The Call of the High Country

by Tony Parsons

  He reversed his hold of the whip and hit Wade a mighty blow behind the ear. The handle was weighted with lead and Wade slumped to the ground within seconds. Masters had torn Catriona’s dress off and she was naked to the waist and wearing just her underpants. He looked up and saw David standing behind Wade just as David delivered his blow.

  ‘You bastard, MacLeod. Hit my mate, would you?’ He dropped the gown and rushed madly at Wade’s attacker. David put out a leg and tripped him up, then hit him on the side of the head with the whip. It was not as clean a hit as the first one had been and Masters did not go down. David threw a punch in the best Sparkes tradition and Masters doubled over. Bill Missen attacked next with a piece of gum stick that he swung down at David. The stick struck David a fair blow on the side of the head just above the eye. It was enough to open up a cut and David could feel that it had drawn blood. He reached out and hit Bill with his left hand and then cracked him with the whip handle.

  Out of the corner of his good eye David could see Roger staggering away from his car. He looked terrible and could barely walk. Meanwhile, Bill Missen was trying to get up, and when he was halfway there David transferred his whip to his left hand and hit him flush on the jaw with his right. Bill went down in a heap, and this time he stayed there. David dragged him over to the dark car and hauled him into the back. Wade and Stanley were groggy but still had some fight in them, and David accommodated them. He was just so angry. With his whip in one hand he threatened Stanley and Wade enough to get them into the back of the car with Bill. ‘You move from that car and you’ll wish you’d never been born,’ he growled.

  Now, at last, he was able to turn to Catriona. The girl who had not so long ago been the belle of the ball was now lying face down on the ground, sobbing in shock and fear.

  He knelt beside her and pulled the white gown over her naked shoulders. ‘Cat, it’s me, David. Are you all right?’

  Catriona turned her head sideways and looked up at him. ‘Oh, David,’ she cried, throwing her arms around his neck for comfort.

  ‘Ssshh, it’s all right now. Are you okay? Are you up to driving my ute?’

  Catriona nodded bravely.

  ‘Good. I want you to drive to Inverlochy, tell your father what’s happened and where I am, and get him to ring the police and an ambulance.’

  ‘Of course,’ she sobbed. ‘David, you’re hurt. There’s blood all down your face. Will you be all right if I leave you?’

  ‘Yes, but hurry. I think Roger has concussion. He’s out to it. Here, let me help you up.’

  He averted his eyes from her top half and put his hand under her arm. ‘Quickly now, Cat. The sooner the police get here the better. These cretins are not getting away with this stunt.’

  Catriona tried to hold her gown together as she ran towards David’s vehicle. She stood by the utility and looked back. She was a sorry figure compared with the proud, happy girl of an hour ago.

  ‘David, will you be all right?’ she asked again.

  Her concern for him at this moment when she must have been feeling truly awful broke him up, and at that moment David realised her depth of feeling for him.

  ‘You can’t do anything here, Cat. For Christ’s sake, go,’ he said roughly.

  Catriona turned away and a few moments later the utility pulled away and headed up the road for Inverlochy. He could hear it for a little while and then he was alone with all the silence of a bush night. He went and turned the lights off on Roger’s car and then stooped and looked at its owner.

  Roger was lying very still, and there was nothing David could do for him.

  Suddenly, behind him, he heard the sound of breaking glass and he wheeled about and ran to the other vehicle. Wade had smashed a rear window with his fist and had managed to open the door. As Wade fell out of the car, David let fly with his whip and it chopped Wade’s hand so hard he let out an unearthly screech.

  ‘If you move again, I’ll cut you to pieces,’ David warned.

  Wade was a pathetic figure as he pulled his body back into the car and closed the door behind him.

  David took out his handkerchief and wiped his own face. The cloth came away covered in blood. He had very little vision out of his right eye, as it seemed to be closing. He was a little concerned that the three in the car might break out together, so he jammed two big dead branches against the door catches on the left side of the car and then took up station on the driver’s side.

