Chapter 2

Come the morning, I was away to spend the day with Mountain Rescue. Zoe and Sally came with me; they had small packs and were going to climb ‘The Old Man of Coniston’. The mountain is 2,634 feet high, and offers a stiff climb, though requiring no mountaineering skills, with a wonderful view at the top ... weather permitting, of course.

As for me, I was gofering, though I did spend some time in going over climbing safety and techniques with one of the experienced crew. I had actually got to the point of tackling some simple routes, though I’d never achieve the level of competence and confidence of the experienced, qualified, crew. But then, I was happy to be a gofer or beast of burden to free up the experts to do what they do so well.

There were no call-outs, and when Sally and Zoe appeared to collect me I was ready to go home. They’d bought more provisions, which filled the back of the Zafira.

“I’ll sleep well tonight,” Zoe giggled. “That was hard work. I don’t walk enough.”

“I thought you were fit,” I said.

“So did I. But running, and kata, and weights ... they’re just not the same as walking up a hill.”

As we drove up to the gate, it opened. Zoe drove through and stopped so Alex could get in the car. He handed me a small device on a leather thong. “You can hang this round your neck. I’ve got some which don’t need you to press a button – you just tuck it behind a sunshade in your car, or somewhere on your bike, and the gate’ll open for you and shut as you drive away. I’ve linked it in to your security system, so you can open it from the house if you need to for deliveries or whatever, and there’s an intercom box on the right-hand post. I made good progress today.”

Having put the car away, Sally kissed me and Zoe her husband, and they disappeared into the kitchen. Goat and Snoopy were sitting in the lounge with glasses of beer. We hadn’t seen them since the previous night.

“Where were you this morning?” Alex queried Snoopy.

He actually blushed. “Sorry, Cap. We didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Eventually we tuned the sensors more carefully; they were picking up rabbits, foxes, badgers. We were up and down like yoyos. So this morning we, um, slept in. Didn’t mean to.”

“Doesn’t matter. Though I suppose we’d better test those sensors to make sure they do respond to intruders; in particular, intruders who might be wearing kit to reduce their IR signature.”

“Okay, Cap. Goat’s finished with her evaluation of the systems here. She’s loaded some state-of-the-art protection, she says...”

“D’you need details?” Goat interjected.

“No! No, thank you, Goat,” Alex responded hastily. (He’d told me that he’d learned early on that he couldn’t follow Goat’s techno-jargon. If he couldn’t, I was certain I couldn’t either.). “Tomorrow, the boat-house, and if we have time, more perimeter sensors. Snoopy, d’you want to sleep in the house tonight? I’ll take a spell in the bivvy?”

“I think we’re okay, Cap. Since Goat and I tamed the uphill set, we’ll get a better night, I think.”

“Good enough. We might try the sensors after dark.”

“Beer, Cap? Jerry?” Snoopy put his glass down, stood, and went to the ‘bar’.

“Bluebird,” Alex said, “Please.”

“I’ll have my usual Cockerhoop,” I smiled.

“Coming right up.”

After a fine meal, jointly prepared by Sally and Zoe, we enjoyed coffee – Alex and I took ours black, like Snoopy and Goat, while Sally and Zoe had hot chocolate – then Snoopy took Goat off to their ‘bivvy’ and I talked to Alex about plans for the evening. Zoe and Sally were nervous about what we were going to do; even the assurance that we’d wear armour didn’t help Zoe a lot, whereas Sally was a little annoyed I wouldn’t take her with us. Anyway, we raided the store-room for gear and, once more, I was clad in black with Kevlar protection. Alex insisted we take side-arms, though he thought it unnecessary to carry more than basic walking requirements. I would never set off into the Cumbrian fells without water, food in the form of energy bars, and emergency blankets. We had tactical radios and mobile phones, but they were switched off. I led Alex a couple of miles along the road to find a footpath which would bring us round to the upper limit of the estate. Moving quietly, even using night-vision equipment, it took some time to get into position. It was actually after midnight when we approached the stile at the upper access.

