection of the clouds scudding across the mountains. It was clean and fresh this air, not tainted by that awful, choking fog that had blighted everywhere.

All too soon, it was time to be off again. I reckoned that we had about thirty miles to go and I wanted to waste no more time. We clambered back on board and I started old Bessie and we were off, heading towards Cairndow. Eve was sitting next to me in her usual role as navigator, but I didn’t really need her as I knew these roads. Soon we would be leaving the A83 and turning left onto the A815 that led to Dunoon.

~ §~

Nothing of any note happened for the next forty minutes. We found ourselves quite soon by the shores of Loch Eck, a long thin loch that took us ever nearer to our destination. Then we went cross country again and nearly got held up by a number of sheep that had congregated on the road. They looked thin and undernourished, but at least they were alive. We even managed to have a bit of a laugh as we all got out of the bus and shooed them away before being able to continue.

We reached the wide stretch of water that was Holy Loch and drove along by the shore until we reached Sandbank, just outside Dunoon.

Jeanie took the place of Eve as navigator. Everyone was strangely quiet. It had taken us so long to reach here and now we were so close, I think we were almost reluctant to continue as we were so afraid of what we might discover.

The government complex where our parents worked was on a road off to the right just before entering Dunoon. We had visited once before during our hols, just prior to mum and dad going into the experimental bubble to live. The side road led up into some hills. It was a well made road, used by lorries, so quite wide. Every hundred yards or so there were signs informing everyone that this was government property and trespassers would be prosecuted. We went through three sets of gates which were open and not locked and guarded as they had been on previous visits. Then we arrived at the high, main perimeter fence; it had barbed wire on the top, as did the metal gates now in front of us, but once again they were open so we drove through.

We went along a gravel drive, through some trees and then it opened out into a wide area of tarmac and behind that, the concrete buildings of the complex. There wasn’t any sign of life. No bodies on the ground or any indication that the place was occupied.

‘Let’s try The Bubble,’ Jeanie suggested.

The Bubble was where my parents and others working on the project were living as part of the US and UK space programme to see how long people can live in an artificial environment. We hoped that as they would have been isolated from the outside world, they might have escaped the terrible fate that had befallen the outside world.

We followed the road along the side of the complex and on into the woods beyond. About half a mile down the road, we passed through yet another set of open gates and behind the screen of trees was The Bubble.

Only The Bubble was no longer there. It had been ripped apart, leaving the inner area exposed to the elements.

I stopped Bessie and got out with Jeanie. This was something we had to do for ourselves. The others stayed inside but Eve had a gun trained just in case.

We held each other’s hands, just like young children as we walked to the wreck of the project.

Pieces of clear plastic were strewn about, some large, some small. It was as if an earthquake had destroyed it. Furniture had been thrown about, pots and pans, electrical equipment, beds; everything had been overturned–destroyed. No one was in there, we searched high and low.

We left The Bubble and then returned to the bus, telling them that there was nobody around.

‘Maybe they’re in the main complex or something,’ Eve suggested.

‘It’s worth a try, I s’pose,’ I said unenthusiastically. Both Jeanie and I were devastated. We had pinned our hopes on finding them here.

I started up Bessie and drove back down the road and parked next to the complex main building.

We all got out and Julie carried Arthur. There was no danger here that we could see, but both Jeanie and Eve carried guns.

The doors were open and it led into a sort of reception area. There was a large desk where normally a uniformed commissionaire would be on duty. Our feet echoed on the hard tiled floor as we made our way to it. On the desk was a notice.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS GOVERNMENT COMPLEX IS CLOSED AND ALL PERSONEL HAVE BEEN EVACUATED.
FOLLOWING THE STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED BY THE GOVERNMENT ON THE 23RD NOVEMBER 1958 AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS, IT WAS DEEMED UNSAFE TO REMAIN HERE.

ALL NON-ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN DESTROYED AND FILES REMOVED, AS PER STANDING ORDERS.

IF YOU WISH TO CONTACT US, PLEASE USE THE SHORTWAVE RADIO THAT HAS BEEN LEFT IN ROOM 101 ON THE FIRST FLOOR, LEFT FOR THAT PURPOSE.

MAY GOD GO WITH YOU.

Colonel Hamish Robertson.
Commanding Officer, Dunoon Research.

‘Maybe they are still alive?’ I remarked, hopefully to no one in particular.

‘Yes,’ Jeanie agreed, ‘at least they’re not–here.’

I looked at her. She seemed to be on the point of crying. That set me off and we were all sort of upset for a bit. Then Ben began to bark and that helped us to pull ourselves together. Being the only male there apart from Arthur, he was obviously showing us how silly we females were–

We climbed the stairs to the first floor, with Ben leading the way. The room we needed was the first one on the right. It had a round port hole type of window and the sign above said Radio Room.