  It was a very quiet night with a half-moon lighting up the tops of the trees. Away in the distance he could hear a dog barking. He did not expect he would have to wait long for Angus to arrive. Angus was a real pain at times but he could always be depended upon in an emergency.

  David was right. Angus and Stuart arrived in not much more than half an hour, but it was the longest half-hour David had ever put in.

  ‘God Almighty, are you all right, David?’ Angus asked as soon as he arrived on the scene.

  ‘I think so,’ David said. ‘My eye probably looks worse than it is. Did you get on to the police?’

  ‘Jane did. They shouldn’t be long. Catriona was screaming at me to get back here to you.’

  ‘How is she?’

  ‘I didn’t stay long enough to find out. She’s badly shocked. Tell me what happened. Did they give you much trouble?’ Angus asked as he and Stuart peered into the car at its three sorry-looking occupants.

  ‘Not too much.’

  ‘What a nasty way to finish a splendid evening,’ Angus said. ‘Are those fellows stirring at all, Stuart?’

  ‘I wish they would,’ he replied grimly. The very thought of anyone trying to attack his sister was almost too much for him to bear.

  ‘Look here, David, you’d better sit down. You’ve got blood all over you. We’ll watch this lot.’

  David had been walking up and down beside the big car, his whip still in his left hand.

  ‘I’ll be right. I hope Mum isn’t too worried about all this.’

  But it was Kate who arrived on the scene first. Unfortunately Jean was on night duty so Kate had to come on her own. Her car was the first of what seemed to be a procession of vehicles on the road that night. Kate strode straight over to David and threw her arms around him. When she saw the blood on his face and clothes she recoiled.

  ‘Are you okay, David?’ she asked, and began to examine him by torchlight. His cut was about three inches long and fairly deep.

  ‘That will need stitching,’ she said. ‘You’ll have to go to town. I don’t have any local anaesthetic on me.’

  ‘I believe an ambulance is on its way,’ Angus said.

  ‘Right. What sort of shape are they in?’ Kate asked, looking towards the dark car.

  ‘I don’t know, Sister, but I should think they’ll have considerable headaches tomorrow.’

  The lights of another vehicle were approaching from the Inverlochy road.

  ‘That will be Anne,’ Kate said.

  It was, and she was out of the car and running towards them almost before the car had stopped. ‘Are you all right, David?’ she asked anxiously.

  ‘Yes, he is,’ Kate answered for him, but she could see that he was suffering from some kind of reaction to the incident. Even David was vulnerable.

  Anne looked into her son’s eyes and he gave her a weak smile.

  ‘I’m okay,’ he said. ‘It just looks a bit messy and it’s aching a bit now.’

  ‘A couple of aspirins for you right now,’ Kate said, and dug into her bag for the pills.

  ‘Angus,’ Anne said, approaching him, ‘what a terrible thing. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he replied. ‘I shudder to think what would have happened if David hadn’t come along when he did.’

  ‘Can we take David to town now?’ Anne asked.

  ‘I’m afraid not,’ Angus replied gently. ‘We will have to wait for the police to arrive. I’m sure they’ll want to question David, and they’ll also need to interview Catriona and Roger.’

  ‘Poo
r Roger,’ Kate said as she knelt beside him. ‘Two more vehicles are coming,’ Stuart reported.

  ‘Thank goodness for that,’ Angus replied.

  The police car was travelling very fast and the ambulance wasn’t far behind it. They pulled up in a cloud of dust and gravel and Angus went across to meet the two police officers.

  ‘Evening, Mr Campbell,’ Sergeant Hooper greeted him. ‘This is Constable Walker. He hasn’t been with us very long. What is the situation?’

  Angus summarised briefly what David and a shocked Catriona had told him, and then the police moved on to question the others.

  David recounted the events of the night and how he had come to follow the three men from the ball.

  ‘I see,’ the big man said and nodded to his colleague. ‘Right, I think it’s time to get those three out.’

