The Runaway (5 page)

It was late in the afternoon when he woke up – evidently by a loud grumbling stomach. He was disoriented with too many hours of sleep –something he wasn’t used to for a while. It took him a few minutes to wholly grasp where he was and how he came to be there. He mentally made a note to thank Jim for not having woken him up for breakfast or any end of the world emergency, as this sleep was an absolute necessity if he wanted a clear head to plan his actions henceforth. But as an exigent plan, he wanted to know where the nearest source of beer was. He checked the time –
well past 1 P.M. He’d be lucky if he could grab a bit of lunch before venturing out to look for little Brooke. He didn’t know the town very well, where the shops were, where the woods started and where at all to start looking for her. He hoped, it
was
Applecross that lured Brooke and not some other place on the world map – as tracking her down again from scratch would be a downright pain. He showered quickly and pulled out a map of the region – which wasn’t a very helpful exercise. He needed Martha’s knowledge of the people around to locate her. On his way down, he met Jim readying his bunk for an afternoon siesta. He smiled at him – unsure of what to say. Richard crossed the road and knocked on Martha’s door. He could hear the sound of gurgling water from the backyard. He followed the noise to find Martha bent over her plants – god! Could he never escape people and their fascination with plants?!

Martha smiled at him and nodded towards the wooden chairs kept under a makeshift shade in her garden. The place was uncomfortably small – yet there was this serene look on her face which
was filled with the air of having led a peaceful life. She motioned towards the fruit bowl on her table. He didn’t hesitate to dig in – he wanted to make sure he appeared as amiable as he could be. The hours of travel had certainly taken a toll on him, but otherwise, he was always rather garrulous, and yesterday wasn’t exactly a perfect start. He chatted for a while about the place and the people – and what he did back in London. He kept the writer part under covers – he could easily pass off as a professor on an academic research break or some shit with those bespectacled bright eyes and the tall lanky build. He just hoped he was a convincing liar to Brooke too – a writer might just freak her out. He didn’t know how to broach the subject, about Brooke, to Martha – what could possibly sound a good enough reason for him to travel thousands of miles to see a girl. Love maybe?! It works most of the times, and is a sappy means to keep out further questions. But then Brooke might just deny ever having met him – and it would be creepy to stalk someone without having met her even once.

And so, the inevitable question, “What brings you here?”

Richard smiled. “On a break from life.” Which was true – he was on a break to find his life back, in search of that breakthrough that flirted with him for years but never really happened. He was just about done doing what he was wont to every day. So yes! That one line summed up it neatly. It was getting dark when he finally left Martha’s home with a full stomach and a more comprehensive map of the whereabouts and the places nearby. He did want to trek up the hills – they looked alluring with the lush greenery and the far away oceans licking its feet. And he almost imagined Brooke living in a secluded place closer to woods – somewhat like Walhalla.

He met Jim on his way back.

“Haven’t introduced me self- Jim!”

“Rick!”

“Bed early?”

“No
... Looking for options!”

“Then you come along sir!”

The Royal Boot was the only pub in town – a small one room affair with mismatched chairs and tables crammed in together. It was a busy night, even though it was a weekday. A sudden hush fell over the place, as soon as he entered.

“It’s easy to notice a new face!” Jim
chuckled.

Evident. All eyeballs were on him. And moved with him. Creepy. He smiled at a few of them – maybe he dressed weird. But the clientele hardly spoke of people who paid attention to what to wear to clubs and to pubs. Jim went to the back of the bar, leaving him to face the misery on his own.

“Gets better!”

He whipped around to find a well-built blond
e guy sitting on the stool next to him. He had dark blue eyes and a long thin nose. All in all a good looking guy – and quite known for it – judging by the fervent looks the waitress was throwing at him. He looked to be younger than Richard – late twenties maybe.

“James Logan”

“Rick Hold – new here.”

They shook hands. He was glad to have found someone who spoke English with a little less colloquial influence. It was getting harder to decipher words with that sing song accent. He was the Edinburgh return – on some sort
of a sabbatical from his corporate job. Rick made a note of where to reach him – the same age bracket guaranteed James would have knowledge of the town girls and where they mostly hung around.

“Are there any other such
...Err… places to hang around here?”

He gave a deep laugh - “What do you think? It’s pretty dull here… Especially for folk
s like you. But it’s my home – and I love Applecross. Tell you what, come around at our place tomorrow – ask anyone, they would know where to find us. It’ll be great to have someone to talk about Chelsea again!!”

