A Highland Family Affair (Highlands #3)

Chapter 21

21

There was no let-up in the storm by the time they reached the base of Ben Blair, and with the exception of the headlights and the periodic lightning flashes it was pitch-black outside. As Dougie pulled his vehicle to a stop, a Mountain Rescue four-by-four vehicle pulled up alongside them, followed by a police car and an ambulance.

Olivia’s breathing became erratic, and she felt the colour drain from her face. ‘Oh, God, I can’t believe this is happening.’

Dougie reached and took her hand. ‘It’s okay, hen, my lad is a tough cookie after all he’s been through. He’ll get out of this. I know he will. Now take deep breaths. You’re getting married next weekend, remember? He won’t be missing his own wedding to the love of his life.’

His words made Olivia’s eyes well with tears. She couldn’t speak, she simply nodded.

Dougie clenched his jaw, clearly fighting his own emotions. ‘Now come on, let’s get out and find Brodie, eh?’

They got out of the Land Rover as the Mountain Rescue did the same and a woman in a bright red jacket and white crash helmet approached them. There was an insignia of a mountain on the sleeve of her coat. ‘Hi, I’m Morven McKenna, I’m going to be heading up the search.’ She reached out her hand and Olivia shook it.

‘Olivia MacBain. Thank you so much for coming.’ Her voice wavered as she spoke, and her stomach churned.

Kerr slipped his arm around Olivia’s shoulders. ‘I’m Kerr, Olivia’s brother. We appreciate you getting here so fast.’

Morven smiled. ‘No problem. It’s what we’re here for. What can you tell me about where Brodie might be and his reason for being on the mountain?’

Olivia took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. ‘He… he left the castle this morning with the intention of mapping one of the trails on Ben Blair. He’s writing a hiking guide, you see. But I’ve no idea where he went or which trail.’ Olivia’s heart thumped as her lack of knowledge sank in. ‘I should have asked for exact details. I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I didn’t ask for more information… an… an exact location,’ she said, more to herself than anyone else. ‘It was stupid of me.’

Morven smiled reassuringly. ‘Don’t worry, we’re very experienced in search and rescue, Olivia. And you couldn’t have known what was going to happen with the storm. That’s the one predictable thing about Scottish weather, it’s unpredictable.’

‘Hi, Dougie MacLeod, Brodie’s dad. Just to let you know, he may have a golden retriever with him or somewhere nearby. His name’s Wilf. The other dog who was with them today arrived home a short while ago absolutely drenched and crying. Looked quite shaken, poor wee thing.’

Morven nodded. ‘Thanks for that, Mr MacLeod. We’ll look out for the dog too. It may be that Brodie is injured and the intention of the returning dog was to try and get help or at least alert you that something was wrong. It worked. They have amazing instincts. The other dog – Wilf, was it? If it’s his own dog, it may not want to leave his side. We’ve seen that happen before. They have a very protective nature too.’

Another Mountain Rescue vehicle arrived, and the crew jumped out, dressed in the same gear.

‘Where should we start looking?’ Olivia asked, her heart in her mouth but her legs trembling and weak.

Morven reached out and touched her arm. ‘The best thing you can do is wait here by the vehicle and let us do our job. Wilf may turn up and a friendly face will be good for him. The last thing we need is for more people to end up in difficulty on the mountain. It’s a vast place and can be treacherous in this weather. I know you want to be out there looking but you can be more help staying down here where you can get signal. Just in case. Okay?’

PC Sherburn arrived at her side. ‘It’s okay, Lady Olivia, we’ve got this,’ she told her in that inimitable broad Yorkshire accent. ‘His rescue, if that’s what it needs to be, is in the best possible hands.’ It was good to see a friendly, familiar face under the circumstances.

Olivia’s eyes stung and her chin trembled. ‘We’re getting married next weekend. I just want him home safe.’

Morven smiled. ‘And you can rest assured we will do our very best to find him.’ She turned and addressed the other members of her team. ‘Okay, people. We’re looking for a male, Brodie MacLeod…’ She went on to give instructions and split the gathered group into smaller teams. They took a stretcher with them, and Olivia’s stomach lurched at the very sight of the thing.

‘Go and get back in your car, eh? No point you catching your death out ’ere in’t rain,’ PC Sherburn said with a small smile.

Lightning flooded the area with daylight brightness for a split second and the uneven rocks of Ben Blair were suddenly illuminated in all their jaggedness, the igneous surfaces black and shiny with water. Rain continued to pound at the ground and the roofs of the vehicles, echoing a tinny, out-of-tune and rather sinister chorus.

‘The officer’s right, Olivia. Come on, let’s get back in the Landy,’ Dougie said as he put his arm around Olivia’s shoulders. ‘No point us getting ill, love.’

PC Sherburn left them to join her colleagues and, as if on autopilot, Olivia climbed into the front passenger seat of the car. Dougie climbed in the driver’s side and Kerr into the back seat. Dougie started the engine and turned the heaters up full blast.

Olivia’s eyes were fixed in the direction of the mountain and with every flash of lightning she stared out into the distance, willing Brodie and Wilf to appear, smiling and joking. But of course, it didn’t happen.

Two hours later, Olivia’s phone rang, and she fumbled to answer it without checking the caller ID. ‘Brodie?’ Her voice was strained and her throat dry.

‘No, love, it’s just Mirren. I wanted to check you’re all okay. And to see if there’s any news.’

Olivia’s stomach sank. ‘No… no news. They’ve been out there for two hours, Mirren. I’m so scared.’

‘I know you are, hen. But they’ll find him. I just feel it. I’ll go so your line is clear in case he is trying to call you.’

