Part 25 (1/2)
BY THE TIME PAULA AND JACK SR. EMERGED BACK INTO THE reception area, Lois and Josie were desperate for news. When they heard that Jack would be fine, they relaxed.
”This is his father, Mrs. M,” Paula said.
”We've met,” said Lois caustically. ”In the rain,” she added, and stopped there. There was little point in going over old dramas. G.o.d knows what will happen to him, she thought. But it looks as though there's been a get-together here, for the moment at least.
”I'm Mum's daughter,” Josie said, feeling left out. ”Shall I take Frankie for you, Paula? I just love giving him a cuddle, and he seems to like me.”
”Could I have a quiet word, Mr. Hickson?” Lois said, as the others went across to the cafe for drinks.
”You want to know about the other bloke, I suppose,” he said, a spasm of pain crossing his face.
”I know a bit already. If you could just tell me if it was your workmate at Parks and Gardens? The one you had a fight with?”
Jack nodded. ”It was him,” he said. ”I think he had been following me, and right at the last minute he appeared from nowhere. I knew at once it was him.” He said nothing about his own long and fruitless attempt to find Ross. ”He said something,” he continued, ”but I couldn't hear because of the cheering. Then I saw the knife and tried to get away, but I was hemmed in by the crowd. It was then that young Jack's soap box came straight towards us. The knife caught my arm as the fool went down.”
”And?”
”He was killed instantly,” Jack said slowly. ”Hit his head on a stone bollard on the pavement. The knife fell to the ground, and a cop picked it up.”
”What are you two talking so seriously about?” Josie said, as they returned with a tray of coffees. ”We should be celebrating that things weren't any worse!”
Lois said nothing, and nor did Jack Sr. Frankie amused them all with his attempts at drinking apple juice through a straw, and the third stretcher was not mentioned again.
SIXTY-ONE.
GAVIN, KATE AND CECILIA AMBLED HOME WITH TONY AND Irene Dibson. They didn't talk much, except to say that it had been a wonderful day. Until the last minute, that is.
”Took the s.h.i.+ne off it,” Tony said. He struggled to get the wheelchair over a rough patch on the pavement, and Gavin insisted on taking over.
”I saw it all,” Kate said in a small voice. ”I was so excited, and so was Derek. He was standing at the finis.h.i.+ng line and we'd just had a word when they came down the track. He was rooting for young Jack, like most other people. Then it happened. I couldn't believe my eyes. Rebellion seemed to be going so well.”
”Well, actually,” began Gavin hesitantly, ”there might have been a bit of a problem with the steering. The garage man was checking the vehicles at the start, and he said something about too much play on the wheel. But Derek was going to have a word with John Thornbull to tighten it up.”
”Oh, Lord!” said Kate. ”D'you think that's what happened? Why it went off course?”
”They'll find out,” said Irene. ”There's bound to be an investigation. Three people were hurt, weren't they? I do hope they're all okay.”
”Don't you worry, missus,” Tony said, taking over the chair and pus.h.i.+ng up his garden path. ”Derek will see to it.”
DEREK WAS WAITING ANXIOUSLY FOR HIS MOBILE TO RING WITH news from the hospital. He had been busy trying to clear people away from the accident so that the ambulance could get near, and he did not really know the details of who was hurt-or worse. He had seen three stretchers taken, and that was all.
He was keeping busy, helping out wherever it was needed, dismantling the straw bale barrier, taking down the ramp, collecting up notices and so on. ”Heard anything yet?” John Thornbull shouted to him from his forklift truck. Derek shook his head. ”I'll let you know, boy,” he said.
Preying on his mind was the obvious question. Had the steering failed on Rebellion? He could not now remember whether or not he had asked John to check it. So much had been going on, and he had been required everywhere at once. The sensible thing to do would be to ask John right now, when he was there in front of him.
”John!” he shouted. ”Can you come down here a minute?”
They stood by the half-dismantled ramp and John thought hard. ”I couldn't swear to it,” he said, ”but I don't think you asked me. I know I didn't look at it, and I think I would've if you'd asked. But honestly, Derek, there were people firing questions at me from all sides and I really can't remember. Do you think that's why the box went into the crowd?”
Derek frowned. ”I'm not sure, of course,” he said, ”but it was just at the time there was a scuffle on the edge of the track and a straw bale went crooked, leaving a gap. Seems a bit of a coincidence. We shall know a bit more when Lois rings, I hope.”
A man Derek recognized as a local journalist approached. ”Can I have a word, Mr. Meade?” he said. ”Just a few details to add to my paper's big feature about the grand prix.”
Oh G.o.d, thought Derek. I know exactly what he wants to ask. ”What can I tell you?” he said as pleasantly as he could. No point in antagonising the press.
”It was the accident that occurred in the final. Do you know who got hurt? A young boy driving, I believe? And two other men? Do you have their names?”
Derek shook his head. ”Sorry, no, I don't. I am waiting for a call from my wife. She took the mother of the boy to hospital.”
At this point, Derek's mobile rang. ”Excuse me,” he said, and walked away, up the garden path and into the bungalow. The old lady who lived there beckoned him in, and shut the door firmly in the journalist's face.
”Lois? Thank G.o.d you've rung. What's the news?” He dare not phrase the question he wanted to ask. Is Jack Jr. dead? But then he didn't have to, because Lois told him the good news that he was hurt but alive, and so was his father, who had been in the crowd, disguised as a woman!
”And the other bloke?”
There was a pause, and then Lois cleared her throat. ”Didn't make it, I'm afraid. He hit his head when he fell. But there was something dodgy about him. It seems he had a knife and had gone for Jack's father. Lucky that Rebellion went into the crowd just at that moment and stopped him. I gather he'd intended to kill.”
”Blimey! Looks like it's more complicated than we thought.”
”I'm just leaving now. Jack's dad has to stay in overnight, so I'm bringing Paula and Frankie, and Josie, back home.”
”And young Jack?”
”He has to stay for a while until they're sure he's okay to release.”
”Sounds like prison,” Derek said, without thinking.
Again a pause from Lois. ”That might happen,” she said, and rang off.
CECILIA WAS SAFELY ASLEEP IN BED, AND GAVIN AND KATE SAT with a drink in hand watching the local news.
”Here we go,” said Kate, as the announcer said that a successful day in Long Farnden had been marred by an accident resulting in three people being taken to hospital. Luckily, they had some good shots of the soap boxes in action before the final race, and a great one of Mrs. Tollervey-Jones spurring on Jam & Jerusalem as she careered round the corner by the green. Then there was a shot of Rebellion turning off course and screams and shouts as the crowd tried to escape.
”Pity we can't see exactly what happened,” Gavin said, leaning forwards to look more closely. ”Mrs. T-J is in the way.”
”It still looks grim,” Kate said. ”Perhaps they'll tell us who was hurt, and how badly.”
But the item ended there, with no further details of names or the condition of the people involved.
The phone rang, and Kate went to answer it. ”Josie? Are you back home?”