“You told him you’d help,” Nick surmised, flabbergasted by what he was hearing.
Jan nodded. “I did, yeah, but I planned to take him out first, or at least try to ditch him. Then the alarm woke everyone up and things kind of took on a life of their own. It wasn’t until we stated climbing this hill that an opportunity presented itself. Dash gave me a wink, letting me know he was about to take you out. So I took him out first. You can thank me later.”
“I’ll thank you now,” said Nick. “I owe you.”
“Don’t sweat it.”
“No,” said Nick. “I judged you wrong. I treated you like a criminal and that was unfair.”
“Not really. I am a criminal. In fact I was a pretty rotten piece of shit for a long time. Even my own son, Damien, didn’t want to know me after a while. He headed up north to set up a furniture business with a guy he met in a pub. Not seen him in years. I think losing the respect of my son was what made me want to sort myself out - and that’s exactly what I did. One day I’ll find my boy and make things better. Tell him I’m proud of him for finding his own way and not ending up like his old man.” For a second, Jan seemed to get teary, but he scratched at his beard, blinked, and then seemed okay again. “No, brother, I can honestly say that after eight years inside, my intentions have been pure for at least the last five. I’m not the same man I was when they put me inside. But that’s a story for a different day.”
“Well, I hope one day you get to tell me all about it,” said Nick, standing up and moving over to the open door again. He kept safely to one side and peered out at the tree canopy below. It was so thick now that it was like a bed of leaves beneath them. Whatever fate had befallen Dash had been obscured by the thick foliage, and that was probably for the best. Nick had seen enough death for one morning.
The cable car reached the final third of its ascent and he squinted up at the approaching summit and the concrete platform that topped it. It was hard to be sure, but he thought he could see someone standing there, ready to receive them. That person must have been the one who had started the cable cars.
That person was their saviour.
But who the hell are they? he thought as the cable car neared the top of the hill.
Part Two: Top of the world
Chapter Twelve
28 hours earlier…
Annaliese washed her hands in the steel sink and watched the blood drain away with the cold water. The birth had been a success. Rita, one of the zoo’s Clydesdale horses, had delivered a healthy 80lb foal and seemed to be recovering well. Annaliese had provided very little assistance and had only been there to oversee the pregnancy and guide the birth. Now that it was over she was looking forward to getting back home and resuming the sleep she had been woken from at 3AM.
“That went really well, I thought,” said Bradley, Ripley Height’s resident veterinary nurse. It was he who had called Annaliese at home when Rita had gone into labour. Despite the lack of complications with the delivery, the young man had gone very pale. It was likely his first delivery. Everyone felt woozy the first time.
Annaliese smiled at Bradley, while also stifling a yawn. “Yes, it was completely by the book. Good stuff. You just need to make sure that Rita allows her foal to suckle, but other than that, nature should take care of itself.”
Bradley back at her – in fact he was beaming. He looked cute, like a boy with a new bike. “It was pretty bloody amazing, to tell the truth,” he said enthusiastically. “I’ve…I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You’ll see many more births, trust me,” she said. “In fact, assisting a birth is one of the few parts of the job that never gets old. Bringing new life into the world is a gift; something that should never be taken for granted.”