He
normally bashed Chelsea fans – he was more the Liverpool fan. But then he was more than glad to have the company – someone apart from Martha and Jim. He bought a few more bottles for his room and left the pub. It was well past midnight, when he found himself walking on an unknown part of the town. He didn’t know how to reach Martha’s lodge. He was sure James had left too, or he could have helped him. He found it hard to like the deathly quiet of the town, and the darkness engulfing almost everything around him. He walked what seemed to him for miles but nowhere could he find familiar streets. The hills and the woods around looked eerie – dense enough to serve as good cover for hiding killers. Right! There goes his mind again!!

He called up Jim’s cell number- luckily he had had the sense to store it first thing today. He gave his exact location with difficulty and was reassured by Jim no bears or Bigfoot would eat him up if he had to wait for half an hour alone near the woods. He squatted on the road itself – fearing to be too near the woods on either side. He had always been rather bad at handling voices and sounds in the dark. The smallest of leaves rustling could make him shriek like a girl. He could jump to conclusions
involving alien invasions and Darth Vader by just an approaching headlight in the dark. Thankfully it turned out to be Jim’s noisy vehicle. The distance they covered in the rusty car made it seem like he was stranded on the polar end of the town.

It was almost dawn when he finally crashed on his bed. He didn’t deign to wait long enough to undress or even get his shoes out. The town had a penchant of exhausting you even without labouring too much. The takeaway of the day was to discover the hub of the town where the younger
crowd hung out – surely Brooke would frequent the Boot.

A week passed by. And Richard had hardly made any progress in his pursuit. He made visits to Martha daily for most of his meals – and he had come to love her gardens and her incessant chatter. However, the most exciting moment of his life in Applecross was driving an Armstrong that Bob owned, and now belonged to James. James was turning out to be his boon in this town – he knew every corner and every street – not that you had much of those here. Yet, he couldn’t get to what he was looking for. He couldn’t bring himself to ask about a random girl without raising unnecessary questions. If she had had a commendable social life, he was sure Brooke would have made herself visible. He was starting to doubt his sleuthing abilities and the fact that the file he had chanced upon had any inkling at all about Brooke’s true whereabouts. He couldn’t live here forever in search of a remote possibility – nor would his publisher let him obsess about it for too long.

He was getting agitated, and highly irritated by his failure to get adequate information – at which he rather excelled
usually. While he was actually having fun hunting with James and enjoying the pleasures of a slow life without the monotony of the buzzing rat race as he had known, he felt as he was running out of time. And if Cook found out he was holed up in Applecross, he would lose it and initiate a manhunt for Richard.

“So… any plans for the birthday coming up?”

Richard grimaced. He shouldn’t have divulged that information to James or anyone here at all – it held a special significance in his life for the past couple of months – a milestones of some sort.

“Nothing
at all! Beer with you at the most. ..And that reminds me to warn you about making an issue about this here… I mean it man… You tell no one—bro code or whatever it is you young guys have!”

“OK OK… Drama queen! We’ll get beer, get drunk… And get you laid… How’s that for a plan?” James guffawed while he put the gun back in the back seat.

“Do you even have casual sex – the concept- anywhere around here…? And enough people to pull off the nameless banging?”

“Ohh you don’t know half of what the town could pull off
, Londoner!”

“Please.
.. I think it’s high time I get to see some of that – kind of boring isn’t it?”

“City folk!!”

James shook his head disbelievingly. It’s boring yeah! But Rick here was obviously was looking for something- something that the cold London didn’t have, and that’s what got him here. Or was he running from something? It wasn’t too difficult to read Rick – he was materialistic, charming and fun-loving – yet he had a weight tying him down to something – but that’s the story of almost everyone. You can almost see that in people’s eyes. Like the girl from last night. She was a breath taking creature – with those blue eyes and full lips – but she looked undernourished, and somehow when you delve deep into her eyes, you could make out the early twenties girl lurking beneath, even if she looked ancient with those furrowed brows. He had no idea why he didn’t let the sheriff know about the incident last night – but he wanted to know her more, he wanted to talk to her, and maybe, just maybe, after what he had done, she might just start talking to him.

“What are you smiling about?”

James stiffened. Why did Rick have to break up the awesome day dream?

“Nothing
…”

“You
don’t have a nothing face!! It’s a girl, isn’t it?  You have such a goofy smile. Spit it out!”

“No
... Err... no nothing like that”

“Then it is
a girl!”

