Carruthers' Demise, Chapters Thirty Eight & Thirty Nine

Chapter Thirty Eight

Carruthers’ instinct was to lunge forward, to bolt for the barn and rescue his wife, but Casey’s grip on his arm was strong and tight. ‘Don’t be a fool, Marty; you wouldn’t have a chance, wait …’
‘But he’s armed, he could kill her …’
‘He could kill both of you, together; that’s probably his intention anyway.’ Casey crouched forward, head peering through the undergrowth, still gripping his arm. ‘That might provide him with some sadistic excitement but right now he’s only got her …’ she turned her head to him, brow furrowed, ‘don’t make it easy for him, and anyway …’ she crooked a finger, ‘… you’ve forgotten about him, the guy still in the car.’
Carruthers met her gaze with a cocktail of anxiety and rage. ‘What am I supposed to do, just sit here?’
‘They won’t kill her – not until they find you – take it from me.’
‘And you know, do you?’
Casey exhaled heavily. ‘That’s precisely why he lured you here.’
The barn doors squealed open – instantly drawing their attention. The dog barked again and bounded into the yard, a big Alsatian, in the light of the headlights its coat seemed the colour of the night.
Out marched Adrian, beckoning to Noades who leapt from the car to join him. Adrian turned sharp left with Noades following behind, into the main area of the yard, a powerful torch lighting their way. Carruthers listened to the footsteps recede and then halt for brief intervals as they searched amongst the outbuildings. There was the sound of items being thrown around as though any potential hiding place was being overturned and laid bare, before the grinding of boots on gravel became more audible again. ‘They’re not here anywhere,’ Adrian’s bitter voice carried on the wind. ‘They’d have been holed up in here now, that’s for sure. We’ll head up to the hanger, that’ll be where they’re making for – we can work our way back from there. We’ll find them.’
Adrian and Noades came into view, courtesy of the light thrown by the torch, with the dog ahead of them. Suddenly the Alsatian diverted its course, bounded to its left and headed directly for Carruthers’ shelter. He glanced at Casey, saw only defiance in her eyes as the dog bore down on them. His heart seemed to beat inside his mouth as he heard the shout from Adrian, the voice rasping and severe. ‘Tyson, here! Here now!’ The beam from his torch swung over their heads but it was only a cursory exercise by Adrian. The dog yielded to the command, turning tail, close enough for Carruthers to smell its foul breath.
Carruthers didn’t risk raising his head, he heard the metallic thump as the car doors slammed shut, listened to the harsh surge from its engine as it roared onto the track and only then did he peer over the bracken, emitting a lengthy sigh.
He slapped Casey on the shoulder. ‘Come on, let’s go for it.’
‘You go, I’ll stay here.’
Carruthers had struggled to his feet. He gaped, his hand already outstretched to haul Casey up. ‘I can’t leave you here …’
Casey didn’t take his hand, instead she gestured towards the barn. ‘You heard what they said; they’re going to search from the far end. Now go to Chelsey and don’t hang about. Meantime you’ll need someone to play nightwatchman, and that’s what I intend to do. Now get!’
The force of Casey’s arm propelled him forward, and after a fleeting glance back he hurried towards the barn. The gravel surface was deceptively steep however; a fact concealed from him by the night sky, and in that oppressive darkness Carruthers struggled for balance and direction, until, as his eyes adjusted he saw the black barn gables loom over him. Close enough now, to make out the timber double doors he groped for the padlock, conscious of a renewed cry from Chelsey.
Resisting the urge to respond for fear of his voice carrying to Adrian, Carruthers’ first inclination was to curse his luck yet again. He should have known he wouldn’t be allowed to simply walk in and rescue his –
But the lock came away in his hand and Carruthers realised that for once, something seemed to have gone his way. In his haste Adrian had obviously neglected to secure it.
Carruthers threw the padlock to the floor, slipping inside a dark void –
‘Chelsey? Where the …’
‘Martin – Martin is that you? Oh thank God. Up here …’ the voice seemed strained, it wasn’t Chelsey’s refined tone at all, yet how it warmed him to hear it again. But he knew he couldn’t yield to emotion now. He was in a black pit exuding a rancid stench that seared his nostrils, and as to where “up here” was he hadn’t the slightest notion.
