‘There’s been another dumping. They used the courtyard this time and I think there are chemicals in the rubbish. Drive around to the side of the house. I told the girls to wait for you near the stables. Can they stay with you tonight?’
‘They can, of course. Is my uncle all right?’
‘He’s okay for now. The ambulance is on its way. Hurry, Victor.’
Two trucks had arrived, Isobel said. The hulking mounds they left behind were steeped with a chemical substance that was already beginning to affect Sophy’s eyes. She flung the clothes they would need for the next few days into a case. Cordelia was missing from Julie’s bed. Julie must have grabbed her before the girls fled.
She was back in Jack’s bedroom when Victor arrived a few minutes later. ‘We’ve got to get my uncle out of here right now.’ His forcefulness filled the room. ‘I can drive him to the hospital while you take the girls to my house.’
‘He’s safe here until the ambulance arrives,’ she reassured him. ‘It’ll be here shortly.’ She gestured towards the case she had packed. ‘Take that with you and collect the girls. They’re afraid of the dark and frightened by what’s happening.’
‘My uncle could die while we’re waiting for the ambulance.’ He clasped his throat and coughed. ‘We’re risking his life by waiting.’ He knelt beside the bed and gently straightened the patch over his uncle’s missing eye. ‘I can’t believe anyone would do something so appalling. I’m going to get to the bottom of this. There will be repercussions, I promise you—’
Jack’s low moan interrupted him. He pulled at the cannula and gagged. Sophy helped him to sit up and held a bowl under his chin. Unable to watch his uncle’s distress, Victor left the room. She could hear him on his phone demanding to know how much longer the ambulance would take to reach Hyland Hall.
‘Stay with me…’ Jack gasped. He pushed the unused bowl away and gripped her hand as he lay back. Each breath was a hard rasp against his throat. ‘It can’t be too late… it can’t… it can’t…’
‘Don’t talk, Jack.’ She checked her watch. Maybe Victor was right. He needed to be removed as fast as possible from his surroundings but her fear that he would need treatment from the paramedics on his way to the hospital steadied her resolve.
‘The ambulance will be another fifteen minutes at least,’ Victor said when he returned to the room. ‘I’m taking him in the jeep.’
‘I’m his nurse, Victor.’ She pushed the rolled towels back into position against the door saddle. ‘He’s protected from the fumes here and this is where I want to keep him until the paramedics arrive.’
‘He could die…’ His voice broke. ‘He’s my family—’
‘I understand your anxiety but I have to do what I believe is best.’
Jack spoke again. His speech had deteriorated so much that she was only able to make out a few words. One of them was Isobel’s name and something about the stables.
‘Isobel is safe,’ she said. ‘She heard the dumpers and raised the alarm. I told her to wait with Julie near the stables where the fumes won’t reach them.’
This information seemed to agitate him even further. His eye movement worried her yet his pulse was steady, as was his blood pressure when she checked. He was speaking again. She tried to decipher his garbled words; something about ‘medallion’ or ‘Madelaine’ and she could make out Charlie’s name.
‘Do you want me to ring Charlie?’ she asked.
Coughing dryly, he nodded. Exhausted by his efforts to speak, he turned his head into the pillow.
She glanced across at Victor. ‘Please pick up the girls, Victor. I don’t want them hanging around outside any longer than necessary. I’ll ring you as soon as we reach the hospital.’
Without replying, he nodded and left the room. Jack remained uneasy until she rang Charlie.
‘I’ll be over right away,’ he said when she contacted him. ‘I’m used to dealing with hazardous materials. Tell Jack I’ll take care of everything.’
The ambulance driver followed her instructions and drove around to the back of the house. The paramedics were wearing masks when they entered the bedroom. The taller of the two, a jocular woman with a buzz haircut, knew Jack. He was her ‘Lazarus,’ she said. They had met on the night of the fire, not that he would have any memory of that, she added. She handed a mask to Sophy and chatted