(aka Bike) Part 618 by Angharad |
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“Stanebury? I hae nae idea, lassie.”
“Wonderful. Some bloody Scotsman you are, not even knowing your own country. Did you bring the gun with you?”
“It’s in the boot, Scotland is as big as England ye ken.”
“I know, I did geography.”
“So, how come ye’re lost?”
I sighed at him, “Look I’m doing the best I can, all right?”
“It’s fine wi’me, you smell somewhit familiar.”
“I spilt some whisky on my jeans.”
“No my malt?”
“Fraid so.”
“Ach, weel I hope it’s still there when we sort this wee mess oot.”
“I doubt it.”
“You spilt it all?”
“Not exactly, I used it to flambé one of the guards.”
“Ye did whit?”
“I made a Molotov with it.”
“That is sacrilege, Cathy, total sacrilege.”
“I’ll let him kill us next time.”
“Ye mean there’s going tae be a next time?”
“I meant it figuratively, but by now they’ll have found the mess and be looking for a chopper. At least I would if I was them.”
“Why are ye goin’ sae slow?”
“Fuel economy, all I’ve seen so far is pine trees and heather, aren’t there any houses round here?”
“I dinnae ken, dae I?”
I shook my head, I suppose he may be useful as a translator. After another hour’s driving, we came across a house. An elderly lady answered the door and was very reluctant to let us in until Trish got out of the car and walking up to the house said, “I wanna wee wee, Mummy.”
After that we were let in and she made us a cuppa–with UHT milk–I hate the stuff. I explained we needed to call the police and she showed me the phone. I dialled 999.
“Hello emergency, which service?”
“Police, please.”
“Police control room.”
“Hello, this is Cathy Watts, I was abducted by a gang from Portsmouth a day or two ago and brought up to Scotland, where they planned on using us as bait to get to Lord Stanebury and my fiance Simon Cameron.”
“Hold on please, I pass you through to CID.”
I repeated my story to a man who told me he was a detective sergeant. He was very interested in my story and told me he had a colleague contacting Hampshire Constabulary as we spoke.
“We escaped from the gang, though I’m afraid I’ve possibly killed two or three of them.”
“That sounds rather serious to me.”
“They were trying to kill me and my kids at the time.”
“I see, it’s still an offence to kill someone.”
“Look I can’t keep talking to you, they’ll catch us at this rate, and I don’t have much fuel left.”
“Where are ye?”
“I don’t know, somewhere with lots of heather.”
“According to our computer, ye’re near Glen Coe.”
“God, I hope they’re not Campbells.”
“I thought you said they were Russians?”
“Yes, but my mother’s maiden name was MacDonald.”
“Och, ye’ll be alricht. Drive onto the A82 and turn left, follow it tae Fort William, make for the Polis Station, I’ll get them tae send an escort vehicle or twa, tae assist ye.”
“Thanks, how will I know they’re real police? The lot that abducted us were dressed like coppers.”
“Dinnae fash yersel’ hen, they’ll be real alricht.”
“ I hope so.”
We set off and within a few miles found the main road and drove through Glen Coe. The scenery would have been magnificent if I hadn’t been trying to keep us alive. Every time I saw a 4x4, I wondered if it was one of the bad guys.
Glen Coe was a lonely place full of ghosts and sadness, I stuck my foot down as much as the road would allow me. Just past Loch Leven and Ballachulish we met a police car. A good old fashioned white with yellow and blue flashes on it. I flashed my lights at him, and he set of his blue lights. “Are ye, Cathy Watts?”
“I am,” I shouted back.
“Are ye alricht fer diesel?”
“I’m very low.”
“Pull over, I’ve some wi’me.”
I pulled over to the side of the road. He did a U turn and came up behind me. He had two gallon cans of fuel, which he tipped into the tank. He told us to follow him back. I found the blue lights on the Mercedes which made him smile.
Just as he was getting back into his car, a Range Rover flew past and there was a burst of gunfire. The young copper fell bleeding into the road and his mate in the Land Rover slumped over the wheel.