Rick laughed out with that boom of a laughter. It irritated him. And no, he did not want to share. He wasn’t jealous, but he didn’t want the girl to be whisked away by this charmer
professor on a holiday.

“
Anyway... There is this dinner thing tomorrow at our home. Dad wants you to come over!”

“Change of topic Jamie…
?!”

“Ugh!! No one called me by that
name since high school!!”

“Then
stop acting like a kid from one – come on spill!”

“Just be there tomorrow night. Goodnight Rick!”

Rick was still laughing when he made his way into the lodge. James wasn’t sure whether there was anything to spill yet. He wasn’t sure she had even listened to his suggestion – he wasn’t sure she had listened at all. But he hoped she would come back. And till she did, he had nothing to share frankly.

Rick dug into his files that night. Happy as he was with James’ score – he was truly beginning to think that he was wasting his time. He had made good friends – he met go
od people – but none of it was to his ends. He thought of a direct approach – tomorrow maybe, ask James or his family. Come clean by cooking up a story. What an oxymoron! But, Sam and Bob were reasonable people – and were local and almost ancient. They should know of anyone who would stand out in the community. And going by her history, Brooke couldn’t become a prom queen.

Dinner was always a grand affair at the Logan’s, James had said. Sam was a marvellous cook. Her turkey was something you could carry to the grave. It was delightful – the four of them around a small table laden with the most heavenly dishes, laughing and sharing anecdotes. It was something Richard hadn’t done for a very long time. When dessert was being served, he thought he could broach the subject.

“
So. Bob… you’ve been here long enough?”

“Ta! Long enough to know everyone around…”

Rick smiled. He wasn’t too subtle about the whole broaching thing– but he had just no idea as to how he could ask about Brooke. What could be a proper explanation of knowing a girl out of the blue? And if she was that important, why hadn’t he asked about her before?

“Jamie here tells me it’s your birthday this Saturday..! Do you want to go back to celebrate with your family?”

“No... Not until my work is done!”

“And what it is you are doing?” James chimed in with an amused expression. Richard wanted to kick him. He had been vague about his reasons of being here – people could make guesses about escaping
from life, vacations and such stuff. Whatever it took to not disclose her identity was fine with him. He checked the time – it was getting late, more so for Sam and Bob to be still up. He wished them all goodnight and threatened to kill James in a low mutter before walking out of their garden.

It was chilly with a thick fog cover over the streets. The poor streetlights were of little use to help him on his way back. After fumbling for what seemed like hours, he thought of going
back to the Logan’s and borrowing a flashlight. He made his way back somehow and reached what looked like the back entrance to their home, when he noticed silhouettes illuminated by the streetlights. He could make out the broad outline of James from where he stood, and the second had to be the girl he was so wound up about. He didn’t want to butt in –obviously they were having their moment, and his folks weren’t aware of her. But, if he had any plans of returning to his room, he needed that flashlight. He thought of waiting in the dark till they are done – but it felt wrong on so many levels. He could just walk in, ask for the flashlight and walk out pretending to not notice her. He mumbled to himself for quite some time.

“Why are you lurking about in the corner?”

“Jesus!! You scared me!!”

“You are hiding behind
my house, and I scared you!! Are you… Err… What are you doing here? Didn’t you go home?”

“Too dark… Need a flashlight, came back to borrow one.”

“Were you preparing a speech for that? Could’ve just walked in!”

“You were busy..!”

James laughed, though his eyes seemed wary. Richard waited for an explanation, but he offered none. He let it drop – James didn’t seem too comfortable with the topic in any case.

“Come on Josie.
.. I’ll walk you home..!”

Richard snorted.

“Scared of a little fog?! Lame!”

He handed over a small flashlight to Richard, still lau
ghing. He was getting impatient.

“As lame as referencing American cartoon girl bands… Good night James! Regards to the lady in hiding!”

He heard the door slam, and James shouting from the hallway, “Shut up Rick! She’s gone. … I saw Brooke out.”

Richard froze. All this while, and the answer was right with him – hunting, drinking beer and sharing meals. And he never asked. He never even thought of asking the one eligible bachelor in town about the girl he was looking for so desperately. He whipped around – but the lights had been turned off.

He couldn’t sleep that night – not after he could see the distant destination almost near him, after so many futile trials and errors. He thought of casually asking James about his girl – that would be awkward – if he showed too much interest. He was sure Brooke hadn’t shared her history with him – but he was so genial and caring – what if Brooke actually loved him, and Richard was just stirring old demons that she had probably forgotten and healed and moved on. Wasn’t James the most ideal option to move on from a psychopath father?

