Constable Across the Moors Read Online Free PDF Page B

that, “If Candlemas be dry and fair, Half of winter’s yet to come – and mair!”
    Perhaps the rest of winter would be better than this?
    After a mile and a half, the footprints wove erratically towards a grouse butt. I could see the boot marks etched clearly ahead of me as they climbed towards the lofty butt. Boris must be hiding there now! A grouse butt is like a three-sided square, it is made of stone with walls about four feet high. Grouse shooters lurk in there to blast at birds which are driven over their heads …
    I decided to park and inform Control of this development. It seemed I had succeeded where others had failed. Upon receiving my message, I was instructed to await further orders. I waited for quarter of an hour, and this caused me to feel the cold for the first time. My feet, hands and face were icy and a bitter wind whipped the dry loose snow into small heaps and drifts. If the wind strengthened, this place could soon be well and truly isolated. Those businessmen might be there for days!
    Then came the response from Control.
    “Proceed to arrest,” I was ordered. I was a long way from the hiding man and decided to take the bike. At least, it would getme closer to him in a swift manner. I kicked it into life, and began to climb the rough track, with the wind biting into my face and driving loose snow into the goggles and among the engine parts. I wobbled in the fierce wind but kept my eyes on that distant grouse butt.
    Suddenly, the man stood up. His head and trunk appeared above the rim of the butt as he stared in disbelief at my approach. Then he began to run. At that instant, a Landrover materialised from somewhere, having been hidden down a dip in the track and it also raced towards the fleeing Russian.
    God, it was like something from a spy film! So those films were realistic after all!
    I accelerated, but the snow-bound track caused the rear wheel to skid; I fought to maintain my motion and my balance as I saw the man running towards the Landrover. I was roaring towards them both. I had to get there first, this being my first major arrest. A spy!!
    I stood on the footrests and allowed the little bike to buck and roar beneath me as I closed in; now I could see the fellow’s eyes beneath his furry white hat and the Landrover was a similar distance at the far side of him. It was neck and neck. I must win! I couldn’t let the nation down at a time of such need. I would have to abandon my bike, I would have to leap off as I neared him, and allow the machine to fall into the snow, but I must make this arrest. For the country’s sake, for the Chief Constable’s sake, for my own sake.
    I climbed the rising ground as the Landrover hurtled towards me with clouds of snow rising behind. The fugitive moved closer towards it. I was only yards away; I could see his thick leather boots, his snow suit, his furry hat …
    He was mine. I had him!
    But he wasn’t, and I hadn’t.
    The Landrover did not stop at him; instead it came directly for me, with its rear wheels skidding violently and the front ones bucking against the rough terrain. God, I was going to be killed!
    I swerved aside; I tore at the handlebars and yanked the front wheel to one side, but I was too late. The motor cycle toppled over as the heavy wing of the Landrover clipped the handlebars.I was thrown right off. I rolled clear and felt myself falling down a hillside. I curled up into a protective ball, with my helmet, suit and gloves providing ideal protection as I gathered speed down a snow-filled, bracken-covered and heather-clad moorland slope. I could hear the victorious Landrover roaring away, and my motor-cycle engine had stopped somewhere out of sight.
    I came to rest at the bottom, shaken but not hurt. The heather, with its springy tough stalks, had bounced me down that hillside like a ball, and when I got to my feet, I saw that the Landrover had stopped further along. Several faces peered at me and I waved my fist at them.
    They waved