Summer of Love Marie Ferrarella (easy books to read in english TXT) 📖

fairly scurrying across the sky now and he guessed it wouldn’t be long before the rain started. Maybe he should follow Emma’s example and head back?

He sighed as he set off along the path. Once again he’d thought he was making headway with her and once again he’d been mistaken. It was a case of one step forward and two back, and it was difficult to explain how frustrated he felt. Maybe it was foolish to hope that she would accept him as a friend after what had happened in the past, but he couldn’t bear to think that she would continue to think so badly of him.

Daniel’s heart was heavy as he climbed out of the dip. The path skirted an area of loose shale and he picked his way around it, wary of slipping. The first drops of rain started to fall as he cleared the area and he picked up speed, hoping to avoid getting soaked. Although it would have been quicker if he’d taken the path Emma had used, he wasn’t sure if he could remember the way.

The last thing he needed to round off the day was to get himself lost!

He must have gone about a mile or so when all of a sudden he heard someone shouting. He stopped and looked around but it was difficult to see now that the rain was falling in earnest. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted as loudly as he could, ‘Hello! Where are you?’

‘Over here,’ the reply came back immediately.

Daniel turned towards the direction from where the sound seemed to be coming and frowned when he caught a glimpse of a figure frantically waving to him. What on earth was going on?

He hurriedly changed course, his heart sinking as he got closer and discovered there were actually two people, both teenage boys, and one of them was injured. ‘What happened?’ he demanded, crouching down beside the injured boy.

‘We were just messing about, having a sword fight with a couple of sticks, when Jack slipped. I thought he was kidding at first when he didn’t get up, but then I saw all the blood.’ The boy gulped, obviously too shaken by what had happened to continue.

‘I see.’ Daniel didn’t press him for any more details as he carefully eased the boy’s blood-soaked T-shirt aside so he could examine the puncture wound in his chest. Although it wasn’t very large, it was obviously deep and had bled copiously. He could hear the boy struggling to breathe and placed his hand over the wound. Even if the lung itself wasn’t damaged, this type of injury—where air was being drawn directly into the chest cavity—could cause it to deflate ‘How long ago did it happen?’ he asked, glancing up.

‘I’m not sure. Half an hour, maybe longer—I seem to have been shouting for ages.’ The boy wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘I didn’t know what to do. I tried to get Jack to stand up but he couldn’t, so I thought about going for help. But even if I’d managed to find someone, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find my way back here.’

‘You don’t have a mobile with you?’ Daniel queried, dragging over a haversack and using it to support the boy’s head and shoulders. He inclined the teenager’s body towards the injured side so that the sound lung was uppermost then dug in his pocket and took out a clean handkerchief plus the piece of crumpled cling film. Sealing the wound to stop any more air entering the chest cavity would help the boy to breathe more easily.

‘Yes, but there’s no signal out here. I’ve tried it dozens of times but my phone just won’t work!’

‘Typical.’ Daniel sighed as he placed the handkerchief over the hole in the boy’s chest. ‘Can you hold that there while I unravel this piece of cling film?’ he instructed. Once he had smoothed out the plastic wrapping, he placed it over the handkerchief, pressing it tightly against the boy’s damp skin. He was pleased to hear that the teenager’s breathing sounded a little less laboured after he’d finished.

Standing up, he stripped off his jacket and laid it over the boy. Hypothermia was a very real concern in a situation like this and he needed to do whatever he could to avoid it. Once he was sure the boy was protected from the rain, he turned to his friend again. ‘What’s your name, son?’

‘Ryan.’

‘OK, Ryan. I’m Dr Kennedy. I work at the surgery in Avondale—do you know it?’

Ryan shook his head. ‘No.’

‘So can I take it that you don’t live round here?’

‘No. We’re on a school trip. We’re staying at the outward bound centre near Malham.’

‘I see. So is there anyone who’s likely to be looking for you right now? Your teachers, for instance?

‘No. They don’t know we’re out here,’ Ryan mumbled, looking sheepish.

‘What do you mean, they don’t know you’re out here?’

Ryan shrugged. ‘Most of the teachers have gone to Settle with the rest of the group. They’re going on a train ride. Jack and I weren’t allowed to go because we smuggled some beer into our dormitory last night. A couple of the boys were sick and things got a bit messy, so we had to stay behind to clean up as a punishment.’

‘Surely you weren’t left on your own?’

‘No, one of the teachers stayed with us, but he had to go to the office to deal with a query.’ Ryan looked even more uncomfortable. ‘Jack and I decided to sneak out while he was gone and that’s how we ended up here.’

‘And found yourself in an even bigger mess from the look of it,’ Daniel declared, sighing. He quickly considered their options but it was obvious what needed to be done. ‘We can assume you’ll be missed at some point but it could take a while before the alarm is raised and even longer before they send someone out to look for you. Quite