Miraculously, they missed us, but I could see the Range Rover pull off the road to come back at us. I opened the boot and pulled out the gun, the catch was still off. I called to Tom and the girls to get out of the car, and to lie down on the grass verge beyond it. Then I grabbed the young copper, who was still alive and dragged him back behind his car.
“Call for help, can you?” he nodded and pressed his radio on. The Range Rover came back at us and kneeling down behind the police car, I fired at the driver and tyres, the gun jumping about in my hands. Bullets zinged about me and some glass from one of the windows fell on my head. For a moment I thought I’d been shot.
The Range Rover careered all over the road and I fired another burst at it, suddenly it lurched to the left and pitched over the bank and into Loch Leven. I ran after it, ready to shoot anyone who emerged from it. When I got to it, the car was sinking into the water and no one was moving from it.
I ran back to the police car, and pulled on one of the yellow jackets, but continued to hold the gun. Minutes later, a convoy of police cars screamed into view. At this point I popped the gun back in the open boot of the Merc and began tending to the wounded.
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Comments
Well...
I think that makes it at least 4 that Cathy has accounted for personally in under a day.
Good work!
I hope the poor coppers are gonna be ok.
Phew!
At this rate they will be drafting oor wee Cathy into the SAS, even giving her medal !
What a dangerous life it is being a PhD student of Zoology! I can only confirm this from my own experiences as a researcher into the behaviour of woodlice. Not the violence but some wierd adventures in the Sahara, marooned on a small Welsh Island, and surprised in the wet wood at night by a gamekeeper..... !
Briar
Briar
Move over Richard Hannay
The Thirty Nine Steps seems tame by comparison to this. So not only is Cathy deadly with a bow ’n ’narrah, but she’s a crack shot with a rifle. Roll on tomorrow night for the next exciting installment when the Polis will, no doubt, be making Directoire Enquiries!
Gabi
Gabi.
Maybe…
Directoire Enquiries will lead to Brief Encounters!
Talk about “action packedâ€, these last few episodes have been decidedly hairy.
Great stuff, Ang.
Hilary and…
Well, as I always say ...
... toxophily will get you anywhere. At least the latest confrontation takes place on a bit of road with of I have some knowledge - though there was a ferry rather than a bridge at Ballaculish at the time :0) Not so sure about the Directoire Enquiries - it's all a load of knickers to my mind.
Getting exciting, Angharad, and more like the Glencoe massacre with each episode.
Geoff
Yeah, this particular episode ...
... had - to me - an unusual level of unreality to it.
Ordinarily, even at relatively close ranges, it takes a lot of practice to reliably hit one's target with a rifle. In this particular case, however, it's not required for Cathy to be a "crack shot" since she appears to have acquired a weapon capable of full-auto fire:
> and I fired another burst at it,
Probably most of her shots were less than fully effective. Then again, it only takes one good hit - that's the whole principle behind "spray and pray". But, how did she figure out which setting of the safety was "semi-" and which was "full-auto"? Or maybe this one only came with two: "on" and "rock-and-roll". In the latter mode, even a 30 rd. load (the most common magazine size) is gone in four seconds of trigger time.
Now, there are a lot of things that Cathy ~didn't~ do that don't surprise me, since she isn't supposed to be familiar with firearms. She was very fortunate that the weapon she recovered had a full magazine - she did look for an additional weapon on the second guard she brained, but not for additional ammunition - and never checked to see how many cartridges she had. Yes, I know, she ~was~ a bit pressed for time.
Or maybe she had one of those "Hollywood" guns that never seem to need a refilling.
Deni
[ who is wondering if they'd be so profligate with full-auto, if they had to resize and reload their own empty cartridge cases. ;) ]
( That's how my daddy broke me of being trigger-happy on the range. )
I suspect -
my total ignorance of firearms is obvious here. I have never handled nor fired a gun, something I'm happy to maintain. I find them an anathema, something which I've said before. I have however fired recurve, compound and long bow - fortunately, only at targets.
