The Calling Of The Grave dh-4

by Simon Beckett

  'What's wrong with her?' Monk demanded. He sounded suspicious, as though this were some sort of trick.

  I took a deep breath as Sophie tried to huddle away from the light. Keep calm. Don't lose it now. 'I think it's a haematoma.'

  'A what?'

  'A haemorrhage. She's bleeding inside her skull. We need to get her to a hospital.'

  'You think I'm fucking stupid?' Monk said, and seized hold of her arm.

  'Don't touch her!' I snapped, shoving him away.

  At least, I tried to: it was like pushing a side of meat. But he stopped, his eyes unblinking as they stared at me. There was the same stillness about him that I'd witnessed earlier, a sense of poised violence barely held in check.

  'There's blood collecting inside her head,' I said, my voice unsteady. 'It could be from the car crash or before. But if the pressure isn't released…' She'll die. 'I have to get her out of here. Please.'

  Monk's mouth twisted in frustration, his wheezing breaths growing even more ragged. 'You're a doctor. Can't you do something?'

  'No, she needs surgery.'

  'Fuck!' He slapped his hand against the wall. In the small chamber it echoed like a pistol shot. 'Fuck!'

  I ignored him. Sophie had slumped against me. 'Sophie? Come on, you have to stay awake.'

  If she lapsed into unconsciousness down here I'd never be able to get her out. She stirred feebly. 'Don't want to…'

  'Come on, I need you to sit up straight. We're getting out of here.'

  Monk's hand thrust against my chest. 'No! She said she'd help me!'

  'Does she look like she can help anybody?'

  'She's staying here!'

  'Then she's going to die!' I was shaking, but from anger now. 'All she's done is try to help you. Do you want more blood on your hands?'

  'Shut UP!'

  I saw his fist coming but I had no chance of avoiding it. I flinched as it whipped by my face, his coat sleeve skimming my cheek as he punched the rock by my head.

  I didn't move. The only sound was Monk's ragged wheezing. His breath stank in my face. Chest heaving, he dropped his arm and stepped back. Blood dripped from his hand. He'd struck the rock full on this time: it had to be broken.

  But if it hurt he gave no sign. He looked at the swollen knuckles as though they didn't belong to him, then down at Sophie. For all his size, there was something pathetic about him. Beaten.

  'She couldn't have helped anyway, could she?' he asked. 'It wouldn't have made any difference.'

  I tried to think of a safe answer, then gave up. 'No.'

  Monk lowered his head. When he raised it again the gargoyle face was unreadable.

  'Let's get her out.'

  I used one of the bottles of smelling salts to rouse Sophie. She moaned in protest, trying to move her head away. The ammonia was a temporary measure at best, but it wouldn't make her any worse. And I needed her as aware as possible.

  We didn't have much time.

  There was always a risk of haematoma after a head trauma. Some developed very quickly, others could take weeks, slowly swelling blood blisters inside the skull that put pressure on the brain. Sophie's must have been building up for days. Either it had been too small to be detected by the hospital scans or she'd discharged herself before anyone had picked it up.

  Either way I should have realized. The signs had been staring me in the face, and I'd missed them. I'd put her slurred speech down to alcohol and fatigue, dismissed her headache as a hangover.

  Now she could die because of me.

  Sophie barely knew where she was. She could walk, but not without support. By the time Monk had helped me manhandle her from the chamber it was obvious we wouldn't be able to go back the way we had come, with its narrow tunnels and crawlways.

  'Is there another way out?' I asked as she slumped against me.

  In the torchlight Monk looked terrifying, but I was more frightened for Sophie now than of him. His breathing sounded worse than ever. 'There is, but…'

  'What?'

  'Doesn't matter,' he said, and set off down the passage.

  The world shrank down to the rough rock above me and on either side, and Monk's broad shoulders in front. I'd brought the torch from the floor of the chamber. The beam was weak but at least it threw back the darkness enough to see where we were going. If I fell now I'd drag Sophie down with me.