He didn’t understand whether having James in the picture made it more or less complicated than it already was. It could be easier for her to talk about stuff with moral support, or she could be mortified. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with having to deal with James as well. Whatever it turned out to be, he was sure that he had to wrap it up as soon as he could. And
, he decided with some qualm, it would be better if she didn’t remember him at all.

It was late next day when he woke up with a splitting headache. He could only sleep
sometime after 7 a.m., and that too was because of fatigue. The first thought was to just dress and run down to James and get him to call Brooke. If he was lucky, it could be in a day or two that he would be heading back to London to finish what he had started 6 years ago. He couldn’t stop smiling at his stroke of luck – thank God he had gone back to fetch a flashlight. He didn’t mind being Josie for this.

He showered, grabbed a bit of brunch from Martha and rushed off to meet James. It was a cloudy day – and the distant hills were shrouded in the thick covers of grey clouds. Good! Rains meant there was nothing outdoorsy to distract James, and he would be stuck inside. And Richard was always good company. This should give him ample time.

The scene outside James’ house didn’t look good. An ambulance stood blocking the entrance to their lawn.

“No.
no... Is anyone hurt?!”

The driver barely noticed him. He rushed in to find a dishevelled James making calls and a crying Sam over by the couch. Paramedics were carrying Bob on a stretcher.

“Ohh! Rick... Look what happened!!” Sam wailed out. He hurried over to her and put his arm over her shoulder. She looked so aged overnight. Apparently, Bob had had a minor cardiac arrest sometime around dawn. The closest hospital sent over the ambulance as soon as they could, but it was still 3 hours later than what should have been ideal. Richard shuddered to think of any harm that could befall on the cheerful Bob.

James came over and hugged his mother. He nodded at Rick – he followed him out.

“Thanks for coming over!”

“I would’ve in any case – but why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve come sooner!!”

“Late riser, aren’t u?” James smiled, wanly.

“Arse! The time wasn’t right to think of my sleeping habits before your father!!”

“I’ll be gone for a few days – staying with my dad over at the hospital – get him checked and everything... Could you check in with my mum, now and then?!”

“Yeah! Of course man! Whatever you need!”

After a moment’s silence, He climbed into the ambulance. As the engine roared to life, James said, “Sorry I’ll miss your birthday!” With that they were gone. He went in to check on Sam – she had dozed off on the couch. He fetched a warm blanket and covered her with it. He wrote his temporary contact number on a card and placed it on the table next to the couch and left the house.

He took a longer route back to Martha’s – enjoying the countryside. The cloud cover was clearing up a bit, but there was a light drizzle. He liked it – the cool slow trickle of rain drops down his back –
soothing his tired and agitated self. He stopped by the highway – looking over the million acres of rocky land below him covered with moss and wild flowers. The roads were slippery and puddles of mud accumulated spuriously all over. He stood there for a while. Hoping James would return soon – and that Bob would get better soon. And he could meet Brooke.

He didn’t have the right to c
omplain about Bob’s unfortunate timing – no one had seen it coming. He tried saying this to himself repeatedly – that this also gave him time to prepare his way of approaching Brooke and a more plausible explanation. In the meantime, he could do a little digging, and find out more about Brooke, now that he was sure there was a Brooke in this town. But he just couldn’t shake the feeling of irritation at having to wait for a few more days. It was like Brooke was conspiring to stay just out of reach. He laughed at his imagination –and turned to go back to the lodge. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do that night. There was nothing to look forward to exactly. Surely, Paul would send in his letter, and the cake from Eve would arrive to an empty house. Followed by Cook with his usual curt call. He felt bad for him and his endless endeavours of winning Eve over. He wasn’t sure anything could win his sister’s affections, anything from Ronan at least. But then he wasn’t sure of his sister either.

He read a few magazines after dinner. It was close to 9 p.m., when he realised he was stuck on the same page on the one magazine for the past couple of hours. He watched the minute
s hand drag itself across the clock and at long last, he gave up. He needed to be out, he needed something to keep his mind off from sprinting to James and bugging him to death about Brooke. He picked his coat and headed out. He crossed Jim at the doorway preparing to leave.

Richard waved at him.

“Out for a drink?”

“Yep! Join?”

For some reason he didn’t exactly want to drink alone on his birthday. Jim was only too happy to oblige. The pub was noisy, more than usual – seemed as if the town decided to accompany him on his birthday.

