by Joanna Neil
He looked suitably appeased at that, and Izzy concentrated on making them both a sandwich. Pushing the plates towards them, she looked from one to the other. ‘So your uncle doesn’t have any idea that you’ve come here?’
Cameron shook his head, looking uncertain, but Molly, after taking a bite from her sandwich, said, ‘I left a note for him on the kitchen table to let him know we’d come here. Mummy said we should always make sure someone knows where we are.’
‘Mmm, that’s good. That was the sensible thing to do,’ Izzy said with a smile. ‘I think I’d better give him a ring all the same, as soon as we’ve eaten, just to make sure he knows what’s going on, or he might be worried.’ She wasn’t going to let her sandwich go cold on his account, though. That was supposing he was even awake by now, of course. But if he wasn’t she would simply let the phone ring until he answered it. How could the man be so careless as to let the children run loose at such a young age? ‘Lorna and I have to go to work soon, you see, otherwise you would be able to stay here. Perhaps we’ll take you back home when we’ve all eaten.’
‘That’s okay,’ Cameron said. ‘I said you’d probably have to go to the hospital. I remembered from last time we were here.’
Izzy sat down to eat her toasted sandwich with Lorna and the children, chatting to them about life up at the castle. ‘Are you settling in all right?’ she asked.
Molly nodded. ‘It’s kind of exciting. There’s loads of rooms and we can go in any of them.’
‘And there’s a winding staircase that goes up and up,’ Cameron said. ‘And there are lots of doors. I nearly got lost, and Uncle Ross had to come and find me. He said I was in the pantry, but it was big—like a room.’
A few minutes later Izzy left them talking to Lorna while she went into the hall to phone Ross in private. It was a while before he answered.
‘Did I wake you?’ she asked.
‘No. I was some distance from the phone.’ His voice was deep, warm and soothing, and to hear him was a little like sipping at rich, melting chocolate. ‘I was checking the rooms to see where the children might be hiding. They’ve taken to disappearing of a morning, and usually I manage to find them in what used to be the servants’ quarters. They seem to like playing in the smaller rooms. I’ve never known such early birds. Where on earth do they get their energy from?’
‘The fountain of youth, I should imagine.’ She hesitated. ‘So I take it you’re still looking for them? Have you tried the kitchen?’
‘I’m heading there now.’ He made a soft intake of breath. ‘I should have taken time to dress properly—these stone floors are cold. I need to get some carpets in here…or install under-floor heating.’
She imagined him padding barefoot over the floor, but her mind skittered away from delving any further into what he might be wearing—or not wearing, as the case may be. ‘You should try living in my cottage,’ she said, her tone dry. ‘We don’t have the luxury of central heating at the moment, since your estate manager hasn’t attended to our requests for repairs, whereas you at least have the comfort of a range cooker in your kitchen, if I remember correctly.’ She had ventured up to the castle in search of her errant cousin one day years ago, and the memory had stayed with her ever since.
‘You’re welcome to come and share it with me any time, Izzy. I think I told you that once before, but you were reluctant to take me up on the offer, as I recall. I guess you were worried about what your father might think if he found you there.’ She heard a door hinge creak. ‘Nope, they’re not in here.’
‘I expect you’ll find a note on the table,’ she murmured.
He was silent for a moment, taking that in, before he said on a disbelieving note, ‘Are you telling me you know where they are?’
‘That’s about the size of it. Molly wanted to keep you informed.’ There was a rustling of paper from the other end of the line. ‘Have you found it? What does it say?’
He laughed throatily. ‘Well, you’re perfectly right—there are some weird hieroglyphics scrawled on a scrap of paper, if that counts. I’ll see if I can decipher it.’ There was a pause, and she could imagine his frown. ‘Here we go, it says, “U wudnt wayk up, so we is gon down the ill to get sum fink to eet. Luv, Molly nd Camron.” Brilliant.’ There was a smile in his voice. ‘I suppose that’s not bad for a five-year-old.’
