The blood trail was fairly consistent, not so heavy as to suggest a fatal wound but steady enough to give him cause to doubt for the woman's longevity. Whatever—or rather, whoever, he wasn't about to believe this was the work of the Devil just yet—had taken her was dragging her behind them as they climbed.
"Whoever it is possesses a good deal of strength," he said to Elisabeth. "It's a fairly easy climb but not if you are dragging a woman behind you all the way."
He looked further up the mountain, hoping to catch a glimpse of their quarry. The light was beginning to fail now, as evening gave in to night, and the terrain was uneven, the trail winding through narrows all the way. The attacker had more than enough cover to keep them from view.
"You think he knows we're following?" asked Elisabeth.
"You'd think he'd guess it likely. The kid's scream could be heard for miles. Of course people were going to come running."
"I would have expected him to dump the woman and run."
"Yeah, makes you wonder what it is he wants her for."
"Maybe he knows them? It could be something personal."
"Kid didn't recognise him."
He waved at her to be quiet, stopping and listening for a moment. There was a scrabbling sound followed by a slow clatter of rocks.
"He's not too far ahead," said Billy, picking up the pace, almost running up the trail, leaping from rock to rock.
Elisabeth, much to her irritation, struggled to keep up with him. If she had had the good sense to wear a pair of trousers, she cursed, she'd be more than a match for him. She resolved to get changed on their return.
"Stay back," said Billy as she emerged onto a small plateau. He was stood a few feet ahead of her, his voice low and quiet. "You don't need to see this."
Whether she 'needed' to or not didn't matter one damn to Elisabeth who ignored his ad vice and stepped up alongside him.
The little girl's mother was lying on the face down on the rocks before them.
"Did she fall?" Elisabeth wondered, noting the spreading pool of blood, quite black in the twilight, that surrounded the body. "Or maybe he dropped her?" She moved closer but Billy put his hand on her arm. She shook it off. "Please Billy," she said, "you're terribly nice but if you keep insisting on attempts at gallantry we're going to fall out."
She turned over the body and it fell on its back with a sound like wet clothes being beaten against stone.
"She wasn't dropped," she said. "Rocks don't do that much damage."
Billy squatted on the other side. He looked down, suddenly realising he was treading in the woman's blood then realised there was little he could do about it, the pool had spread so far he could hardly not.
"Like an animal attack," he said, thinking back to the stories he's heard of an engine driver that had worked for the company. The man had left his cab to clear the carcass of a deer from the tracks ahead. As he had been pulling at the animal he had been set upon by wolves. His engineer had scared the animal away with his rifle but not soon enough to save the driver's life.
By the engineer's account—and it was a story he drank on for years—there had been little left of the driver but a pair of legs and some teeth.
He looked around them, unslinging the rifle in case something was bearing down on them.
"Up there," whispered Elisabeth, pointing to a distant silhouette of a man leaping across a narrow crevice further up the mountain. The figure appeared only for a moment, caught against the faint light left in the sky, and was then gone.
"He can't have done this," Billy said. "Nothing human could have done."
"'The Devil took her?'" Billy couldn't think of a reply.
Chapter Four
ACE HIGH
1.
T HE BOAT WAS the biggest I'd ever set foot on. Three decks crammed full of passengers of all persuasions. The place rang out with the sound of a calliope, hurling its cheery melody into the air as if revelled in the sickness that surrounded it. No doubt it did, certainly my squeamishness was
"Whoever it is possesses a good deal of strength," he said to Elisabeth. "It's a fairly easy climb but not if you are dragging a woman behind you all the way."
He looked further up the mountain, hoping to catch a glimpse of their quarry. The light was beginning to fail now, as evening gave in to night, and the terrain was uneven, the trail winding through narrows all the way. The attacker had more than enough cover to keep them from view.
"You think he knows we're following?" asked Elisabeth.
"You'd think he'd guess it likely. The kid's scream could be heard for miles. Of course people were going to come running."
"I would have expected him to dump the woman and run."
"Yeah, makes you wonder what it is he wants her for."
"Maybe he knows them? It could be something personal."
"Kid didn't recognise him."
He waved at her to be quiet, stopping and listening for a moment. There was a scrabbling sound followed by a slow clatter of rocks.
"He's not too far ahead," said Billy, picking up the pace, almost running up the trail, leaping from rock to rock.
Elisabeth, much to her irritation, struggled to keep up with him. If she had had the good sense to wear a pair of trousers, she cursed, she'd be more than a match for him. She resolved to get changed on their return.
"Stay back," said Billy as she emerged onto a small plateau. He was stood a few feet ahead of her, his voice low and quiet. "You don't need to see this."
Whether she 'needed' to or not didn't matter one damn to Elisabeth who ignored his ad vice and stepped up alongside him.
The little girl's mother was lying on the face down on the rocks before them.
"Did she fall?" Elisabeth wondered, noting the spreading pool of blood, quite black in the twilight, that surrounded the body. "Or maybe he dropped her?" She moved closer but Billy put his hand on her arm. She shook it off. "Please Billy," she said, "you're terribly nice but if you keep insisting on attempts at gallantry we're going to fall out."
She turned over the body and it fell on its back with a sound like wet clothes being beaten against stone.
"She wasn't dropped," she said. "Rocks don't do that much damage."
Billy squatted on the other side. He looked down, suddenly realising he was treading in the woman's blood then realised there was little he could do about it, the pool had spread so far he could hardly not.
"Like an animal attack," he said, thinking back to the stories he's heard of an engine driver that had worked for the company. The man had left his cab to clear the carcass of a deer from the tracks ahead. As he had been pulling at the animal he had been set upon by wolves. His engineer had scared the animal away with his rifle but not soon enough to save the driver's life.
By the engineer's account—and it was a story he drank on for years—there had been little left of the driver but a pair of legs and some teeth.
He looked around them, unslinging the rifle in case something was bearing down on them.
"Up there," whispered Elisabeth, pointing to a distant silhouette of a man leaping across a narrow crevice further up the mountain. The figure appeared only for a moment, caught against the faint light left in the sky, and was then gone.
"He can't have done this," Billy said. "Nothing human could have done."
"'The Devil took her?'" Billy couldn't think of a reply.
Chapter Four
ACE HIGH
1.
T HE BOAT WAS the biggest I'd ever set foot on. Three decks crammed full of passengers of all persuasions. The place rang out with the sound of a calliope, hurling its cheery melody into the air as if revelled in the sickness that surrounded it. No doubt it did, certainly my squeamishness was
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