Black Tide (12 page)

Toby slammed the door shut and, with shaking hands, pulled the bolts across. His heart was thumping loudly in his chest. Should he tell Tash? Maybe she hadn’t heard the howl? He decided not to. She had enough to worry about.

When he went into the hall he found her fast asleep, curled up in one of the armchairs with her wolf coat pulled tightly around her. He set to demolishing his armchair. If the choice was between being warm or being comfortable in the chair, then he would choose to be warm. Beside which, he didn’t think he was going to get much sleep tonight.

After smashing up the armchair with an axe he found in an empty log basket, Toby stacked up the wooden pieces in the grate and set fire to them. The flames leapt and spat but soon the warmth spread across his cheeks. There was just one last job he had to do, and that was to secure the lodge. He didn’t want whatever was out there to sneak in on them in the middle of the night. He dragged benches in front of doors, propped up chairs against door handles, and pulled cupboards over cellar entrances. Then, exhausted, he slumped down in front of the crackling fire and fell fast asleep.

It was late morning when Toby eventually woke to the smell of something frying. Tash was up and cooking tinned frankfurters on the stove. The fire was cackling and roaring with wood from her armchair. Both of them squatted on the wooden floor of the hall to eat, curling up to be closer to the warmth of the fire.

“So,” said Tash, breaking her silence. “You heard something howling and decided not to tell me?”

“You were asleep.” Toby was too stiff and sore to enter into an argument this morning. “I didn’t want to wake you, and it might not have been a howl anyway.”

“It was. I heard it too and later there were more.”

“It didn’t sound like before though,” said Toby thoughtfully. “Last night it sounded like a different animal, more… I don’t know… more wild somehow. And it was much scarier if that’s possible. Could it have been wolves?”

“Could be. Snowy must have belonged to a pack somewhere in these parts. But they were being very vocal – wolves don’t usually make all that noise unless there’s something really upsetting them.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know – something threatening their territory? Maybe another pack of wolves?”

“Or dogs?” said Toby, his stomach lurching with fear. “I’ve a really bad feeling about this, Tash. I think we should get on the road now and get away from this place. I don’t like this one bit.”

Toby kicked the fire out of the grate, and grabbed his bag. The two of them quickly stashed their stuff
into their rucksacks and set off without looking back. It was one place Toby really didn’t want to see ever again. The two of them walked fast, stopping only to check the map, or to take a drink of water from a stream. The heavy pack was rubbing Toby’s shoulders sore but he didn’t dare moan. Tash walked stoically beside him without grumbling.

She’s been very quiet – I think she’s not feeling well but doesn’t want to worry me. I just hope she’s going to make it to Stirling.

They stopped by a derelict house of tumbled-down stones for their lunch, perching on the mossy walls to eat broken crackers and corned beef. Toby sat nervously watching the horizon.

It feels like we’re being followed. But maybe I’m just imagining it? Maybe I’m going crazy? After all that’s happened, who could blame me for going a bit bonkers?

Toby didn’t let Tash linger long and they kept moving quickly along the narrow path that took them down through the woods. They leapt over boulders and across streams until they came to a fork in the track.

“This way is quicker,” pronounced Tash, peering at the map and pointing up a hillside. “But this way is less mountainous.” She motioned to the other path.

Toby studied the two routes carefully: this was important. If he chose the wrong way now, they might never reach Stirling. He looked up at the black ridge poised above them. It was a more difficult path but there was more chance of seeing something or someone sneaking up on them.

“We’re going up there,” he stated, starting towards the mountainous route. “We’ll have to risk it.”

Tash nodded and then plodded on behind him.

Maybe she’s just tired and fed up? Who could blame her? We’ve had so many set-backs. I must try harder to be positive and lead the way.

Toby took her hand and marched forwards. They needed to cover a lot of ground that afternoon before it got dark at about three o’clock. He didn’t want them to be stuck on the mountains at night.

Together they walked side-by-side, stride for stride onwards, climbing higher and higher, the wind whipping at their clothes and faces. The wide track dwindled to a stony, scree-strewn path.

Ah, that foot’s sore where that flipping pony stood on it and my legs are killing me, but got to keep going. Can’t be much further to the summit, then it’ll be easier on the way down the other side.

Toby placed his feet carefully one in front of the other as the path twisted and turned taking them up and up towards the cloudy tops. The backs of his legs were throbbing with the effort and he gasped as the coldness ripped his breath from his chest. Stopping to wait for Tash, he scanned the hills. Shrouded in murky greyness, they looked foreboding. Then the light suddenly left the sky. A black cloud was rolling off the top of the mountain towards them.

“Snow, I think,” Toby called out to the breathless Tash. But as he spoke, the rain cloud burst over their heads. The wind drove icy shafts of piercing wet needles into their exposed faces. Toby pulled his
jacket collar up to his chin, yet as they climbed higher the rain penetrated every possible gap in his clothes. A freezing dampness began seeping through to his skin.

