Thief (6 page)

Chapter 11.

We headed out of the castle, keeping a wary eye out for our two gangster friends. Bella led us down a weather beaten path to the rocky opening of a large cave.

“This is
it
,” she announced. “It runs for about fifty metres, but I don't remember anything remarkable about it. What do we look for?”

“Search me,” Kim candidly replied. “Keep an eye out for anything that doesn't
belong
in a cave, I suppose. Let's go.”

We ventured inside, but as we investigated further, the light became dimmer and dimmer.

“This is
crazy
,” Bella interjected. “If we go any further we won't be able to see anything at
all
.”

“Bella’s right,” I agreed. “We need a
torch
or something.”

“I guess you're right,” Kim said. “We should have thought of that earlier. There's one in the car. I'll nip back and get it. You three stay here. No sense in
all
of us going.”

We sat down and waited for Kim to return. The silence was eerie and the cave darkness didn't help matters either. Then I felt something crawling about on my
leg
! I froze, expecting at any moment to feel the fangs of some subterranean monstrosity digging into my flesh. Oh my god, now it was skittering down my
arm
! I was petrified, not daring to move a muscle or make a sound. It found my hand, searched around and resolved itself into Bella's
fingers
which clamped themselves onto mine.

“This is so scary,” Bella whispered to me. “I
hate
the dark. I always imagine all sorts of creepy crawlies running around that I can't see.”

“I know
exactly
what you mean,” I confirmed, my recent terror still fresh in my memory. I tightened my grip on her hand. “But we'll fight them
together
.”

I felt Bella’s breath on my cheek as she leaned over and kissed me. “Yes,” she said, “we'll fight them together. Don't let go of my hand, please. I need to know that you're here beside me.”

“Don't worry, sweetheart,” I reassured her. “You know I'm always here for you.”

She sighed, and rested her head on my shoulder. “I know,” she said. “I'm just starting to realise that. My horizons are continually expanding. Maybe I
could
take a step up from that bottom rung after all.”

I raised her hand to my lips and kissed it. “Of
course
you could, honey,” I told her, forcefully. “You can go up as many rungs as you
allow
yourself to.”

Our heartfelt utterances were disturbed by an exaggerated gagging noise from the darkness. “I've never heard such a load of old
tripe
,” Martina said, revolted. “You two are behaving like lovesick puppies. It's enough to turn my stomach.”

Bella laughed quietly. “And haven't
you
had the same thoughts about Kim just recently?”

A profound silence greeted her question. “Well,
maybe
,” Martina reluctantly conceded. “But I don't go around telling
her
about them.”

“Maybe you
should
,” Bella told her in a soft voice, giving my hand a little extra squeeze. “Love needs to be
communicated
, otherwise what's the point? It’s something I’ve only recently learned
myself
.”

“Are you saying that I
should
tell Kim how I feel about her, then?” Martina asked.

“Why
not
?” Bella urged. “Kim has a soft spot for you. She really
cares
about your well-being.”

“But she doesn't
love
me,” Martina said, despondently. “She's
told
me so often enough. I accept that. I know I can't
force
her love, and I wouldn’t
want
to either.”

“But she
did
spend that night with you,” I reminded her. “She wouldn’t have done that unless she had
some
feelings for you.”

“She was just being a good friend, that's all,” Martina replied. “She thought it would help me. And it
did
!”

“Sweetie, people don't normally go to bed with someone who’s
just
a friend,” I told her. “There's usually a little more to it than
that
.”

“Unless you're someone like
me
,” Bella interjected wryly. “I do it for the
money
.”

“Okay,
okay
,” Martina said, irritably. “You’ve
made
your point. Maybe she
does
have a minuscule feeling for me hidden somewhere deep inside. Paul, you know her the best. Tell me, do you think she could
ever
bring herself to love someone like me?”

“There’s something you have to understand about Kim,” I explained, slowly. “It may not show much on the surface but she’s a very
affectionate
and sentimental person. She always gives her love freely with no strings attached. Too often her emotions overrule her head, and I’ve watched her heart get broken time and time again because of that, although it never seems to stop her. But, to answer your question,
yes
, she could
easily
love someone like you. Her preferences lately for love partners
have
been mainly women, but that's not exclusive. As she said herself, she'll take love from
any
quarter. But Bella’s right. You have to
tell
her how you feel, otherwise how is she ever going to know?”

“But, going by what you just said, if she
was
to love me, she would have
said
so by now, isn’t that right?” Martina shrewdly observed.

