Medusa

We were both of us standing there, peering down the narrow passage that continued on beyond the old oil drum with its wooden lid, when suddenly there was a cry and Petra was calling my name, her voice high and urgent, reverberating down the save shaft — 'Mi-i-ke!' I was running then, crouched low. There was the sound of rocks dislodged, a man's voice cursing, and as I rounded the bend, the beam of my torch showed the soles of his canvas shoes disappearing over the rubble of the roof fall.

I must have been close behind him as I flung myself on to my belly, but by the time I had squirmed half through the gap, the tunnel beyond was empty. 'Two of them,' Petra said, her voice breathless. She was crouched against the wall. 'I thought it was you and Gareth, then my torch was knocked out of my hand and I was flung back, one of them cursing at me as they pushed past.'

'English or Spanish?' I was cursing too by then, my hands lacerated as I dragged my legs clear.

'I'm not sure.' She was on her knees, groping for her torch.

I glanced over my shoulder, struggling to my feet. 'Hurry!' He was right behind me and I was thinking of Soo, alone there in the car. Damn the man! Why hadn't he stayed with her? I ran, bent low, the beam of my torch following the curve of the cave until the gap of the entrance showed a pale oval. A moment later I was out into the cool of the night air, thrusting through the bushes to stand in the moonlight staring down the path where it ran steeply towards the cove.

There was nothing there.

I searched the hillside. Nothing moved. Then a car's engine started, down below, where we had parked, and a few moments later I saw it burst out on to the track where it crossed open country just before joining the road, its engine screaming. It was the red Fiat.

'My God!' Lloyd Jones, beside me now, had recognised it, too.

We went straight down the hillside then, moving as fast as we could in the tricky light, jumping from rock outcrop to rock outcrop, splashing through the water at the bottom. My car was still there, but no sign of Soo. Frantically I began searching the bushes, calling her name.

'They couldn't have taken her with them, surely.' He was standing there, staring helplessly about him.

'Well, she's not here. Nor is your car. Why the hell didn't you stay with her?'

I'm sorry, but you were so long… She asked me to go — ' He turned his head. 'What was that?'

It came again, high up the valley side from under the cliffs, and suddenly I knew what it was. 'Petra,' I said. 'It's Petra, and she's found her.'

We climbed back up the hillside, retracing our steps. 'Here,' she called, standing suddenly upright beside a patch of scrub. 'It's Soo. She's had a fall.'

I could hear her then, moaning with pain. Her body was lying twisted in a heap in the middle of a low clump of bushes, Petra bending down to her again, cradling her head as we reached the spot. 'I think she must have followed the path right up to the cave entrance, then lost her balance when they pushed past her.'

'Anything broken?' My torch showed her face badly bruised and shining with sweat. Her breath came in great gasps and she was moaning all the time.

'I've moved her limbs. They seem all right. But internally…'

'It's the baby then. If she's going to have it now…' I turned on Lloyd Jones. 'Why the bloody hell didn't you stay with her, man? If she loses the child…'

Petra silenced me, gripping my arm, as Soo murmured quite coherently, 'It's not — Gareth's — fault. I asked him…' Her voice trailed away, her right hand moving to her swollen belly, a bubble of saliva at her mouth as she cried out with pain. Then she passed out.

'We've got to get her to hospital.' Petra's voice was sharp. 'As soon as possible.'

Soo only screamed once as we carried her down the slope to the car. I think she was unconscious most of the time. And she didn't cry out all the time I was driving back to Mahon. I drove like a maniac, Petra said afterwards, my face set and anger taking hold. Anger at Lloyd Jones for being the cause of her leaving the car and climbing the path to the cave alone, above all, anger at those two bastards who had brushed her from their path as they rushed down the hillside to drive off in that hire car.

I took her straight to the Residencia Sanitaria, which is just up from the Port Mahon Hotel. This is the emergency hospital, and the night Petra and I spent there is not one either of us is ever likely to forget. Fortunately they did have a bed available in the maternity ward. Two women were in labour at the time and the place was something of a mad house. There were nurses rushing about, a nun in attendance, no sign of a doctor. They got Soo to bed and I left Petra with her and phoned the Guardia Civil.It was while I was telling them what had happened that Petra came down to say Soo was in labour. 'They've found a doctor. A very young man. I think he's scared. He's already lost one baby tonight. That's what one of the nurses told me.'

The time was 03.17, the words coming in a breathless rush. 'I'll go back now… No, don't come with me. There's nothing you can do. I'll let you know as soon as it comes.'

It's not due for more than a month.' I remember I said that, standing there, helpless.

'What's it matter when it's due? She's having it now. I just hope to God…' She turned abruptly, not finishing the sentence, and hurried back up the stairs.

I remember getting rid of Gareth Lloyd Jones and then I was going over it all for the benefit of a young sergeant of the Guardia.Since it had happened in the country, not in Mahon, it was their responsibility. He made some notes, then offered his sympathies and said he would make a report. Perhaps it was a matter for the Aduana.At my insistence he agreed to inform Inspector Molina of the national police. I knew him slightly and I thought it might be something the plain-clothes boys should know about.

After the sergeant was gone I was alone there in that cold little reception area. Sometimes I paced up and down. Nobody came and time passed slowly. Dawn began to break in the street outside. Then suddenly Petra was there, her face very pale under the freckles, her eyes dark-edged with weariness and worry. 'She's all right,' she said slowly. 'I mean she's come through it. She's conscious.' The words seemed dragged out of her. The doctor thinks it's just that she's badly bruised inside. She'll be okay. That's what he hopes — when she's had some rest.'

'And the child?' I asked.

'For God's sake, Mike, what did you expect? She must have fallen right on top of it. It was a breech, didn't you know that from the scan? Round the wrong way, the poor little thing's head was right against the wall of the stomach. It hadn't a chance.'

'What was it, a boy or a girl?'

'A boy.'

I went up to her then, feeling tired and very depressed, wanting a drink and not knowing what the hell I was going to say to her. She was lying on her back, her eyes closed, the olive skin of her face looking sallow, a deathly pallor against the tumbled black of her hair. They had cleaned her up, of course, but her hair and skin were still damp, her features so drained that I thought for a moment she was dead.

I don't think I said anything, but she must have sensed my presence for her eyes opened. They stared straight up at me, great brown pools in a white face. Her lips moved. 'I'm-sorry.' The words came faintly, then she was gone, the eyelids closing down, consciousness slipping away.

I bent and kissed her. Her skin was hot as though she were in a fever, her breathing so shallow it was hardly noticeable. Petra touched my arm, motioning me with her head to leave. The nun was hovering and a sister had arrived and was talking to her. 'She'll sleep now. They've given her an injection.' Petra led me out.