Too Close To Home - Part 3

Part 3

I was speechless at first, not quite sure what to think, and I placed an arm round Ambers shoulders, directing her away from the scene. She waited back on the bank whilst I returned to the waters edge.
I hunkered down, peering closely at the hundreds of fish bobbing against the edge of the jetty uprights, �There�s something in the water.�

�Yeah, dead fish,� said Amber quietly.

�No,� I shook my head, �I mean, there�s something in the water itself, you can see it on the surface, a film, almost oily.� I looked up, across the water. �That could just be from the fish themselves though. Can you smell that?� I�d caught an ever so slight chemical taint in the air, but it was gone again.

�What could it be?� asked Amber, stepping hesitantly closer.

�I don�t know, but it was potent enough to do this in a relatively short period of time. These fish don�t appear to have been dead very long,� I pointed down to my right at the water, �Some of them are still alive.�

�Who would do such a thing?�

�I don�t know. We don�t even know if it�s been done intentionally yet. But if they have, and this is�� My face froze mid-sentence. I looked vaguely in the direction of the cabin, back through the trees. �Oh god no� Horus!� I bolted from the jetty at a fast sprint, crashing through the rushes reaching into the pathway.

Although it was only quarter of a mile or so, smoking had long ago taken its toll on me. I jogged up through the trees and around by the gate, gasping for breath. �Horus?� I called out, scanning the immediate horizon and the surrounding long grass for signs of my cat. Horus had been my companion for ten years, and the sudden horrible realisation that whatever had affected the fish in the loch could have had adverse effects on him too was one I didn�t want to think about. The thought that Amber and I could also be in danger hadn�t yet even crossed my mind.

�Horus?� I ran up the steps to the open porch around the front of the cabin and turned to see Amber jogging up the path through the trees.

�Any sign of him?� she asked, looking flushed.

I shook my head and looked down along the length of the cabin foundations. That�s where I found him, curled up in the grass, just visible amongst a large clump of docken leaves.

�Aw no. Horus, no.� I vaulted the railing and landed clumsily beside him, he didn�t so much as flinch. Amber appeared at my side, trying to pull me back as I pushed the large leaves aside. I shrugged her hands off my shoulders and sat back on the ground, my head spinning. Horus was dead. The expression on his face appeared tranquil enough but the foam around his mouth suggested it hadn�t been a particularly peaceful death. I could feel the anger rising in my gut. The initial rage at having my companion snatched away was almost overwhelming.

After a few long minutes I eventually stood, my legs shaky and an unpleasant taste of bile in my mouth. I turned to Amber, who took my hands and squeezed them.

�Who would do such a thing?� I asked quietly. It wasn�t really a genuine question that required an answer. I was already beginning to wonder.

�Should we call the police?� she asked, �I mean, something has obviously happened here, to cause this.�

I released her hands and shook my head, �Not yet.�

Her expression changed to one of confusion, �Why not? Tom, someone has poisoned all those fish, and Horus. We need to tell someone, damn it we could be at risk too!�

The breeze increased to a light wind which rustled up the surrounding trees in a creaking whisper. I hadn�t considered this, and had to admit it was now an obvious possibility. After a while I conceded and nodded, �You�re right. I�m sorry.�

We headed back inside, an atmosphere hanging heavily in the air. I dug out my cell phone from my room and returned to the kitchen. Upon turning it on, a barrage of SMS message began flooding in. More out of habit than any other reason, I began reading through them before making the call. The first was from my boss. I read it aloud after not quite believing what I�d seen, �Jesus, listen to this, �picked good time for vac!airport,bus&train closed!police checks on A9,most roads closed or diverted,enjoy!!��

�What?!� said Amber, taking the phone and reading it for herself, �What�s going on?� She handed it back, �This is getting weird.�

I quickly scrolled through the rest of the messages. Most of them were of similar content from other friends and colleagues who knew I�d headed for the �sticks� that weekend. The last one however, gave me a little more information, �Air force presence increased at airport, reports of people getting sick, lots of folk scared, suggest stay where you are!�

�Who�s that from?�

�Just a guy at work,� I switched the phone off again, �Amber, we can�t call the police, not yet at least. We need to think things through.�

Amber gave a worried look, �What is there to think through?�

We sat down at the heavy pine table, �You were the one who said this was getting weird. First the problem at the airport, an emergency requiring military control. Then you�ve got all that military traffic at the petrol station, and the suits who questioned you. Alongside what you saw in the back of that truck.�

Amber had looked puzzled at first, but realisation was setting in, �And now this.�

I nodded in agreement, �Maybe I�m just being paranoid,� I said, �But I fancy taking a nice drive up to the reservoir. Want to come?�

�Why the reservoir?�

�Think about it,� I began, �It supplies half of the east side of town with their water. Not only that but our loch here is downstream of the reservoir. All those fish are dead� along with my buddy, and we�ve got people getting sick back in town.�

Amber shook her head, �I don�t like it, Tom, it�s a scary thought.�

�I know it is, but it�s all too much of a coincidence. I just want to take a look. Then we�ll come back and call the police. Okay?�

:*:

We locked up the cabin and set off up the narrow trail in my car. The weather was holding, but dark clouds on the horizon told us what was in store for later. We reached the end of the track as it met the main road at the edge of the trees. It was deserted in both directions, but then that was nothing unusual. I turned left and accelerated up to a steady thirty-five. There was no hurry. The road wound its way along the edge of the plantation before splitting off after two miles and taking a turn to the west. I stopped the car at the junction and got out.

�What you doing?� asked Amber from the passenger seat.

�Just looking,� I replied above the noise of the idling engine. I bent down at the roadside, and just on the edge where tarmac met ground, a wide churned strip of mud had recently been disturbed. The tracks were from large vehicles, and quite a number of them by the state of the verge. They headed round the tight junction and off up the reservoir road.

I jumped back in the car and continued on up the road. �What was it?� asked Amber.

�Confirmation that you weren�t imagining things last night,� I said smiling.

About a mile from what I knew was the reservoir entrance, I slowed and turned off to the right, onto the grass. Before Amber got so much as a chance to protest, I turned the steering wheel harder to the right and drove straight in through the thick bushes lining the roadside. The undergrowth parted and the car nosed in between two trees, coming to a stop on a flattened mound just on the other side. A perfect place to hide your car, which I�d remembered from my younger years.

�You could have warned me!� gasped Amber, still clutching the door handle with one hand and the edge of the seat with her other.

I grinned and got out, �Sorry, I just remembered about it at the last second.� The springy branches of the thick bushes had closed almost perfectly behind us, concealing the car from the road. At most someone might notice the flattened tracks leaving the road onto the grass, but it was better than leaving it out in full view.

�How are your cross-country legs?� I asked, knowing full well that mine were well out of practice.

�You�re lookin� at someone who has walked to work all her life! I can keep up,� she replied defiantly.

�I was more worried about me being able to keep up with you!� I said smiling. We set off away from the road, towards the other side of the tree-line as it met a large, open field. Cutting through the tree-line, we walked along the edge of the field, trying to keep as out of sight from the road as possible. It took us half an hour to eventually get as far as the beginning of the reservoir.

We stopped where the bushes thickened and listened. All we could hear however, was the wind in the trees above us and the sound of the water rushing through one of the sluice gates. After five minutes, we carried on slowly, cutting back into the trees and towards the road again. The reservoir lay on the other side.
Suddenly the sound of an approaching vehicle stopped us both in our tracks and we ducked down out of sight. I couldn�t tell what kind of car it was, but it slowed at the entrance to the small car park beside the sluice gates, its tyres crunching on the gravel as it pulled in.
We waited a few more minutes, �How about you wait here a second? I�m just going a little closer, see if I can get a look.� I kept my voice low.

If I didn�t know better, I�d have said Amber was quite glad at this, and she nodded, saying nothing.

I crept forward through the tightly packed lower branches, trying to make as little noise as possible but feeling them scratching my face as I went. Once I�d reached one of the larger trees, right at the edge of the road, I stopped, peering through as I crouched. I could see right across the road and down into the car park, and what I found, disturbed me to say the least.

To be continued...