  I had my arm around her, taking as much of her weight as I could. She was weeping with pain, her voice weak and slurred as she begged me to let her lie down and sleep. When she started to flag too much I held the smelling salts under her nose, trying not to think what would happen if she collapsed down here. Or that both our lives depended on a killer we'd no reason to trust.

  Away from the airless warmth of the chamber it was freezing. My teeth chattered from the cold, and Sophie was shivering beneath my arm. Water streamed along the uneven floor of the passage. I thought about the stories I'd heard of cavers drowning in flooded tunnels. There had been a lot of rain over the last few weeks, but I told myself that Monk knew what he was doing.

  The walls of the passage opened out into a vaulted cavern, where a fine, cold haze filled the air with a mineral tang. In the confined space the sound of falling water was deafening. The light from the torch showed it pouring down the rock walls, shattering into cascades before tumbling into the turmoil of a pool. Nearly all of the cavern was flooded, but Monk picked his way along a bank of shale that skirted its edge. At the far side the rock was split by a narrow vertical fissure, just above the water level. My heart sank when he stopped by it.

  'Through there.'

  He had to raise his voice to be heard above the water. Supporting Sophie, I shone the torch into the fissure. If anything it narrowed even more the further in it went.

  'Where does it go?'

  'Comes out in a passage that goes to the surface.' I could hear the wet tear of Monk's breathing even over the splash of the water. In the low torchlight the misshapen bones of his face made him look like a walking corpse.

  'Are you sure?'

  'You wanted another way out. That's it.'

  With that he turned and started back along the shale bank, sloshing through the edge of the water. 'You're not just going to leave us?' I yelled after him.

  There was no response. The torch beam bobbed as he made his way back across the flooded cavern. The level had risen while we'd been standing there.

  'David… wha's…'

  Sophie was leaning heavily against me. I swallowed the fear that had risen in my throat. 'It's OK. Not much further.'

  I'd no idea if that was true or not. But we'd no choice. Shining the torch ahead of us, I hugged her to me and edged sideways into the narrow gap. It disappeared into darkness above our heads, but there wasn't much more than eighteen inches clearance between the rock faces. I fought down a wave of claustrophobia as they seemed to squeeze tighter with each shuffling step.

  My breath steamed in the weak light from the torch. Its pale beam showed where the fissure twisted out of sight further along. After a few yards I looked back but the flooded cavern was already lost from view. Not that we could have gone back now anyway. There was no room to turn round, and I couldn't back up with Sophie tucked under my arm. I was almost dragging her now, struggling to support her as I took one crablike step after another.

  How much further? I told myself it couldn't be far. The fissure was growing narrower, the sides pressing in closer the deeper we went. I could feel it, solid and unyielding against my chest, restricting my breathing. Don't think about it. Just keep moving. But even that was becoming more difficult. The irregular rock underfoot threatened to trip me and the gap continued to narrow. There wasn't enough room for us both to get through, not while I was holding Sophie.

  I willed myself to stay calm. 'Sophie, I've got to free my arm. I need you to stand by yourself for a few seconds.'

  My voice echoed oddly, flattened by the rock. She didn't respond.

  'Sophie? Come on, wake up!'
<
br />   But Sophie didn't move. Now I'd stopped she was a dead weight against me, and it was growing harder to hold her upright. If not for the walls of the fissure holding her in place I doubt I could have. I groped one-handed for the bottle of smelling salts in my pocket, desperate not to drop either them or the torch. I opened the bottle with my teeth, my eyes watering from the reek of ammonia even though I held my breath, then struggled to reach around to hold it under Sophie's nose. Come on. Please.

  There was no reaction. I tried for a little longer, then gave up. OK, don't panic. Think. The only option was for me to squeeze through the narrow section first and somehow pull her through after me. But if I let go of her and she collapsed…

  There's no room for her to fall, and you can't stay here. Just do it! My arm was growing numb. I began trying to ease it from beneath her shoulders. You can do it. Nice and easy. My coat sleeve rasped on the rough rock but Sophie's weight pinned me in place. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't prise myself loose. I twisted round to get more leverage and felt the rock faces clamp around my upper body like a vice. For a second I couldn't move, then I wrenched myself back to my original position, skinning my knuckles in the process.

