Look Back at Me (Fleckney Fields Series, Book 1)

I'm Here

There was a reason why Viola had always been more of a sprinter than a marathon runner, although she had completed two Great Bristol's and one Bath. Pacing out her energy had never been her forte, which was currently extra hard considering she was exhausted, worried, and cold.

She finally climbed out into the Forest Road and stopped for a second to catch her breath. The snow was just as deep on it as under the trees, but at least Viola was no longer in danger of losing her direction. Her left ankle was in agonising pain, she'd twisted it about ten minutes ago. She patted the pocket of Niklas' jacket but then remembered where her mobile was. She took a slow deliberate breath, closing her eyes, and telling herself she was doing great, and she needed to be proud of herself - and she started walking, promising her body all the TLC it deserved as soon as this horrible day was over and everyone was safe.

To her right as she walked along the Forest Road, there lay a deep ravine, colloquially known as Whitlaw Fall. Yet another local legend claimed that James Whitlaw's great granddad had once jumped over it on a horse rushing to be present at his first born's birth. Since then, every Whitlaw in Fleckney had tried to repeat the feat, of course. These days the place was mostly known as the location of James Whitlaw's fall off a bike that resulted in him breaking both his arms, one leg, and three ribs at the age of thirteen. It had a gentle slope away from the road, and a steep, almost vertical opposite side.

She'd been walking for about fifteen minutes, when she heard a noise of a running engine. It sounded odd - echoey and subdued. There was another, bigger road, called the Upper Path, parallel to the Forest Road, on the other side of Whitlaw Fall, the two of them eventually merging on an intersection about half a mile ahead of Viola. Admittedly, she had a better chance to run into someone driving by on the other road, but she wouldn't be able to climb onto it out of the ravine.

Viola listened to the noise and then walked to the edge of the road and looked down and ahead. It took her a second to realise that the car on the bottom of the ravine was keeling on one side, and that's why the red rear lights weren't level. Viola's heart sank, and she rushed down and towards the Range Rover. She'd lost her footing a couple of times, and had to grab at the dry grasses sticking out of the snow. Eventually, she reached the driver's door and looked inside.

The Rover had crashed its front into a large stump, many of which were scattered on the bottom of the Whitlaw Fall, as James's extremities and ribs could attest. The airbags had opened on the impact. Viola jerked the door open and pressed her hand to the neck of the young woman inside. Amira Atieno - blood on her face, hopefully just from the cut of her forehead - was alive but half-conscious.

"Amira! Amira! Can you hear me?" Viola called. "Amira!"

The woman groaned, and her long lashes fluttered.

"Amira, you were in a car accident," Viola said. "Can you hear me? Tell me what hurts."

It's like being in A&E all over again, she thought in disbelief. So much for a peaceful village practice.

"Amira!"

"Yeah, yeah..." the woman muttered, and slowly opened her eyes. "I couldn't see... There were no lights above the road, and my phone– The call cut off–" She lifted her visibly shaking hand and touched her forehead.

"Amira, tell me what you feel," Viola said, quickly examining the woman.

There was blood on the seat under Amira, it seemed to be coming from a laceration on her right thigh. Viola started pulling off the scarf she'd borrowed from Niklas to apply pressure.

"I don't– My head hurts–" Amira closed her eyes, and her head rolled on one side. She was now muttering in a language Viola didn't know.

"Amira!" Viola called, but received no answer. "Sodding hell," she barked and breathed out sharply with an open mouth.