‘There you are, you see. What could be clearer? The children were starving, and you were off in the land of nod, so they had to fend for themselves. Fortunately for them we were able to give them breakfast and make sure that they’re warm and looked after, but I daren’t think what might have happened if we hadn’t been here.’ She used a stern tone, but Ross was still chuckling over the note, and that served to make her crosser than ever.
‘I know what you’re saying,’ he said, amusement threading his voice, ‘and you’re right, it’s definitely not a good state of affairs…But you have to give them full marks for initiative, don’t you? I’ll come over and fetch them.’
‘That would be a very good idea,’ she said on a pithy note. ‘Lorna and I have to be at work in around half an hour, so if you’re not here in the next few minutes we’ll come and find you.’
She cut the call and went back to the kitchen, satisfied that at least now he would have to scoot around and get dressed, and begin to take on his responsibilities. What was he thinking of, lying in bed while the children were wandering about?
Molly and Cameron had finished eating by now, and were busy drawing pictures while Lorna collected up the breakfast dishes.
‘I’ll take over here if you want to go and get ready for work,’ Izzy told her. ‘Ross should be along to pick up the children in a few minutes.’
‘He’s going to take us to see Mummy today,’ Molly said brightly. ‘He promised.’
‘And he said we’d buy some flowers for her from the shop,’ Cameron added. ‘He said we could choose the best flowers in the shop when we get to Inverness. She likes roses, so that’s what I’m going to look for.’
‘I’m sure she’ll love them,’ Izzy said, ‘whatever you decide to buy. I’m going to see her myself tomorrow, all being well.’
She washed the breakfast dishes, leaving them to drain on the wire rack. Then she rubbed cream into her hands and checked her long hair in the mirror, clipping the chestnut waves back from her face.
Ross turned up at the house much sooner than she had expected, looking immaculate in dark chinos and a crisp shirt, and oozing vibrant energy—as though he was ready to grasp the day with both hands.
She fixed him with a smoky grey gaze. How could he possibly look like that when he’d been dead to the world not half an hour earlier? It simply wasn’t fair.
‘They’ve been waiting for you,’ she said, waving him into the hallway. ‘But I have to say I think you should find a way of barring the doors, so they can’t simply wander off as they please. There’s no knowing what they could have been up to while you were out for the count.’
He sent her an oblique glance. ‘You’re not going to let this go, are you? Would it help if I said the door was locked and bolted? I think Cameron climbed on a chair to retrieve the keys and unlatch the bolt.’
‘Then maybe you should keep the keys closer to hand,’ she said calmly. ‘You should count yourself lucky that no major road passes by here.’
‘I’m duly chastened,’ he said, making an effort to turn down his mouth but not looking a jot sincere.
She led him into the kitchen, where the children glanced up from their drawing to acknowledge him with bright smiles.
‘I’ve done a picture of Mummy,’ Molly told him, waving her paper in the air. ‘She has beautiful long hair and a pretty dress. See?’
‘That’s…spectacular,’ he murmured, gazing down at the potato-shaped squiggle, daubed generously with a splash of bright pink crayon. ‘I see you’ve drawn her lovely fingers, too.’
It was the right thing to say. Molly beamed with pride at her creation. The hands formed a great part of t
he drawing, with sausage fingers on either side, and they were her latest achievement.
Cameron, on the other hand, was tired of sitting and wanted adventure. ‘When are we going to Inverness? Can we go now?’
‘Soon,’ Ross told him. ‘I have to put a few things in a holdall first of all. We’re going to meet up with your Aunt Jess at the hospital. She’s come up especially from the Lake District to stay in Inverness for the next day or two, and she says she’ll take you shopping as soon as you’ve been to see your mother. We can’t have you going around looking like scruffs any longer, can we?’
Cameron shrugged, obviously not much bothered either way, while Molly looked thoughtful. Izzy guessed she was already thinking about what she would like to buy.
‘Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?’ Lorna asked.
Ross shook his head. ‘Thanks, but I have to get a move on. Things are not going quite the way I planned this morning.’ He glanced around the kitchen. ‘You’re having trouble with the central heating, I gather? I’ll make arrangements for someone to come and deal with it.’
