"Thirteen thousand… [push] …fourteen thousand… [push] …fifteen thousand… [push] …AGAIN ROB!" shouted Kiwi.

The older Randall brother bent down, his mouth covering Frank’s lips and he blew air in again.

Kiwi’s and Rob’s brains had now totally given up trying to keep track of time. To the two young men, time had become an endless round of breaths and chest compressions, with frustratingly no reaction from Frank.

The New Zealander had again taken the opportunity to lean forward with his fingers against the older Hardy brother’s carotid artery, Rob finished his breaths and locked eyes with Kiwi, surprised and concerned that he wasn’t pushing immediately on his friend’s chest – had Dave given up, after being so insistent they not stop he wondered to himself?

Kiwi eyes lit up, the corners curling. "I can feel a pulse!" he announced, "breath for him again."

His brain whirring, hardly daring to hope, Rob administered another couple of puffs. Halfway through the second he heard a wonderful noise - the sucking sound of a healthy person taking in a huge lungful of blessed air. He withdrew his head and watched as this breath was immediately followed by another one.

He and Kiwi looked from Frank to each other and started bellowing out their delight and relief and hugged each other hard, Mark started to laugh maniacally while punching the sky, and the people on the slope all cheered and clapped.

Frank started to cough, bringing Kiwi back to sobriety. Getting back down to business, he quickly turned his friend over into the recovery position and laid down alongside him so he could continue to monitor his breathing and heart beat, in case of a relapse.

Satisfied he would not be needed, Kyle took his jacket off and laid it over his unconscious employee before starting to climb the wooden steps to meet the paramedics, who’d just arrived.

***

Kiwi climbed into the back of the ambulance with Frank while talking to the paramedic.

"Can you tell us how long he was under the water for?" asked the medic.

"I’m not sure, by the time me and Rob arrived, he’d already been under for some time, Mark’s the best person to ask," he said, indicating with his finger to his friend.

Mark turned at the sound of his name being mentioned, he had a blanket wrapped about his shoulders, the same as the other two. "I think he was probably under for three, maybe four minutes at most."

"Okay, that’s not too bad a length of time, let’s get him to the hospital, where he can be monitored properly, and a doctor can examine him."

The woman who had been at the ticket booth came forward to speak to Mark and Rob as the ambulance doors were slammed shut.

"Your friend, the girl with the red hair? She left these behind," she handed Mark the cell phone, hat and wimple.

"Where did she go?" he asked, realizing for the first time that they hadn’t seen Helen for quite some time. He and Rob looked at each other, aghast that they’d forgotten about her.

"She just walked off, towards the castle."

"Was anyone with her?" asked Rob suspiciously; his eyes momentarily swiveling over Mark’s shoulder at the ambulance at it began to leave, its lights flashing.

"No, she just turned and went. She was acting quite strangely!"

There was a pause until Mark impatiently verbally prodded her, "in what way?"

"Well…" the woman frowned, deciding how best to describe Helen’s state of mind, "…well, she seemed distant and then she got a phone call. She listened for a bit, dropped the phone and then walked off. That’s about all I can tell you."

"Do you know who she was talking too?"

"A man called Tim? I told him she was ‘indisposed’."

Rob thanked her and Mark took the phone and quickly dialed home. The call was picked up almost immediately and he was met by the sound of scuffling from the other end and shouting. He was forced to hold the phone away from his head to protect his ear from the loud noise, finally, a calmer sounding voice came on the line, a voice he recognized as Tim’s: "Hello?"

"Tim, it’s Mark – what on earth’s going on? What was all the shouting about?"

Mark’s heart dropped like a stone to his stomach and his mouth hung open as he took in the revelation that Joe had somehow guessed his brother was in trouble. Rob who had been standing with his head close to the receiver listening in, pulled back and looked at Mark, shaking his head, mystified.

"But…but…how could he possibly know that?" Mark stammered.

"WHAT? Are you trying to tell me it’s true?"

"Well, kind of - but he certainly isn’t dead," Mark said quickly and then paused and considered, not wanting to break bad news over the phone. "Look, Tim, tell Joe that Frank is okay and that me, Rob and Helen are heading home and we’ll speak to him when we get there."

