Katie's Rescue

by Michael Graeme

  She was sleeping when I returned. The holiday let was actually a small terraced house, next door to the tea room - two bedrooms, a low ceilinged living room and kitchen with gorgeous views out over the river. Under any other circumstances, this would have been idyllic. I looked in on her briefly, drawn by the ragged sound of her breathing. There was something,… I don't know,… endearing in it, I suppose. She was on top of the bed, where she'd flopped down, exhausted, so I curled a corner of the duvet over her and pulled the door quietly shut. It was possible she'd slip over while she slept. I prayed it would be so, because otherwise her situation was beginning to look hopeless.

  I left her a note, then went up to the Dun Bull. There, I found Parker's car and left him a message on his windscreen, telling him I had his keys and if he wanted them back he'd find me in the bar. The place was all varnished panelling and fake horse-brass. It was a typical mid-week, quiet, some families in the dining room having an early tea, some locals at the bar having an after-work drink while they watched sport on the big-screen. I ordered two glasses of the local brew, then settled at a table with the map.

  I felt perfectly at home to be honest - it was like being in a foreign country - an attractive unfamiliarity in the details, but underneath, it was all basically the same. I had no one I was anxious to return to, which I suppose gave me less of an incentive, but that was my problem, and I'd deal with it in my own way, though admittedly, avoiding women like the plague was hardly going to improve matters was it?

  I heard my car slewing up aggressively outside. I guessed it was running low on petrol by now – the tank had been nearly empty anyway, and that was before Parker got his manic hands on it. He must have read my message because, moments later, he burst in like someone spoiling for a fight and came straight over to me. I was sure he was about to make a scene, so I disarmed him by thrusting a pint glass into his hand. Then I led him outside.

  "I want my keys," he said.

  It was a lovely evening, the sun settling lower over the dales, and spilling out a soft yellow light. I barely heard him as I tried to take it all in. "What? Oh,… well, you give me mine first."

  He tossed my keys onto a bench. I tossed his keys back at him, then told him to drink up - that the next round was his.

  "I don't drink," he said, and to emphasise the point, he tipped his beer out onto the grass. He meant this as some sort of insult, I suppose, and I was dismayed, not because he'd hurt my feelings, but because I'd planned on getting him drunk. Can you think of another way of getting someone as screwed up as this to relax? I'd imagined tanking him up the point where he was barely sensible, and then pitching him gently into his own reality with a bit of hypnotic suggestion. (did I mention I was a stress counsellor and hypnotherapist?)

  He didn't say anything else, but he was breathing hard and his face was red with a rage he couldn't give vent to. He most likely thought I was an idiot, and simply wanted to shout at me, but he couldn't because he was still wondering if I knew something that might help him. It was also a measure of his self centredness that he hadn't asked after Katie yet.

  "You really need to calm down," I told him. "You're struggling against something you don't understand.”

  He wasn't listening though. My words just sounded strange to him: "Who are you?" he demanded.

  "Me? I may be the only hope you've got, and I'd just as soon leave you here, so you need to listen carefully because I won't be repeating myself."

  "I heard you. I need to calm down. Well I'm calm, right? So what now?"

  "You don't even know the meaning of the word!"

  It was hopeless. I could feel the attitude sparking off him, and the whole of reality that surrounded him was tightening its grip on all of us. Then Katie appeared and my heart sank! I'd been hoping her brief slumber would see her safely home – but even that hadn't worked. What on earth was I going to do with them?

  She'd changed into a pair of blue-jeans and a pink top. There was a delightful softness about her, which embarrassed me and I tried not to think about it because – well, she was married wasn't she? Anyway, I don't think she was pleased to see him, and he barely acknowledged her. She sat at the bench and made me feel childishly favoured when she graced me with a smile, so I was emboldened enough to sit with her. From what she'd told me about him, I wanted to protect her, though I should have covered it up better because he picked up on it in that instinctive way bullies have of discerning the vulnerabilities of their victims.

  "So,… " he said and there was something initially sinister about his grin, but he hid it quickly. He looked at me, then Katie, took a deep breath and lowered his eyes. "It's always been a problem," he began. "I know I come across as a bit abrasive, but I get results. That's what I'm paid for. I know I upset people, but it's just my way. It's not personal."

  Katie said nothing. She could hardly look at him, though I was pleasantly surprised and thought he sounded genuine, even a little contrite. Had I misjudged him? Was he really the lecherous sleaze she'd made him out to be?

  "Have you ever done any meditation?" I ventured.

  He gave me a sneer.

  "But there must be something you do to relax. Do you play golf? All businessmen play golf. There must be a golf course around here. I could give you a round,… "

  "I don't play golf."

  "Something else then?… "

  He drummed his fingers on the table, and was looking intently at Katie in a way I can only describe as filthy – so maybe she was right.

  He went on: "You say I need to be calm, right? Relaxed? Blissful? Profoundly stilled and all that crap?"

  "Yes, yes. That's exactly it – though plain old relaxed will do nicely." I nodded encouragingly. "Well,… there is something that usually does the trick."