‘That would be good,’ Lorna told him. ‘It’s freezing in here in the mornings. And as to taking a tepid shower—I really can’t recommend it.’
‘No, I can imagine.’ He ran his gaze over Izzy, taking in the snug fit of her jeans and the stretch material of her jersey wrap top that clung where it touched.
She had no idea what he was thinking, but Izzy’s glance was frosty. ‘That’s not all that’s wrong,’ she said. ‘There are roof tiles that have been missing since the high winds two or three weeks back…and part of the fence has blown down.’
He frowned. ‘I didn’t notice that when I drove here. Whereabouts?’
‘At the side of the house.’ Izzy’s mouth made a crooked shape. ‘I tried to fix it temporarily, with nails and a few battens, but I doubt it will hold for very long. Carpentry’s not one of my skills, I’m afraid.’
Ross’s gaze was thoughtful. ‘I’m sure you’re a woman of many talents, but obviously you shouldn’t have been put in that situation. I can only say that Jake has had a lot to contend with of late, with various things happening in his family—illness and so on—or he would have seen to it.’
‘I didn’t realise that.’ Izzy was immediately concerned. ‘He didn’t say.’
‘No, he wouldn’t. Jake’s a proud man. He’s probably borne the brunt of the villagers’ animosity over the last few years.’ He straightened, becoming brisk in his manner. ‘Anyway, thanks for taking care of Molly and Cameron for me. You, too, Lorna.’ His brief smile encompassed both of them. ‘I’m sorry you’ve been troubled.’
‘They’ve been good as gold,’ Lorna told him. ‘They’re welcome to come and visit any time…preferably with your knowledge, of course.’
He nodded. ‘I’m sure they’ll want to come back fairly soon, but next time I’ll make certain they call you first.’
After that Ross didn’t hang around to make conversation, and Izzy wasn’t sure quite how she felt about that. It wasn’t really surprising that he would leave quickly. After all, she hadn’t been exactly welcoming in her manner. But perhaps he also recognised that she and Lorna had to go off to work.
Anyway, after she had given each of the children a hug, he led them away and settled them in his car. He drove away without looking back.
Izzy was filled with a strange sense of unease once he had gone. She felt somehow let down, with a hollow feeling inside despite the meal, and yet, in truth, how could she have expected anything more? As things stood, she was going against the grain by even associating with him.
If her father discovered that Ross had come visiting, he’d be have been agitated in the extreme, no matter that she was perfectly entitled to run her own life the way she saw fit. That ideology hadn’t stood Alice in any good stead, had it? She had been cut off from her family for several years, and was only back now because she needed specialist care and attention.
It grieved Izzy that her cousin should suffer this way. The Buchanans had a lot to answer for.
CHAPTER THREE
‘ACCORDING to his wife, the man was doing a spot of sightseeing close by the falls when he slipped and fell. Luckily for him some hill walkers saw what happened and helped bring him to safety.’ Greg’s voice reached Izzy over the car phone. ‘As far as we know he has a broken ankle and damage to his shoulder, but he’s also complaining of shortness of breath. An ambulance is being sent out, but there are traffic jams on the main road causing delays, and since the tracking system shows you’re nearby, with the fast response car, you may be able to reach him first.’
‘Thanks, Greg.’ Greg was the consultant in charge of the A&E unit where she worked, and her patient would most likely be taken into his care, unless the situation was worse than it first appeared, in which case he might have to be transferred to Inverness. ‘You’re right. I’m about a mile away from the gorge. I’ll head straight over there.’
Izzy drove as fast as she dared, barely able to take in the wonderful scenery in this part of the Highlands. She had left Lorna back in the A&E unit. It suited Izzy to work this way—spending some of the week in the hospital setting, and the rest out and about as a first responder.
This whole area was one of outstanding natural beauty, with hills and mountains all around, thickly wooded with natural species of rowan, alder, hazel and birch. To her left, she caught glimpses of the river as it flowed downhill, disappearing every now and then as woodland obscured the view.
