Title: The Drowning
Plains
Author: bistokidsfan
Series: The Professionals
Genre: Action,
Supernatural, Post-Series
Characters: Bodie/Doyle
Warnings: Slash, Established Relationship
Status: Complete
Rating: Fan rated for adults
Finished: 31 October 2006
Summary: A castle, a
body, and a need for justice.
Disclaimer: No lawyer’s gonna make a monkey outta me. The
Professionals are owned by Brian Clemens et al, Bodie is owned by Doyle, &
I wouldn’t mind being owned by Tommy!
Feedback: bistokidsfan@comcast.net
Posting: The Circuit, The Hatstand, Proslib, The Safehouse,
CI-5HQ. Anywhere else just let me know.
A/N: For the
Discovered in a Livejournal's Discovered
On All Hallows Eve challenge.
Challenge: This is another nice,
simple one - scare the lads! Let them endure some form of spookiness (or
halloween silliness, since it's them!)
A/N2: Any
inaccuracies, mistakes, and downright fabrications are the responsibility of
the author shaping facts to fit her fancy and story.
A/N3: This is meant
to be read in conjunction with the fanvid by the same name, found at my website
http://www.bistokidsfan.com
***
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good
men to do nothing.
- Edmund Burke
you come, a brave ghost, to fix
in my mind without praise
or paradise
to make me your inheritor.
- Anne Sexton
***
Sunset approached as Bodie pulled into the car park and
stopped the silver Capri as close to the information kiosk as he could. Nearby, there was a lone panda car. Motorists streamed out of the exits behind
them as they stared through the metal railing toward the muddy path that
disappeared as it wound its way down to the river Dee. Wordlessly, Doyle and Bodie turned up their
collars and braved the cold wind to exit their motor and entered through the
open door of the small building.
"Inspector Keane?" Doyle inquired, and a tall man
in beige Burberry looked
up from where he was consulting with an older man in tweeds.
"Aye, that would be me," Keane affirmed looking
over them and not making much of the CI-5 men, who were dressed in Town style
leather jackets and trainers not fit for the Scottish autumn.
"Doyle and Bodie, CI-5," Doyle motioned to his
partner. "We're here to take over
the investigation."
"So Superintendent Hardgrave has informed me,"
Keane replied wryly. "PC Brent
has been securing the scene until your arrival. Mr. McAllister here will take you to the ferry. You'll have to walk, no motors," he
pointedly looked at the agents' feet.
"Best get started - coming on dark," McAllister
noted as he pulled on a cloth cap.
Bodie made a go-ahead gesture to McAllister to precede them out the
door. The Scot sniffed and moved past
Inspector Keane, who was shaking his head slightly. Doyle exchanged a silent look with Bodie, and the pair followed
their guide out the door, the grudging cooperation of the locals never seemed
to change.
At the edge of the car park, there was a small sign
designating the path to the Castle Threave ferry. McAllister opened the gate and motioned the partners through,
shutting it behind, and they started down the farm path.
A particularly cutting wind prompted Bodie to ask, "How
far to this ferry?"
"Half a mile," said McAllister.
"I understand you found the body?" said Doyle.
"Aye," replied McAllister, forging ahead.
Doyle looked back to give Bodie as shared look of
exasperation at the lack of forthcoming information. Shivering in the wind, Doyle dropped back to walk side by side
with Bodie, using the taller man as a shield.
Bodie raised his eyebrow at Doyle, and Doyle just grinned at him. "Cheeky sod," muttered Bodie, but
moved closer as he ducked down into his wool sweater.
They continued on in silence, and presently came round a
bend to a somewhat dilapidated wooden dock.
A small open boat with room for about six persons was tied up to a
weathered post.
McAllister waited for the partners to get in the craft, then
untied the painter and rowed the boat toward the dock that could be seen on the
other side of the river. Looking up,
the tower of the ruined castle stood sentry.
***
McAllister led them on a path through the ruins down to the
water's edge. PC Brent was outlined in
the dimming light as he pulled back the blanket that had been placed over the body.
"What time did you find her?" Bodie inquired,
stooping to look.
"'T'was about two o'clock or thereabouts. I'd just brought a load of visitors over and
they were looking about the grounds," McAllister replied.
"Is the body in the exact place you found it?"
asked Doyle, examining the gravel bank.
"No, I had to pull her out and check on her, didn't
I?" McAllister replied testily.
"She was half in the water.
When I pulled her up and checked, she was dead."