‘I’ll let you know if we hear anything.’

Olivia was drained. It was now midnight. There had been no news and no sightings of the rescuers since they left on the search. Surely they would be giving up soon. Ben Blair was a vast mountain and although they were a well-equipped team, Olivia was terrified they would have to stop the search at some point.

The rain eased but was still falling and the storm passed over and off into the distance, lighting up the trees on the horizon. Olivia tried desperately to cling to the hope that Brodie would be found safe and well but as the seconds, minutes and hours ticked by her fear and panic increased. Her heart was still pounding at her ribs, and she could hear the whooshing of her own blood in her ears.

Kerr moved in the back. ‘I see something! They’re coming!’

Without a second thought, Olivia shoved the car door open and jumped out. She ran towards the Mountain Rescue team and stopped dead when she realised the team of eight people appeared to be surrounding the stretcher. Another of the team was walking by them, a flash of cream at his side… Wilf! He was on his lead, and they were following the other group down, down, down, slowly and carefully towards the parked vehicles.

Olivia froze to the spot for a few moments until her adrenaline kicked in. ‘Brodie!’ she screamed. ‘ Brodie !’ She started running again and slipped, scuffing her knees through her jeans and grazing her palms, but she was numb and didn’t acknowledge the pain, instead she scrambled to her feet and set off at speed once again.

Tears streamed down her face along with the rain that was dripping from wet strands of her hair as they slapped against her skin.

‘Olivia! We’ve got him, stay where you are, or you’ll end up injured!’ Morven shouted from the head of the stretcher.

When they reached the flat area, which seemed to take forever, Olivia managed to see Brodie by the light of the head torches the rescuers were wearing. He had a gash on his forehead and his complexion was pallid. His eyes were closed, and his jaw clenched.

‘Brodie, oh God, Brodie, are you okay?’

He opened his eyes and gave a weak smile. ‘Hey, beautiful, I’m…’ He winced. ‘I’m not too bad. Had a fall. I’ll be fine.’

There was a blanket over his legs, and he was strapped to the stretcher. She looked up to Morven for confirmation.

‘He has a break to his tibia. It looks like a clean break, but he’ll probably need surgery immediately to reset the bone, and possibly a pin or two. We’re taking him to Raigmore. You can follow us there, but they may not let you see him until after the surgery. It may be best for you to go home and come to the hospital tomorrow.’

‘No! No, I’m coming now. How’s Wilf?’

The team member with the dog walked up to her. ‘He’s fine. A wee bit shaken, and wet and cold, but he wouldn’t leave Brodie’s side. He was very protective over him until he realised we were there to help.’

As Brodie was loaded into the back of the ambulance, Olivia crouched to see Wilf. He licked her face and whimpered, and she clung to him. ‘Well done, Wilfy. You looked after Brodie. You’re such a good boy,’ she told him through her tears.

Dougie drove them towards the hospital in Inverness, following the ambulance with its blue lights flashing but siren eerily silent due to the hour. Kerr hugged Wilf in a towel in the back seat as he whispered encouraging words to the shaken canine.

Olivia called Mirren. ‘They found him,’ she blurted when Mirren answered.

‘Oh, thank goodness. Please tell me he’s okay.’

Olivia swallowed down her emotion through a tightened throat. ‘He has a broken leg, but he was in good spirits. Although I could see he was in pain.’

‘Are you going to the hospital?’

‘We are, yes. Dougie is just taking us.’

‘And Wilf? Did they find the wee dug?’

Olivia smiled. ‘They did. He looked after Brodie until the rescue team got to him. Wouldn’t leave his side apparently.’

‘Oh, oh, bless him.’ Mirren’s voice broke. ‘I’m so relieved. Keep me posted and give Dougie a hug from me.’

‘I will. Bye, Mirren.’

Once Olivia’s call ended, Kerr said, ‘Look, why don’t I take the Land Rover home with Wilf and come back for you two later? You can call me when you’re ready to be picked up.’

‘Aye, lad, that’d be great, thank you. I doubt we’ll get to see him, but I’d rather be there in case we can.’ Dougie fell silent for a few moments before rubbing his hands wearily over his face. ‘I cannae believe I’m visiting my son in hospital again . He’d better no’ be making a habit of this. Twice is plenty.’

Dougie was referring to Brodie’s stint in hospital after his abusive ex-wife attacked him. Olivia remembered the horrific time all too clearly. She too was hoping this was the last time she would need to visit her man under such circumstances.

Once they arrived at the hospital, they waited outside for ten minutes until the ambulance had loaded its patient inside. Then Kerr took the keys from Dougie and hugged Olivia.

‘Message me if you need anything, okay? And as soon as you need picking up, I’ll come right back.’ He shook Dougie’s hand. ‘Same goes, Dougie.’

Dougie cleared his throat and nodded. ‘Aye, aye, thanks. Just get that dug home and warmed up. I’ll bet he’s famished, poor wee thing.’

‘I will, don’t worry.’

Once Kerr had gone, Olivia and Dougie went into the hospital and were shown to a waiting room by a nurse.

‘The surgeon is already in so they’re going to prep him right away. He should be under for around one or two hours depending how severe the break is. If you really are insistent on staying then grab yourselves a coffee from the machine and I’ll come back and let you know when he’s in recovery,’ he told them before leaving them in the room and closing the door.

‘Better make ourselves comfy, lass,’ Dougie said as he sat in one of the very upright high-seat chairs.

Comfy wasn’t a word that came to mind when Olivia looked at that particular seating option. She plumped for a two-seat sofa and rested her head back, closing her eyes for what she told herself would be five minutes, seeing as the lights were bright and the sofa wasn’t that comfortable either.