  Constable Walker kicked away the branches David had placed against the car doors and shone his torch inside. ‘A very sorry looking trio, Sergeant,’ he said as he reached in and pulled them out one by one.

  ‘I want some answers from you fellows and I want them quick,’ Hooper said.

  ‘Don’t say anything,’ Bill croaked.

  ‘Shut up, Missen, and don’t open your mouth until I ask you to. I think we’d better get you three down to the station. We’ll be back later to interview Miss Campbell.’

  The ambulance officer, Eric Wood, sat the trio down on a log and in the light of the car’s headlights gave them a quick examination. ‘There’s nothing too serious here, but I’ll need a few minutes with each to patch up some cuts and bruises. But there is one other thing, Sergeant,’ Eric said. He whispered in the big man’s ear and the sergeant raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Constable, please come here a moment.’

  He talked in a low voice to the young constable, who then went to the glove box of the dark car. When he emerged from the car, he nodded to his sergeant.

  ‘Right, put them in the car, Constable. Are you finished with them, Eric?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes I am, but young MacLeod needs a few stitches. I’d like to take him back with us, if you don’t need him any longer.’

  ‘No, you do that, Eric,’ Hooper said.

  ‘I’ll follow the ambulance into town and bring David home, Sergeant,’ Anne said. ‘Will you need him again tonight?’

  ‘No. We’ll talk to him in the morning, Mrs MacLeod. You get David fixed up.’

  ‘I’d better get back home and let Andy know what’s happened,’ Kate said. ‘He’ll be worried.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Anne agreed.

  The group finally broke up. Three vehicles headed off for town while the other two turned left for Inverlochy and High Peaks.

  An hour or so later, with the Missen boys and Stanley Masters in custody, Sergeant Hooper and Constable Walker arrived at Inverlochy. Angus and Stuart were standing by the front steps (their supper guests had made a very hasty departure when they had seen the state Catriona was in). The whole area was a blaze of light. Angus led the way into the big lounge room where Catriona, in a floral-patterned dressing-gown, was sitting with her mother. The once beautiful white gown she had been wearing earlier that evening was draped across the lounge-room table. Catriona had been told that the police would require it as evidence. Angus introduced the two police officers and they seated themselves in chairs at the table.

  ‘Miss Campbell, I know you’re distressed by what happened tonight, but I’m afraid I need to record your version of events as soon as possible, while the incident is fresh in your mind. Do you understand?’ Catriona nodded. ‘Good. Now, we’ll need to start from the very beginning.’

  Catriona was asked all sorts of questions about the evening: who she had danced with, what she had been drinking, what time she had arrived and departed. She answered all the questions clearly and precisely, but when she was asked more intimate questions she began to show signs of distress.

  ‘For the record, is that the gown you were wearing tonight?’

  ‘Yes, Sergeant.’

  Hooper reached for the gown and examined it.

  ‘Is it true that the gown was ripped right off you, and your brassiere, as well?’

  Catriona looked distraught at this question, but managed her reply. ‘That’s right, Sergeant. I was lying on my back on the ground and they had ripped my dress right off me. The next thing I knew one of them had fallen to the ground. I didn’t know what was happening because I hadn’t even heard David arrive.’

  ‘And where was Roger while all this was going on?’

  ‘I don’t know. I didn’t have time to look before I was grabbed and pulled out of the car. The next time I saw Roger was after David had thrown the others in their car. By then Roger was lying on the ground.’

  ‘Okay. Now, please think very carefully and answer me truthfully – did you hear any of those young men say anything that indicated what their intentions were?’

  Catriona blushed and looked across at her father and brother.

  ‘Do I have to tell you exactly what they said, Sergeant?’ Catriona asked.

  ‘Yes, and if a court case arises out of this matter, you could be questioned on this very point. Perhaps you would like a little privacy.’

  ‘Yes, I would,’ Catriona said.