"How did you determine her identity?" Bodie spoke
to PC Brent.
"I found some women's clothing and a purse further up
the bank by the castle walls," Brent replied, blushing slightly.
"What time did you ferry her across, Mr.
McAllister?" Doyle turned to the guide.
"It was the one o'clock run," McAllister
replied. "When it got to be close
to two o'clock and she didn't show up, I went looking for her, and found
her. Had the take the rest of the
visitors back over and call for the police."
"The rest of the visitors are having their statements
taken at the station," PC Brent added.
"Yes, we've just come from there," Doyle smiled at
the earnest young constable. "A
family from Germany, just got to Scotland yesterday. Today was their first tour – not much of a welcome."
"Did you know Dr. Kaverov?" Bodie asked
McAllister.
"Do I look like I know any bloody Russians?" the
Scot snapped. "Never saw her
before today. She didn't open her
mouth, didn't keep with the group and went into the castle ruins by
herself."
"And you were with the group the whole time?" Doyle prompted.
"What I'm paid for isn't it?" McAllister replied testily. "Had trouble with those Germans
understanding me. Barely spoke English
they did. Spent all my time answering
questions and repeating meself."
"And, there's no other way on or off the island expect
by ferry?" Bodie questioned.
"Aye, there's only the one ferry running this late in
the season. Was supposed to be a half
day today, and the one o'clock run the last of the day," McAllister added.
"When you got back to the dock and went to call the
police, was there anyone else there?" Doyle asked.
"Just the groups visiting Castle Douglas, and they were
all at that end of the car park," MacAllister said. "Best to head
back and get the lads to take away the body," he added and turned to
leave.
"Shall you be needing me any
longer, sir?" Brent asked.
"Nah, go on," Doyle motioned for the constable to
join the guide. "Oi, tell
Inspector Keane to give the Crown a call and have them hold our room for
us."
"Yes, sir," PC Brent waved as he jogged out of
sight though the ruins.
***
"Bit of an odd place for a Cambridge Visiting
Fellow," Bodie observed as the two men walked along the gravel bank.
"'Specially a dead one," agreed Doyle.
"Some nasty bruising around her throat," Bodie
noted. "Took a while for her to
die."
"And nobody noticed anything," Doyle sighed.
"I suppose that one of the Germans could be an
agent," Bodie began.
"Oh, yeah, sure.
Spies always take their families on assassinations," Doyle
scoffed. "And, did you get a look
at the old man? Walks with a
cane." He shook his head,
"None of that group could have done anything anyway – MacAllister says
they all stayed with him"
"Remains to be seen what one Dr. Rodina Kaverov
was doing on the grounds of a ruined Scottish castle a fair bit from Cambridge
University," Bodie noted.
"Imagine that the Soviet Embassy's up in arms about the loss of
their visiting scholar," he went on.
"Probably shouting from the rooftops about it,"
Doyle replied sourly.
"I still don't see how the Cow knew to send us out to
the wilds of Scotland," Doyle continued, shaking his head. "On the strength of some busted drug
deals at historic sites no less.
S'local matter I'm sure, well, now it's ours 'cause of the death of Dear
Rodina," he groused.
"He said he had a feeling something was up about
here. Bit of the second sight I
shouldn't wonder," offered Bodie as they walked up to the ruins of the
castle.
"Oh, sure," nodded Doyle. "You who don't profess to believe in
anything but yourself are willing to grant George Cowley the gift of second
sight."
"S'Bonfire night tomorrow, Doyle," Bodie
grinned. "The time when the veil
between the worlds is thin…"
"Yeah, yeah, and the ghosties and the ghoulies are gonna come and get us
in our beds lest we light a turnip lantern or some such rubbish," Doyle
interrupted acerbically.
"Ruin a good haunting you would," Bodie sniffed,
then sideways through his impossibly long eyelashes at Doyle.
Glancing over at his partner, Doyle took in the pout, rolled
his eyes, then pushed against the other man's shoulder. Naturally, Bodie pushed back and a bit of a
scuffle took place, ending up with Doyle pinning Bodie to one rugged wall. The two looked at each other in the gloom,
all merriment gone in an instant. A
moment, then two, riding the edge of the tension between them.
Doyle's hands slid down Bodie's sides and pushed in behind
him, tugging him even closer, and Bodie's arms came to rest on Doyle's
shoulders for a moment. Neither could
see well, and inside the castle's ruined walls the wind was strangely
quiet. They could hear each other
breathing. Then, Bodie moved one hand
behind Doyle's head and the other cupped his cheek, a thumb gently stroking his
lips in a silent rhythm.
