‘Who were they?’
‘It was two of the guys from Battle. I think the one who shot at me was the bloke you injured when you shot his baseball bat, but I can’t be sure.’
‘Did you get them?’ she asked, with fury in her eyes.
‘Yes – they’re dead.’
‘Good! I hope the fuckers rot in hell!’
They sat in the BMW and Jamie related the whole thing for her. She said she hadn’t been able to get her Golf started as the battery was too low, so had taken his Ibiza. Bill had driven off after hugging her and telling her not to drive madly, and she’d said they would tell them when they had some news. Bill had offered to take Max to look after so they didn’t have to worry about him or leave him on his own, and Jane had said thanks, that would be great.
After that they both went quiet for some time. They sat there for another three hours or more, talking occasionally but mainly just lost in their own thoughts, before seeing Major Cunningham walking towards them. They got out of the car, both holding their breath, but then Cunningham smiled as he got nearer to indicate good news. He dispensed with the formality of a salute and shook their hands instead.
‘Well, Megan’s out of danger. She’s heavily sedated but stable, and she’s going to be okay.’ They let out a huge sigh and breathed again, then thanked him.
Cunningham smiled. ‘Her injuries actually looked worse than they were and it was misleading due to the amount of blood on her. It was small shot that their gun was loaded with, so the pellets didn’t do as much damage as larger shot might have. She only caught part of the shot pattern, because if she’d taken the whole load then she wouldn’t be alive. We removed dozens of pellets from her left arm, side and neck and have put her arm in a sling, which she’ll need to keep on for at least a week or two, probably. The arm will be very painful for a while and she’ll have only limited use of it, but it will heal in time.
Ironically, the worst injury was from her head hitting the ground when she fell. That’s mainly why she was unconscious and she has bad concussion, but we think she’ll be fine. We’d like to keep her here for observation for another two days after this, to monitor her progress. You can come late Sunday afternoon to collect her as long as we’re happy with her progress. Would you like to see her? She’s sedated and sleeping now, but you can have a look at her.’
They said they’d like to, so Cunningham led them to the recovery tent and showed them Megan’s bed. They thanked him again and shook his hand before he walked off, saying he’d see them on Sunday. They looked down at her lying there and Jane started crying again and hugged Jamie. Her head was bandaged and so was her left arm, which lay outside the sheets in a sling. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically and she was sleeping soundly. Jane knelt down beside her and put her hand gently on Megan’s right shoulder.
‘Hello Megan, my love; it’s Jane,’ she said softly. ‘Jamie’s here, too. You get well soon and we’ll see you in a couple of days. We love you very much.’ She leaned over and kissed her cheek carefully. Megan stirred and murmured in her sleep. Jamie bent down to kiss her, too, then they got up, left the tent and walked back to the cars.
The soldier on the gate let them out and they drove home at a much slower pace than on the way there. They dropped off Jamie’s Seat at the bungalow first and he went in to wash the blood off himself. He changed his clothes and then they carried on to Bill and Emma’s in the BMW. It was after three in the afternoon when they pulled into the yard and stopped by the house; the door opened almost immediately. Bill, Emma, Sally and Peter came out, followed by Phil, Sophie and Max, barking and wagging his tail. Jane and Jamie got out of the car and went over to them.
‘She’s going to be okay!’ said Jane with a relieved smile and they all hugged each other, crying tears of relief. Sally was overjoyed and hugged Jane and Jamie several times.
They went into the kitchen and sat at the table, where Jane told them everything that had happened at the camp and what Major Cunningham had told them about Megan’s condition, and that they could pick her up on Sunday afternoon; all things being well. Jamie then took over and filled in the blanks for them about what had happened at the retail park.
Neither of them had eaten anything since breakfast so Emma rustled up some ham and eggs for them, which they appreciated greatly. Afterwards, they sat in the conservatory chatting for a while and Bill poured them a brandy, which Jane diluted heavily with water. They raised a toast to Megan and drank her health, sending up a silent prayer for her recovery.
They decided, under the circumstances, to take the weekend off from work on their new place and to resume on the Monday, as long as Megan was okay and back home. After that they took their leave and headed off home. They stopped off on the way to check the snares and collected one rabbit, which they cooked that night.
The place seemed empty and quiet without Megan and they were in a sombre mood all evening. Jamie opened a bottle of wine, but Jane only had a small glass and he drank the rest himself. It had been an emotionally exhausting day so they retired early and were pleased to get into bed, where they lay for a long time holding each other, talking quietly occasionally. Megan had found a real place in their hearts in the short time she had been with them and they already loved her like she was their own. They missed her terribly and couldn’t wait to collect her on Sunday.
Twenty-six
They awoke early the next morning and decided to drive over to Sarah and Georgie’s to tell them the news about Megan and also about their decision to move to the farm with Bill and Emma. First of all, though, they had regular chores to attend to, including collecting salt from their containers in the gardens and refilling them with fresh seawater. They already had many bags of sea salt that they used on their food and in their cooking. The tomatoes in the conservatory were coming along well and they would soon be able to harvest some, which they were looking forward to. By ten o’clock they were ready to leave so they jump-started Jane’s Golf to give it a run and charge up the battery. Max jumped in the back and they headed off.
Sarah and Georgie were delighted to see them and asked where Megan was. They told them the news inside and the sisters were horrified to hear what had happened. They hugged them both again, saying how sorry they were and hoping Megan would make a full recovery. Jamie recounted the whole saga for them and they were shocked.
‘I’m glad you got the bastards!’ said Georgie, feeling no remorse for them. They congratulated him on thinking to take Megan to the army camp.
‘Well, to be honest, it’s a good job Bill was there to think fast, because I’d completely lost it and was fit for nothing!’ Jamie said with a grim smile.
It was too early for lunch and Jane said they wouldn’t stay long as they had things to do, but Georgie made them tea and gave them a slice of apple pie each. Things were going well for the sisters and they had harvested, stored and preserved lots of produce for the winter. They had also begun converting one of their sheds into stables. They had been busy in recent weeks scouting the area for several miles around.
‘We didn’t get around to telling you on our last visit when we were all together at yours,’ said Sarah, ‘but we’ve located four places to get horses from. We’ve also thought of you two and Bill and Emma, too. We’ve collected two horse boxes, one of which is for you; we’ve got them here, round the back.’
Jamie and Jane said that was great and thanked them. They then told the sisters about Bill and Emma’s offer and that they were going to move to the farm, and had started converting the chicken shed that week. Sarah and Georgie were delighted and agreed that it made perfect sense, as they now had Megan and would also have the baby when it arrived.