  I was a bit slow, but began to get the idea from the way he was still looking at her. It was when he said: "So, how about it, Katie?" that I finally got it. He couldn't be serious! Katie gave a shudder, then stood up and walked away, hugging herself. "Dream on," she said.

  He called after her. "Don't be like that! You want to get home, don't you? See your little boy? Well, the better job you do for me, the greater the chances of it working out for us both."

  "You creep. She was right: you're an animal."

  He smiled: "Woof, woof. Come on,… can you think of a sweeter way? It's perfect. I've been after her all week - but she's a frosty one. And I don't hear you telling me it wouldn't work – so there's a chance it might, right?"

  "Forget it. It isn't going to happen. Look there are a million ways it can be made to work and that particular thing would be the very last on my list – out of sheer decency if nothing else."

  "We'll see. This pub looks okay. Do they have rooms? I'll book myself in. You can tell her where to find me."

  "She doesn't need you. It's you who needs us, remember? I can have Katie out of here in ten minutes, and without her - you're trapped. Do you understand?"

  "Why haven't you done it then?"

  "What?"

  "Could it be that things might be a little hard to explain, if she turns up and I don't?"

  "Rest assured, my friend, we'll work out a plausible explanation for how we came to leave you behind."

  I was bluffing though, and I think he knew it.

  "Just send her over when she's ready,” he said.

  I found Katie at the house. She'd lit the wood-burner and was sitting in front of it, staring into the cherry red of the flames, hugging her knees to her chest, and rocking to and fro like a child. I had to get her out soon, or she was going to be damaged by this.

  "Is it true?" she asked. "Might it work?"

  "Don't even think about it."

  "So,… it might then!"

  "Well, it's a while since I was last with a woman – so I can barely recall the precise details to be honest but,… . No! Just forget it! There's no rush. Remember what I said: no matter when you go back, even if it's a year from now, it'll still be the same time you left. And it's bett
er waiting than making a sacrifice like that!"

  "But can't you feel it? The longer we stay, the firmer a hold it's getting on us."

  "That's because you're still anxious. Back at the bar, I managed to relax a bit and I could feel things shimmering. I could have let go. You'll feel it the same way, I promise." I was lying, of course; I could feel things taking a hold of me as well – the only difference was, I didn't seem to mind any more. The place was welcoming me in with open arms, and the feeling was mutual.

  "You should have done it," she said.

  "I promise you, I've no intentions of leaving you here alone."

  "Well, there's only one way then, isn't there?"

  "No. You'd never forgive yourself. You're a married woman!"

  She looked at the rings as if she'd forgotten they were there, then slipped them off. "Actually, I've not been married for a while now," she said. "I only wore them because I knew I was having to go away on business with him, and everyone knows what he's like. I thought it might hold him off a bit. Anyway, there we are. So,… it wouldn't be so bad, would it? Just another mistake with a man I should have known better than to go with in the first place."

  This was getting worse. She wasn't married? She was attractive, vulnerable,.. and available,… oh, here we go again! The sooner I sent her back home the better, but there had to be another way!

  "You can't do it, Katie. I won't let you."

  "You can't stop me. Anyway - what's it to you?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Why should you care?"

  "I don't care,… I mean I do. Of course I do,… but,.."

  She raised her eyebrows, and not in a pleasant way. Indeed I rather got the impression I'd displeased her, which was puzzling. She sighed. "You don't want him to have me, because you want me yourself."

  "What? Aren't we running a little bit ahead of ourselves here?"

  "It's too late to play the innocent now. I knew it! Booking us into this place,… very cosy! And to think I trusted you."

  "That's absolutely not true."

  "I admit your approach was more subtle, and it might have worked in the end, but really, there's no difference between the two of you at all!"

  Now that hurt, being lumped under the same heading as the lecherous Parker, but there was no time to defend myself. She rose suddenly and flounced away to her room, slamming the door on me.

  I was flustered and grumbling to myself over her ridiculous accusation, also feeling a little guilty that there might have been an element of truth in it – not that I wanted to get her into bed of course,… it was just that the thought of her company here in this pleasant old house for a while had,.. well, cheered me up a little.

  I took out the map because I didn't know what else to do, and I tried to lose myself in it. It was odd, looking at the land - the same river, the same hills and valleys, but different names, slightly different roads. On closer inspection though, some of the names were familiar. Burnsall Bridge was the nearest, a village a little lower down the valley, a curious pocket of semi-normality that engaged my curiosity. There was a good footpath that ran along the banks of the river, and I reckoned it was only about an hour away, on foot,…

  "Actually, I didn't mean that," she said.

  I'd not heard her come back, and I flinched in surprise. "Eh?"

  "I'm really sorry. You're not like him at all. You were just trying to keep me safe. You're kind. But why should you care if I go with him or not?"

  "I don't know, Katie. All I can say is that I desperately don't want you to, that's all. Anything that involves compromising your own morals, your own feelings, can't be right, can it?"

  "No, but sometimes, in the real world, we have no choice."

  "This isn't the real world though, is it? At least not our real world, and it seems silly to go making the same mistakes here as we do everywhere else."

