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Back The Ringmaster Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. The Ringmaster
  3. Contents
  4. Prologue
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. Epilogue
  72. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  73. Copyright

He pointed across the Oval towards the highway bordering the far side and the major intersection on to the Southern Motorway. It didn’t take much imagination to work out how much havoc she could cause there even at this hour of the morning. I took off running across the sports ground and assumed from the heavy footfalls behind me that Terry Bennett was following. I hoped she hadn’t travelled too far, as once she got out to the road there were a myriad of directions she could go in. I wondered what Terry meant by ‘trampled’. Accidentally hurt in the rush to escape? Or had she been driven to do someone serious harm?

Evidence of her path was nearby as I broke through by the low hedge bordering the road.

I ran up to the van, which was tipped over on the driver’s side. The windscreen was broken and a man was scrambling out through the shattered glass.

I helped him get to his feet. There was sizable dent in the side of the vehicle, now pointing skywards.

‘Are you alright?’ I asked. There was blood running down the side of his head, but otherwise he seemed uninjured.

‘Huh? Bugger me, I just got hit by a fucking elephant. I’m sure it was an elephant. What the fuck’s an elephant doing in the middle of the road?’ Under normal circumstances if any driver had uttered those words to me, I would have had them lined up for an evidential breath test.

‘Which way?’ I asked. ‘Which way did she go?’ I heard Terry thunder up behind me, breathing so hard I thought his lungs would explode.

‘That way, I think.’ He pointed further south along Anderson’s Bay road towards the peninsula. ‘Fuck me, that was an elephant, right?’

‘Yup.’

She had headed towards the most-open ground. It should make her easier to find than if she’d gone into the industrial area, where there were lots of places to lose her. It seemed absurd to think of losing something the size of an elephant, but then, this was turning into one hell of a strange day. I peered up the road and saw a distant set of headlights make a sudden swerve to the right. There was only one thing I could think of that would cause that kind of manoeuvre.