Alex went first. I’d barely followed him over when Goat’s voice rang out. “Halt! Who goes there?”

“Friend!” Alex responded.

“Advance, Friend, and be recognised!”

As we moved forward, Snoopy’s voice ordered, “Hands on your heads!”

I hadn’t seen either of them before Goat appeared from behind a substantial tree.

“Hello, Cap. Jerry. We had you, all right, well before you crossed the boundary.” Goat was carrying one of the MP5s. I was happy we were wearing body armour and had been identified early.

Snoopy stepped out. “It’s working, Cap. I’d like to add some low-light cameras. We could tell there was someone out there and we had plenty of time to get into position, but it would have been nice to have more idea of who or what was coming.”

“I was thinking that, but I didn’t bring the equipment. Ah, well. We’ve improved security a lot.”

“Can’t you get what you need? Lancaster, perhaps?” Goat inserted herself into the discussion.

“Doubt it. Glasgow, perhaps, or Manchester. I’d have to see.”

We all went to bed. Sally had waited up for me, and Zoe had kept her company. I can’t speak for Alex, but I certainly didn’t get straight to sleep, despite the late hour. I was late up, and alone in bed when I woke.

When I got to the kitchen, Alex was there, his plate almost clear. Zoe sat with him, looking bleary, a dish of muesli in front of her, which she was slowly consuming between sips of coffee. Goat and Snoopy came in just after me, looking far too bright and alert for comfort,

“Morning, Jerry,” Alex greeted me. “I’m off to Glasgow in a few minutes to do some shopping. Zoe’s staying here with Sally, and so are Goat and Snoopy. I’ll be away overnight.”

“Okay.” I was sitting by that point, and reaching for my first cup of life.

“There are no current indications of any threat to you, but we need to maintain vigilance.”

Sally placed a plate in front of me as I took my first sips of coffee. “Thanks, Love. Okay, Alex.”

“Zoe wants to spend some time in your dojo with Sally and I’d like for her to have some time in your firing range.”

I nodded. “I’m sure that’ll be good for both of them.” I concentrated on my breakfast.

After breakfast, we agreed that Snoopy would work with me on shooting while Zoe worked in the dojo with Sally, then we’d swap over. I’d like to think Snoopy was impressed. I learned the idiosyncrasies of the MP5s we’d acquired, and put a few rounds through the AK47. Snoopy tried the Boys. “I wouldn’t like to lug that around,” was his only comment.

“Sally used it when we were attacked. Put a round through the windscreen of the van and the driver’s head.”

He shook his head. “That’s a remarkable woman you have there.”

“Absolutely.”

Lunch was soup and bread. Afterwards Zoe, Goat and Sally headed for the underground range, but Snoopy and I let our lunch settle. “You do well for an amateur,” he told me over a mug of coffee.

“Thanks, but I know I am an amateur,” I smiled. “I just don’t have the background you guys have.”

“Of course not! But honestly, you don’t really need it for your situation.” He hesitated, but went on, “There’s a danger in relying on technology, though. I don’t think Sally’s going to do that, but maybe you need to bear it in mind.”

I nodded. “I tend to rely on Sally for that. She’s got this way of prompting me...”

“Yeah. I’ve noticed that. Remarkable woman. Remarkable.”

In the dojo, I didn’t disgrace myself or my teacher. I think Snoopy was a little surprised; he had me demonstrating some moves. I think Sally would give him a workout. We both worked up a sweat and I certainly learned something.

“Thing is,” Snoopy remarked, “Don’t hesitate and don’t hold back. If it’s you or him, better be him. Or even her. That’s something I’ve always had a problem with. Goat beat me every time, even before we got together.”

“Sally tells me that. I don’t know how I’d do in actual hand to hand. I still see the face of the guy I shot in the fells. Since then, well...”

“Yeah.” He looked at me, “I reckon if you ever lose your reservations about taking a life you probably need locking up.”

“I suppose. But some of the things ... the people ... the scum ... we’ve been dealing with. I’m not sure they should count as human.”