Doctor Who_ Cats Cradle_ Witch Mark - Andrew Hunt [22]
‘Looks like the end of the road,’ Jack said with a definite tinge of smugness affecting his voice.
Futilely David rattled the gates but they were held securely by a large, highly polished padlock and chain. He turned and surveyed his surroundings with a calculating look in his eyes.
‘I reckon that it we cut across those woods, we’d get on to the main road in no time.’
‘No, David,’ Jack protested, knowing that he had already lost the argument to the forces of illogic.
‘Why don’t we just walk back along the road?’
‘Jack,’ David gave his winning smile, ‘Jackie boy, have you seen what time it is? If we go all the way back there we’ll probably end up camping in the middle of nowhere and, forgive me for saying it, in this weather that is something I, for one, can do without. Do you read what I’m saying, man, like, are we on a similar wavelength here?’
Jack counted very slowly up to ten, and then through gritted teeth he said, ‘David, I am already soaked to the skin and I have no desire , no desire whatsoever, you know, even if I’d just had Lake Michigan emptied over me, to tramp through uncharted tracts of knee-length sodden grass just to cut a lousy hour off walking to some godforsaken place.’
The sudden transition that David underwent was amazing in its extremity. From talking like some sort of sixties reject he switched over to total aggression. He waved his fist in Jack’s face and shouted,
‘Hey Jack, if you want to get your butt frozen off unnecessarily well then that’s just cool, just fine,, just hunky dory, but don’t expect me to feel the same way. I’ll see you in New England.’ He turned and stormed off the road. A few feet into the reeds he vanished with a yell.
Alarmed, Jack dashed forward. David lay collapsed in a heap at the bottom of a six-foot ditch, concealed by the tall grass. Suddenly David burst out laughing and Jack had to join him. He nodded his head.
'Okay, David, we'll go your way,' he agreed.
They followed the fence through the trees but when it suddenly rose precipitously up the hillside they decided to take the route of least effort. A V-shaped gash in the hillside offered a quick passage into the next valley. It also gave some relief from the long, damp grass, though the replacement, a slippery sheen of dark red mud, wasn't much better. Thankfully, the brief altercation had cleared the air between the two Americans and had lifted their spirits considerably.
In the next valley the trees clustered around them again, though maybe not quite as thick as before.
Eventually they reached a stream running through the bottom of the valley. At this level, the stream was a bit too wide, deep and, importantly, wet for them to cross. They decided to walk along it until it grew narrow enough for them to jump.
The muted woodland sounds were overlaid with the constant sound of water running inexorably downwards between sky and soil. In the distance a dog barked, driven to distraction by some unseen diversion. Even the drizzle had fallen to a minimum and occasional shafts of sunlight danced fitfully on the water. A rainbow, like a phoenix rising from the ruins of the afternoon, spread across the sky. Jack found his breathing becoming more and more relaxed as he basked in the pleasurable sensations.
.'Now. this is better,' said David, obviously enjoying the stimulation as much as Jack. 'The weather's finally sorted itself out.'
'Don't say anything,' Jack warned him, 'it could change a moment s notice - you should know that.'
‘Yeah. Hey, you know, there's something familiar about this place, I . . .' He shook his head as though to dislodge the memory from its dusty shelf high above the central processing unit.
Jack examined the stream. 'I guess we could get across now' he said.
‘No, if we carry on along here we'll meet the road eventually.'
‘What? How do you know? You're just making that up.’
'No, I think I've been here before. Let me look at the map. ' Jack turned round and let David rummage. through his rucksack. He tugged the map free and opened it wide.