His disposable lighter was the only thing he could think of – the solitary light source he possessed. He fumbled in his pocket, his trembling hands almost betraying him and dispatching the lighter onto a blacked-out floor. But he clung on, pressed his thumb hard on the flint-wheel and produced a flame, woefully weak in the vast interior but a light source nonetheless.
‘Where’s up here?’ Carruthers craned his neck, willing his eyes to provide him with the answer, but Chelsey called again.
‘I’m here – in the hayloft – listen there’s a ladder he throws on the floor. Please Martin, hurry, he carries a gun …’
‘Yes, I’ve found that out.’ Carruthers raised his lighter, and as he stepped back, in its dwindling flame he could barely make out Chelsey’s crouched figure on an elevated platform above his head.
‘Where’s the damned ladder …’ Carruthers began to panic, kicking out at the ankle deep straw that carpeted the place.
And then his foot struck metal, sending a shaft of pain from toe to heel. He spotted the rungs of the ladder protruding through the straw and reached down, barely managing to hoist it with his free hand, manoeuvering it painfully slowly to bridge the gap between ground and loft.
Carruthers used his shoulder to force the ladder into position and then, satisfied it was secure, began the climb. The wavering flame revealed Chelsey’s face as he neared the top, wide eyed and expectant, but her silky blond hair was matted, plastered in parts to her cheeks.
He scrambled onto the loft and gazed down at Chelsey. She sat on her bottom amidst the remains of a straw bale, her hands behind her back, tied to a vertical beam.
Carruthers mopped his sweaty brow, paused an instant, almost giving way to emotion. ‘How and why has this happened?’
Chelsey looked him full on. ‘I don’t think this is quite the place to answer that, is it Martin? Please get me out of here.’
‘Easier said than done.’ Carruthers bent down, examined the thickly woven rope that bound Casey’s wrists to the beam.
He stared at the weak flame from his lighter; soon it would dwindle to nothing. There was no chance of burning through it, and to unravel it would take more time than he had.
Because outside he heard Casey shout, heard a solid blow.
Carruthers swung to his wife in alarm.

 
Chapter Thirty Nine

The door swung violently against its wooden jamb, the resultant crack resounding throughout the barn, and then came Robin Noades’ agitated voice. ‘For God’s sake calm down!’
Carruthers turned, gazed below despairingly. Noades stood by the barn entrance, his left arm clamped around Casey’s waist, heaving her off her feet and into the blackened interior. He swept blood from his nose with the hand that held a torch. ‘The little vixen packs a punch, I’ll give her that. Now if I put you down will you stop fighting me? I’m here to help and we don’t have time for this.’
Carruthers glanced between Chelsey and Casey then glared back at Noades. He was no fighter but while the oaf was grappling with Casey there was a chance of overpowering him. He descended the ladder two rungs at a time but Noades had forced Casey onto the seat of her pants, and as Carruthers made for him he was ready, easily thwarting the flimsy attempts to land a blow on his chin. With one eye on Casey, Noades forced Carruthers’ arms behind his back, swinging him round and thrusting him towards the ladder. ‘Now will you two back off? I meant what I said. I’m here to help you and there isn’t time to argue. I’m going to cut your wife free and then we’re out of here.’
‘Why would you do that?’ Carruthers panted, but Noades didn’t respond.
In the light thrown by the man’s torch Carruthers saw Noades draw a knife from a sheath on his waist. A second later he glimpsed Chelsey scramble unsteadily to her feet, grasping Noades for support. Carruthers saw red for an instant, the dark stain of jealousy cloaking his sight, but Chelsey retracted her hand as soon as she’d steadied, following Noades cautiously down the ladder.
The sound of the dog came through on the wind and a man’s voice, urgent, demanding.
‘Noades, Noades, where the hell are you man?’
Carruthers glared accusingly at Noades. ‘Sounds like your partner in crime has shown up ...’
‘He’s not my partner in crime,’ Noades said flatly, moving deeper into the barn. He shone his torch diagonally, towards a bottom corner. ‘Come on – quickly, there’s more than one way out of this place.’
But Chelsey was rigid, staring down at Casey from her lofty six foot. ‘How the hell did she get here?’
‘Oh does it really matter?’ Carruthers snatched Chelsey’s hand. ‘If this guy really is on the level we should be right behind him.’
Chelsey relented, allowing herself to be hustled along the barn, her eyes locked on Casey. ‘We’ll have this out later.’
