Madness Lies Page 30

  ‘He’s all right, for one of them.’

  Joe followed the others across the shallow ford. They skirted round the sand, heading for the track that would take them over the dunes to Traigh Iar, Carla’s favourite beach.

  Joe had been there yesterday too. He’d gone on his own, while Carla rested. She was much stronger now. Still not back at work, but her doctor expected her to make a full recovery. They hadn’t been able to identify the virus. There were a list of possibilities, but no positive matches.

  Joe had looked down on the stretching white sands of Traigh Iar, and for the first time in a very long time, he had felt that all was well in his world. It wouldn’t last; he knew that. He was too uptight, and too prone to stress. But he’d enjoy it for now.

  Lucy stopped and turned. ‘Is it this way?’

  Joe nodded, and followed them along the path between two fields, towards the steep sand dune. In the field on the left, a large brown cow was chewing the cud, watching them with lazy eyes. The sound of a tractor distracted the cow. Joe looked behind. The tractor was crossing the ford. Lucy laughed. ‘Relieved?’

  ‘A bit.’

  They were at the bottom of the dune. Drew opened the bag he’d carried on his shoulder, and they all swapped their wellies for shoes. Drew held his hand out to Lucy. Joe watched him pull her up. He followed, Roberts and Jill behind him.

  At the top of the dune, Joe stopped. The beach looked different today. Yesterday, he’d been alone as he’d walked its length, his soul at perfect peace. Today, there was a cluster of people on the sand, as a warm breeze skimmed across the waves. Joe smiled when he saw his mother rest her hand on his step-father’s shoulder, as she brushed sand off her high heels. ‘I’ll just wait here,’ he said.

  Roberts looked at the beach and whistled. ‘This is something else, Sarge. Thanks for asking us.’

  ‘It’s Joe. And how could I not ask you? You saved my life.’

  Roberts smiled. Was that a tear in his eye? ‘Hardly, Joe. You’d have fought him off if I hadn’t been there. No sweat.’

  They both knew that wasn’t true.

  ‘We’ll get off down, then. See you on the other side.’

  Joe smiled and patted him on the shoulder. As Joe turned to watch the approaching tractor, Roberts spoke again. ‘Oh, Sarge, I mean Joe – I forgot to tell you, I was invited to a wedding party tonight, in the Phoenix.’

  ‘Aye?’

  Roberts nodded. ‘Bumped into Sharon MacRae yesterday. She and Christopher Brent are getting married in Belladrum Chapel today.’

  There was a lump the size of a small rock in Joe’s throat. ‘That’s fantastic. How are the boys?’

  ‘Doing well. Enjoying Ness Castle and their new schools. Ryan’s on an electronic tag from the Children’s Hearing. Sharon said something about you and him going sailing? Not sure what she was on about. She also said to give you and Carla her regards, and she’ll not let you forget your anniversary.’

  Joe laughed. He’d never forget. Never.

  The tractor stopped below the dunes. The sun was shining on the windows and Joe couldn’t see inside. Ronald got out, his kilt lifting a little in the breeze. Joe held his breath. What if Ronald was on his own, come to tell Joe she couldn’t go through with it? Ronald looked up at Joe and winked. As he went round to the other side of the tractor, Joe felt his chest relax.

  Carla was wearing a short lace ivory dress. Her long legs were tanned, and the sun was glinting off her dark hair, dancing and shining in highlights of copper and gold. She held a bunch of light pink roses in one hand. She looked to her left, across the fields, to where a cluster of gravestones rose from the machair. They would take her flowers there after the ceremony.

  Carla looked up. When their eyes met, every hurt, every doubt and every loneliness Joe had ever known was gone. He was home.

  END

  ***

  About the Author

  Helen Forbes

  Helen Forbes is a civil litigation solicitor in her home town of Inverness, specialising in social welfare law. She has also lived and worked in Edinburgh, Fife, and the Outer Hebrides, where she edited Am Paipear, an award winning community newspaper. Prior to studying law at the University of Edinburgh Helen was a veterinary nurse in Inverness and at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh.

  A member of the Highland Literary Salon and the Edinburgh Writers’ Club, Helen has had short stories published in Northwords Now and the Global Shorts Anthology. She has also had success in national and international writing competitions, having been highly commended by the Highland and Island Short Story Association, Neil Gunn Writing Competition and Scottish Association of Writers.

  ***

  Also from Helen Forbes

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  ISBN: 978-0-9929768-1-1 (eBook)

  ISBN: 978-0-9929768-0-4 (Paperback)

  An elderly woman is found battered to death in the common stairwell of an Inverness block of flats.

  Detective Sergeant Joe Galbraith starts what seems like one more depressing investigation of the untimely death of a poor unfortunate who was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

  As the investigation spreads across Scotland it reaches into a past that Joe has tried to forget, and takes him back to the Hebridean island of Harris, where he spent his childhood.

  Among the mountains and the stunning landscape of religiously conservative Harris, in the shadow of Ceapabhal, long buried events and a tragic story are slowly uncovered, and the investigation takes on an altogether more sinister aspect.

  In The Shadow Of The Hill skilfully captures the intricacies and malevolence of the underbelly of Highland and Island life, bringing tragedy and vengeance to the magical beauty of the Outer Hebrides.

  ‘…our first real home-grown sample of modern Highland noir’ – Roger Hutchinson; West Highland Free Press

  ***

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