Part Five Chapter XV

XVIn Church Row, Miles Mollison came tearing out of his home in bedroom slippers and sprinted down the steep sloping pavement to the disused Vicarage on the corner. He banged on the thick oak adit with his left hand, while trying to dial his wifes number with his right.Yes? verbalize Parminder, crack the door.My dad, gasped Miles another heart attack Mums called an ambulance will you play along? Please, will you come?Parminder made a swift move back into the house, mentally seizing her doctors bag, but checked.I cant. Im suspended from work, Miles. I cant.Youre joking please the ambulance wont be here for I cant, Miles, she said.He turned and ran away from her through the absolved gate. Ahead, he saw Samantha, walking up their garden path. He called to her, his illustration breaking, and she turned in surprise. At first, she thought that his panic was on her account. public address system collapsed theres an ambulance coming bloody Parminder Jawanda wont come My Go d, said Samantha. Oh my God.They dashed to the car and flock up the road, Miles in his slippers, Samantha in the clogs that had blistered her feet.Miles, listen, theres a siren its here already But when they turned into Evertree Crescent, there was nothing there, and the siren was already gone.On a lawn a mile away, Sukhvinder Jawanda was vomiting river water beneath a willow tree, while an old lady pressed blankets most her that were already as sodden as Sukhvinders clothes. A short distance away, the dog-walker who had dragged Sukhvinder from the river by her hair and her sweatshirt was bent over a small, limp body.Sukhvinder had thought she matte up Robbie struggling in her arms, but had that been the cruel tug of the river, trying to pull up him from her? She was a strong swimmer, but the Orr had dragged her under, pulled her helplessly wherever it chose. She had been swept around the bend, and it had thrown her in towards land, and she had managed a scream, and seen the ma n with his dog, running towards her along the banking concern No good, said the man, who had worked on Robbies little body for twenty minutes. Hes gone.Sukhvinder wailed, and slumped to the unwarmed wet ground, shaking furiously as the sound of the siren reached them, too late.Back in Evertree Crescent, the paramedics were having enormous difficulty getting Howard onto the stretcher Miles and Samantha had to help.Well result in the car, you go with Dad, Miles shouted at Shirley, who seemed bewildered, and unwilling to get into the ambulance.Maureen, who had plainly shown her last customer out of the Copper Kettle, stood on the doorstep, listening.Lots of sirens, she said over her shoulder to an exhausted Andrew, who was mopping tables. Something must have happened.And she took a deep breath, as though she hoped to taste the tang of disaster on the warm afternoon air.