ary wasn't happy. We trudged all afternoon with no clear idea of where we were heading other than to put distance between our pursuers and us. Eventually it started getting dark. The woods had thinned out, and we were in open farmland dotted with sheep and divided by thick hedgerows when I realised I couldn't go on. This seemed as good a place as any to stop.

"I can't move another step, Tary. We'll have to stay here There's a cairn, see over there. It will give us a little shelter as long as it doesn't rain. We can a small fire and try and get some sleep. In the morning I'll be able to figure our location better."

"You don't have a clue where we are do you?" she accused, dropping the bag and sitting in a patch of grass reasonably free of Sheep dung.

"Well, I wouldn't say I have no idea. I mean, we got off the train at Castle Park. The sun was over our right shoulder when we entered the wood. or was it to our back? No, no, I'm sure it was to the left as we entered the wood. If you figure that we travelled fifty kilometres, resting every..." I stopped and scratched my head staring into the sky. "If it wasn't so overcast, I could see the stars." I looked at her. "Then I might have a better idea."

Tary couldn't help laughing. "Is there someone we can call for help?" she pulled out the cell phone. The battery let out one bleep and went silent. "Damn!"

I shrugged. "So much for technology."

"Listen, we're in the middle of farm country right? So, there must be a farmhouse fairly close. We should keep going until we come to it."

"Tary, it could be miles. It's dark and we don't know the area. We could pass it within a half mile, and never even realise it." I pressed my hands over my eyes "I just can't do it tonight, Tary. I'm all done in. Let's try and get some sleep. In the morning I'll be able to get my bearings."

There was a fast moving stream near the cairn where we settled in for the night. She reached into her enormous purse and pulled out a sticky bun offering me half.

"Have you got anything else to eat in there?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure." She pulled out a white bag and proffered it. "Would you like a Jelly Baby?"

I said nothing and she finished the bag.

We shared the duffel bag as a pillow, and managed to get a couple of hours sleep. It was cold and damp, but we had a small fire and each other. It was enough. In the morning Tary tried to stretch, but she was stiff. Groaning out loud, she pulled herself to her feet and glared down at me.

"Do you know how long it's been since l had to sleep in a hedgerow for the night? A couple of centuries at least, and I was much younger then!" She said peevishly.

"It wasn't a hedgerow, it was a cairn. Hedgerows are much more comfortable. I was saving that for tonight." I grinned at her, then tried to roll over and moaned louder than she had.

"See?" she said smugly.

"Just give me a few minutes. I'll be able to manage it." I tried again. "Have you brought the aspirin?"

I was finally on my feet, but for how long I wondered? The laceration was beginning to develop an abscess where the stitches had torn loose. There was still no sign of septicaemia though, and for that I was grateful.

"We're bound to come to a road or lane of some sort soon. England is a too small a country to get really lost in. Once we find a phone, I can ring London and get someone down to fetch us."

"Once you figure out where we are, you mean." She was tired, hungry, filthy and getting grouchy. "So much for first class travel," she sulked.

I knew her leg must be aching and her back protesting from carrying the bag, though she struggled not to let me see. There was no way I could've handled it. We stopped to rest and she made he eat a couple of Jelly Babies.

"They're not that bad. High carbohydrate, high-energy calories and no fats at all. It's what we need, eat them."

"All sugar!" I complained taking a handful. How many of these things did you bring?"

"Four bags."

"You brought four bags?" I chuckled. "Well, I suppose I can't complain. You're right, they will keep us going."

"Just think of it as travel rations," she said, munching."

Now that there was nobody trying to kill us, at least not for the moment, she was able to relax a little and enjoy the experience, physical discomfort notwithstanding. Unfortunately, the strain was beginning to tell on me. By mid-morning, I was perspiring, and it wasn't all that warm. I felt the first symptoms that my wound was going septic and was afraid that if we didn't reach some kind of civilisation soon, I would be in serious trouble.

So far as we could tell, there had been no sign of pursuit. Naturally, who would have thought we'd be fools enough to take off into the woods when there was a perfectly good village to hand? We finally came to a road. I rested in the shade of a large tree while Tary stood waiting for a car to pass by. It seemed like a very long time, but finally a lorry pulled around the bend in the road. She waved her arms at him and he stopped.

"Could you give us a lift?" she called, pointing back to where I was dragging our bag over to the side of the road.