Never did see what folk liked so much about hill walking. This isn’t much fun.

Toby stopped for Tash. She was getting slower and slower and further and further behind.

We’re never going to get over the top before nightfall at this rate. I hope she’s ok. She always seems so tough.

They made slow progress. Before long the path became slushy with snow then when they neared the summit they were trudging through thick drifts.

Darkness began to fall and a creeping panic almost overwhelmed Toby. He didn’t want to be benighted on the mountain, remembering his dad’s scary stories of climbers lost in snow blizzards.

He kept encouraging Tash to speed up, but could see that her strength was failing. There was no chance of them getting off the mountain before night came. He decided to find a sheltered spot and dig in.

Isn’t that what mountaineers do? Dig a snow hole or something? Better find somewhere quick – she’s going to collapse soon and then how will I move her?

Toby searched for a good shelter, raking his gaze round boulders and dips in the mountainside for a place where they could get out of the wind and maybe set up the little gas stove to cook hot food.

She’ll feel better once she’s got something hot inside her.

He wasn’t really convincing himself.

“Come on,” he called, trying to sound cheery. “I’ve found a great spot to have a rest.” He didn’t want to
frighten her by saying that they were staying on the mountain for the night.

Toby helped Tash into a tiny cave he had found under a large boulder. If they shuffled to the back there would be just enough room for the two of them to stretch out their weary legs. Tash clambered in, pulling her bags from her shoulders, and lay lifelessly on the floor of the cave. Toby took one look at her white face peeping out from under the wolf mask and panicked: she didn’t look right. He put his hand on her brow. It was burning hot.

Isn’t that the sign of an infection? Sylvie was really hot when we thought she had the red fever and it turned out she had tonsillitis. Maybe Tash has got that? What shall I do? Maybe we’ve got some of those painkillers that take down your temperature…

Toby rummaged in Tash’s rucksack, pulling out tins of food, a penknife, a small hacksaw, a battered leather-bound diary, a box of matches, a box of sticking plasters, and even a beautiful silk scarf. Right at the bottom he found a squashed, dirty, brown teddy bear, and…

Paracetamol. Great.

He took two tablets out of the foil wrapper and, filling a billycan with some snow, gave them to Tash.

“Take these and suck on this snow,” he ordered, pushing them into her limp hands. He had to hold her head up while she gulped down the tablets.

As he set up the stove and boiled some more snow, Toby tried not to think of how bad this all was. He sloshed a tea bag into the water and passed it to Tash
to drink. She pulled herself up and tried to slurp from the billycan. With numb frozen hands he struggled to open a tin of beans. “No toast, I’m afraid,” he joked, “but some nice oatmeal biccies to go with the beans?”

Tash nodded and he pushed a biscuit into her hand. He spooned some beans into a cup for her. As they sat quietly sucking on the hot beans, Toby listened to the wailing of the wind outside the cave. Suddenly he became aware of a louder noise, one that was getting nearer.

“DOGS!” he yelled. “There’s dogs outside – I can hear them barking!”

“What?” mumbled Tash, peering from under her wolf mask. Toby scrambled to the entrance of the cave and stared out into the snow-swept darkness. There it was again: a cacophony of barks and howls and whines. There must be a lot of dogs out there, and they were approaching fast.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL!

From the other side of the mountain, a bloodcurdling howl sung out, then another and another. Whatever animal was making them was coming up from the opposite direction. Toby staggered to his feet, pulling his jacket closely around him, and left the cave.

“Toby!” Tash cried out. “Don’t leave me!”

“Don’t worry – I’m not going far. I need to see what’s happening!” He pulled his binoculars out of his pocket. Wedged up against the boulder at the mouth of the cave, he squinted through the glasses. Just at that moment, the clouds raced away from the
moon leaving its pale silver light glinting on the side of the mountain. Toby’s insides curled. Racing across the snow-covered boulders were a dozen or so dogs, and they were headed straight for him. He froze to the spot.

The dogs! I can’t fight them off – but if I go back inside the cave it’ll lead them to Tash! What shall I do?

“Toby!” Tash called from inside the cave. “What’s going on?”

Toby didn’t reply. The dogs were racing nearer and nearer. In a few seconds they would be on him.

He closed his eyes and braced himself, then felt a whoosh of air as something leapt over his head. There was a noise of growling and snapping and the gnashing of teeth. He opened his eyes to see a swirl of grey bodies flying past him to collide with the black dogs running towards him.

The wolves! This must be their territory!

The grey and black bodies flung themselves at each other. Some of the dogs were burled over by the fastmoving wolves, their bodies entwined at they hurtled down the mountainside, locked in deadly combat. Toby clung to the boulder, scared to move as around him the animals snapped and bit at each other, their long white fangs dripping with blood.