Casey’s eyes were like lanterns in the dark as she scrambled through the wicket-gate at the barn’s rear, behind Carruthers and Chelsey.
‘We’ll make for the gatehouse,’ Noades shouted, urging them on.
‘The gatehouse?’ Carruthers creased his brow.
‘Yes, the gatehouse,’ Noades yelled above the wind. ‘Now look we don’t have time to stand around talking. If I can lead us there and fetch my car we can have you out of here. The bastard still thinks I’m helping him.’
‘And are you?’
‘Not any more. I never realised the extent of his intentions ...’ Noades broke off as Adrian’s renewed shout filled the air ...
‘Noades, where are you?’
Noades turned, pushed Carruthers ahead of him, beckoning the two women urgently. ‘Get going – while he thinks I’m helping him there’s still time.’
Casey pushed past Noades as he swung his torch across the clearing into the woods. ‘You’d better be on the level buster,’ she glared. ‘You were lucky I didn’t get a good swing just now. I could and would have taken you down.’
Carruthers held back for Chelsey, taking and pressing her closely to him as they followed Noades’ directive through squelching, inhospitable woodland. Noades vanished from sight and all Carruthers’ misgivings resurfaced.
The beam from the torch had disappeared with him leaving them in darkness, but barely had he a chance to transmit his alarm than Noades re-appeared, leading the way. ‘This is my terrain, not his,’ Noades called back. ‘He’s in unfamiliar territory; if we keep going we’ll be fine.’
‘What about the bloody dog?’ Casey questioned through gritted teeth. ‘The infernal barking’s sounding close.’
‘Believe me, he won’t get a lot of help out of that animal, not in these conditions – just a few minutes’ll see us through.’
Noades threaded his way through more dense woodland, forcing aside bracken, Carruthers a few strides behind reluctantly releasing his grip on Chelsey’s waist when the thin track wouldn’t accommodate them both. ‘When we get through this,’ he said, his voice taut with emotion, ‘you can explain your encounter with that madman ...’
‘And you can explain what Casey bloody Jennings is doing with you,’ Chelsey hissed, just audible enough for Carruthers to hear. But he’d no chance to respond because, ahead, Noades threw up an arm and turned to them. ‘We’ve reached the road.’
Carruthers saw the break in the trees, watched as Noades emerged cautiously from their cover and then urged them through. ‘There’s the gatehouse across the way. I’m going to let you in and head back for the car, it won’t take a few minutes but you’ll be safer in there – Adrian won’t suspect ...’
‘Let us in?’
‘Yes, it’s my place.’
‘And you brought Adrian here?’ Carruthers swung an arm angrily back towards the woods – ‘You put my wife’s life in jeopardy – all our lives in fact – what’s your part in this, Noades?’
‘Look, if I was to try to explain that now, all our lives will be more than in jeopardy. There simply isn’t time – when Adrian discovers I’ve set Chelsey free, and it’s only a matter of time before he adds things up, our chances will be virtually nil.’ Noades marched ahead, towards the turreted gatehouse. ‘Now are you coming?’
‘Do we have a choice?’ Casey made a move across the road but Chelsey grabbed her arm. ‘I tell you what, you head out onto the open road, it won’t be long before someone slows and picks you up.’
Casey glared up at the fair haired woman, swung wildly, shrugging her off and wound up to explode a punch onto Chelsey’s chin but Carruthers swiftly intervened, knocking her arm away.
Chelsey snarled. ‘I don’t need your help in handling her.’
‘And we don’t need this bitchiness right now ...’ Carruthers fumed. ‘What we do need is out of here.’
For a second the moon peeped from behind racing clouds highlighting the whites of Casey’s eyes as she bunched her fist before unclenching it and raising a finger. ‘Later, buster. You won’t know what hit you!’
‘I can’t wait.’ Chelsey, some six inches taller stared down as if assessing her prey, before Carruthers looped an arm through hers, leading her unwillingly towards the gatehouse, while Casey stomped along behind. Carruthers felt her searing breath.
‘The best thing you two can do,’ Noades uttered through gritted teeth, ‘is to quit your feuding.’ He swung a torch. ‘Stay here, and for safety sake leave off the light. If our luck holds and you keep from each other’s throats we’ll be out of here within five minutes.’ He delved into a draw, producing another torch. ‘Here, I have a spare, take it. If I’m not back within five minutes head out into the lane.’
Before any could answer, Noades stepped into the night.