  Angus and Stuart got to their feet. ‘We’ll leave, Sergeant. Would you like me to get you something to eat or drink? It’s going to be a long night,’ Angus said.

  ‘A cup of tea and a biscuit would be great. My mate is a coffee drinker, thank you.’

  While Catriona recounted the sordid details of the night, her mother closed her eyes and shook her head. It seemed that she could hardly believe, let alone bear, what she was hearing. Catriona’s evidence implicated all three of her assailants.

  When all the questioning was over, Sergeant Hooper said, ‘You had a very lucky escape, Catriona.’

  ‘I know. David MacLeod seems to have made a habit of being on hand when I need him,’ she said.

  Angus came back into the room and listened carefully while Hooper summarised what would happen as a result of the assault.

  ‘All parties will be questioned again. We’ll need to take a statement from your daughter, which she will have to sign. There are a number of charges against the young men, including attempted sexual assault. Their actions also resulted in an injury to Roger Cartwright, the extent of which we don’t as yet know, and we found drugs in the glove box of their car. The charges will be very serious indeed,’ Hooper said.

  After the two police officers had departed, Angus took Catriona’s hand in his and smiled rather grimly. ‘I’m terribly sorry this had to happen to you, Catriona. It was a grand night and now it looks as if you’ll be involved in court proceedings. I still can’t believe those fellows would do such a thing.’

  ‘It could have been worse, Daddy. Much worse. Poor David. He must be sick of playing guardian angel to me.’

  ‘Catriona, if I know young David, I shouldn’t think a cut eye would worry him greatly.’

  ‘Still, I shall have to go and see him, to thank him. You do see that I must, don’t you, Daddy?’

  Angus nodded. ‘Of course you must. Plain good manners. But you should wait and get the police interview over first. I’ll talk to Anne and tell her that you’ll be along after the interview.’

  At this point, Jane burst into the conversation. ‘David MacLeod. I am getting heartily tired of hearing that name,’ she said. ‘If I’m not being told how wonderful he is, I am hearing how he’s rescued you from some terrible situation. It seems to me, Catriona, that you are much too friendly with that young man. I think you should stay right away from him in future.’

  ‘That’s very unfair, Mummy. You should be thankful that David is the kind of person he is. Think what might have happened if he hadn’t turned up tonight. Your high and mighty friends wouldn’t have wanted their sons to have anything to do with me then. I would have been spoiled goods if things had been taken any further.’

  ‘Catriona,
I forbid you to talk like that. I understand you are upset and tired. I think we should get you to bed. Of course I am grateful to David. I just think you are getting too friendly with him. I agree with your father that you should go away for a while, or do a university course.’

  ‘Right now I can’t think beyond getting a good night’s sleep, making it through the police interview tomorrow, and going to thank David,’ Catriona said.

  It was a dejected Roy Missen who made his way to Inverlochy midmorning the next day.

  ‘Angus, I don’t know what to say. I’m just so terribly sorry for what happened. Where did we go wrong?’

  ‘Roy, I sympathise with you and Bessie,’ Angus said with genuine sorrow in his heart for this good man. ‘I respect you for coming to see me.’

  ‘Well, my boys got what they deserved from David MacLeod. I’m not worried about that, and I’ll pay for any medical costs for David’s eye. He and his father are a hard pair but they’re straight as a die. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for Catriona.’

  ‘You had better concentrate on what you can do to help Bill and Wade. I have to tell you, Roy, that I’ve asked the police to oppose bail. I don’t want them wandering about anywhere near my family.’

  ‘I understand how you feel, Angus, but it grieves Bessie and me to think of our boys in prison.’

  ‘There is a high probability that prison is where they will be for the next few years,’ Angus said bluntly.

  ‘Granted it looks bad for them, Angus. I wanted you to know that I’m personally very sorry for what happened to Catriona. I’ll head on to High Peaks now.’

  Angus Campbell watched his neighbour walk down the driveway to his car, start the engine and drive off up the road. Clearly Roy Missen was a broken man.