"Where to?" asked the driver. He was a smallish man, with dark eyes that darted every which way. Romany I thought to myself.

"That depends," I said, dropping the duffel and standing beside Tary breathing heavily.

"On what?" asked the man. He was looking at us strangely; no doubt, with good reason. I can only imagine what we looked like having spent the night stranded in the middle of a sheep meadow.

"On where we are currently. We seem to have got ourselves lost somehow. We started out walking from Castle Park yesterday afternoon."

The driver snickered. "Ya come about three quarters of a mile then if ya come from Castle Park. What'd ya do, circle the wood?"

We looked at each other. "Circle the wood? You mean it runs in a ring around the village?"

The man nodded, a gap-tooth smile splitting his face. "That it does, and just runs into the grazing commons. Where do ya want to be?"

"How far are you going?" asked Arthur, putting up a hand to shield his eyes from the morning sun.

Salisbury. Hop in if you've a mind."

"Great, we can get a train from there to London!" I struggle to lift the bag.

"I'll get it Arthur, just get in the truck." She tossed it behind the bench seat and climbed in awkwardly. She has very short legs.

"No wonder they couldn't find us" she said "We never got to anywhere-"

I laughed, "I think it was a good plan."

"PLAN!?"

The driver pulled away, and she shut up. It would be a long haul tracking northeast through the countryside to Salisbury along the roads our driver had chosen. He was going back empty and in no rush. We were both famished, having gone more than twenty hours with nothing more substantial than a sticky bun and some Jelly Babies. Our new friend, Kevin was more than happy to stop at the next pub we came to. More than happy since I had graciously offered to pay for his meals in return for the lift. The pub, a sign creaking out front proclaiming it the Cock's Roost, was an ancient building all stone with a newly thatched roof. Inside, it was cool and dark, with a log fire burning in a huge hearth at one end of a long common room. The three of us took a table in a back corner and ordered the local special.

Tary said she was famished, but barely touched more than the topping of her Shepherds pie. Not surprisingly, they didn't stock any diet cola, but they had regular, so she made do. Kev seemed perfectly delighted with the cuisine, however, and I can attest to the excellence of the local brew. Tary was sitting in the corner of the bench, I was on the outside and Kev directly across, facing us. From his vantage-point, Kev had a good view of the door and bar area.

"Now, I wonder what that's all about", he said, raising his eyebrows. I turned to look as Tary picked at her pie. I slumped down in my seat as I recognised Thornhill.

"Tary, it's Thornhill! He's talking to the barkeeper showing him a picture.. of us, most probably."

"You got the cops out for ya?" asked Kev, breathlessly. "That bloke don't look nothing like an inspector to me, even if he did flash a badge to the innkeeper."

"He did?" said the Doctor.

"That's what got me attention. It's not the kind of thing what ya see everyday, at least not out here." I got the distinct impression that we'd suddenly gone up a notch in his eyes. "So what're they after ya for?"

"Believe me," said Tary, as softly as she could. "If that is the man we think it is, he's no policeman."

"No," I confirmed. "He's trying to kill us. He's the one gave me this." He pointed to his side, wincing as the motion pulled. "Dirk.. nasty.... twenty six stitches."

I looked at her, squeezing her hand under the table. "We've got to get out of here now. There's probably a way out through the kitchen. Kev, is the door to the lorry locked? We'll just grab our bag on the way."

"No," he answered, eyes popping. "But where ya going to go from here? There's not another village within five miles. We're still a good ways from Salisbury, fifty, sixty miles at least."

"Yes, well, there's no help for it." I started to slide out of the seat. "Let me know if he's looking this way, Kev."

"You're okay, Doc, if you go right now. He's stopping for a pint, it looks like."

"Good. That means there's probably nobody waiting outside. C'mon, Tary."

As we started out, Kev looked at me. "I'll meet you in the lorry missus, you and Doc, Don't worry, I'll get ya to Salisbury okay."

She smiled. "No, Kev, but thank you. You're not involved in this. One man's been killed already. Just stay here like you're waiting for us to come back and give us a good start, will you?"

I pushed a twenty-pound note into his hand. "Take care, and thank you." I added, "Oh, and if you can think of a way to do a little misdirecting, that could be a help. We've had a change of plan, we're not going on to Salisbury."

Kevin looked at the note in his hand, then grinned.