I’d better not stay here – come on, Toby – GO! If I get back inside whoever wins this battle might forget I am here.

He slowly backed into the cave, gesturing to Tash to keep quiet. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, but she nodded to show she understood. Toby knelt beside the
mouth of the cave, clutching a folding walking stick that Tash had found on their way up the mountain.

I might be able to stop one dog or wolf that tries to enter but what if they all attack at the same time?

From outside he could hear the yelps and squeals of the fight. What was going to be the outcome of this battle? What would be better for them – the wolves winning? They might still attack humans when they’d seen the dogs off their territory. Toby glanced at Tash huddled on the ground; he knew they wouldn’t be able to make a bid to escape while the fighting was in full flow. She was walking nowhere.

“Toby!” cried Tash, pointing at the entrance. The head and shoulders of a large black dog were filling the mouth of the cave. The dog growled menacingly and bared its sharp gleaming teeth as blood dripped from its mouth.

“GET OUT!” Toby screamed, jabbing towards the dog with the walking stick. But it started to advance slowly, swinging its large slobbering head from side to side. Toby jabbed harder, hastily reversing back into the cave wall. He was stuck now: there was nowhere else to go and still the dog kept coming.

“LEAVE US ALONE!” he shouted. He could smell the dog’s evil breath.

“Take that!” cried Tash, throwing the billycan of boiling water at the dog. The water sprayed across its face, burning the tender skin on its muzzle. The dog yelped and momentarily backed off, shaking its head and rubbing its nose with a paw. Now it was an angry dog and, snapping its huge teeth, it sprang
forward at Toby. As Toby withdrew into as tight a ball as he could, the flailing teeth sailed past his ankle. The dog, its teeth gnashing with frustration, went to leap again but something stopped it. It screamed in pain and fury; something was attacking it from behind and had grabbed its rump. The dog was being slowly dragged out of the cave, its paws threshing wildly as it attempted to gain a foothold. It tried to bite at whatever had hold of it, its jaws snapping savagely in the air, but there wasn’t room for it to turn in the narrow cave entrance. Despite his frantic struggle, the dog slowly disappeared. Toby heard more growling and snarling outside the cave and then there was silence.

“What happened?” asked Tash.

“A wolf must have got him,” replied a shocked Toby, still curled up against the cave wall. “Just hope it’s not coming back for us next!”

At that, a large, grey, grizzled head appeared in the cave entrance. Toby snatched up his waking stick again and waved it at the wolf.

“No Toby! Don’t! It’s Snowy!” cried Tash.

“Are you sure? All wolves look the same to me!” Toby gawped at the bright blue eyes staring at him.

“Look – he’s still got my pink cream on his paw! Snowy? Snowy – come and say hello,” encouraged Tash, holding out her hand to the wolf. The animal lowered his head submissively and squirmed up to Tash, licking at her face, his tail beating out his happiness.

“Yuk! Is that wise?” said Toby. “He might bite your nose off.”

“Rubbish, eh, Snowy?”

Once Tash had made a fuss of him, the wolf lay down at the mouth of the cave, his ears pricked, staring into the outer darkness.

“Seems to have gone dead quiet,” said Toby. “But maybe the rest of the wolves are outside waiting for us. Maybe they sent Snowy in to lure us out?”

“Do you really believe those wolves are able to think like that?”

“Well, the dogs seem to be able to plan ahead – why are they following us otherwise? It can’t be a coincidence they turned up here. Lucky for us the wolves were keen to protect their territory.” Toby glanced over at Tash’s pale face, but her eyes were closed shut and her lips were turning a funny blue colour.

Oh no, she really looks ill. How am I going to get her out of here to somewhere warm and safe? I can’t carry her down the mountain, even if the wolves and dogs have gone.

There was no choice. They had to stay holed up in the cave, at least until daylight when he would be able to see whether it was safe to go out.

As the temperature plummeted in the night, Toby cuddled up to the now sleeping Tash and watched the snow falling outside. Thick white flakes blew horizontally across the mouth of the cave, quickly filling the hole with deep drifts. Snowy had curled up at Tash’s feet though Toby was careful not to go too close to him. While the wolf seemed to have bonded to Tash, Toby wasn’t sure Snowy would feel the same way about him.

We’re going to get snowed in here overnight. What was it the climbers did to make sure that they had enough air in a snow hole? Didn’t they stick a pole or something through the roof?

He picked up the walking stick and slid it into the snow so that it poked outside.

Toby pulled all the bags and rucksacks round Tash and huddled next to her, hoping that she would be better by the morning.

Something was licking Toby’s nose. Whatever it was, it had hot smelly breath. When Toby woke and opened his eyes, he saw a black-and-white collie wagging his tail furiously at him.