"Ray," Bodie intoned softly, seeming almost
puzzled his need.
"Yeah, Sunshine," Doyle replied back gently,
"I know." He turned his face
into Bodie's hand.
"You do pick your moments," said Bodie ruefully.
"Think this one sort of picked us," Doyle
half-smiled as he rested his head on Bodie's chest.
"Isn't the place I'd like it to be," Bodie said
presently, rubbing his face lightly over curly hair.
"I know, not nearly warm enough," shivered Doyle,
cuddling closer with a shiver.
"S'gone a lot colder just now," Bodie said with a
shiver of his own.
"Just how long's this MacAllister fella gonna
take?" wondered Doyle as the two men reluctantly pulled apart.
Suddenly, Bodie drew his weapon, and motioned to fan out and
search. Carefully, they each accessed
an opening in the wall to the outside of the ruin, then going to the end of the
building, watching and listening closely.
"What was it?" Doyle asked quietly as he holstered
his weapon.
"Don't know, but I swore I heard someone moving
around," Bodie said as he put away his gun. The two walked down toward the waterline. Scudding clouds blown by a brisk wind
alternately hid and revealed a very full moon.
"Must have been the wind," he added with a look of distaste
for his edginess. Doyle shrugged,
knowing it was better safe than sorry that kept you alive.
Voices coming up from the water's edge heralded the arrival
of the removal crew, and the body was loaded on a sling and carried to the
ferry. Bodie and Doyle were glad to see
that there were two ferries and they got into the second one.
As they were pulling away from the dock, Bodie looked up,
and in moment of clear moonlight, he thought he saw someone standing on the
castle's roof. A cloud was blown across
the moon and the light was lost for a moment.
When the cloud cleared, there was nothing except the stone walled
ruins. He looked at Doyle. "Did
you see that?" he murmured.
"Yeah," replied Doyle, "but just what the hell was
it?"
***
The two held their silence until they reached the car park
and drove off to their hotel, where they were given what probably used to be
the maid's room in the old country house turned hotel.
Laying on twin beds they had moved together, Bodie remarked,
"The Cow's hand on the budget is ever firm."
"We're probably supposed to consider ourselves lucky we've got a roof over
our heads," Doyle added acerbically.
"Only reason we're not staked out in our motor is
'cause the bloody crime scenes on an island in the middle of a river,"
Bodie scoffed. "Thus, our glorious
accommodations."
""Bout time to give our George a call then,
yeah?" Doyle was methodically checking his weapon.
"Uh-huh. Call
box, then?"
"Best do. Never
can tell."
"Do give a sweep whilst I'm gone. Could be a bit dusty in here," Bodie
smiled and waved as he went out the door to find a callbox.
Doyle sighed and put away his weapon and pulled out their
sweeper from his suitcase and began methodically checking their room for bugs.
***
"Yes, sir, I believe the coroner will confirm
homicide," Bodie said into the receiver.
"Multiple handprints on her neck.
Probably struggled a bit before she died."
"And nothing to indicate why she was at Castle Threave
in the first place?" Cowley inquired.
"Nothing on her but a purse with the usual items and
£17 in her wallet," Bodie replied.
"I've attempted to contact her colleagues at Selwyn
College," Cowley said dourly.
"However, no one will be in until tomorrow. I've expressed my desire for a rapid
response when the Dean returns."
"I'll call in tomorrow then, sir?"
"Aye," Cowley replied. "And see if you and Doyle can't take care of this matter
before you get snowed in."
"Yes, sir," Bodie said to a dead line, shaking his
head.
***
The morning brought the desire to burrow under the covers
and forget all about bodies fished from the frigid river water, not to mention
strange apparitions on walls of castle ruins.
Duty reared its ugly head and they were on their way downstairs to catch
a bit of breakfast before heading over to chivvy the locals into making a cause
of death determination and poke about Dr. Kaverov's business in the
Kirkcudbright area.
Bodie busied himself at the side table, pouring two cups of
tea and snagging some toast, while Doyle had been cornered by their host, Mrs.
Collier, who seemed determined to chat him up and get all the details of his
life in one setting.
"Lord love us, you were out at Castle Threave
yesterday," the voluble woman exclaimed with relish.
"Just on a bit of a tour," Doyle attempted to edge
away.
