Deception by Ken McClure Read Free Book Online Page A

but the sound that came out sounded totally alien, a mixture of terror and anger that she’d seldom – if ever, felt before.
    She could see that Sam was starting to lose the battle. It looked as if he was beginning to tire and might fall over at any moment. When a third rat appeared on the path, Moira’s concern for the puppy overcame her dread of rats. She moved in, swinging her feet at them and screaming abuse at the top of her voice as a way of neutralising her fear. When her foot connected with the third rat and sent it flying, she yelled out in pleasure and tried stamping on the one attached to Sam’s paw. Frustration started to play a role when she found that just wasn’t quick enough to keep up with Sam’s twists and turns. ‘Damn! Damn! Damn!’ she screamed. ‘Get off him, you filth! Leave him alone!’
    Help appeared in the form of a cyclist coming along the towpath. He’d seen the woman ahead of him with what appeared to be a dog scampering round her feet and had rung his bell as an early warning of his approach.
    ‘ Help me!’ screamed Moira. ‘Please help me! Get them off him!’
    The cyclist, a tall man wearing dungarees and working boots got off his bike and snatched the tyre pump from the frame. He lashed out at the rat on Sam’s paw and made good enough contact to make it release its grip. To deal with the other one he had to wrestle Sam to the ground and hold him still while he beat at the rat on his snout with the barrel of the pump. Sam was finally freed of his tormentors and whimpered pitifully as Moira examined his wounds. He was bleeding profusely. ‘My poor baby,’ she cooed, cradling him in her arms.
    ‘ What the hell happened?’ asked the cyclist.
    Moira shook her head. ‘I don’t know,’ she gasped. ‘He was looking down at the water. The next thing I knew one of these vile things was on his face.’
    ‘ He must have stumbled on their nest,’ said the man. ‘They can be bloody vicious when they feel threatened.’ He walked over to the edge of the bank and examined the area. ‘No sign of any rat holes, mind you.’ He pushed down the reeds around the area with the pump he still held in his hand but without finding anything. ‘Strange,’ he muttered. ‘A laddie got bitten along in Blackbridge by the buggers the other week there: mind you, he was swimming in the bloody canal. Talk about shit for brains.'
    Moira wasn’t really interested in why it had happened. She felt weak and cold and anxious. The front of her blouse was covered in Sam’s blood and she was becoming increasingly angry with this man who seemed to be ignoring her and Sam in favour of conducting some kind of forensic investigation. She had to remind herself that he had also been the one to come to their rescue and if he hadn’t come along, at that particular time, God alone knew what might have happened. ‘Could you possibly give me a hand?’ she asked, trying to get to her feet, still cradling Sam in her arms.
    ‘ Nae hassle,’ said the man. He took Sam from her and asked, ‘Where are we going?’
    ‘ My house is about half a mile away.’
    ‘ If you wheel ma bike for me, I’ll take care o’ the dug. He needs help. What are you going to do about him?’
    ‘ There’s a vet over in Blackbridge. My husband will drive us over.’
    The man looked at his watch. ‘It’s after nine,’ he said. ‘If he’s no there, there’s a vet wi’ a twenty-four hour call out in Edinburgh. You’ll find it in Yellow Pages.’
    ‘ Thanks, we’ll try Blackbridge first,’ said Moira.
    The pair of them attracted quite a bit of attention when they left the towpath and started to walk down the road to Moira’s house, the man beginning to weave a bit under Sam’s weight and Moira, shocked, dejected, the front of her blouse covered in Sam’s blood. Several neighbours came out to ask what was wrong but Moira couldn’t face telling them the story. She had to look past them. She was close to mental exhaustion. She