"For twenty quid ya got yourself an expert! Where are ya going?"

"Forgive me, friend, but it's better that you don't know." I grabbed Tary's hand tightly and we walked quietly through the door to the kitchen and on out the back.

We stopped to grab the duffel bag from the lorry. Obviously, we couldn't stay to the road. To avoid being spotted if Thornhill drove by, we forced our way through the hedge and stayed close on the inside as we paralleled the roadway.

"How could they have found us so quickly?" she asked, managing somehow to keep stride with me.

"They didn't did they?" I answered, stopping. "Sit down a minute, Tary."

"But Thornhill... What if he.."

"He can't see us through the hedgerow even if drives by within inches. Besides, he had no idea we were anywhere within a hundred miles of that place." I smiled my best, sitting down next her. "And if I'm any judge, Kevin will be busy entertaining him awhile yet. With luck, he'll send him off on a snipe hunt." I felt a twinge of pain and put my head down a minute. "They'll be looking for us at Salisbury by evening, I hope."

"I don't understand." She shook her head. If they didn't know we were there, why did he...

"Think of it this way, Tarish. If they did know we were there, they never would've sent Thornhill in. They know we'd recognise him instantly." I shifted to a more comfortable position, then looked at her. "You don't ever forget someone who's tried to kill you. Never, ever."

"So you think they just sent him to show our picture 'round, on the off chance that someone would recognise us?"

"Probably being sent to the least likely places, and don't forget, we're now a day behind them." I grinned. "They think we're ahead and we're really behind!" I couldn't resist a bit of a chuckle .

"You're enjoying this!" she accused.

"Aren't you?" I leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Aren't you really? Just a little?"

She must have stared at me for a full minute before she answered. "You're completely nuts, Art. This kind of thing sounds very glamorous when it's between the covers of a nice leather bound edition in front of a roaring fire, with a cup of tea at my elbow. It's all well and fine when you know the good guys have to win, that the boy will get the girl and that they all get to live happily forever after. But Arthur, this isn't a good book for a rainy weekend! This is you and me crouching behind a hedge in the middle of nowhere! There are people after us, trying to... to... You know, I'm not even sure of exactly what they are trying to do!"

I stood up. '" Come on, that's enough rest. We've still got a long way to go before it gets dark."

"Oh we do?" she stayed put. "Where are we going?"

"Do you mean for tonight, or ultimately?" I winked trying to jolly her along. "Tonight, I promised you a hedgerow, and a hedgerow it shall be!" I went to pick up the duffel, but she held on.

"And what about tomorrow night, and the next, and the next one after that? How many money dos you have and how long will it hold out? I've got a return flight booked from London, you know, and the price doubles after the first of the month! I've got a family at home waiting to hear from me, and a job...." she had to stop to avoid the cracking in her voice.

"I thought you enjoyed this sort of adventure story.." I said with a grin.

"Arthur, we don't have someone writing the story for us. All we have is ourselves."

"Is that what you really believe?" I asked to try and make her think.

I think she suddenly realised what I was saying. She remembered what she'd told Robbie on the train; about Those who look after fools like us. She remembered her faith in reincarnation and Karma and magic. She remembered that there are no coincidences. She blinked at me through the tears that did not fall.

"Shall we go now?" I said, offering her my hand.

"So, where are we headed?" she asked grabbing the duffel bag.

I suddenly had an idea and smiled. "Have you got your passport with you?"

She nodded.

"Good, good. Come on, we're going to Plymouth!"

"But that's further South, isn't it? I thought we were trying to get to London! Besides, Plymouth is still in England so why a passport?"

"Yes but they know that, so all the normal ways will be watched. We've frustrated them, Tarish. You've thwarted them with your spell, so they have no alternative but to expend a great deal of manpower and effort in the ordinary way. I dare say most every rail station between here and London will be watched. Not every one, but a great many will. The trouble is, we have no way of knowing which ones. You can be certain they'll be keeping around the clock surveillance on Paddington." I began walking slowly. I was beginning to feel distinctly unwell.

"You don't plan to walk all the way to Plymouth, do you?" she was concerned, I could hear it in her voice and I struggled to stand straight and brush off the pain.

"Don't be foolish, girl! I plan on getting to the nearest rail station and booking through to Plymouth."

"But you said........."