“Give her time,” I told her. “If it happens, it’ll happen.” I chuckled. “One of her
last
girlfriends was someone called Megan and they started off by fighting like cats and dogs. I couldn’t leave them alone for more than five
minutes
without a war erupting. But they both grew into love over time. So keep your spirits up. But you have to let her know that you’re interested.”

“I think she
already
knows,” Martina smiled tightly. “I’ve made it plain enough.”

“Keep
reminding
her, sweetie,” Bella lectured. “But don’t do it enough to make a nuisance of yourself.”

Martina breathed out noisily. “I’ll try and do what you’ve said,” she promised. “Thanks for the advice.”

There was a noise at the cave entrance and Martina called out hopefully, “Is that
you
, Kim?”

The crashing sound of a gunshot answered her and I flung myself on top of Bella. The bullet ricocheted around the stone wall, splattering stone chips in all directions. I heard a stifled cry from Martina as she collected a glancing wound from one of the rock splinters. Another shot followed the first and the sound echoed and reverberated around the walls in a deafening crescendo.

“
Keep
down
!” I yelled, unnecessarily. A third gunshot honed in at the sound of my voice and I actually
heard
the rush of air as the bullet passed by my ear.
We’re like fish in a barrel here
, I grimly thought to myself.
Where the devil was
Kim
?

If in answer to my prayer, I heard a startled grunt from where the shots had originated, and then the sound of a heavy body falling. Hopefully, that noise meant
half
of our attackers were out of action. Gingerly, I raised myself up and peered over the rock Bella and I had been sheltering behind. There was the sound of guttural swearing and another gunshot. I heard the bullet whining like a mosquito as it bounced around the cavern. Very unwisely, I lifted my head and tried to follow its path. Fortunately, it zoomed past me, but
then
found a target in Bella.

Chapter 12.

Bella uttered a choked scream and compulsively gripped my arm.

“
Paul
!” she cried in anguish.

Horrified, I took her in my arms. “Bella!
Hang
in there, sweetheart!” I comforted her. “
Kim
!” I yelled.

“I'm
coming
!” Kim shouted back. “What's going on?”

“Bella's been
shot
!”

Kim cursed and came running up to where we were. Martina had also reached us by then and was holding one of Bella's hands.

“Am I
dying
?” Bella whispered to us. “I don't want to
die
! Not
now
. Not when I’ve finally started to find a little bit of happiness in my life.” Her grip on my arm intensified and she begged me earnestly, “Please don't let me
die
, Paul.” Tears began to force their way from her eyes and trickle down her cheeks.

I put my hand over hers. “You're a
long
way from being dead, my darling,” I told her with conviction. “Let Kim have a look.”

Kim handed the torch to Martina. “Hold that steady for me, will you, sweetie, while I see what's going on.”

Kim hastily tore Bella's dress above the wound. The bullet had pierced above her right breast and had exited just below her neck. The wound was bleeding profusely and Kim staunched it with her handkerchief.

“We'll have to get you out of here, honey,” she said, placing one of Bella's hands firmly on the handkerchief. “Here, keep pressing down on that. It’s not as bad as it appears but I don't want you losing any
more
blood. Now, can you
stand
?”

Bella struggled to her feet, with the willing assistance of all our hands.

“I'm okay,” she insisted. “Kim, have a look at Martina, will you? I think she was injured too.”

“It’s nothing,” Martina told us. “Just a scratch from a stone chip.”

“Don't be silly,” Kim said. “Let me see.”

“There's no need,” Maria persisted. “I'm fine, honestly.”

Kim laid an anxious hand on Martina’s arm. “Sweetie, you don't have to be so macho. I already
know
you're brave. Please let me help.”

Martina reluctantly shone the torch on her upper leg where a long gash was still weeping drops of blood.

Kim gave a shocked intake of breath. “That's
more
than a scratch,” she scolded. “Why didn't you say something earlier?”

Martina shrugged. “There was too much going on,” she explained, ruefully. “We were all dodging bullets.”

“Okay,” Kim commanded, “everybody needs bandages, so we have to get home. I'll take Martina and Paul can support Bella.”

“What about our gun-happy friends?” I asked, fretfully.

“Don't worry about
them
,” Kim replied, putting her arm around Martina's waist and helping her hobble towards the cave entrance. “I made sure they'll be out of the picture for quite a while and I threw their guns into the ocean. Let's just get out of here.”

We presented a sad and sorry little gathering as we emerged into the sunshine, but the warm light was a blessing after the claustrophobic darkness of the cave. Kim and I installed our two injured patients into the car and quickly drove back to Bella and Martina’s flat where Kim found the necessary first aid materials to treat the wounds.

