The Drowning Ground Read Online Free

never heard of.
    She looked at me as if I had just said the most stupid thing she had ever heard in her entire life. ‘My Jacky. My dog, man. My dog.’
    But I was already backing out. ‘I’m sure your dog’s fine,’ I said a little meekly, turning on my heel and moving towards the gate. Old bag, I thought, and then at almost exactly the same time my mind moved as if of its own accord to search for the Argentinian equivalent: Vieja Bruja – ‘Old Witch’.
    By the gate I saw that the old woman’s dog was being taken care of by a young police constable called Varley. There were plenty of words in English and Spanish for Varley – none-too-flattering ones – but I tried not to think of them. The dog, I noticed without much surprise, was already causing him trouble.
    Varley was patting the dog behind the ears and trying to settle it. But that didn’t seem to be working, so he got down on his haunches and tried to make it sit and stay there by pressing its back legs down on to the ground, imploring it all the while to calm down. But the dog, a rakish and very young-looking fox terrier, seemed hell-bent on racing back up the hill. It hopped forward on its two hind legs, straining against the lead, whining in its desperation to examine the strange and exciting phenomenon it had just seen up on Meon Hill.
    Varley looked up when he heard me approach and momentarily lost concentration, letting slip his grip on the lead. The dog suddenly pulled away, and the lead slipped out of Varley’s hands. Varley stumbled and then fell over into the mud, fumbling for the lead but missing it by the very tips of his fingers as the dog began to crawl under the gate.
    But by then I was already speeding up towards him. I took a few quick strides and stamped on the dog’s lead, stopping it dead in its tracks. I reeled the creature in like a fish before tying the lead to the gate. Varley looked like I was about to give him a bollocking. But it was too early, and I was too cold and still half asleep. Instead, I looked with some admiration at the woman’s dog and patted it around the ears while Varley brushed his jacket off as best he could.
    The dog at last seemed to calm down, and, now knowing that there was no chance of getting back up the hill, it looked wistfully upwards towards it from time to time, sometimes gazing at me and then Varley in a friendly sort of way.
    â€˜This little bugger belongs to the lady in the ambulance, I presume,’ I said. ‘The lady who called it in.’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜She looks pretty banged up,’ I said, already feeling guilty about calling her an old bag even if I hadn’t actually said it out loud.
    â€˜I think she’s all right, sir. The cut’s not as bad as it looks. But they’re going to have to take her to A & E and do a head scan just in case. She fell over when she tried to climb the stile and hit her head. She was in a bit of a hurry to get to a phone, y’see.’
    â€˜Yes,’ I said. ‘I can imagine. Just walking along minding your own business and suddenly that.’
    â€˜Well, yes, sir,’ Varley said, as if I had just said something rather insensitive. ‘I know I’m not going to forget it in a hurry.’
    â€˜You’ve been up there, then?’ I said, surprised.
    â€˜Yes, sir. I was first on the scene, and, as the lady wasn’t making much sense, I thought I’d better check. She kept going on about a dog or something. About how she knew who it was up there because she recognized his dog.’
    â€˜His dog?’ I said. ‘So his dog must still be on the hill.’
    â€˜I guess it must be,’ Varley said, as if realizing this for the first time. ‘Must have run off, though, because I didn’t see it.’ He looked baffled; then his face brightened. ‘But I did see a body – there’s definitely a body up there. The old