Angharad
Angharad
Close Enough for Me
I don't own any guns or know much about them. That said, I recall that Cathy got the guns she had from the first guy she took out. It stands to reason that whatever she got would have had full clips. I think Cathy could figure out how to make the things work.
While you don't like violence Angharad, you do a great job writing action sequences. The last three day's postings were riveting (especially the first 2 days).
Automatic weapons
While the old M16A1 was fully automatic, the more modern 16A2 has a 'three round burst' mode. The design was changed because overly excited soldiers would just hold the trigger down and spray -- which emptied a thirty round magazine in a little over a second.
I suspect that Cathy had a weapon that had a burst mode.
By the way, flipping the safety is easy. It is plainly labeled 'safe-semi-auto,' or whatever the options are. Of course, if it's a Kalishnikov, it may well be labeled in Russian.
Anyhow, if one is able to use a bow, it isn't that much of a stretch that she could point and shoot a rifle -- especially at close range. I wouldn't count on it, but neither is it totally unbelievable.
Ray Drouillard.
Kalashnikov
And keep in further mind, the AK was designed by a genius, for use by absolute fumble fingered idiots, and to function in any weather, or operating condition. The M-16 is a finely crafted piece of equipment, and if you ding the magazine up, it quits working. With an AK, you can damn near fold up a tuna or cat food can and shove it in there, and feed rounds out of it. Facetious, but damn near workable. They were so cheap to make that Russia made them by the millions for their army, and sent them all over the world to arm insurgents and rebels everywhere. And with their economic collapse a while back, they were selling off those AKs dirt cheap everywhere, since they were using a newer version.... the AK 74.Plus, production plants were set up all over the world in countries that were using the rifle for their military also.Quality ran from superb to "shake it too hard and parts fall off". Very small kids to barely mobile antique people like me could use an AK with no problem. The .30 cal round it uses is hotter than a pistol round, but well below a rifle round as most people think of them. Every one has watched enough TV to know how to operate one with about 10 seconds of looking it over.
OK Angharad, One Question
Was Cathy perhaps Xena Warrior Princess? She can sure kick ass! Or perhaps she was Gabrielle: The Battling Bard. One thing and fr sure, she won't need that infamous four inch door. She has Bonzi, and he's even worse!
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Stan,...
are you implying that Bonzi is thicker than a four inch door? Be careful, he'll find out where you live...
Angharad
Angharad
Oh, The Paperwork!
I vaguely remember a line from some cop show or another. I couldn't even tell you which country it was made in, although I'm sorta thinking England. I tried looking up what I remember, and I'm not getting any hits in Google, so I've obviously got it a bit scrambled or maybe no one else thought it was notable enough to quote.
Anyway, as they're about to go charging out of their headquarters to some fray or another, one character says to the other in a humorous tone something like, "Don't kill anyone. Think of the paperwork!"
It's starting to look like Cathy might survive the immediate peril posed by this gang of killers, seeing as she's pre-empted most of their prerogatives. As to whether she's going to survive the paperwork, that's an entirely different matter!
Yellow Jacket
Okay, I know. I already commented, but I can't help it!
I was looking up what the deal was with the "yellow jacket" and I came across this article. It's too precious to ignore, plus it might tell us a little about how the police might react to Cathy wearing it:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-463886/Police-arrest...
Hate to think of what happens when
the adrenaline from all this action dissipates. Cathy is going to be a basket case for a while. But I'll bet that doesn't happen until the kids are in a safe place.
MacDonald
Somehow I thought Cathy would have to be a Highlander!
The Thrills Continues
If things are going to keep up like this maybe Cathy should invest in a laser sight for her bow.
Thank you for another great chapter. I continue to be awed by your ability to keep this going with a daily chapter.
Michelle B
Help!
You apparently found the first file I posted, and now, I've psoted 2. But I cannot seem to access them unless I log in as myself.
When I click on the link I sent you, it asks me to log in, but if I log in as Hollylogan to test it as someone other than Hollyhhart I get a white screen telling me 'You are not allowed to edit this page.
How did you do it?
I'm going to ask Erin, too.
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly
R U A Druid?