  Oh, God! I closed my eyes, fighting for breath. There didn't seem to be enough air. Stars sparked in my vision. I tried to steady my breathing, realizing I was starting to hyperventilate. For Christ's sake don't pass out! Gradually, my heart slowed. I opened my eyes. Lit by the torch from below, the rock wall was inches from my face. I could see its granular texture, smell its damp, salty hardness. I moistened my dry lips. Come on, think! But I didn't have any options left. My arm felt completely dead. Sophie was unconscious, wedged against me more tightly than ever. I couldn't go any further, nor could I back out, not with her blocking the way.

  We were trapped.

  There was a glow off to one side. I looked over Sophie's head and saw a torch beam lighting the fissure behind us, throwing the irregularities of the rock into sharp relief. There was a slow scraping, accompanied by the rasp of laboured breathing.

  Then Monk edged into view. He was jammed sideways into the narrow gap, mouth contorted as he forced himself towards us. It had been tight enough for me: I couldn't imagine what it must be like for him.

  He didn't speak until he'd reached Sophie. Still holding the torch, a massive hand snaked out and gripped her shoulder.

  'Got her…'

  His voice was a strained gasp, but I felt most of her weight lift from me. I slid my arm from behind her, smearing more skin from my knuckles on the rock, and then I was free. I flexed my fingers, gritting my teeth as my arm blazed with returning circulation.

  'Go,' Monk wheezed.

  He kept Sophie upright while I squeezed between the rock faces. My coat snagged as they gripped tighter than ever, then I'd scraped through and the fissure widened. I sucked in air, giddy with relief as I shone the torch back on to Monk and Sophie.

  His mouth was open in a rictus, his breathing agonized as the rock constricted his massive chest. But he said nothing as I reached back through the narrow section, grabbing a handful of Sophie's coat in one hand and protecting her head with the other.

  The close walls of the fissure helped us now, holding her in place as Monk propped her up on one side while I pulled her through the narrow section from the other. Heaving her arm around my shoulders so her head was cradled against me, I took her weight and straightened. Then I shone the torch back on to Monk.

  He'd worked his way even further in to help me with Sophie. Now he was wedged impossibly tightly into the gap, squashed between the rock. His mouth worked like a grounded fish as he fought for breath.

  'Can you get back?' I panted. There was no way he could make it through any further.

  It was hard to tell but I thought he grinned. 'Bulked out.. . since last time…'

  It sounded painful for him to even talk. Christ, he's not going to be able to get out of there. 'Listen, I can-'

  'Fuck off… Get her out.'

  I hesitated, but only for a second. He'd survived down here well enough without my help, and Sophie was my priority. I began half carrying, half dragging her away. I glanced back once, but could see only darkness. There was no sign of Monk or his torch.

  He must have gone back, but I couldn't spare any thoughts for him. It was a little wider here but Sophie was a dead weight. It was all I could do to support her. Water was streaming down the uneven base of the fissure now, flowing over my boots and making it impossible to see where I was treading. I stumbled repeatedly, our coats scraping and snagging on the rock that still pressed in on us. I kept on, knowing that if we became trapped now we were on our own.

  Then the walls suddenly opened out. Gasping for breath, I shone the torch around a low passage. It was only a little higher than my head but wide enough for us to stand side by side. If Monk was right, then this must be the way to the surface.

  It sloped uphill at a steep angle. I started up but I was stooped under Sophie's weight, my legs leaden and shaking. I couldn't go any further, not without a rest. Lowering her to the floor, I knelt beside her and stroked the tangle of hair from her face.

  'Sophie? Can you hear me?'

  There was no response. I checked her pulse. It was too fast. When I checked her eyes the right one was more dilated than ever. It didn't change when I shone the torch into it.

  I struggled to lift her again, but there was no strength in my limbs. I took a few faltering steps and almost fell. I lowered Sophie back to the ground. This is hopeless. I bowed my head, almost weeping. I'd no idea how far there was to go, but I couldn't carry her any further. If she was going to have any chance of surviving, there was only one thing I could do.