  She looked at me thoughtfully. "You worry me," she said. "You're too content here for my liking. There's no urgency about you. It's as if you intend settling in."

  "Nonsense."

  "Renting this house? Buying a map? That sounds like settling in to me."

  "These are merely sensible precautions."

  "I've been thinking about some of the things you've said and suddenly everything makes a different kind of sense to me."

  "Oh?"

  "If I'm not mistaken, you have a broken heart and disappointment written all over you, but escaping into this place is not the way to mend anything. Do you understand?"

  Like she would know! What could be a better place to run to than somewhere none of it had ever happened? I tried to avoid her eyes but she sat down in front of me and looked at me with penetrating closeness. "I'm right, aren't I?"

  "Possibly,… but it was years ago. It may be that I'm still sensitive about certain things and I seem to be better off on my own."

  "There's only a small part of you believes that's true," she said. "The rest of you is lonely. Don't lose yourself in here – I can't think of a lonelier place to be on your own than this."

  "That's because you have someone to return to. It's all the same to me. Maybe that's why I keep slipping through to these places,… I'm unconsciously willing it."

  "That's nonsense. Why am I here then? I didn't will this. I didn't want it! What cruel purpose could there be in this?"

  "Purpose? Katie there is no purpose to anything. Reality simply is, and that goes for whichever reality you happen to be in at the time."

  "Well, I'd rather not think that way if you don't mind."

  "Okay then, let's go with your idea of a purpose: like you said: what possible purpose or meaning could there be in this for you? It's cruel."

  "I don't know yet. I'm confused about it. For you though, it seems obvious."

  "Oh?"

  She smiled. "You had to fall through in order to rescue me."

  "Well,… that's nice of you to say so, but if it's true I'm not making a very good job of it am I?"

  "I've a feeling I'm not helping much either. What do you suggest we do?"

  "Well, I think we're beyond simply trying to relax now. It's going to take some visualisation, and suggestion - hypnosis, really – nothing scary though - but I need to get you away from Parker first." I tapped the map over the position of Burnsall Bridge. "I was thinking this should be far enough."

  She closed her eyes and placed a hand on top of mine. "All right," she said. She thought for a while and seemed to come to a decision. "I know you're not in any hurry to leave, but it's different for me. I have to see my little boy again and that's the only thing that matters. So, let's go."

  "What about Parker?"

  "I've no idea how I'll explain things when I turn up without him, but I'll think of something. I can always claim amnesia. They may suspect foul play, but they'll never find a body, because, well, there won't be one will there?"

  We left the house, made our way across a meadow, and down to the river, but something else was nagging me now: If two came through, but only one went back - how did that work? There would be an imbalance surely? Time was getting short, the shadows lengthening towards dusk, and we appeared to be rushing headlong into something neither of us understood properly.

  "Katie, wait,… this doesn't feel right. We should think about it some more."

  "What? But you were so sure of yourself a moment ago."

  "I know, but what if it only makes things worse? You were with Parker when you fell through – you should be with him again, to maintain the balance."

  "Balance? I don't understand, but I'm willing to let fate play a hand here. Let's just see what happens." Then she pointed excitedly: "Look!"

  There was a rowing boat, resting on a shingle bank. One good shove and we could be floating downstream and in Burnsall Bridge in a matter of minutes! I still wasn't sure about it, and trusting things to fate didn't strike me as such a good idea, but she was already pushing the boat out towards the river.

  "Wait,… this is crazy."
<
br />   "Maybe,… "

  "We could be drowned."

  "No, that would be stupid."

  "Stupid?"

  “We didn't fall through a hole in reality just to get drowned in a river. That would be,… . banal, meaningless,… stupid!"

  "But it happens. People drown. There's no rhyme nor reason to it."

  She was teasing the boat into the current now and I was trying to hold it back. Then I became aware of someone bearing down on us. Thinking it might be the owner of the boat, I was preparing my apologies, but it was Parker. He was breathless and sweating. "You wouldn't be thinking of going anywhere without me would you?"

  He must have been watching from the Dun Bull and was afraid of being left behind. Katie was stricken. He looked so smug. It seemed he intended keeping us close!

  I'm not sure how I did it, but I landed a punch in his gut, and as he doubled over I hefted him in a sort of fireman's lift and dumped him into the boat. He looked up dazed, rubbing his head. Meanwhile Katie had grabbed the oars out of the boat and used one of them to give it a good shove. The current did the rest, sucking the boat into mid-stream, carrying it, and him, swiftly away. He looked at us with big eyes, lost, panicky, stumbling about and rocking the boat ominously. I almost pitied him.

  Katie stared after him, horrified. "What have I done?"

  "He'll be okay."

  "But a minute ago you were worried about us drowning in that thing."

  "He won't drown."

  "Why not? How come he's different?"

  "Because you were right. It would be banal."

  "Now you're just trying to cheer me up."

  "Possibly,… but it's too late now. Anyway – he's gone. He'll most likely wash up lower down stream. He'll get a bit wet, that's all. Serves him right. It means we can stay here now."