Hide the Baron Read Free

badly. She hadn’t time to study him, but levered with the stick, which was weathered and tough and didn’t splinter or break. Soon, it was close by his ankle, and it was nearly as thick as the ankle itself.
    She said: “Now I’m going to take your shoe off, and you can draw your foot through.”
    He didn’t answer.
    She unfastened the lace, made it as loose as she could, and drew the shoe off with great gentleness. Her hands were sticky, but she hardly realised that; or what made them so.
    â€œNow take your foot out,” she ordered.
    Merrow didn’t answer, or move. She looked up, sharply. His eyes were closed and his colour was dreadful; as of a dying man. His left hand clutched the sapling, and only that kept him up.
    â€œAll right,” she said. “Just keep still.”
    She held his leg a little above the ankle and drew it up slowly and with great care, until it was free of the trap. She knew that he had lost consciousness by then. She eased his hand from the sapling, and laid him down, the injured leg bent a little at the knee. Then she stood up, spared a glance for the dog and said: “Wait here, don’t try to move.” Soon, cold where the wind of her movement struck her, she began to hurry along the path which Merrow had always used, towards the running stream, the leap, and the short cut to the house. This way it wouldn’t take more than ten minutes; well, less than a quarter of an hour. Once she was over the stream and up the hill on the far side, it would be easy going.
    She began to run …
    The doctor, both youngish and donnish, watched the ambulance men push the stretcher into the ambulance, and then turned to Joanna. He smiled easily if shyly, as if he was also impressed.
    â€œHe’ll be all right, Miss Woburn, I’m quite sure of that. Nasty laceration and a fracture, but I should think it’s clean. We’ll have him up and about again in a week or two, and we’ll make sure he doesn’t suffer too much pain—he’s had plenty already.”
    Joanna nodded.
    â€œI’ll take the dog to a vet, too. And I’ll have to report this to the police,” the doctor added. “It’s an offence to put steel traps, any kind of trap for that matter, without authorisation. That type of trap’s been illegal in this country for a quarter of a century, too. You may find that the police will come out to see you this evening.”
    â€œI can only tell them what I know,” Joanna said.
    â€œJust wanted to warn you.” The doctor gave a boyish smile. “All right, I’ll get off then. Goodnight.” He shook hands.
    Joanna stood in the fading light, on the parkland near the house, and watched first the ambulance and then the doctor’s car moving cautiously over the uneven grassland towards the long drive. The ambulance put on its head lamps, which showed up quite brightly. Behind her the lights were on at the house, most of the windows were glowing; Jimmy Garfield liked to have brightness about him.
    He would be waiting for a report.
    Joanna turned and hurried across the parkland, seeing Gedde, the butler and general factotum, going ahead of her; Gedde always kept his distance, was the aloof, impersonal servant, proper, efficient and civil if not particularly friendly. He seemed to get larger as he drew nearer the radius of the light from the house. He reached the top of the steps, and waited. She hurried up, but at the top couldn’t resist turning to look back at the ambulance and the car.
    Only the headlights, nearly a mile away, showed at the foot of the drive; they turned right, towards the town of Orme, and seemed to be going too fast.
    Then she went towards the house.
    â€œMr. Garfield would like to see you, miss,” Gedde told her, as if she didn’t know.
    â€œYes, Gedde, thank you.”
    â€œHe’s in the library, miss.”
    He was always in the library.
    â€œThank you,