Misplaced 7, part 6.

  Ruth did not even have time to flinch as the gun went off.  There was a click- but nothing else happened.  She stared past the gun at Emma’s horror-stricken face, as she realised what she had done- and that nothing had happened.  Emma shook the gun uselessly, then pointed up at the sky and fired again.  Still nothing happened.

  “It doesn’t work!” she yelled at Kath.  “It’s useless!  You knew, didn’t you?  You tricked us!”  

  Around them the others, who had stood as if frozen when Emma pulled the trigger, sprang back to life again.  Emma in her fury had let go of the rope binding Ruth, who now pulled away and ran for it.  But her former captors were too busy to care.  The two Toms had recovered from their shock and grabbed Emma between them, trying to hold her still as she struggled against them.  The newcomers, seizing the advantage, hurried forward to help them.  Amy and Sophie, obviously now realising that the game was up for Kath, both put up their hands and shouted out that they surrendered, please don’t hurt them, they were only going along with her because they were scared.  Ernest just stood there, not resisting them, until the other Ernest came up to him, put a hand on his shoulder and spoke to him.  Then he turned to where Emma struggling with not only the Toms but with her other self, a much more fearsome opponent.  As Ruth watched he shrugged, walked over to Emma and said; “It’s over.  We might as well give up.”  She looked up at him and stopped struggling.

  That left only Kath, who was struggling with Nick and her other self.  But seeing that all her companions had given in she realised that she was alone.  With a fearsome kick she incapacitated Nick and gave the other Kath such a push that she stumbled backwards.  Tearing herself free, she began to run.  The others, Ruth among them, ran after her.  

  On down the hill and through the trees she ran, without a care for the animals and birds that ran or rose up into the air, screeching and terrified, as she passed.  On and on, with the others only a few steps behind her, until she emerged once more from the trees onto the clifftop.  Ruth recognised the place- it was where Adam had fallen.  Ruth was unsure if Kath knew where she was going as she ran on, or whether she was just running blindly, running away, not running to.

  “Kath!  Please stop!” Ruth shouted.  “Just let us-”

  But it was too late.  Whether she had heard or not, whether she knew where she was going or not, Kath ran headlong over the cliff.  They heard a cry, and then nothing more.  

  The pursuers ran to the edge of the cliff.  Feeling slightly unbalanced with her hands still tied, Ruth knelt down and looked over the edge.  When Adam had fallen, the tide below had been in or he would not have survived.  Now the tide was out.

  “Well, there’s nothing we can do about her now,” Nick said, turning away from the cliff edge.  Ruth tore her gaze away from the horrible mess on the rocks far below and stood up.  

  “Let’s get back to the others,” she said.

  Ruth was very weary when they came back to the others near the cave.  Not only because she had slept little the night before, but also a sudden weariness had come over her once Kath had fallen to her death.  There was little relief, despite the knowledge that the crisis was over.  And she was afraid that this was not the end of their sadness.

  When they got back she went immediately to where the badly injured Patrick was lying on a makeshift bed.  He was in so much pain and was so weak already that they were afraid to move him.  The other Patrick and Ruth sat beside him, and Ruth joined them.  One look at their faces told her enough.  

  The Ruth of this world was holding his hand.  She looked pale and unwell too, with a new scratch from the creature’s claws joining her older bandaged wounds.  But she was nothing compared to Patrick.  

  The other Patrick was nervous and edgy, seemingly unsure what to say or do, and so was silent.  But he was present.  Ruth looked at him, understanding something of how he must be feeling.   It had been bad enough when she first met the other Ruth, watching her suffering.  How much worse for him to watch himself dying!  

  The injured Patrick looked up at his Ruth and spoke, the most coherent speech Ruth had ever heard him make.  “I’m sorry,” he said.  “I shouldn’t have run off like that after the crash.  I didn’t even know you were injured, I was no help at all.”

  “It’s all right,” Ruth said, squeezing the hand she held a little.  “It’s not your fault.  You were upset, and no wonder after what happened.”  Ruth, watching, remembered her dream of the crash these two had suffered, remembered their attempt to save a friend only for her to die...no wonder Patrick had been upset.  

  “No, I am sorry,” Patrick said.  His voice was very faint.  

  “It doesn’t matter now,” Ruth said. “You saved my life by jumping on that thing.  Thank you.”  He tried to shake his head but couldn’t manage it.  She looked up quickly at Ruth and Patrick, who felt at that moment like the strangers from another world that they were.  Ruth realised that although having had similar lives formed a bond between them and their other selves, it  was not the same as having shared experiences with one another.  She watched as the Ruth of this world bent over the Patrick of this world, and whispered something that she could not hear.  He smiled.

  “I know,” he said very faintly, looking directly up at her.  The other Ruth felt a lump in her throat as she watched them, still feeling like an intruder.  The other Patrick was rubbing his eyes, a gesture she knew well.  

  That was all that was said.  The four of them stayed like that, unmoving, unspeaking, while Patrick’s breathing grew more laboured.

  Suddenly the other Patrick winced and bent over.  “Ahh,” he said.  

  “What is it?” Ruth asked.

  “Just a pain,” he said, embarrassed.  “Nothing really.”  Ruth felt, rather than saw or heard, that something had changed.  She bent down to where Patrick lay, unmoving.  His breathing was now silent.  She lifted his wrist and felt for a pulse, looking up into her other self’s sadness-filled eyes.  She knew.

  “He’s gone,” she said quietly.  “It’s over.”

The story continues...