Page 52 of Read Between The Lines

According to the map, the obstacle course started off with the ‘Lung Burner’, a half kilometre run up and down a zigzag course on what looked like the steepest slope in Oxfordshire’s countryside. Never mind my lungs, I suspected my legs would be screaming by the end of the first haul up the hill. Then came ‘No Man’s Land’ which was illustrated by some disturbing cartoons of barbed wire and exploding mines.

I pointed them out to Leo. ‘The pictures are just for dramatic effect, right?’

‘I guess we’re about to find out. Anyway, you’ve got this. Your suffragette predecessors would never have let a bit of barbed wire get in their way, would they? I’m still finding bruises from our encounter last week.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said, worrying that I really had hurt him. That was the last thing I would ever want to do.

‘Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that,’ he said.

ChapterTwenty

Here it was. The moment where he ever so kindly let me down and explained that he could never be interested in me that way. I couldn’t bear to hear him say the words and then spend the rest of the day pretending that everything was fine.

‘All in good time,’ I said in an overly bright tone. ‘I think we need to concentrate on talking tactics right now. What do you think the best way is of us getting around the course? Do we stick together, or divide and conquer? We might find out more information by splitting up. We can pretend to be struggling over the obstacles as a means of starting conversations with people. I’ll certainly have no problem in making that seem realistic, and you can have a listen to one of Brian’s voice notes before we set off, so you know who to keep your ears open for. Does that sound like a decent plan?’

I glanced down at the obstacle course map again, staring at the route to try to regain my composure.

‘Divide and conquer? I’m not sure I agree,’ said Leo. ‘I figure if we stick together then we’ll spend less time worrying about making it around the course in one piece, plus we’ll be able to focus on asking questions and observing the other runners. That’s what makes most sense from an investigative point of view, anyway.’

‘I suppose so. Whatever’s best for the investigation,’ I agreed, wishing that his reason for wanting to stick together had been a little more personal.

‘I’m sure there’ll be plenty of electricity between us on our way round,’ said Leo.

I looked up in confusion.

‘The “Shocker”,’ he said, pointing at an obstacle on the route map, illustrated by a skeleton with a lightning rod of electricity aimed right at its skull from a lethal-looking frayed cable.

‘You’re doing that one first,’ I said. ‘It’s what the suffragettes would have advised.’

Leo merely nodded in agreement rather than taking the opportunity to tease me further. Logically, I knew that the organisers wouldn’t be allowed to put anything genuinely dangerous on the course but, given the way they’d let at least one fraudster operate within their supposedly safe environment, I wasn’t sure I trusted their ability to follow health and safety guidelines.

A crackly announcement interrupted the rave music.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is your five-minute warning. The Love Can Overcome Any Obstacle (Course) event is starting shortly. Now’s your last opportunity for nervous wees and Dutch courage, although hopefully not at the same time. We’ll see you and your future Significant Others at the start line. Oggy oggy oggy…’

A few half-hearted ‘Oi oi oi!’ responses were shouted back, but most people were heeding the advice of the organiser and hurrying to the Portaloos.

‘Dutch courage? I’m not sure that’s going to do anyone any good,’ I muttered. ‘Although, right now, I can see the appeal of sinking into an alcoholic haze. I can’t believe you talked me into doing this.’

Leo took a slurp from his water bottle then offered it to me before he answered.

‘Nice re-writing of history there, Fisher. I don’t seem to recall you making any objections when I suggested it.’

That was because I hadn’t wanted to appear like a wuss.

‘Hmm. Well, next time, I’m going to pick the event,’ I said.

‘Then I shall look forward to attending the SO Ox Book Club,’ he said. ‘I’m sure it’ll be all very civilised. What books do you think we’ll have to read? Romances all the way, I expect. I’ll ask Doris for some recommendations.’

‘She’ll have many,’ I said. ‘But I don’t want to think of a scammer using novels to seduce unsuspecting women. I like to believe book people are generally good people.’

Leo smiled. ‘I don’t know; I’d have thought fiction would be right up his street. We’ll keep our eyes open. Now, do you want to have a quick practice of the best technique to get over the walls before we set off?’

I responded with a haughty look. ‘I’m sure we’ll be fine improvising once we get there.’

* * *

What I hadn’t thought through properly before I signed up to this event was quite how physical it would turn out to be. It soon became apparent that the only way we were going to be able to get around the course was by doing a fair bit of climbing, and that wasn’t just of the obstacles.

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