I shield my eyes from the burning sun, as I watch a pair
of vultures circling slowly. There’s sudden movement in the undergrowth. The boar has
decided to make a bid for freedom. I’m quick with the shotgun, but not quick
enough. The boar suddenly lurches off to the left, unharmed, the gunshot
ringing in my ears. The sound is followed immediately by a prolonged scream, a
human scream. I break the gun and run forwards, almost certain my shot
went to the left of the scream. Around the other side of a large pine sits a
man.
I’m much relieved to find him fully alive, if a little
out of control. He tries and fails to get to his feet.
“What the hell
are you doing firing that thing?” he shouts.”You could have killed me!”
“I’m shooting in my forest. What are you doing here, off
the trail? Didn’t you see the signs?”
He calms down a little and tells me what has happened.
He’s lost the rest of his group, can’t walk and the pain in his knee is awful.
I notice his swollen hand. No doubt one of our local bees has been busy. I need to get him to the Land Rover, but I can’t manage
on my own. There’s another movement in the undergrowth, but it’s too
slow to be the boar returning.
“Clive! Clive!”
It’s a woman’s voice. She’s crying as she emerges from the bushes, her clothing
not entirely how it should be. “That gunshot! What the hell happened?”
“Jemma” is all Clive
can manage to say. She sits down beside him and they embrace, awkwardly, both
now crying. Slowly she seems to take in the whole scene, and turns on me. I
hold up my hands and wait for her tirade to finish.
“So, do you want
your boyfriend to be rescued or not?” I ask. “Perhaps you’d better check with
him, before you refuse a ride home.”
“What do you
mean a ride home? And he’s not my boyfriend, he’s my hus…..” She stops,
mid-sentence, as another figure emerges from the undergrowth. The man looks sheepishly
at the other two.
“Seamus!” Clive
shouts out. “Fantastic – you’ve come to rescue me as well!” The walkie-talkie on my belt crackles into life.
It’s
Rodrigo. “Rafa!
Listen, I’ve just spoken to Tash. Her walking group - one of them’s injured. He
needs a lift. Where are you?”
I interrupt him. “You’re not
going to believe this, but I’m with him and a couple of his walking friends
right now. Rafa to the rescue eh!”
“Nice one mate.
Bring ‘em in. I’ll get as near as I can in the Toyota and round up the rest of
them. Tash says they scattered, didn’t follow her instructions. She told me
where to start looking.”
My little group clearly hasn’t understood a word of the
conversation. I tell them it’s their lucky day. I may be a barbarian hunter,
but I’m also part of the local rescue team. Once I’ve strapped up Clive’s knee and given him the bee
treatment, we make our way very slowly downhill to the vehicle. On the way down, we come across another walker, Charlie. He
stares at the struggling Clive.
“Some of this
lot shouldn’t be let out on a Level One walk, let alone a Level Four,” he calls
out. I’m not sure I fully understand what he means, but I take
an instant dislike to him. I let Rodrigo know about our new arrival.
When we finally complete the rocky-road journey to the
hotel, they stumble out of the Land Rover, as if they’ve just been delivered
from a warzone. Natasha’s sitting by the pool, looking as cool as a lettuce, like always. But, before I
have chance to say a word, they turn on her.
“What on earth
are you doing here Natasha? You should be up there searching for the others,
instead of chillaxing. You abandoned us! We’ll have to report this.”
“Why don’t you
ask her what she’s been doing here, Charlie”, I say, “instead of jumping to wild
conclusions?”
“When I find
poor Clive injured, I need a vehicle for him.” Natasha’s voice is calm and
confident. “When I go back to our meeting point - nobody there. So I need a sheepdog
to find you all. I decide it is best to run back here to the hotel.”
“Why?” Charlie
interrupts. “And how could you possibly run that far so quickly?”
“It was three
miles Charlie. One hour walk, as I told you. But I am a runner, I can do it much
faster. Mobile phone useless all the time I run, but here in willage, I know there
is rescue and walkie-talkie. Better than mobile. It is lucky Rafa has already
found some of you. I tell Rodrigo where to search for the others and to take
with him the - what do you call it in English, Rafa…..?”
“Megaphone.”
“Yes –
megaphone. It can shout even louder than me. Rodrigo has found the others. They
are on their way here now.”
Charlie stalks off towards the hotel entrance. Jemma, Clive and Seamus stare at the ground, heads bowed,
all aggression gone. There’s a long awkward silence. I guess their holiday is over.
The End
(If you missed the beginning, go back to Part One, 20th July)
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