Mark sensed Tim was taking the phone from his ear and had to shout to stop him from disconnecting the phone call, "TIM…TIM…YOU STILL THERE?"

"Did you speak to Helen earlier?"

"So, she didn’t mention she was going anywhere?"

"I don’t know. Look, don’t worry, we’ll be back home within the hour." With that he terminated the call.

***

They were only half way to the hospital when amazingly Frank started to come round. He brought his hand up and started to pull the oxygen mask from his face, wanting to say something. Kiwi noticed and quickly put his hand over his friend’s to stop him. "No, leave it on."

Frank looked questioningly into his friend’s eyes and tried to ask him a question, his voice thick and unrecognizable through the mask, the ambulance siren drowning out any chance of his friend understanding him.

"You and Mark shared a swim in the lake – had us scared there for a while," Kiwi answered instinctively, grinning down at him.

Frank looked confused and frustrated for a second and then nodded almost imperceptibly.

Kiwi watched as his friend lay motionless for another couple of minutes looking up at the ceiling and bent forward to whisper of couple of words of encouragement. He started in surprise when Frank suddenly reached for the New Zealander’s hand and pushed something wet into his palm. Kiwi looked down frowning, realizing he’d given him a piece of material, which, upon closer examination, proved to be a torn shirt pocket.

***

Rob and Mark reached the Ford, but were mortified to see that the BMW was no longer parked next to it. "Where’s Helen’s car gone?" asked Mark stupidly, stopping dead in his tracks and looking up and down the field.

"How the hell should I know?" Rob snapped.

"Do you think Helen took it?"

"What do you think Einstein?" asked Rob sarcastically.

Mark glared at his brother, walked around to the other side of Rob’s car and dipped down by the drivers’ side, "nice one dear brother, that attitude really helps the situation!"

Curious as to what his brother was doing, Rob followed on closely behind. He watched as his younger brother stood, something now in his hands. As Mark turned, he saw it was Helen’s pouch with all their wallets and keys inside, her ear piece and microphone were also included. Helen’s purse and car keys were no longer amongst them - confirming in Rob’s mind that Helen had taken off.

"We can’t leave without her," Mark decided stubbornly, quivering slightly, feeling the late afternoon breeze cutting through his wet clothes.

"What do you suggest we do? Stand around here shivering all night?" Rob looked into his brother’s face, noticing for the first time how pale and cold he looked. He felt like kicking himself for the reactionary way he’d reacted and decided to take control of the situation. "Come on Mark, there’s nothing we can do here, let’s go home before you get pneumonia or something - we’ve still got to face the music with Joe remember?" He pointed out in a gentler tone.

"What about Helen?" Mark asked again, sounding a little pathetic.

"There’s not a lot we can do if she doesn’t want to be found - at least we know she has the BMW and plenty of money. She’s probably driven straight home."

Mark opened his mouth to argue and felt his teeth starting to chatter. Rob stepped up close to him with a non-nonsense expression and took his brother by the arm. He bodily dragged him around to the other side of the car, got his keys out of the pouch and opened the car. "GET IN!" he snapped and pushed Mark into the passenger seat. Making sure his brother was comfortable, he went round to the trunk and got the travel rug out, which he proceeded to wrap around Mark’s legs to compliment the one already round his shoulders.

They were soon on the road, after they had driven round to the front of the castle to pick up their discarded equipment. Rob put his foot down, wanting to get them both home quickly as he was starting to feel the cold biting too. He leant over and twisted the heating knob till it was fully up into the red. "Don’t break down today old girl!" he begged pleadingly to his car.

***

As they pulled into the driveway, Rob was not surprised to see the lights blazing in the attic room, for a second he could swear he saw a face at the window, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. The front door was already opening as he climbed from the car.

"My god, what on earth’s happened to you two chaps?" Tim asked, interrupting Rob’s thoughts, his voice booming with excitement. Without waiting for an explanation, he turned, full of bluster and ran back into the house.

"Come on Mark, wake up," Rob urged, leaning into the passage side door and shaking his brother.

"Oh! We back?" asked Mark, surprised, stretching out his legs.