"Yes, the stations between here and London, but they've no reason to think we'll be heading south, do they?" I turned and lifted an eyebrow at her "So, we head south, to Plymouth."

"And from there?"

"Brittany, Tarish! We take the ferry service to France. I doubt very much if they'll have thought to post sentries on the French rail lines. We shouldn't have any trouble. Then we can take another Ferry service across the Channel further on up the coast, you see? We'll bypass Paddington and Waterloo completely!

"You need a doctor." She didn't ask, she merely stated a fact. "You have no more antibiotic and I didn't like the look of it when I changed the dressing this morning. You're colour is terrible, Arthur."

"Now let's not get into that again." I stopped and sat for a minute. "We can't see another doctor without having to answer an awful lot of questions, right?"

"Yes, but.."

"No, no, hear me out, first."

"I'll listen, but you know I'm right."

"We haven't got the time. I am a doctor, Tary. It's not great, but it's not so bad it can't wait until London. Trust me, I wouldn't do anything to endanger myself further." I smiled at her. "Are you tired of lugging that bag all over creation, is that it?"

"It's not that, I just worry about you!" She lifted the bag to her shoulder. "It's not that heavy."

"Well, come on then, we're wasting time. Let's go find a train station. We should make London by tomorrow, if we're lucky."

She hesitated a minute, but decided to just barge right in. "What do we do when we get to London?"

I frowned. I had been hoping she wouldn't ask that question. "Well, to be perfectly honest that's been a sticking point, hasn't it. Actually, I thought we'd go and see the Director. Officially, I'm off the payroll as of the last of the month, of course, but unofficially..." I shrugged. "It's not as if I was in pure research, you know. I'm hoping Sir will see this as a continuation of my last assignment and help us. The Grimoir was recovered in the name of Her Majesty's Government, after all."

"And if he doesn't see it that way?"

"Don't worry so much, Tary. I'll think of..."

"Don't say it!"

It turned out that Kev had been right. The nearest village was five miles distant, but there wasn't a rail station there. It soon became apparent though, that we had to do something about our general appearance if we ever hoped to get a taxi! One night and two days on the road without even a proper wash hadn't done anything to improve our looks. We looked like a pair of middle-aged hippies in our travel stained jeans and wild hair. In truth, I must have looked dreadful, so it was easy to understand why people kept shying away from us. Tary looked a little better, after a quick make up in the public toilet, so she checked us into the nearest bed and breakfast. Maybe a good night's sleep would help. At the least there would be a hot shower and a hot meal. She rinsed out her blouse and my shirt and hung them over the heater to dry. We looked bad enough and the weather had been good. Imagine what it would have been if it had run true to season and poured rain! Once again, Whoever, had been on our side. It certainly wasn't Tary's doing, which was just as well. I was never one of those who believed that magic, individual spells at least, cause a traceable disturbance in the Ether, but there was no sense taking chances.

I was asleep in seconds and slept through the night. Apparently I had been feverish off and on and poor Tarish had been up all night wringing out cool cloths, whispering every arcane fever spell she knew. Finally the sun rose, and I woke feeling better for the rest.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

She shook her head. " No. Let's get some breakfast."

We finally wound up on the train bound for Plymouth. From there, taking the boat to Brittany posed no special problem. Indeed, after recent events, the entire journey along the coast of France was blissfully uneventful. Tary was able to sleep almost the whole of the way while I kept watch over her. It was early evening by the time we arrived at Victoria Station in the heart of London.

"Now, here's the sticky part.... They may have someone watching just in case, Tary. We'll wait in the train until the other passengers have all disembarked I think. Go have a look on the other side and see if you can spot anything out of the ordinary."

She did as I asked, moving across the aisle and peering through the window at the crowds milling on the platform. I supposed it all seemed ludicrous, and she said so as she returned to her seat I thought it was the better part of valour not to say anything. When the platform was nearly empty and the train guard was coming down the row toward I was satisfied.

"It looks all clear." We're not going on the main concourse. There's a side exit where the taxi queue should be shorter.

"You lead." She said shouldering the bag again and following me up a flight of long stairs and down a nearly deserted side corridor. There was absolutely nothing suspicious that I could see, but I was uneasy all the same. Once on the street we took our place in the queue for the next taxi. When we were safely inside I finally breathed a sigh of relief. We'd made it to London.

©2000 by Trish Reynolds