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Rafe had strolled across and helped himself to a sandwich from the pile. ‘These look good.’
She nodded. The coldness between them was already beginning to set in. When they were working and there was a shared objective, it was a little easier to ignore. ‘Did you know they’re drinking from there?’ She pointed to the barrel.
‘Really?’ He inspected the tap. ‘Looks as if they’ve cleaned it up...’
‘All the same. I wouldn’t take the chance on it...’
‘Yeah, you’re right. Leave it with me. I’ll have a word.’ He walked back over to the group of men, taking a large bite from his sandwich.
Ten minutes of welcome relaxation and then Rafe was back, jogging towards her, hastily putting his phone back into his jacket. ‘Time to go.’
‘What’s up?’ Mimi was on her feet instantly, grabbing her flask and the rest of the sandwiches and stuffing them into the bag. There was an urgency in Rafe’s movements which meant only one thing.
‘You know where the Old Brewery is?’
‘Yeah, just follow the barrels floating down the river.’ She threw the bag into the car and scrambled in. ‘It’s a couple of miles that way...’
Rafe started the SUV up with a jolt, spraying mud from the back wheels, and then they were on the road again, the group of men returning her hurried wave goodbye.
* * *
This call was going to need an ambulance in attendance, but they were nearby and every minute might count. A man working at the brewery had got careless and touched a live cable running from a generator.
‘The ambulance controller told us not to move him. But the water’s rising again...’ The man who greeted them was obviously in authority here and he guided them quickly towards the redbrick building. The yard was awash with water and duckboards were laid across it.
‘Where is he?’ Mimi seemed concentrated on only one goal, striding towards the building. Rafe followed, carrying the holdall which contained the emergency resus gear.
He moved past her to lead the way, reckoning that since they were barely talking to each other she could hardly object. They went up a flight of steps, leaving the sludge-covered ground floor to find that the rooms upstairs were clean and dry, their white-painted walls seeming to defy the mess downstairs.
They were shown through to a large open area which smelled strongly of malt. A man was lying on the floor, a folded coat under his head. The small group of his fellow workers parted as they saw Rafe and Mimi.
Mimi was on her knees next to him. She looked down at the man and smiled. ‘Hi there. Stay still now; the doctor’s here.’
Rafe heaved a sigh of relief. He was obviously breathing and conscious. He dumped the bag and knelt down on the other side of the man. As he examined him, he heard Mimi questioning the men who were standing around, getting the information that he needed to know. The man hadn’t been unconscious; he’d been thrown clear of the cable. His name was Grant.
‘I’m going to clip something on to your finger now...’ Rafe turned to fetch the pulse monitor and found that Mimi was already holding it.
‘Thanks.’ Rafe checked the small display and nodded in satisfaction. The man had some nasty burns on his arm and had cracked his head on the concrete floor when he fell, but he was breathing and his pulse was fast but steady.
The sound of running footsteps behind them, and a man’s voice. ‘Mr Harding... The water’s rising fast...’
Everyone’s head turned towards the man who had ushered Rafe and Mimi inside. ‘How much time have we got?’
‘Fifteen, twenty minutes. The water’s building up at the back and it’ll be coming in through the windows soon...’
Mr Harding turned to Rafe. ‘We need to evacuate the building as soon as we can. The ground floor’s about to be flooded again.’
Rafe turned to Mimi and she nodded in answer to his unasked question. ‘Okay, we’ll move him now.’ He looked around for something that might be pressed into service as a makeshift stretcher.
‘We’ve got a carry cot.’ Mr Harding gestured towards a large canvas bag which lay on the floor.
‘Really?’ Mimi’s eyebrows shot up and Mr Harding smiled grimly.
‘Health and Safety. We don’t take any chances.’
‘Nice one.’ Mimi was already unzipping the bag and taking out the tubular framework. The cot wasn’t as sturdy as the ambulance issue ones, but it would do.
‘I want everyone out of here. Pete and Stan, supervise that, will you?’ Mr Harding gave the crisp order and no one moved. Clearly no one was going anywhere until they saw their workmate safely down the stairs and out of the building.
