Page 59 of A Highland Family Affair

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.’