Read Online Empty Nets and Promises by Denzil Meyrick - Free Book Online

Hoynes.
    â€˜I’m sorry, Sandy. We had information that you were shifting cases of the clear stuff. I had my doubts, but here we are.’
    â€˜Don’t be ridiculous, man,’ said Hamish. ‘We’re jeest having a wee dram. That stuff doesn’t even belong to us. Does it, boys?’ He addressed his question to the airmen, who now looked thoroughly perplexed by the whole situation.
    â€˜And then there’s the matter of an octopus,’ said Watson. ‘Not declared in the catch, but I have proof positive that you profited from it, Sandy Hoynes.’
    Hoynes looked sidelong at Hamish. ‘Noo, come on, men. Let’s sit doon and talk aboot this like civilised folk. I’ve no’ seen a bottle o’ the clear stuff since Adam was a wean, and that octopus was a squid. We jeest slung it back intae the sea, didn’t we, Hamish?’
    â€˜Aye, we did that, Sandy. And in any event, Iain Watson, I’d like to know how you got to hear aboot such a small event. Aye, and manage tae blow it oot o’ all proportion, tae.’
    Watson held his ground. ‘It was an octopus! I have a witness!’
    â€˜Sergeant, I want you to arrest these men on suspicion of smuggling,’ said Marshall. ‘I’ll take the evidence we need.’ He made a lunge for Ralph’s bottle, just as the door swung open and Maggie rushed to the side of her fiancé.
    â€˜The first one to try to get my Duncan onto a plane will have to get past me first!’
    â€˜Maggie?’ said Hamish.
    â€˜Marjory?’ shouted Hoynes.
    â€˜Beth?’ said Geordie.
    â€˜What on earth is going on here?’ enquired Grant.
    â€˜Haven’t the foggiest, mate,’ said Bertie, looking on as his friend Ralph wrestled determinedly with the Customs Officer over the bottle of illicit spirits. ‘One thing’s for sure, you Scotch know how to throw a party.’
    Before anyone else could speak, a low rumble interrupted the pounding rain. In a few heartbeats, the ground began to shake.
    â€˜Whoot that?’ yelled Hoynes, as everyone froze.
    â€˜It’s the Piper’s Pass,’ cried Geordie. ‘It’s a bloody landslide!’
    Hoynes raced outside. Sure enough, he could see a great sheet of earth sliding down the mountainside like warm icing off a cake. Hamish and Duncan Grant were right behind him.
    â€˜Well, that’s us stuck here for a while,’ said Hamish. ‘Did it no’ take them the best part o’ a week to clear this the last time?’
    â€˜It did that,’ confirmed Hoynes.
    â€˜Father! Duncan!’ shouted Maggie, poking her head out of the front door. ‘You better come quick. The Customs man is out cold.’
    Marshall was lying on his back on the stone floor, his eyes closed. A small pool of blood was congealing under his head.
    â€˜For any’s sake,’ screamed Marjorie. ‘I think he’s deid.’
    Grant leaned over the injured man and checked the pulse in his neck. ‘His heart’s beating, but he’s out cold. We’ll have to try and stem the flow of blood. What on earth happened?’
    â€˜I was just trying to stop him whipping my bottle,’ replied Ralph sheepishly. ‘I stood up, and he went flying onto the floor. Must’ve cracked his head when he landed. Will he be all right?’
    Beth turned on her heel, yanked the sheet from the camp bed and ripped a narrow strip. ‘I’ll use this as a bandage. At least it should stop the blood.’ As Grant held up the unconscious man’s head, she wound the impromptu bandage around his skull and tied it gently with a knot at the back.
    â€˜Dae you mind Erchie Boyd, Sandy?’ asked Hamish. ‘He fell o’er in Main Street one Hogmanay. Never recovered. He was deid afore the second o’ January dawned.’
    â€˜Oh, you’re a ray of sunshine, Hamish,’ snapped Maggie, her hand on her fiancé’s