Good! He thought downing his third mug, Brooke should be somewhere around too. Jim was nowhere to be seen – surely trying his luck over some poor girl. He looked about, thinking whether any casual fling would be advisable at a place like Applecross. He was utterly bored, and was woefully out of work until James was back in town. He scratched his chin – he needed a shave too apparently. His normally attractive stubble was overgrown and darker in contrast to his pale skin. He must be looking ages older than he was.

That’s when she caught his eyes – a gorgeous brunette – the classic petite, light eyed, sly smile on that perfect oval face. With his state of inebriety, he wished to God she wasn’t underage and wasn’t married. In all other cases, she fitted his needs perfectly. She was standing by the door, accompanied by another tall brunette. They were talking animatedly, well, the gorgeous one was, while the other seemed to stare at the liquor rather intensely. His target smiled coyly at him. Score! He could always pull the bestseller author card, but then here he was just Rick and he had to win over by being just the guy next door – at which he had always sucked big time. He had perfected the art of being the famous, spoilt, rich, callous and altruistic writer.

By his fifth mug, the floor had started spinning, and he didn’t realise that both the girls were now seated right next to him. The silent one was too glued to her mug of beer, while the other was smiling at him. Drunk was when he was best at charming people over. But he was a tad too drunk at the moment. He could barely register any word that the girl spoke. He thanked the heavens that his room wasn’t far enough to get himself embarrassed in front of the girl. His head was throbbing noisily, and he wanted to get out. He reached out and took her hand and led her out of the pub. Out in the air, he felt better, but then nausea hit him and he felt the ground
being pulled off from underneath him. As he threw up to his life’s content, he cursed himself – what a sore sight he must be for the poor girl who he dragged out of the pub. Strangely, she seemed to hold on to his arms, as he puked all his senses away. When it all ended, the last he could see was the door slamming at his side, and the car being revved up. And then he passed out. Amidst images of blue eyes, dense woods and gunshots.

Streams of sunlight flitted
in through the partially opened window – a faint smell of fresh earth and lavender wafted in the air. He felt rested. His eyes flashed open and the senses came crashing down on him along with a throbbing headache. He went over the images from last night. It seemed vague and murky, the gaps filled in with so much of beer. He shut his eyes. He was scared of the consequences of being his outstanding stalwart self – and what he must have done in the drunken stupor. After a few stupid silent moments, he slowly turned to his side. He strangled his cry by stuffing his fist into his mouth.

Matted dark hair spread all over his pillows, the girl sleeping next to him had a tattooed
orchid at the nape of her neck. Her mouth was slightly open with a tiny spit bubble. All that was very well, except, she wasn’t the gorgeous brunette he was hitting on last night. It was the silent drinker.

“Shit
! Shit... What did I do? Who the fuck is this?”

He stood blankly for a couple of minutes, deciding over the best course of action. He noted
the purple streaks in her hair. He wasn’t particularly fond of the Goth rocker chicks. Thankfully, there was no black nail paint and heavy black eyeliner on her- or else he would’ve just bolted and waited till she woke up and left on her own... Her nose was off centre, and a little stubby. She didn’t look like the usual simpering giggly types who were easily dealt with after sex. He bent closer to get a better look at her. He wasn’t the type to not even know who he spent the night with and he had to respect that fact even now. Who was this girl?

Her eyes flew open. He was momentarily bedazzled by the blast of ice in her stare- so blue to the core of her irises. He was so shocked that he stumbled back and almost fell over. She sat up straight, looked around. Without any further signs of emotions, she walked up to her jacket, and pulled in her shoes. She ran her fingers through her mane of dark hair. All the while Richard just stared at her, still unsettled by the blue of her eyes. Those eyes had no fear, or shame or bliss. They were just blue, vast like the ocean, yet lacking the depth. He was unsure of what to say. He wasn’t so
rry – he was- but it normally didn’t work in such situations. And judging by her nonchalance, she didn’t care two hoots about his apology. As he struggled to put two words together, she looked up and straight through him. She closed the distance between them in two strides and went into the bathroom. He was dumbfounded. He had no clue as to how he would have reacted had she stopped in front of him to talk. He scratched his chin, and thought he best take that shave today. She cleared her throat from behind him. He took a deep breath and turned around to confront his tomfoolery. She rubbed her eyes, stifled a yawn and pointed towards the coffee beside his table that he hadn’t noticed before.