"Can't be doing business all day long – there's a
limited market for tropical fish in your smaller towns," Bodie came up
behind Doyle, put one arm on his shoulder and handed him his tea.
"Ah, I see," Mrs. Collier clearly didn't, but
wasn't going to let that stop her.
"You know, you're lucky you weren't out on that island today – it's
a bad business that is."
"Really," Bodie inquired with such friendly
interest that Doyle winced, but Mrs. Collier soldiered on.
"Oh, a very bad business," she shook her head with
relish. "'Tis the ghost of young
Robbie Douglas. He always appears the
week of bonfire night. He was murdered
by an agent of King James in the conflict with his father, the Earl of
Douglas." Mrs. Collier leaned in
as if imparting a state secret, "It's said he walks the walls of the
castle, looking agents of the King to drown to take his revenge on for his and
his father's death." Mrs. Collier
shivered theatrically and nodded with satisfaction. "Would you care for more tea, Mr. Doyle?"
"Ah, no thank you, Mrs. Collier. We must be off just now," Doyle smiled
wanly and parked his tea on a handy end table.
"Lovely breakfast," Bodie called as Doyle steered
him out of the room, down the hall, and out the front door, still holding the
last bit of his toast.
***
On the way to the station, Doyle put a hand to his chin and
his brow wrinkled with thought.
"Reckon young Robbie's who we saw last night?" he finally said
as they pulled up to the station.
"Could be," Bodie replied seriously. "Know we saw someone, and everyone was
accounted for that came over on the boats."
"Think he'd come after us?" Doyle asked. "We are, technically, agents of the
Crown."
"Nah, not us," Bodie answered as they made they
way into the station. "Work for
the George Cowley we do, and he thinks he's God, not the King," he added
chuckling as he opened the door and motioned Doyle in.
"Point," Doyle grinned briefly, then sobered as
they began the business of unraveling the mystery of the dead woman.
***
A few hours later, the coroner's verdict was in – death by
drowning. A walk about Castle Douglas'
surrounding area, including a stop at the hotel where Dr. Kaverov was staying
elicited no more information than she was a decent tipper (the waiter at the
hotel restaurant), liked chocolate truffles (the clerk at Caster's Candy
Shoppe), and stayed with the group (the tour guide for The Real Scotland
Tours).
"No one's willing to say one bad thing about our Soviet
Citizen," Doyle's mouth turned down with a slight twist as they sat in a
small caff off High Street.
"A veritable angel she was," Bodie agreed
ruefully, sipping his tea, then taking a great bite of sponge cake.
"'Cept somebody's killed her," Doyle added,
"and that indicates something she did bothered someone."
"Or something she saw," Bodie hazarded
thoughtfully. "Look, she was some
History professor, right?"
"Yeah, visiting Fellow in Russian history," Doyle
replied, consulting the file on the table in front of them.
"So, what's she doing poking about a mouldy old
Scottish castle?" Bodie asked.
"Busman's holiday?" Doyle guessed, taking a cake
before his partner snaffled the lot.
"In November?" Bodie's voice raised in
disbelief. "In Scotland no
less. Can think of a few places a
warmer to take a vacation in.
Besides," he continued, "it's the middle of term. Wouldn't she have a class to teach or
something?"
"Perhaps it's vac time," Doyle speculated. "A long weekend or some such," he
consulted the file again. "She's
just been down since Wednesday, and today's Friday."
"S'possible," acknowledged Bodie.
He consulted his Superman watch and said, "Time for me to check in
with Cowley. Maybe he has something
more for us to go on."
"Couldn't be less than we have now," Doyle replied
bitterly, realizing as the other agent went out the door to find a call box that
Bodie had stuck him with the bill – again.
***
Bodie was in a callbox on the other side of the street, and
Doyle began to walk over to him, glancing at the passing traffic as he waited
to cross. A couple of smaller motors,
then a large black car passed, and his eyes followed it as something teased his
brain.
Just as Bodie finished up and opened the door of the
callbox, Doyle came up to him, a puzzled look on his face.
Bodie knew that look, "What've you got?"
"Do you remember what MacAllister said about there
being no one near the Castle Threave end of the car park when they came back to
notify the police about the body?"
"Everyone was over by the tour busses and Castle
Douglas," Bodie nodded.
"I've just been reading the statements from the German
tourists. They say there wasn't anyone
about, but that there was a large black very old Mercedes parked next to the
gate with no one in it," Doyle told him.
"That's inconsistent with MacAllister's
statement," Bodie agreed. "Why don't we ask him about it?"
