Free The Word of God by Christopher Cummings Page B

chorused.
    â€œGood. I mean it. Now go over there with Constable Clive. Sir Miles, Sir Richard, Mr Jones, wait here please.”
    Peter turned with the others and walked towards the parked cars. Joy walked beside him.
    â€œRude man! He could have said please,” she muttered.
    â€œAnd thank you!” Gwen added.
    â€œFair go,” Capt Conkey said. “He was probably just sitting down to dinner at home and was ordered here. I’d be a bit short tempered too I think.”
    Stephen sighed. “I like that idea of sitting down to dinner,” he commented. “I could eat a horse.”
    Gwen chuckled. “You can if you like but I think I’ll have a proper meal,” she replied.
    That raised the first small laugh since the adventure had begun. By then they had arrived at the cars, to find Dean and Charmaine waiting there, guarded by another policeman.
    Capt Conkey went over to them. “Are you two alright?” he asked.
    â€œYes sir. Just a bit bored and cold,” Charmaine replied.
    â€œI wish we were!” Stephen grumbled. “Is there anything to eat or drink?”
    â€œOnly some coffee,” Dean replied.
    â€œThat will do fine,” Capt Conkey said.
    As they stopped at the first car the policeman with them took charge. “Now, remember what the Inspector said. You are all to wait here till the Inspector says you can go. Sit over there and the paramedics will check you over. There is hot drink there.”
    Peter looked around in the darkness and saw that four more vehicles were parked along the dirt track, one of them an ambulance with its interior light on. The policeman continued: “My orders are to remind you to say nothing to the paramedics about the Devil Worshippers. Just say that a bushwalker has been injured and you were helping to carry him down.”
    That comment both intrigued and worried Peter. It meant that something very serious was going on that the authorities wanted kept quiet. Once again he shivered with apprehension and looked up the mountain, wondering if the Devil Worshippers were lurking just up there in the bush.
    Lights were turned on at the back of the ambulance. Peter stood at the rear of the group and ushered Joy and Megan to the front. The paramedics were very friendly and cheerful and chatted while they poured hot drinks and handed them around. Peter took a cup of coffee and moved to one side. Nearby the policeman was busy using his car radio. Inspector Goldstein and the knights were just visible as a dark huddle fifty paces away.
    Dean and Charmaine joined him.
    â€œWhat happened?” Dean asked.
    â€œTell you in a minute, when we are away from these blokes,” Peter replied. He waited till the others also had drinks then led them a few paces further away. They sat in a group on the grass beside the track. Capt Conkey joined them and Constable Clive stood talking to the other policeman a few metres off.
    Peter briefly recounted the events up on the mountain, omitting any mention of the skeletons. When he finished he said: “What took you so long to contact the police? The sergeant we met mentioned something about more Devil Worshippers?”
    â€œToo right!” Dean exclaimed. “Just after you left we carried all the gear up that track there behind you, along that power line and hid it all in the bush. Wewere just walking back out when we heard voices up the hill. We hid till we were sure who it was. Two middle-aged people came down and got into one of the cars and drove off. We stayed hidden so as not to give them a fright.”
    Peter nodded. “We met them, and another bloke, a thin, bearded bushwalker type.”
    â€œYeah. He came down later. But before that we stayed out of sight till the couple had driven off. We then stood up and started walking out to here when we heard a vehicle coming. We were both a bit worried by then so we hid in the grass again, just over there. It was a big grey car.