Wild Fiction

‘You bloody old sap,’ Cord said and his footsteps moved away back to where Hog’s voice had come from. When their voices had disappeared, James sat up and wiped the squirrel’s blood and guts off his face with the sleeve of his shirt. He stood up, ran his fingers through his hair, and gave all his limbs a good shake. He felt better for it and decided to continue the tracking mission. He stuck out his index finger and cocked his thumb. He thought better of it, stuck his cocked hand into his pocket, and pulled out a flat hand. He had soon caught up with the sound of their voices. He moved cautiously now, his eyes scanning every inch of the ground ahead of him. He was so focussed on following the voices and watching where he trod that he did not notice Conrad step out from behind a tree. James walked straight into Conrad.
‘Fine tracker you are,’ Conrad whispered at him.
James jumped. ‘Christ you scared me,’ he said.
Genevieve and Rebecca appeared from behind a bush.
‘Are you okay?’ Rebecca whispered looking up at his face. ‘What was that gunshot? Were you hit?’
‘They shot a squirrel and it landed on me. It’s squirrel blood not mine. I’ll explain later. We need to follow them. I’ll keep them in sight and you lot follow me at a distance. Whatever you do, don’t stand on anything or make any noise.’ James hissed the last sentence at them.

Chapter 45

They followed Corp and Hog in single file behind James. Soon they reached another clearing and hid themselves on the edge of it watching. Parked in the centre was a midnight blue BMW 320i with a small dent in the boot. Inside the car, a man was sitting on the back seat. Corp pressed a button on his key ring. The car’s indicators flashed and, with a quadraphonic click, all four doors unlocked. The man in the back got out.
‘I could have suffocated in there,’ he fumed.
‘Relax,’ Corp said. ‘I left the driver’s window open an inch.’
‘That’s not very much,’ he said and then focussed on the painting. ‘Is this it?’ his annoyance turned to excitement. He gripped the tape that was holding the bubble wrap over the painting and ripped it off. He stared at it, his hands on his hips and a broad smile on his face. ‘This is just what I am looking for,’ he said.