C4 antho - Chamber Four

~258~ The Chamber Four Fiction Anthology
“What’s going to happen to him?”
“It’s already happened.”
“What has?”
“We haven’t much time, miss,” Patrick said. “You’ll be all
right. They’ll want to have a word with you at the other end,
but there won’t be anything to it. You’ll soon be on your
way.”
“What about you?” Sharon asked Patrick. “Are you going
back? Are you going back for Duncan?”
“Go home, miss,” said Patrick. “Go right on back home
and pick up where you left off. Carry on. Forget what happened
down here, or if you can’t forget it, at least don’t talk
about it. Not ever, miss, not to anyone. Do you think you can
do that? Ah.”
“Ah,” Patrick said. They heard, overhead, the heavy
thumping of a helicopter approaching quickly. It came from
the sea, flying very low, circled the blinker buoy once, then
again, then settled on the water at a little distance from
them. It showed no lights. Patrick rowed them to it. A door in
the helicopter opened, and Patrick helped Sharon step from
the raft onto one of the helicopter’s pontoons. An arm
reached for her there, took her hand, and pulled her into the
cabin. The door closed. Sharon turned to look out a little
window. She saw Patrick begin to row away, toward the island.
When he passed the marker buoy, he reached for it, cut
its line, raised it from the water, and laid it down in the raft.
The helicopter’s rotors began to turn. When it rose into
the dark sky and began to make off, Sharon could see, on the
far side of the island, a row of lights, running lights, in fact
two rows, three, advancing toward the beach. Many running
lights, coming in to the beach.
* * * *