"What'd the Cow have to say," asked Doyle as they
got into the Capri.
"S'funny that.
Turns out Dr. Kaverov was on vacation after all," Bodie
laughed colorlessly. "Took a few
days off to visit Scottish castles and great houses." He paused to unlock the door for Doyle,
"Cowley talked to a colleague of hers.
Seems she couldn't get enough of it with her job, was always going out
on the weekend visiting historical sites.
Took this long weekend as a chance to get out of Cambridge and
explore."
"So, the Cow was wrong about the espionage angle,"
Doyle shook his head.
"Probably," Bodie agreed. "But, he still stressed the need to
clear up what he called 'an unfortunate incident' involving a Soviet Citizen
who is a guest in our country."
"In other words, it's still our mess to clean up,"
Doyle sighed. Bodie tilted his head in
agreement and made a face at the whole idea.
***
Liam MacAllister was not at his place of residence nor the
offices of Historic Scotland who employed him.
He had not, in fact, been seen all day.
"Getting on to opening time," Bodie mused. "Could try his local."
Doyle shrugged and they headed toward the Bell, which was
the closest pub to MacAllister's residence.
"Aye, I know him," replied the barmaid helpfully,
as she pulled a half-pint for each of the partners. "Comes in of an evening every night. One pint of bitter, makes it last, then
leaves. Never says much except to the
real old timers," she smiled at Bodie.
"Know what kind of motor he drives, love?"
encouraged Bodie, and pulled out the funds to pay as it was his round.
"Oh, he's got a old beast of a black car, just
enormous," she made a moue of distaste.
"Always going on about it, how he got it from his Dad who drove it
for the old Earl."
"His family used to be in service to the
Douglas'?" Doyle asked.
"Aye, I think so," she replied shrugging. "I just know that he's not. Some bit of bother with the family, long
before I was born."
"He seem bitter about that?" Bodie questioned.
"Aye," the barmaid nodded. "When he does talk, he's usually
bad-mouthing the family, which is rather bad of him, seeing's how they got him
that job as a guide."
"Do the guides just work one castle or all of them in
the area?" asked Doyle.
"All of them," she replied. "My ex-boyfriend worked last summer,
and he had to know all the local historical attractions that Historic Scotland
administers, even though there's not much money in it," the emphasis on
the ex part of the boyfriend phrase was evident.
"Thanks," Bodie said quickly retreating down the
bar, and Doyle nodded to the woman, silently laughing at Bodie's ever-present
predicament of ladies making themselves available to him whilst he was not.
"Somehow, I get the feeling that our drugs case and our
murder case are mixed up," Doyle mused.
"Bit of the Second Sight?" Bodie smirked as he
drank from his glass, well aware that he was caught and Doyle held the leash –
it had taken long enough and he was well satisfied with things as they were.
"Process of elimination," Doyle replied promptly. "One, we have an incredible influx of
heroin in southwestern Scotland, which, prior to this, has not been a known
distribution area. Two, we have a dead
Soviet tourist at one of said sites.
Three, our Mr. MacAllister has access to all the sites where the busts
were made."
"Good enough to put out a request for MacAllister to be
picked up for questioning," Bodie agreed, draining his glass. "Let's head back down to the locals and
put it out on the wire."
The two left the pub and were walking to their car, noticing
that it was getting late. Cold wind was
blowing leaves that danced in swirls on the street, and the air seemed full of
suppressed energy, as if waiting for something to happen. As they were turning the corner to where
their motor was parked, a large black car crossed in front of them heading out
of town.
"That's got to be him," called out Doyle as they
tore for the car, Bodie leaping over the hood to get to his door.
"Something's spooked him," Bodie said grimly as he
accelerated the Capri into a tight U-turn and set off in pursuit.
"He wasn't even looking at us," Doyle shook his
head.
"When we catch up to him, we can ask him," Bodie
smiled nastily. "Ever so
nicely." Doyle grinned in
response. It was not a nice smile.
***
It took a bit to catch up with MacAllister, as he seemed to
be driving with no regards to speed laws, but they finally did as he pulled
into the car park for Castle Douglas near the gate to the pathway to Castle
Threave.
"He's headed back to the river," Bodie noted as
they pulled up and got out hurriedly.
"Seems like it all centers around there," Doyle
had to raise his voice as the wind began to freshen, gusting heavily and very
cold. Clouds scudded across the sky as
the last of the light fell and they ran pell-mell down the path to the river.
