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Her fingers wouldn’t click anymore. She looked up. Five faces were turned towards her.

“OK. Tell me where the cave is.”

FORTY-ONE

A mist had started to roll in from the west by the time they got moving. It was not a thick mist and visibility was still good, but it was still a variable that Davey had not really accounted for.

There had been a debate over whether to keep Calum in the cabin or not and whether he should be left on his own. As the quad bikes could only take two, it was agreed that Roger would stay behind with Calum, whilst Martina shared a bike with Kelvin and Steph went with Davey. Davey was wary of the charge left on the bikes, so stressed the importance of finding the men sooner rather than later.

It was agreed that they would first go back to where they had seen the men shoot the bear as it would likely give them a reasonable starting point to track from. The tyre tracks left by the truck would be distinctive enough.

The sun had passed its mid-point by the time they reached the site. The blue sky contrasted with the light wispy blanket trying to spread in the open spaces. When they pulled out cautiously from the treeline, they quickly realised that they were not the only ones there. Some fifty yards ahead of them was the body of the bear. Its body was not going to waste as a host of short-haired creatures surrounded it, gorging themselves as if merely eating from a trough.

“I didn’t realise that boar ate meat,” Kelvin said, as if he were merely passing comment on the weather.

“They will if it’s on offer,” Steph replied.

Deciding that there was no threat, they came forward. One or two of the boars looked up but then continued feeding – the new distraction evidently an uninteresting one.

“Greedy bastards,” Davey snorted.

Steph watched the top of the body of the bear. It quivered as ifthere was still some life in the animal. The image was sobering knowing that it was all due to the various mouths ripping at the flesh. Upon dying, the shell that once housed everything you were could be mistreated so revoltingly. Not that Steph suspected bears really cared about all that. She wondered when in human evolution people began to care. Elephants also showed signs of caring during death. Had they always?

“Right, the tracks are pretty clear; they head this way,” Davey said, pointing to the reasonably worn dirt track that carved itself through a small group of trees.

No other words were uttered. Davey’s assessment was accepted, and they returned to the quad bikes to follow.

The tracking was quite straightforward. Even with the gradually increasing mist trying to smother the land, Davey could pick up the deep tyre tracks. So could Steph for that matter. Every so often they would get off the bikes and Davey would assess the ground again as if he’d lose the trail if he didn’t. He wouldn’t. Even Steph could see the clear turns in the mud.

They eventually caught up with the sleek black truck outside one of the huts. Having never seen it before, Steph assumed it to be Calum’s. They parked the quad bikes someway off behind a couple of particularly large bushes that littered the heathland around Calum’s cabin.

“They’re clearly inside,” Kelvin whispered as they hid behind the bushes. “They’d have seen us coming otherwise. They’re distracted by something.”

“So what shouldIdo?” Steph asked. It had sounded straightforward when Davey had suggested the plan. She was to be caught and then bargain for safety by delivering the bear. However, now that the situation was upon her, she realised that there were numerous fine points that needed considering. For example, how would she create a fake situation in which she wascaught?

“I have an idea,” Kelvin said before Davey could tell Steph how he saw it. “Go in there and pretend to be all grateful that you’ve found them. Say how much of a mess it is out here and that you were fearing for your life.”

“Well, it’s easier to act out reality so I guess that is helpful,” Steph said.

Kelvin ignored her.

“Say how you can deliver the cave bear to them; it’s as simple as that,” Kelvin said. “These men will not want a long conversation. They just need to believe you think the cave bear needs taking down for the general safety of yourself and… well, generally.”

Steph nodded but didn’t move, looking over the top of the bush.

“Go then!” hissed Kelvin. “Or you’ll miss the window.”

“You probably need to run there too,” Davey added. “It won’t look good if you come out of hiding and meander over. You must make it look as if you ran there as soon as you saw the truck.”

Steph nodded again. But still didn’t move. Instead, she analysed the cabin. She knew she needed to go. She knew by leaving it she would either get them all caught or look like a coward. She tried to imagine what she would say and how she would act. She supposed…

Whatever it was that she supposed was cut short by a hand in her side which sent her sprawling to the ground and away from the cover of the bush. She looked sideways from where she was on the ground. It was Martina, neither smiling nor frowning.

“Go!” she hissed. “Stop wasting our time!”

Steph muttered a retort under her breath that she was sure was wasted on the breeze and began to run. She ran because it was her way of taking the plunge – and Davey had said to. There was no turning back now. She’d have to go for it. If Michael wasanything to go by, she’d receive a bullet between her shoulder blades if she didn’t.

To her surprise, nobody came out of the front door as she approached. Had they seen her? Like the other cabins, there was a decking area onto which she leapt with a loud thud. She involuntarily glanced up at the roof before looking back to the door. There was a sudden noise of movement inside. Steph’s guts squirmed.