Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 375

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Easy As Failing On A Bike.
by Angharad
part: three hundred and seventy bloody five!

Time seemed to hang, as the phone rang again. Then it stopped as Stella picked it up. Tom and I looked at each other. She came back in. "Wrong bloody number," she banged her hand on the table in frustration.

We had another pot of tea and Tom suggested we all went to bed, as sitting up waiting achieved nothing. Stella helped me up the stairs and then decided to sleep with me.

"Do you mind?" she asked.

"If you can cope with my grunting and groaning, feel free." I grimaced as I undressed.

"Geez, Cathy, you have some lovely bruises."

"How can bruises be lovely?" I winced as she touched them.

"Arnica, that's what you need, I have some in my room." She disappeared presumably to get them. I hoped she meant pills not cream.

She returned a few moments later with a small tube of homeopathic pills. I read the instructions and took a couple of them. As a scientist, I was aware of the dismissal of homeopathy by mainline medicine, but if it would have helped I'd have drunk nettle juice.

I slept fitfully, and I suspect Stella did, too. I heard her talking in her sleep, it didn't sound as if she was enjoying the dream, so I gently told her she was okay. She rolled over and slept more peacefully after that. I crept out to the loo - all that wretched tea!

At about six the next morning, there was a ringing on the front door bell. I struggled to get out of bed, Stella woke and blearily got up and looked out the window. "Shit, it's the police, Simon - oh my God!"

"Oh no!" I wailed and followed her down the stairs, my aches and pains temporarily forgotten. I got to the hall a few steps behind her. She opened the door.

"Lady Catherine Cameron?" he asked Stella.

"No, I'm Stella Cameron, it's my sister in law you want."

"Lady Cameron?"he addressed me.

"I'm Catherine, yes."

"May we come in?"

We showed them into the lounge, by which time Tom was also up. "We may have some bad news for you."

"Yes," I said and Stella rushed to my side.

"We have a report of an accident on the M3, your husband's car has been involved and it's very badly damaged by fire. It appears it hit a tanker and they both exploded into a huge fireball. The motorway has been closed all night."

I felt myself swaying, thankfully so did Stella, "Tom, a chair, quickly."

He snatched up a spare dining chair and they shoved it behind me. I collapsed on to it.

"Is my brother dead?" asked Stella.

"I'm afraid the driver of the car is, so is the tanker driver."

"When did this happen?" asked Tom.

"According to witnesses, about one, this morning. They said the car was being driven erratically and was speeding. We have some videos of the car being driven in excess of a hundred miles per hour."

"Why would Simon be driving at that speed?"

"Was he in a hurry?"

"Why, he could have phoned to say he was held up. It doesn't make sense." I was somehow too shocked to cry. First me, now him. It made no sense.

"Do we need to identify a body?"

"I'm afraid, any remains are too badly burned to recognise. It'll be from dental records now, could we have the name of his dentist?"

"Yes, erm, I can't remember, can you, Stella?"

"Yeah, Sam Hodson, in Hampstead, we've gone there since we were kids."

"Okay thanks." The young copper noted it in his notebook, and Stella went and got her address book which gave chapter, verse and phone number.

"But we don't know if it was Simon, do we?" I said pathetically, knowing that he'd had kittens when I drove his car.

"No ma'am, we don't for sure and may not for some days."

"Oh great!" I sighed.

"I'm sorry, but that's the way it is in these things."

"We think there were two in the car, any idea who the other might be?"

"Two? No, officer, I have no idea, maybe a hitchhiker?"

"Could be. Okay thanks for your help, sorry to be the bearers of bad news. Please accept our condolences. Is there anyone you want to speak to?"

"Only Simon," I said shaking my head. "I can't take this in."

"You going to be okay, Lady Catherine?" asked the second copper.

"We'll look after her," said Tom, "can I show you out?"

"This can't be happening? I won't believe it," I said. "Simon, can't be dead, he just can't be."

"Who was the second person?" asked Stella.

"I need some coffee, strong and black." Tom went out to the kitchen.

"Tell me this is a bad dream," I said to Stella.

"Yeah, a veritable nightmare. Hang on in there kid, you'll wake up in a minute and find my brother sucking on your boob."

The absurdity of what she said made me laugh, and laugh and finally I lost it in a bout of hysterical laughter. I vaguely recall Stella helping me into bed, but after that I can't remember much at all, except this sense of emptiness, clawing away inside me, then sleep.

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Comments

OMGG, That is some cliffhanger…

That is some bl**dy cliffhanger! I can't believe it is Simon yet. Maybe it could be that his car was stolen, and it is a possibility that the "passenger" is His Lordship.

For both Cathy's and Stella's sakes I hope this is a case of Mistaken Identity or just an assumption on the part of the fuzz.

Gabi,
(hoping that Ang couldn't be sooo callous.)

Gabi.


“It is hard for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” Thomas Hardy—Far from the Madding Crowd.

How Can I Be Expected to Sit on the Edge of My chair until

the Next Part?

This is 'cruel and unusual' as the Yanks have it. Still, I'm enjoying it a bunch! Thanks again, Ang!

Yours from the Great White North,

Jenny Grier (Mrs.)

x

Yours from the Great White North,

Jenny Grier (Mrs.)

Just a thought

NoraAdrienne's picture

I'm curious.. do you have "car jackings" over in Britain? That's where some bloke sticks a weapon in your face, pulls you out of your vehicle and then drives off with it?

This serial reminds me more and more ...

... of the ones I used to watch as a very young boy at the Saturday matinees. Each week the hero (Tom Mix or whoever) would get into some desperate fix at the end of the 15 minute episode then the next week, in one bound, he would be free. Dick Barton on the radio was similarly good at finding escapes from impossible situations.

I suppose we can't blame Angharad for playing with our affections for her characters. It must be fun for her to alleviate her boredom by teasing us. It's rather like history is defined by one of the pupils in Alan Bennet's play/film 'The History Boys' - 'It's just one fucking thing after another'.

I suppose if it was boring we wouldn't be reading it every day. Just remember, folks, it's only a story - no real people or animals were injured in the writing.

Geoff

Well thanks a lot

you all. You wanted for her to write more, and so she did. And are we happy with it? Nooo.. It's bloody awful, that's what it is. Geez, all I wanted was a nice comforting lovely end to it, hopefully with some sort of 'and they lived happily ever after...'

( Repeat after me: ) "Angharad, we're sorry for pressuring you to write more EAFOAB."

Please don't have it end like this. I like happy, slobbering, sob stories, with a happy end to give warm fuzzy feelings and dopey smiles.

Jo-Anne

We Must Remember One Bloody Thing!!!

Simon might not have been in the car. Remember in an earlier chapter that he was with his step mother. He can be with her and the car stolen from the bank.
May Your Light Forever Shine

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Geez not again

I'm beginning to wonder if you and Bonzi aren't up to creating a replacement torture for waterboarding.I can see the headlines now is making the terrorist detainee's read "easy as falling of a bike" a violation of the geneva conventions. Lol Amy---"May your pen never run out of ink and your brain out of ideas"

I know

kristina l s's picture

Tired and needing a fill up he stops and leaves the keys in as he heads in to pay... then a couple of opportunistic kiddies decide to have some fun in a swanky car. Well... could be.

Kristina

Hmmm...

So Simon's Step Mom is dead, and he's in a bad way (passenger)?

Some kids decided to take simon's car for a joy ride and got more than the bargained for?

Time will tell.

Looking forward to seeing how you resolve THIS plot twist.

Annette

The last line is really a

The last line is really a hoot.
Two men ? Over 100mph ? was Simon's car stolen ?

Cefin