Sam and Detective Sergeant Honeybone hit the water together. Sam went under and came up. “Help!” he shouted, going under again. “ I can’t swim!” he shouted, as he came up again and went under for the third time. Sam’s life passed in front of his eyes as he went down, down, down into the green water. His childhood in London. Visiting his mother and father in
prison. His first girlfriend. His first bank
robbery. Judy. Judy. He would never see her again.
“Don’t worry, you lovely man,” called Detective Sergeant Honeybone. “I’m an Olympic 400-metre gold medallist.”
She swam over to him with beautiful strong
strokes, caught him under the arms as he came up again, and started pulling him
towards the boat.
“Hello, Isabel,” said Jasper as they pulled Sam out of the water. “What are you doing here? And why have you got Sam with you? He’s the last person I want to see.”
“It’s a long story,” said Detective Sergeant Honeybone. “I’ll tell you later. Wait while I give Sam the kiss of life.”
“I don’t need the kiss of life,” said Sam.
“Oh yes you do,” said Detective Sergeant Honeybone.
“All right,” said Jasper. “I
suppose we’d better go back to the castle and find you some dry clothes. What a
pity. I was hoping for a quiet morning’s fishing.”
He
rowed the boat over to the bank of the loch and they got out. Detective Sergeant Honeybone picked up Sam in her beautiful strong arms and they started walking down the road towards the castle. As they passed the bus stop, Jasper walked over to Judy, who was
staring up at the sky.
“Good morning, you beautiful
creature,” he said. “Are you going shopping? Don’t forget lunch is at 12.30.”
Judy turned her back, tears
streaming down her face.
“Don’t talk to me about lunch,” she said. “I’m going to Rio to see Sam.”
“But Sam’s here,” said Jasper.
“Don’t try to
talk me out of it,” said Judy. “I’
ve made up my mind, and I …. What did you say?
She turned round and looked across the road. There was Detective Sergeant Honeybone, standing with a soft smile on her lips looking down at Sam, who was lying in her arms with his eyes closed. Judy’s mouth fell open.
“North-east Highlands Police Control, calling all cars. Calling all cars. The hijackers of the Boeing 747 from Rio are believed to be in the Loch Ness area after leaving the plane by parachute about twenty minutes ago. Proceed at once to the vicinity of Castle Clandonald and begin searching.
Description as follows:
Man, British, medium height, dark hair, small moustache, small brown eyes, wearing a blue suit and black shoes. He is believed to be Sam Watson, who is wanted in connection with a series of bank robberies. He is carrying a gun, and may be dangerous. Woman, nationality unknown, tall, blonde, blue eyes, attractive, athletic build, wearing dark clothes and shoes. Nothing is known about her identity.
Approach these people with caution. Repeat, approach with caution.”
When Jock McHaverty was a little boy, he always wanted to be a bus driver. His father hoped he would go into the family
business, and his mother would have liked him to be a doctor. But Jock just wasn't interested. He loved buses — all kinds of buses. He loved the way they looked, the
smell of the diesel
fuel, and most of all, the wonderful
noise they made. When he was fourteen, he went on his first real holiday - a bus trip to the south of England and back. And when he left school two years later, he went
straight into the Highland Bus Company.
Now Jock was one of the Company's most experienced drivers, working on the Fort William — Inverness route. This morning was fairly typical: he had eight passengers on board, and would probably pick up one or two more on the way. They were about twenty minutes late (Jock had stopped for a cup of tea and a chat at Strathnahuilish Post Office), but it didn't matter. “Late” was not a word of any great importance in the Scottish Highlands. Jock leaned forward a little in his seat and smiled. lt was a lovely day. The sun was shining on the loch, and the bus was running beautifully. Jock changed gear as they started up the long hill towards Clandonald Castle.
In her black Porsche, Dr Wagner was getting a little
impatient. She was in a hurry to get to her hotel in Inverness and have a bath and a
rest, after driving
overnight from London. But for the last fifteen miles she had been
stuck behind a bus that was driving very slowly in the
middle of the road, and it seemed impossible to get
past. 'Calm down, Mary,' she said to herself. 'You've got plenty of time.'
She started thinking about the holiday that was just starting. Every year, she drove up to the Scottish Highlands and spent two weeks looking for the Loch Ness Monster. Dr Wagner was a
member of the West London Society for the
Investigation of Strange and
Unexplained Phenomena, and she was very interested in monsters, ghosts, flying
saucers and things of that kind. She had never yet seen anything in Loch Ness, but she always had a wonderful holiday and went back home feeling happy and relaxed. She had a feeling about this year,
though. This year was going to be special.
Somehow, she just knew.
A sudden noise brought her out of her dreams. She looked in the mirror. Behind her, the road was full of police cars, with lights
flashing and sirens
howling. Dr Wagner
frowned. She didn't like police cars. 'It’s no use making all that noise,' she said. 'You'll never get past the bus.'