“Monty?”

For a moment Toby thought that he was still in a dream and that his old dog, Monty, had come. This collie stood and cocked his head sideways at Toby.

WOOF!

“Where have you come from? What’s your name? Ouch!” Toby tried to move but the cold seemed to have frozen the blood in his legs. The cave was bathed in a strange blue light as a torch outside filtered through the hard-packed ice that now blocked the entrance.

“Tash! Wake up! Someone’s here!” Toby cried, shaking the still form lying next to him. On the other side of her lay Snowy, guardedly watching with his hackles raised and his blue eyes staring at the intruder. The collie stood on Toby to reach over and sniff the large shaggy wolf, his tail wagging enthusiastically.

What did Jamie once say about dogs’ wagging tails? If they wag fast and horizontally then it’s a good sign, and if they wag slow and upright, it’s not?

Toby anxiously watched Snowy’s reaction as the wolf sniffed back at the collie. Snowy’s tail started to wag slowly, brushing the dirt on the floor of the cave. Suddenly he stood up, his huge body filling the tiny space.

“It’s ok, Snowy,” whispered Tash. “He won’t hurt us. He’s one of the good dogs.”

Reassured by the sound of Tash’s voice, Snowy’s tail started to wag faster and faster, and he stretched out his neck to lick the collie’s ears.

Phew! That could have been nasty! Snowy’s obviously used to pet dogs. Thank goodness Tash is awake.

“HELLO?” A man’s voice called from outside the cave. “HELLO?”

WOOF! barked the dog again, nudging Toby’s hand as if saying he should answer the man, who was now peering in through a small hole in the snow.

“Hello, who are you?” called Toby.

“That’s Casper you’ve got with you. He’s a rescue dog. He’s the one that found you. Now sit tight and we’ll have you dug out in a jiffy!” said the voice.

Who is that? And did he say “we”?

Tash opened one eye and mumbled,

“Raiders? Is it the raiders?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t know, but he sounds ok…”

“What did he say?”

“They’re digging us out. Maybe it’s going to be all right.” Toby laughed as Casper shook himself and they were splattered with wet globules of ice and
snow. “Oh, Casper! Am I glad to see you!” The collie wagged his tail and licked Toby’s nose again with his big sloppy tongue.

“Yuk!” Toby patted the dog hard. “You silly boy!”

There was digging and burrowing in the snow at the cave entrance and within a few minutes, a face and then a head and then shoulders, followed by a body, appeared. The man wriggled in, pushing a torch in front of him.

“Hi, my name’s Tom, and who are you?”

“I’m Toby and that’s Tash, but she’s poorly. I don’t know what’s the matter with her but I’m sure it’s not red fever. She did have a rash, but…” Toby babbled on, telling Tom about how they had got there, the trouble with the raiders and how they had lost the spooked ponies. Tash lay curled in a tight sleepy ball, with Snowy standing guard over her.

“Ok, Toby, calm down and don’t worry. You’re safe now. It’s going to be ok. Let’s get you both out of here first.”

“How did you know we were here?”

“We knew that someone was out here after some ponies with bridles came down off the moor yesterday, so we came looking. Lucky for you, Casper here picked up your scent.” The collie bounded up to the man and started licking his face.

“Crikes! What’s that?” said Tom, looking at Snowy.

“That’s Snowy,” replied Toby. “We rescued him at Kingshouse, and then he came and saved our lives. We can’t leave him here: the dogs might get him. Can we take him with us?”

“Dogs? We haven’t seen any dogs,” said Tom. “There are wolves in these mountains but they’re completely wild. That’s why I’m surprised to see one sitting here! Don’t think we can take a wolf with us.”

“I’m not going without Snowy!” whispered Tash hoarsely. “And he’s not a real wolf – he’s a wolf hybrid and he was a pet once. He saved our lives. We can’t leave him.”

“Ok, ok. He can run alongside the skidoos. He’ll have to keep up though,” said Tom.

Just then another face appeared at the hole, and then another and another. There seemed to be a crowd outside waiting for them to appear. Toby could hear the sound of spades hitting the icy snow and grunts from the men as they dug fast and furiously. Soon the hole was big enough for them to carry Tash out of the cave, wrapped in a shiny foil blanket. Snowy stood nervously beside her as four men lifted her carefully onto the waiting stretcher, strapping her in tightly.

“It’s ok, Snowy,” soothed Toby. “They aren’t hurting her.”

“I don’t feel so good,” murmured Tash, as the men loaded the stretcher onto the back of a skidoo. Toby squeezed her cold blue hand.

“You’re going to be all right now,” he reassured her. “These guys have got some serious equipment. We’ve been saved. Everything’s going to be fine.”

And maybe these guys can help me on my journey to Stirling? I need to get there, and quick!