Sometime later, we sat around in a sombre group, deliberating over recent events.

“Well, that was a bit of a disaster,” Kim remarked, breaking the silence. “Not really our finest hour, was it? Bella was wounded, Martina was injured and to top it all off, we didn't find what we were looking for in the first place.”

“It could have gone better,” Martina agreed, “but look on the bright side.”

“There's a
bright
side?” I asked, sceptically.

“
Sure
there is,” Martina replied with conviction. “We had an exciting adventure. We were imprisoned and shot at, but we survived to fight another day. What
more
do you want?”

All of us smiled at Martina’s irrepressible view of life.

“She’s
right
, you know,” Bella agreed. “We shouldn't be so gloomy. It
was
an adventure and we’re all alive. Things could have turned out a lot worse.”

“Does this mean we have to go
back
to the cave and try again?” I asked, a little apprehensively.

“Maybe not,” Martina said, in a voice bursting with suppressed merriment. We all stared at her. She had a huge mischievous grin on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

“Okay then,” Kim said in a deliberate drawl. “There’s obviously something you haven't told us. Come on then, you little gremlin, what
is
it?”

Martina glanced around at the circle of our expectant faces. “You're going to
love
this,” she told us. “When the shooting started, I decided that the safest place to be was at the end of the cave, so I crawled as far back as I could get. It was as dark as the inside of a rubbish bin, so I had to
feel
my way along and during my travels I came across something strange. I couldn't see what it was because it was pitch black, but it felt like a small metal
box
. I put it inside my shirt and forgot all about it in the excitement. I've only just remembered it.” She reached inside her shirt and pulled out a small battered tin box and waved it around in front of our mesmerised expressions. “Now,” she teased, “I wonder what it could
be
? Do you suppose it could be what we were looking for? What am I
bid
?”

“Give it
here
, you ratbag,” Kim insisted with a grin of sheer admiration, “or I'll come over there and
tickle
you senseless.”

“Promises,
promises
,” Martina sighed, looking around at the rest of us as she handed over the box to Kim. “That's all I
ever
get.”

Kim flashed her an amused smile as she examined our prize. There was nothing distinctive on the outside of the tin. It looked old and battered, with rust spots showing here and there. After carefully opening the lid, Kim pulled out a note, encased in plastic, as the first note had been. We crowded around to look as Kim gently unfolded the paper. The message was short, baffling and succinct. It stated:

A5MayL15

“What the devil is
that
supposed to mean?” I asked in confusion. “It doesn't make
any
sense at all.”

“It's certainly cryptic,” Bella volunteered. “The only thing I understand is the ‘5May’ bit. It must mean the fifth of May. But what about the
rest
of it?”

“I have absolutely
no
idea,” Kim admitted. “Does anybody have
any
thoughts at all?” An embarrassed silence greeted her question.

“Okay, let's look at this logically,” Martina finally contributed. “The fifth of May is tomorrow. What’s happening tomorrow near here?”

We threw up various options – sporting events, church meetings, PTA gatherings, Art displays, and so on, but nothing seemed to fit the message. We looked at each other in baffled disappointment. It was such a shame to have come
this
far, and to nearly have been killed, only to fail now.

Suddenly, Martina jumped off her chair and ran into the kitchen. Intrigued, we followed her hurried passage and found her retrieving today’s newspaper from the garbage bin. She carefully flattened out a soiled section of it on the kitchen table and quickly scanned the selected page.

“I thought I saw something about it in
here
,” she excitedly told us.

“
What
something?” Kim asked.

“It's just a thought, but it might be what we’re after,” Martina explained, unsatisfactorily.

“For heaven sake, Martina, don't keep us in suspense,” Kim chided her. “
What
are you looking for?”

“
This
!” Martina exclaimed, pointing at a small advertisement down the bottom of the newspaper’s social page. “I glanced at it this morning but it didn't really register until a few seconds ago.”

The advert was for a charity auction to be held tomorrow morning at the local church hall.

“It suddenly occurred to me,” Martina enlightened us. “The ‘A’ might stand for ‘auction’, and if that's the case, then the ‘L15’ would be ‘
Lot
15’. So, whatever we looking for might very well be item number
fifteen
at this charity affair.”

“Martina, you’re a
genius
,” Kim praised. “You're smarter than all of us put together. I bow to you.” Maria flushed with pleasure as we gathered around her, adding our congratulations.