A Consultant Beyond Compare. Joanna Neil

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       CHAPTER TWO

      KATIE turned the car on to the north road, heading towards Ambleside. She barely noticed the bracken-covered hills and heather-clad knolls, or the wide, U-shaped valleys that had been carved out by ice all those aeons ago. Her thoughts were taken up with the events of the day.

      She still carried with her the brooding, dark image of Jessica’s rescuer, and it was troubling that he seemed to have misgivings about her ability to care for her sister. She had always thought of herself as a capable, independent individual, but lately her confidence had taken a battering. How could any of this be happening to her?

      ‘You will let me stay with you, won’t you, Katie?’ Her younger sister turned earnest, pleading eyes on her and Katie felt her heart give a painful twist. ‘I promise I won’t be any trouble, but I can’t go back home, I can’t. You won’t send me back there, will you?’

      ‘But you’re only thirteen, Jess,’ Katie answered, in what she hoped was a soothing voice, ‘and you’re a long way from home. Mum and Dad will be worried about you.’

      ‘No, they won’t. They don’t care about me as long as I’m out of their hair. They’ll just go on arguing, and shouting at one another like they always do. It’s horrible. I won’t go back.’

      ‘Of course they care about you.’ Katie frowned as she glanced at the road ahead. Perhaps she shouldn’t have taken this route. She had hoped to avoid problems, but traffic was building up, and it was beginning to occur to her that whatever had delayed her earlier on the journey to Windermere had merely been the overspill from what was happening up ahead. There must have been an accident of some sort, because in the distance she could see the flashing lights from ambulances that were parked by the roadside. A couple of police vehicles were stationed nearby.

      Jessica made a face. ‘No, they don’t. They’re not going to miss me at all. They hardly ever notice I’m around, unless it’s because they think I’m getting in their way. Dad’s never had any time for me. He’s always at work or off out somewhere and as for Mum…well, she’s too busy worrying about her own problems, so she’ll be glad there’s one less person to bother about.’ She sighed. ‘You know how they are. They’re always arguing about something or other. Isn’t that why you left home and went off to medical school? You were glad to get away, weren’t you?’

      Katie’s mouth made a wry shape. ‘It was a bit different for me. After all, Mum divorced my father when I was just a bit younger than you are now, and when she married again—well, it felt a bit odd. Things were never quite the same.’ She smiled at Jessica. ‘But then you came along, and it was lovely for me to have a baby sister.’

      Jessica’s expression relaxed a little. ‘You’ve always been my very best friend,’ she said. ‘That’s why I came here to the Lake District to find you. I didn’t know what else to do, but I felt sure you would find a way to help me somehow.’

      ‘I wish it were that simple.’ Katie quickly ran her mind over all her options. ‘Whatever happens, I’ll have to ring them and let them know that you’re safe. They weren’t answering their mobiles when I tried earlier, but I’ve left a message for them on the answering machine at home.’

      ‘No, they’ve gone into town for the day. I said I was going to be at my friend’s house.’

      Katie shook her head, shooting Jessica a quick glance. ‘I’m amazed that you managed to find your way here at all without getting into trouble of some sort.’

      ‘It was easy,’ Jessica said, with an air of unconcern. ‘I emptied my money box and went to the train station and asked for a ticket to Windermere. The man in the booth gave me a funny look, and I guessed he was a bit suspicious, so I told him I was going to visit my sister in the Lake District for the summer holidays and he said, “Oh, I see.”’

      Katie frowned. ‘What did you plan on doing when you arrived at my house? I was out at work and the place is locked up.’

      Jessica appeared crestfallen, but only for a moment. ‘I would have hung around until you came home.’ She gave Katie a contrite look and said quickly, ‘I won’t get in the way, I promise, and it’ll be cool if you let me live here with you, because I’d do everything to make things easier for you. I could tidy up and help you with meals and stuff. I know how hard you have to work and how tired you used to be after being in A and E all day, but with me around, things will be much better for you, honest.’

      Katie couldn’t help but smile at her sister’s sincere expression. ‘I’m sure you would do everything you possibly could to help out, but that isn’t really what’s important right now, is it? We have to think about you, and what we can do to sort out your problems. It isn’t just a question of you coming to live here. There would be all sorts of arrangements to be made. How could I make sure that you would be properly looked after while I’m out at work?’

      Jessica pulled in a quick breath. ‘I’m old enough to look after myself.’

      Katie shook her head. ‘But you’re not, that’s the whole point. And then there’s school to think about. The holidays aren’t going to last for ever.’

      Jessica’s mouth wavered as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. ‘I could go to school here, couldn’t I? You have to let me stay, Katie. Please, say you will, please, please? Things will work out all right, I know they will.’

      ‘Maybe. I left a message to say that I’d take care of you for a few days, whatever happens. We’ll talk it through properly when we get home.’ Katie slowed the car to a halt as the traffic came to a standstill. ‘If we ever get home…I thought we would avoid this hold-up by coming this way,’ she murmured distractedly. ‘It looks as though we’re going to be stuck here for a while, though.’

      Jessica nodded and peered out of the window at the trouble up ahead. ‘It looks as though everything’s more or less sorted now. They’re closing the ambulance doors and getting ready to move away.’ She gave Katie a sideways glance. ‘You know, the man who helped me—Alex, he said his name was—took this road as well. I bet he’s wishing he’d gone another way. He’s still following us, just a few cars behind.’

      ‘Yes, I’d noticed.’ Katie glanced in her rear-view mirror and caught sight of the gleaming blue car slowing to a halt at a bend in the road. ‘Perhaps he’ll turn off before we get anywhere near Ambleside.’

      It was wishful thinking, a vaguely consoling thought that she had clung on to as the journey had progressed. There was something about him that made her flustered and set her pulses racing, and it was all very disturbing. His calm, quietly perceptive manner ought to have encouraged her to feel that everything was under control, but instead he had stirred up all kinds of doubt and confusion within her.

      She was left feeling unnerved and edgy, but of course that might have been as a result of all that had happened. All day long she had been active, rushing about, trying to resolve one problem after another, but now that she was stuck in traffic she was forced to be still, and it was an odd feeling. She tapped her fingers on the steering-wheel, beating out a restless rhythm.

      Jessica dug her in the ribs. ‘Katie, look—there are skid marks on the road, right back here. Can you see them?’

      Katie СКАЧАТЬ