Allegra Fairweather_ Paranormal Investigator - Janni Nell [92]
I glanced toward the cairn half expecting to see the Scottish warrior watching us but the entire area seemed deserted.
Once again focusing my eyes on the ground, I searched for freshly turned earth. By this time I had gone almost half way around the cairn. I could see the glow of Justina’s flashlight approaching from the other direction. Had we missed the place where Sir Alastair had been digging? Was it farther away from the cairn than I’d expected?
The sky was growing lighter. Maybe I’d have more success when the sun rose. I stretched, temporarily relieving the muscles of my neck and shoulders, then I turned to the ground again.
Come on. It must be here. My hands were balled into tight fists. I could feel the tension stretching my nerves to breaking point. Then I saw something.
A golfer might have thought they were badly replaced divots, but I knew better. In a second I had shoved the flashlight in my pocket and was on my knees tearing the divots out of the ground. They came easily, which was just as well considering I’d forgotten to bring a spade.
I dug like a dog—scooping out dirt and showering it behind me. Justina saw what I was doing and rushed to help. Casper stood guard.
We dug and dug, deeper and deeper, without finding anything. I was beginning to think we were digging in the wrong spot when I felt something beneath my fingers. At the same moment Justina cried out.
“It’s here.” She began a frenzy of digging until at last she pulled her skin free. She danced around, hugging it to her chest.
“We don’t have time for celebrating,” I said. “We have to get to the loch.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
I whirled around to face the owner of the voice.
Sir Alastair had a shotgun aimed at my head.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Hundreds of grouse and pheasants could testify that Sir Alastair knew how to use a gun. I looked into the gaping mouths of the barrels and knew I was going to die.
I knew something else too. He would never kill Justina. He wanted her alive.
I screamed at her. “Get out of here. Go to the loch. Run!”
As she took off down the hill, Sir Alastair said, “Shut up, Allegra,” and pulled the trigger.
I felt something hit me, hard. Then I was falling. I hit the ground. I waited to feel pain. Where had I been hit? Arms? No. Legs? No. Head? No. I couldn’t feel any pain at all. In fact, the only thing I could feel was Casper’s weight.
He had leaped in front of me at the critical moment. Now he was lying on top of me. Very still. I could feel a steady river of warmth flowing from his chest. Oh no.
“Casper, are you ok?”
He didn’t answer. I touched his cheek. He didn’t move. Gently I tried to roll him off me. As I did, he disappeared.
That meant he was badly injured. Not dead. Strictly speaking he was already dead, but he had a humanlike body. It would take a while for the damage to be repaired and the only place he could get that done was on Cloud 9. It might take minutes or hours or days. I didn’t have that long. Sir Alastair was already raising his gun again.
Bang!
I rolled to the side, dodging the bullet. As I rolled, the hard cylinder of my flashlight pressed into my side. I closed my hand around it. Easing it out of my pocket, I waited for Sir Alastair to take aim again. Then I pointed it at his eyes and flicked it on. He blinked in the sudden bright light. There was another bang but the shot went wild.
How many shots did he have left? I had no idea. But I wasn’t going to take any chances.
Deciding not to try and wrestle the gun from him, I figured my best chance was to run. If I zigzagged down the hill there was a slim chance he might not hit me. My chances would improve if I tripped him up before I ran. Okay, it wasn’t a great plan. Maybe not even a good one. But it was the best I could do under very difficult circumstances.
Keeping the flashlight in his eyes, I circled