James Chase - The World in My Pocket

‘Go on, Alex,’ she panted. ‘I can’t go any further. Leave me. I just can’t do it.’

Kitson looked up. They were only a few feet from the ledge.

Then as he looked down at Ginny, just below him, he saw beyond her the long drop into the valley and a wave of dizziness swept over him. He shut his eyes, hanging onto a shrub, feeling sweat start out on his face.

Looking up, Ginny saw him clinging just above her and she thought he was going to fall.

‘Alex!!’

‘It’s okay,’ he gasped. ‘I’m just dizzy. Don’t look down, Ginny. Just hang on a moment.’

They remained there like two flies on a wall, then, very cautiously, Kitson began to move again. He found a better foothold, then he reached down towards Ginny.

‘Give me your hand,’ he said. ‘Come on. Don’t be scared. I won’t let you go!’

‘No, Alex! You’ll never get me up there. I’ll fall.’

‘Give me your hand!’

‘Oh, Alex, I’m scared! I’m going to let go! I can’t hang on.’

He grabbed hold of her wrist as she released her grip. Her choked scream was whipped away by the wind. She dangled at the end of her arms, her skirts billowing out, her long, slim legs moving as if she were walking.

Kitson hung on, taking her weight.

‘Ginny! You’ve got to help,’ he panted. ‘I’ll swing you against the side. Try to get your feet on something, then I’ll lift you.’

He swung her and her toes scrabbled frantically for a hold, found one and he felt her weight come off his arm.

Holding her, he looked down at her.

‘That’s fine,’ he said. ‘Give me a moment.’

They remained like that. A long minute crawled by, then he said, ‘Okay. Now!’ and he heaved upwards.

She slid up and over the projecting ledge and collapsed limply at his side.

Then they heard a shot. The sound was very loud and set up an echo.

Ginny stiffened and her hand closed tightly on Kitson’s wrist.

The shot had come from below and to their right.

Cautiously, Kitson leaned forward and peered down. He had a clear view of the road below. He could see the Buick and nearby, three police cars.

Moving very cautiously up the road, just beyond the obstruction, were ten soldiers and three police officers. About fifty yards further up the road and just around one of the bends lay Bleck. He was sheltering behind two small boulders, the barrel of his automatic rifle pushed forward between them. Another fifty yards up the road, just out of Bleck’s view, stood a jeep with three soldiers by it.

Kitson realized that the jeep must have come up the other side of the mountain and Bleck was trapped. He felt a surge of relief that he had gone up the mountain instead of following Bleck.

By the upper bend in the road, a soldier lay face down in the road, blood running from a wound in his head.

The soldiers coming up the road, paused at the bend, keeping out of Bleck’s sight. They were only twenty feet from him.

A major, short, dapper, and blond peered cautiously around the bend in the road, spotted the dead soldier and hurriedly drew back.

Raising his voice, he shouted, ‘We know you’re there! Come on out with your hands in the air! Come on! You’ve got no chance! Come on out!’

Kitson could see Bleck pressing himself further into the ground.

Ginny joined Kitson and looked down.

Although they were two hundred feet above the soldiers, the men seemed alarmingly close to them.

‘Are you coming or do we come and get you?’ the major shouted.

‘Come and get me, punks!’ Bleck yelled, a savage, frightened note in his voice. ‘Come and get me, and see what you get!’

The major said something to one of the police officers who nodded.

The major then walked over to a soldier and spoke to him.

There was a brief consultation. The soldier handed his rifle to another soldier, then took out a small object from one of his pouch pockets and started forward cautiously.

Kitson watched. His heart pounding.

When the soldier reached the bend in the road, he paused.

‘This is your last chance!’ the major shouted. ‘Come on out!’

Bleck’s reply was profane and obscene.

The major shouted, ‘Okay, let him have it!’

The soldier tossed the object high into the air. It rose, turned lazily and began its fall.

Ginny bid her face against Kitson’s shoulder.

Kitson started to yell a warning to Bleck, then stopped, knowing if he made a sound, he would give away his own hiding place.

The grenade dropped squarely in front of the two boulders behind which Bleck was sheltering.

Kitson shut his eyes.

The Krrrump! of the exploding grenade was unbelievably loud, and Kitson heard the rattle of stones and the whistling of flying splinters.

He moved back, not looking down and put his arms around Ginny.

She clung to him, shivering, and they remained like that.

A man suddenly shouted, ‘There’s only one here. Where are the other two? Where’s the girl?’

‘They won’t find us,’ Kitson said, his fingers running through Ginny’s copper-coloured hair. ‘They’ll never think of looking for us up here.’

Then he heard the aircraft coming.

From above he knew they must be completely exposed to view.

They looked at each other, then Ginny tried to burrow against him, making herself as small as possible. The cold clutch of fear at his heart, Kitson watched the aircraft coming.

It swished out of the sun, flying just above them and, looking up, he could see the pilot peering down at him. The pilot waggled the wings of the aircraft, as if to tell Kitson he had seen him, then the aircraft banked, and Kitson could imagine the pilot yelling excitedly into his mike, telling those down on the road what he had seen.

‘Ginny! Listen to me,’ Kitson said, lifting her face and looking into her terrified eyes. ‘Bleck was right. I’m not going into any death cell. You could beat this rap. The most they would give you if you were unlucky would be ten years. You’re only a kid. The jury would be kind to you. Ten years is nothing. You could make a new start in life when you come out. You stay here and let them bring you down.’

‘And you?’ Ginny said, her fingers gripping his arm.

Kitson forced a grin.

‘I’m taking a dive. It’s quick and it’s my way out. I’m not going into the death cell.’

Ginny drew in a deep breath.

‘We’ll go together, Alex. I’m not scared, but I would be, to be shut away for ten years. That’s something I couldn’t take. We’ll go together.’

A voice over a loudspeaker system suddenly bawled, ‘Hey, you two up there! Come on down! We know you’re up there. We don’t want any shooting. Come on down!’

‘You stay, Ginny.’

‘No. I mean it.’

Kitson bent and kissed her, holding her close.

‘Remember what Frank said? The world in our pockets? Well, maybe this could be it, but not this world; some other world. Let’s go and find out.’

He put his hand in hers and they both stood up.

They looked directly down onto the road where the soldiers and police had spread out, ready to dive for cover, their rifles pointing up at the two figures on the ledge.

‘Okay,’ Kitson shouted. His voice sounded thin and weak to the listening men below. ‘We’re coming.’

He looked at Ginny.

‘Are you ready?’

She tightened her hold on his hand.

‘Try not to let go of me, Alex,’ she said. ‘Yes, I’m ready.’

The watching men saw them suddenly step off the ledge and come hurtling down towards them.