Before too long she came across the road junction where she had to turn off towards the falls—a place of wonder for everyone who came to visit the area. There was a narrow road leading to a car park, and from there she hoped she would be able to find the injured man without too much difficulty.
She parked the car as close as she could to the bridge, a viewpoint where people could stand and marvel at the chasm that had been carved out by glacial melt-water aeons before, and where a majestic waterfall surged downwards to the valley below. From there the water cascaded over boulders and tumbled on its course towards the sea.
The man had been carried to a small viewing platform, Izzy discovered, and as she approached she could see straight away that he was in a lot of pain and discomfort.
‘Hello, Jim…and Frances,’ she said, introducing herself to the patient and his wife. ‘I’m Dr McKinnon.’ She knelt down beside the man, who was sitting propped up against the metal guard-rail. ‘The ambulance is on its way, but I’ll take a look at you and see what I can do to make you more comfortable in the meantime, if I may?’
Jim nodded. He tried to speak, but he was struggling to get his breath, and Izzy could see that there was a film of sweat on his brow. He looked anxious, his features strained and desperate, as was the case with many seriously ill people that Izzy had come across.
‘I can see that your ankle is swollen and your shoulder appears to be dislocated,’ she said. ‘Do you have pain anywhere else?’
Jim used his good arm to slope a finger towards his chest. ‘Hurts to…breathe,’ he said.
‘The pain came on before he fell,’ his wife put in. ‘He started to cough, and then it seemed as though he was going to pass out. Is it his heart, do you think?’
‘I’ll listen to his chest and see if I can find out what’s going on,’ Izzy said. ‘Have you had any heart problems before this, Jim?’
He shook his head and she gave her patient a reassuring smile. ‘Try not to worry,’ she said. ‘We’ll sort it all out. For now, I’m going to give you oxygen to help you to breathe, and I’ll give you an injection to ease the pain.’
Izzy placed the oxygen mask over his mouth and nose and checked that the flow of oxygen was adequate. Then she listened carefully to his chest.
‘Did you have any other symptoms before the chest pain?’ she asked. ‘Even up to a day or so before?’
Jim frowned, trying to think about that, but his pain was obviously getting the better of him, and as he starte
d to shake his head once more his wife put in, ‘He said his leg was sore. Apart from that he was fine. We’ve just come back from a trip to New Zealand. This was a final weekend break before we go back home and start getting ready for Christmas.’
‘Hmm.’ Izzy was thoughtful. ‘We need to do tests to be certain what’s causing your problems, Jim, but it could be that a blood clot is blocking the circulation to your lungs. I’m going to give you medication to stop any clots forming and ease the blood flow, and then we’ll concentrate on getting you to hospital as soon as possible.’
Izzy set up an intravenous line so that she could give him anticoagulant and painkilling medication as necessary. Then she moved away from the couple momentarily, to use her mobile phone and call the ambulance services.
‘How long is the ambulance likely to be?’ she asked. ‘I need to have this patient transported urgently to hospital. I think he may be suffering from a pulmonary embolism, and I don’t believe we have any time to lose.’
‘Okay. Leave it with us,’ the controller said. ‘There’s a problem with the ambulance, but we’ll get someone to you as soon as possible.’
Izzy turned back to her patient and contemplated his other injuries. ‘I’m pretty sure your ankle is broken,’ she told him, ‘so I’ll immobilise that in a splint. As to the shoulder, the same thing applies. I’ll secure it for you in the most comfortable position, and then the hospital team will put it back in place for you while you’re under anaesthetic.’
She worked quickly to do that, all the while looking out for the ambulance. Her patient was most likely suffering from a blood clot that had passed from his leg to his lung, and she was conscious that if it was not treated quickly his life could be at risk.
‘How are you feeling now?’ she asked him.
‘It’s better now that the pain has gone,’ he said, but she could see that he was still struggling to breathe. She glanced around, but there was still no sign of the ambulance. Her gaze rested momentarily on the majestic scenery of the gorge. Trees and ferns sprang from clefts and fissures in the rock, and above everything was the gentle sound of rushing water. It was such a glorious, peaceful scene that it seemed incongruous that she was here trying to save someone’s life.