There was no ferryboat, but an older craft was tied to the
dock, and the partners jumped in and Bodie began to row across the water. Waves slapped against the bow of the small
craft as the storm intensified.
Reaching the dock, they secured the boat next to the ferry
MacAllister took, and began running after the Scot who was making his way
through the ruins. The partners gave
chase, and Bodie shouted something to Doyle, but he couldn't hear him over the
sounds of the gale. Finally, Bodie
grabbed Doyle by the arm and pointed to the top of the tower, where a figure of
what only could be an ancient Scottish warrior stood where he'd been the night
before.
"Robbie Douglas?" shouted Doyle in Bodie's ear.
"Would have to be," Bodie yelled back, shaking his
head, and they turned to follow MacAllister again.
He was headed down to the castle's harbour, and the two men
slowed down a little and drew their weapons.
MacAllister climbed down out of sight near the waterline, and the wind
caused waves splashed on the rocks. The
smell of wet mud and river battled with the ion-charged storm in the air.
Ducking slightly down and using a crumbling wall for cover,
Doyle called out, "You're finished MacAllister…Come out now!" Bodie was circling round a to a small
peninsula that curved behind MacAllister's current position.
The wind picked up even higher and lighting struck so close
as to make both men fall flat on the ground to avoid being struck. When Bodie looked up from his cover position,
the warrior was back and standing above the harbour on the ruined wall. He looked over to where he could just make
out Doyle, and saw that Ray was watching with amazement also.
"Liam MacAllister, come out!" yelled Bodie. "We've got you covered – surrender!"
The storm crashed down around them, and the warrior didn't
move, just continued to look down to where MacAllister had gone. Bodie and Doyle both moved together, keeping
watch on the apparition.
"What now?" Doyle cupped a hand around Bodie's ear
as he yelled over the storm.
"Go after him," Bodie answered. "Could be doing anything, destroying
evidence maybe," he continued.
"And our ghostly friend?" Doyle shook his head at the surreal ness of
it all.
"Don't appear to be interested in us," Bodie offered. "Let's just get on with it. Storms scare me," he added, grinning in
his most manic way. Doyle just shook
his head and they moved to climb down the wall of the harbour.
The warrior watched them as they found a small path cut in
the rock wall and came to a stone dock.
Bodie produced a small torch from his inner pocket and shined it round
while Doyle kept him covered. There
were rusted rings for tying up craft hundreds of years gone by, and a deep hole
cut into the rock wall. There was no
sign of MacAllister.
It was eerily quieter down where they were, as if the storm
was further away. Bodie shined the
torch into the hole and found a half dozen small plastic-wrapped packets,
heavily taped. "Hello, what's this
then?" he tugged one out of the hole.
"Should imagine that's our heroin," Doyle called
back over his shoulder as he peered out into the choppy water. It was too dark to see anything. "You reckon he fell into the
water?"
"We would have seen him," Bodie asserted. "Here, help me with this lot."
"Do you suppose that Dr. Kaverov found MacAllister's
stash, and he killed her for it?" Doyle put a few packets into his
pockets.
"Probably," Bodie replied as they made there way
back out to the open portion of the dock.
"I don't see Robbie killing her – not part of his brief, is
it?"
Doyle laughed as they made their way up the path cut into
the stone wall. As they climbed, the intensity of the storm rose, and all at
once the howling of the storm peaked with strong, buffeting winds and driving rain. Another lighting strike, this one as close
as before drove Bodie and Doyle to the lee of the castle tower.
"Look," cried Doyle, pointing down to the edge of
the water where they'd found Rodina Kaverov the day before. Multiple and rapid lighting strikes showed
the unclad body of an older man, laid out face down and unmoving.
The partners carefully made their way down to the shore, and
Bodie felt for a pulse. "He's
dead," he yelled, shaking his head. "Let's get out of here. They can come for him in the morning after
the storm. It's too dangerous to be out
here."
As if punctuating Bodie's statement, the lighting and
thunder intensified again and the two men ran for the dock. The ferry that MacAllister had taken was
tied up, but there was no sign of the boat that the partners had taken
over. They looked at each other, shook
their heads, then climbed into the ferry.
Bodie began rowing them back over to the mainland.
Doyle looked back at the castle then tapped Bodie's shoulder
and pointed back to the ruin. There in
the swirling rain and howling wind, lit periodically by lighting strikes, the
warrior stood on the top of the castle tower, watching them leave.
Fin
October 2006