  I had to leave her behind.

  Don't waste time. Do it. I stripped off my coat, gently wadding the sleeves under her head and wrapping the rest around her body. The cold bit into me straight away, but I didn't care. I looked down at her, feeling my resolve weaken. God, I can't do this. But I didn't have a choice.

  'I'm coming back, I promise,' I said, my voice shaking from the chill.

  Then I turned away and left her in the darkness.

  The passage began to climb more steeply. Before long I was having to use my hands to clamber upwards. The walls and roof closed in, until it was little more than a tunnel. The torch revealed nothing except a black hole surrounded by rock. It seemed endless. Exhaustion made me dizzy. My senses began playing tricks on me, so that I began to think I was heading downwards, crawling deeper underground instead of towards the surface.

  Then something scratched my face. I jerked away, yelling out as something snagged my hair. I shone the torch at it and saw spiky branches. Plants? I thought, dumbly. I felt water dripping on to my face, but it was only when I noticed the cold wind on my cheek that I realized it was rain.

  I was outside.

  It was dark. In the torch beam I saw that the passage had emerged in a clump of gorse that clung to a sloping rock face. I had to crawl underneath the spiky, dripping branches, tugging myself free when they snagged my skin and clothes. I slithered the last few yards and splashed feet first into a freezing stream.

  Shivering in the cold, I shone the torch around as I climbed out. The fog had cleared but rain fell in a sullen, steady downpour. I was on the moor, at the foot of a small tor. It was overgrown with gorse that completely hid the cave mouth. There was light on the horizon, but I'd no idea if it marked dawn or dusk, or even where I was. I tried to force my numbed mind to work. Which way? Come on, decide!

  A faint noise came to me on the wind. I tilted my head, trying to catch which direction it was coming from. It faded, and for a moment I was afraid I was imagining it. Then I heard it again, stronger this time.

  The distant whickering of a helicopter.

  I clambered up the side of the tor, fatigue and cold forgotten as I waved the torch over my head.

  'HERE! OVER HERE!'

  I shouted myself hoarse, oblivious of the gorse tearing at me as
1 hauled myself on to the crest of the tor. I could see the helicopter's running lights now, bright specks of colour perhaps half a mile away. For an awful few seconds I thought it was going to fly straight by. Then it banked and came towards me. As its lights grew in size I could make out the police markings on its side, and when I saw that the last of my strength went. My legs gave way and I slumped on to the cold stone, willing the approaching machine to fly faster.

  Chapter 28

  I seem to have spent an disproportionate amount of my life in hospitals. I've become too familiar with the slow tick of time passed on hard plastic chairs, the anxiety and frustration.

  The waiting.

  The past twenty-four hours seemed unreal, like a bad dream I couldn't shake off. That was partly due to the hypothermia I'd developed, not severe but bad enough to leave me still feeling chilled and slightly detached, as though I were watching events happening to someone else. The pale light in the sky I'd seen when I'd emerged from the cave had been morning. It felt like I'd been underground for days, but it was only hours since the car crash.

  In the police helicopter I'd been wrapped in a blanket and given chocolate and hot tea from the pilot's Thermos. I'd been shivering uncontrollably by then, but I wouldn't let them take me to hospital. I was frantic to go straight back down for Sophie, but there was no question of that. When the rescue team arrived there was a bad moment when they couldn't find the cave. It had seemed like an age until a yell from deep in the thicket of gorse announced that the entrance had been located.

  The next hour was one of the longest of my life. Sitting in the cramped plastic and leather cabin of the helicopter, woozy from exhaustion and nauseated by the smell of aviation fuel, I was free to replay all that had happened. In the cold dawn light everything I'd done, every decision I'd made, now seemed wrong.

  Sophie was alive but unconscious when they brought her out. By then the gorse bushes immediately around the cave entrance had been hacked away, enough for the stretcher to be carried to the waiting air ambulance. I went with her, knowing better than to ask the paramedics questions they couldn't answer. When the helicopter landed at the hospital a team of nurses and doctors rushed her away, crouching beneath the whirling rotors.