I have just finished your story "SNAFU" and was left wondering. With Jamie and her ancient Egyptian powers and Cathy with her healing "blue" touch, are you into mysticism? I dearly love both stories but am amazed at how far from the begining of each story that they have wandered. Please, this is not a request to change anything as I want the stories to be told as you are telling them. You seem to be in touch with the "old ways" and are good at incorporating them into your stories. I am looking forward to continue reading any and all of your stories in the future.
yer crazy a-MARE-kin fan,
'Sika
p.s. I tried to read your story on Maddy Bell's site but could only come up with one chapter, the most recent, so I have not read it but would like to read it from begining to end.
Angharads fanfics
If you go to Maddy's site, go to her homepage and scroll down past the mid page banner to fanfics, or go here... http://www.maddybell.com/page20.html to read any of the Gaby fanfics.
This aint the end of it
... I am afraid. We still do not know who Mr. Big is ( unless he was in that SUV ) so we Cathy might have to do it again.
Sounds like it is not healthy to be a Cameron. Cathy still has a chance to get out of it ya know.
I am sure that Cathy will have to go back to the 'safe house' in the morning where she will have to smell that burnt bad guy again. But then again she should love 'the smell of napalm in the morning, it smells like ... victory'.
I do think it is a pretty apt description.
She is however too kindhearted so she will probably not enjoy it but one can hope.
Kim
Unfortunately ...
> We still do not know who Mr. Big is ( unless he was in that SUV )
... "Mr. Big" types generally don't get their hands dirty with anything that has a risk of public exposure. That is for expendable underlings. Unless Angharad has decided to end this thread quickly, "Mr. Big" will have to be dealt with some other time.
Impresive bodycount, Ang
And I thought Jamie in SNAFU was lethal.
Yikes, now I'll have to re-write that scene in Wales in a later chapter of one of my serials, the toll of dead and wounded is far too low.
By the way, I think it is pistol, perhaps an automatic she grabbed while escaping, I don't think she had her hands on a rifle or asault weapon but at close range it really doesn't matter.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
Submachine Gun
I went back a few chapters and reread the parts about the automatic weapons with the special scopes and stuff. Although only sketchily described, I think it's a fully-auto. It would explain the "firing another burst" at the Land Rover.
I don't blame Cathy's...
concern for the Campbells...
Somehow, I suspect things will get messy now... (As if they weren't messy before...) The body count doesn't come to that of the Massacre of Glencoe... but, it's kinda high by mondern standards where terrorism isn't involved... Or is it...
Thanks,
Annette MacGregor
What was Cathy's name?
Shades of a wee lass named Jamie.
I hope Simon and Henry are going to come out of this all right. I still want a wedding!
Though at the rate things are going Puddin is going to be the flower girl. Or the Maid of Honor.
Bear
Bear
Incredible
mikeva
Its incredible that yuo have been able to keep this saga so fresh and interesting for almost two years.
Its atribute to your talent as a writer.Im going to miss my nightly fix of bike when it finally comes to an end,which I hope wont be soon.
Thank you.
mikeva
And
And another one down, and another one down, another one bites the dust...
It'd probably be safer
It'd probably be safer to go poke some bear cubs with a stick than to endanger Cathy's family, it seems. And mama bears and their cubs want to be left alone just as Cathy does.
Aye still gots a buncha readin to do. I wonder how many miles of print this story is by now (5-24-12)?
Quite a lot
A good friend who has kept a dead tree copy since episode one, has a pile of paper over three feet tall. It's well over two milion words several thousand pages long.
Angharad
Easy As...
Easy As Falling Off A Britannica!
(You might have already done that one).
SAS is jealous
Jesus Christ ! Audie Murphy*, eat your heart out ! maybe Cathy could have used a Bren after all. Well, how's not having armed police working out for you ? Ok, the coppers have been called, shoots fired sent, maybe Special Branch will show.
Cefin
*at the age of 19, Audie Murphy had won more medals then any other soldier in WW2 including the US Congressional Medal of Honor, rarely awarded to a person who is still living.