Sarah Morgan Summer Collection

Fifteen minutes, Kyla calculated, feeling the thump of her heart and the dampness of her palms. That was how long it would take Nick and a rescue team to reach them. Would that be fifteen minutes too long for Fraser?

They had no idea about the extent of his injuries.

All they knew now was that he wasn’t responding to their questions.

She didn’t dare flash the torch in case she distracted Ethan from his task. Instead she sat and forced herself to breathe steadily, braced to hear the sound of his powerful body crashing to the ground.

‘I’m down, Kyla.’ His voice echoed up to her from the bowels of the dungeon. ‘Can you shine some extra light down here? It’s pitch dark.’

She did as he’d asked, hugely relieved that he’d made it that far without injury to himself. And then she heard noise from above her and realised that the rescue party had arrived. ‘They’re here, Ethan. Have you found him? Is Fraser OK?’ Suddenly she wished she’d been the one to go down the shaft. She felt so helpless, just sitting at the top. If she hadn’t been holding the torch, she would have bitten her nails down to the quick.

‘He has a nasty laceration to his forehead and some bruising, but I don’t think anything is broken. He’s OK. Conscious. Just a bit weak.’

And extremely frightened, Kyla was willing to bet. She could hear Ethan talking to the boy and then there was a crunch of footsteps behind her and she turned to see Logan standing there, along with Nick and two other members of the coastguard.

‘We’ve brought ropes, and there’s more equipment up top.’ A light shone from the helmet on Nick’s head. ‘Give us an update.’

‘Ethan is down there so it shouldn’t be too hard to get him out,’ Kyla said, moving onto her hands and knees so that she could get a better look over the edge. ‘Ethan?’

‘Drop a harness on a rope?’ Logan turned to Ben. ‘We can bring him up that way.’

Ben nodded agreement. ‘That will certainly be the quickest way if the boy is up to it. Is he conscious?’

‘Yes, I think so.’ Kyla supplied the information they needed, and Ben frowned.

‘How the hell did Ethan get down there?’

‘He climbed down.’ And Kyla was still wondering how a man who dressed in suits costing thousands of pounds could so skilfully negotiate a sheer and slippery face.

‘Without a rope?’

Kyla heard the disapproval in Ben’s voice and threw him an impatient glance. ‘Fraser stopped talking. We were worried about him. If you were the one sitting here, would you have waited for a rope?’

‘Probably not.’ Ben gave a faint smile of apology. ‘Good decision, then. Brave guy. That’s another free pint I owe him. All right. Let’s get on with this. The weather’s getting worse and if he needs a lift to the mainland, it’s going to have to be soon.’

Logan was shouting down to Ethan, trying to assess the medical situation and how best to extract Fraser. ‘I still think the best way is to drop a harness. He’s conscious and Ethan has dressed the wound on his head. He can use his feet to keep away from the side. We’ll have him out in minutes that way.’

‘Let’s do it.’

After that everything happened quickly. They lowered the rope to Ethan and minutes later Kyla saw the top of Fraser’s head appear over the lip of the dungeon. She breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly realised that her hands were shaking.

She’d been so afraid for him.

His face was streaked with dirt and blood and although he had a sheepish smile on his face, she sensed that he was struggling with tears.

Logan lifted him clear of the gate and sat him carefully down on the damp floor of the tunnel.

‘You are such a brave boy.’ Kyla took one look at him and wrapped her arms around him. ‘If the Celts had had you on their side, those Vikings never would have stood a chance.’ She could feel him quivering and cuddled him close.

His teeth were chattering. ‘My mum’s going to kill me.’

Ben nodded as he slipped some warm layers over the boy. ‘Very probably. But then she’ll be relieved you’re OK. He’s bleeding through that pad. Logan? Kyla?’

‘I’ve got it.’ Kyla gently lifted the pad on the boy’s forehead and studied the wound under the torchlight. She could see that it was deep and the edges were jagged. ‘I’ll put a firm dressing on it for now just so that we can get you out of here, Fraser. Then one of the doctors is going to take a closer look at that.’ It was obvious to her that he was going to need stitches and she glanced towards Logan, who gave a swift nod of understanding.

‘I want you to answer a couple of questions for me, Fraser,’ he said casually, shining a light into the boy’s eyes to check the reaction of his pupils. ‘What day is it today?’

Fraser answered correctly and Logan slipped the penlight back into his pocket.

‘What’s your mum’s name?’

‘Aisla. And she’s definitely going to kill me.’

Logan grinned. ‘I’ll protect you. How’s the headache?’

‘Better than it was.’

‘Do you feel sick?’

Fraser shook his head and at that moment Ethan joined them. ‘He thinks he lost consciousness when he fell, but his GCS was fifteen when I checked it down there.’

Kyla looked at them. ‘Will you transfer him to the mainland for a CT scan?’

‘I wouldn’t go down that route yet,’ Ethan said easily, glancing towards Logan. ‘It’s true that he was knocked out, but he’s not showing any clinical signs of a skull fracture. I’d suggest we just observe him and see how he goes.’

Logan nodded agreement. ‘Let’s get him to the surgery,’ he said quietly, ‘and then we can take a proper look at him under some decent lights. I’ll stitch him up, check him out and then see what’s needed. He can stay the night with me and then I can watch him.’

‘Is Evanna with you?’ Kyla was still holding Fraser and her brother nodded.

‘Yes. She came over to stay with Kirsty when I got the call about Fraser. So she can keep an eye on him, too.’ He put a hand on Fraser’s shoulder and squeezed. ‘You’re going to have plenty of attention.’

‘Will Nurse Duncan make one of her cakes? I’ve been down here since lunchtime and I’m starving.’

Logan looked amused. ‘At this time of night? I doubt it. But I expect she’ll whip you up something good to eat if you play your cards right.’

Kyla looked at Ethan. ‘You never told me you could climb.’

‘You never asked.’

Was it all about questions for him? ‘You never reveal anything about yourself unless it’s prised out of you?’

He wiped the mud from his cheek with the sleeve of his jacket. ‘I’m not much of a talker, you know that.’ He reached out a hand and touched Fraser’s head. ‘You did well. How are you feeling now?’

‘OK.’ Fraser looked at him and something passed between them. An understanding. ‘Thanks.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Ethan said, a glimmer of a smile touching his usually serious face.

Logan looked at Kyla and then back at Ethan. ‘You two are filthy. Anyone would think you’d spent the evening scrabbling around in a dark tunnel. You’re a bad advert for the surgery. I’m the one on call so go home and have a shower. I’ll take over here but keep your phone switched on. If I need you, I’ll call.’