Jeanie opened the door and we all trooped in after her.

The radio room contained lots of equipment, all of which had been destroyed save for one unit. I went and sat down on the office chair in front of the radio. A small note on the desk in front of it gave instructions as to how to use it. Seeing as I already knew how–from previous experience at the police station a while back–all I was interested in was heating up the set and finding out if there was anyone at the other end. We didn’t have to change the frequency, as the knob had been taped in place for what I hoped was the correct one.

After a few minutes, the radio came to life and we could hear static from the speaker. In front of me was a microphone with a button in front, on the base of the stand.

I held down the button and took a deep breath. ‘Hello, can you hear me?’

I let the button go and all we could here was static.

I looked up. Everyone was crowding around. Jeanie looked so worried she was biting her fingernails.

I pressed the button again.

‘Hello, is there anybody there? Erm–over––’

I released the button again–nothing.

I tried for several minutes but all we could hear was static from the loudspeaker.

We were all a bit down then and I was just about to get up when the speaker came to life. ‘Hello caller, we are receiving you loud and clear. Where are you? Over.’

I turned back quickly and in my haste to answer, I knocked over the microphone. After setting it right again, with a trembling finger, I pressed the button down.

‘We are at the Government Complex at Dunoon, over.’

‘Glad to hear you,’ said the male voice. ‘How many of you are there?’

‘S—seven of us and a dog.’

I heard some laughter, in the background, both male and female.

‘Well done–are there any adults with you?’

‘No, just children and a baby––’

‘All right…please wait a moment.’

We heard static for a while. None of us dared speak in case we missed the man when he returned.

We heard a click.

‘How did you know about Dunoon?’

‘Our parents worked there.’

‘What is your name?’

‘I’m Alex and my sister is Jeanie; our surname is MacKenzie–’

There was an audible gasp and I’m sure a scream in the background.

A few seconds later, my heart flipped and I nearly cried out as I heard a voice that I thought I would never hear again.

‘Alex, is that you?’

‘D—Dad?’

I heard someone fall down behind me.

‘It’s only Jeanie, she seems to have fainted,’ said Eve dryly.

~ §~

‘Y—yes it’s me Dad.’

‘Oh, Alex, you’re alive and so is Jeanie!’

‘Yes, although she fainted; she’s all right though.’

He laughed.

‘Like mother like daughter, your mum’s fainted too. They aren’t as strong as us boys are they?’

‘Erm, Dad.’

‘Yes, son?’

‘I…I…I’m a g—girl now.’

There was silence for a moment.

‘A girl?’

‘Yes, I was changed by the fog; some of my friends here were too.’

‘Oh Lord, you too? We had reports but didn’t know if they were true. We knew that the fog had strange properties and killed anyone who breathed the stuff in. Why boys were changed into girls we haven’t worked out. We think that it’s something to do with puberty, but our doctors aren’t sure about it. Look we can speak of this when we see you. Can you make your way up here?’

‘Where are you?’

‘Oh sorry, you don’t know. We are up past Fort William. The fog seems to prefer lower ground. We are quite high up in a government facility on the side of Ben Nevis at a place called Achriabhach. You must get to us soon. What transport have you got?’

‘Bessie?’

‘Pardon?’

‘Bessie–she’s a Bedford coach.’

‘Have you got oxygen on board, food and drink?’

‘Yes we have all of that. Jeanie’s our quartermaster … oh she’s just woken up. Do you want to say hello?’

I was pushed unceremoniously out of the chair by Jeanie.

‘Daddy!’

‘Hello, Pumpkin,’ he laughed. ‘I hear you haven’t lost your voice.’

‘I—I thought that you were dead.’ She said in a strangled tone.

‘I know, honey; we thought you were too. Anyway, try to get here soon. The colonel here has just told me that there are some red flares in the store room on the ground floor, near the garages. Get some of those and when you are near, set a few off. You will never find this place, so just set them off from the centre of Fort William. You are about a hundred and twenty miles from here. Don’t leave where you are until tomorrow. If all goes well, you should make it to us in three or four hours. We’ll keep a lookout from noon tomorrow. Can you do that?’

‘Yes, of course, Daddy.’

‘Wait a moment…Your mum has just said that she wants to come and get you, but the colonel says that it just doubles the risk. He seems to think that as you have come so far, you’re resourceful enough to get here by yourselves. Do you think you are?’

‘Yes, of course, Daddy. May I speak to Mummy?’

‘Yes, all right.’

‘Jeanie?’

‘Mummee!’

I smiled at hearing my mum’s voice. I was choking up at this time and wasn’t capable of speech. Jeanie more than made up for it though.
 

To be continued…
 

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¹     Driech [pronounced dreech, with the CH as in loCH]: a scots dialect word describing dull, damp, dreary and depressing weather.

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