Chapter 7

Ben Hardisty burst onto the shop floor just as the second machine clattered into life. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “I heard shouting. Is anyone hurt?”

“No, everything’s fine,” I replied. “It was me.”

“Are you here alone?” Ben asked.

My only thought was to cover-up the visit from the girl. “Yes,” I replied. It wasn’t exactly a lie.

I produced the specification of the bespoke component I was attempting to fabricate. “I think I’ve come up with a shortcut to make this nasty bugger. If we make It in two interlocking pieces, ninety five percent of the work can be done by the programmable machines. Then we can hand finish the pieces and weld them together, making the join strong enough to meet the test specifications. I coded the necessary instructions and the programs have just started running.”

“That’ll be great if it works,” agreed Ben. “But if you’re the only one here and you’re running a programmable machine, who is supervising?”

That’s when I had an ‘Oh Shit!’ moment. I remembered from the processes and procedures manual that running the programmable machines without adequate supervision warranted a written warning as a health and safety violation for a first offence.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think. I know it’s not a valid excuse but this is the first chance I’ve had today to try out my idea.”

“It’s okay John,” Bob reassured me. “I’m not going to can you for a first offence, especially since you’re doing such a great job. But I’m not a qualified supervisor and I don’t want to have you stop what you’re doing.”

“You could supervise anyway,” I suggested. “In essence, the last resort is to press the red emergency stop button. The worst that can happen is that a machine will need an engineer to come and reset it, the equivalent of opening up a photocopier to remove half-printed pages.”

“Even knowing that, I couldn’t in all conscience supervise because then I’d be breaking the safety rules,” said Bob. “How long will the machine be running? Since you’re a qualified supervisor, I can spare a few minutes to pretend to be the operator while you supervise.”

“I’ve actually got both machines running,” I admitted. “Both pieces are complex so I guess about another half hour.”

Bob sighed loudly. “Oh well, I’m just doing paperwork. I can do it down here if I get my laptop.”

Bob fetched his laptop and sat down at a bench to do his work while I watched over the machines.

It was just over twenty minutes before the first machine released its work and went silent. About a minute later the second machine followed.

The silence broke Bob’s concentration. He looked up from his laptop and watched while I shut down the machines and collected the two pieces. I showed them separately to Bob, then interlocked them together.

“That looks great,” said Bob with a broad smile. “Now you’re absolutely forgiven for your indiscretion. You’re not planning to do anything more this evening, are you?”

“No, that’s me finished for the week.”

“Fancy a pint down the Rose and Slipper?”

On another day I might have accepted. Now I was gainfully employed again I felt ready to start expanding my social horizons. But I’d been badly shaken by the appearance of the girl. “Could I take a raincheck? I’ve got things I need to do at home,” I lied.

“Okay, I understand,” said Bob, misunderstanding. “Eliogu told me about your wife. I’m very sorry.”

“Thanks.”

I was glad to get home safely. The appearance of the girl had affected me more than the episode in the church. I guess I should have been expecting a visit since one was about due, but why had she been in such distress and why had she bolted like that? And, come to that, how had the white Panama sun hat stayed in place while she was sprinting? However, by far my biggest worry was that she might turn up again the next day, like she had after the interrupted events at the shopping centre.

It seemed as though the programmable machines had somehow disturbed her, but I couldn’t go into work on a Saturday and keep the machines running all day, probably on my own and unsupervised. If I were caught, I definitely would be punished.

I didn’t want the girl turning up at my house. I had to live there and get on with the neighbours, and the possibility of being seen doing sex acts with a teenage girl was something I didn’t want to risk. However that might not be a problem if I went out for the day. Somewhere further afield than the town centre, where the girl seemed to have no problem tracking me down.

While I was eating my evening meal, I remembered the perfect place. When I first moved to the area, I did a lot of hiking to explore the surrounding countryside. That was before Lynda came into my life and my priorities changed. I was familiar with the area’s popular nationally-famous beauty spot with its dramatic waterfall and views over three counties. I was also aware that barely a mile away was another, smaller waterfall that was very difficult to get to because access was through rugged shrubland. However it was worth the effort because of its seclusion. At the top of the waterfall, with a decent view in its own right, was a flat area of rabbit-trimmed grass where trees and shrubs couldn’t grow. The weather was predicted to be good, so I’d take provisions and a book and spend the day reading in the sunshine.

I made an early start the next day and by mid-morning I was safely ensconced on the flat area of grass, listening to the adjacent stream gurgling before it plunged down the hillside. Hopefully the girl wouldn’t find me, but who could complain about the waste of a day with the warm sun overhead and a good book to read. Occasionally I heard the faint voices of others who’d ventured away from the crowded beauty spot, but none came near.

Sometime around midday, while I was dozing in the warm sun and debating with myself whether I was too comfortable to eat lunch, through lidded eyes I caught a glimpse of white and yellow. Suddenly wide awake, I opened my eyes fully and there she was, in her white and yellow sun dress and white Panama sun hat, standing with her back to me and looking down the hillside. How the hell had she found me all the way out here?

She turned to face me. “Nice,” she said in her melodious, unaccented voice.

I opened my mouth to ask her what had happened the previous evening but found I couldn’t speak. Strong unseen hands grasped me and prevented me from conscious movement. I was lifted onto my hands and knees, then my clothes were removed through my body. I was worried that they might blow away down the hillside but they ended up in a neat pile at the base of a shrub.