"Yeah, you’ve been sleeping practically the whole way."

"Damn, I’m stiff all over!" Mark complained, trying tentatively to raise himself, Rob supported his elbow to help him out.

"Not surprised, after the way you went paddling in full armor. You realize that if you hadn’t been there, Frank would be dead now?"

"You and Kiwi did all the hard work!" argued Mark, joining in with the ‘Randall Family Appreciation Society’ speeches. He looked around the driveway, realizing to his disappointment that Helen’s car wasn’t parked up. Rob look at Mark and they could tell without speaking that they were both thinking the same thing - both were wondering what had happened to her.

Tim appeared again and beckoned urgently to them to come inside the house. The Randall brothers saw he’d been in the lounge and turned on the gas fire. He proceeded to position Rob and Mark fatherly in front of the flickering flames before heading for the kitchen to put the kettle on.

The Randall brothers were standing allowing their bodies to soak up the heat with relief when they heard a movement in the doorway, they turned to see Joe loitering, wrapped in the quilt from the bed. He looked fit to drop, his face scared and apprehensive - every inch his young seventeen years.

Tim came from the kitchen behind him with two mugs of steaming liquid in his hand, the second his gaze fell on Joe his eyes narrowed and he looked seriously annoyed. "JOE, You young devil!" he shouted.

"Don’t start giving me a hard time again Tim, I want to know about Frank!" said Joe, fixing Tim to the spot with a flashing glare. Underneath all the resolve however, Joe was secretly wishing he hadn’t had to get out of bed, but desperation had forced his hand.

"Leave him alone Tim, this is difficult enough as it is," said Rob quietly.

"We’ll do you a deal Tim," began Mark, "Joe’ll settle down on the couch while we tell him what happened, then he’s definitely going back upstairs!"

Joe shot his friends a grateful look, "thank’s guys," he said. His voice wavered and he started to cough loudly.

"Your throat sounds really sore," Mark sympathized, when the coughing fit subsided. He accepting a mug from Tim, which he passed across to Rob before taking the other one himself and cupping it in his palms.

Both brothers watched as their friend lay down and Tim pushed a couple of cushions behind his shoulders and started to tuck the quilt in around him.

"You should feel it from this side, Mark!" said Joe humorlessly, his voice cracking slightly, "now tell me what happened."

Mark looked at his brother for help and between them they managed to map out everything that had happened that afternoon.

When they’d finished the tale, Tim said, "I’ll phone the hospital and find out what’s happening," and left the room.

"Did Helen come back here?" asked Mark while they were waiting for a report from Tim.

"No, we haven’t heard or seen anything of her since that phone call earlier," said Joe, starting to feel hot again. "Where do you think she went?"

"I don’t know, I’m just hoping she didn’t run into our ‘friends’."

"I doubt it, they wouldn’t have left the bag with everyone’s keys and money, plus we would have heard from them by now," said Joe, positively, "she’ll probably be back at some point tonight, it can’t have been nice for her to see what was happening to Frank after what happened to Alex," he leaned back into the cushion and groaned slightly, already feeling exhausted again, an deep ache spreading across his shoulder blades.

They paused, each lost in their own thoughts, and Joe had another violent coughing fit.

Rob had been studying his new friend quizzically for some time, and finally allowed his curiosity to get the better of him. "Joe, how did you know Frank was in trouble?" he asked pointedly.

Joe ran a trembling hand over his forehead before answering, "I had a dream about him where he came to me to say goodbye. It was so vivid it had me worried and I forced Tim to phone you, I wasn’t particularly thinking straight - just a coincidence I guess."

"Maybe not," countered Mark, who was a great believer in all things ‘occult’, "maybe he was trying to tell you something, it’s not uncommon for a loved one to visit and say their last farewells when they’re dying."

Joe paused and shut his eyes for a few seconds, considered what Mark said, and instantly pushed the suggestion to the back of his mind, "nah, don’t believe in any of that mumbo-jumbo - just a coincidence."

The corner of Mark’s mouth turned up and he shrugged his shoulders, "whatever you say my friend," he muttered unmoved.

Tim re-entered the room at that point and they all turned their attention to him, his face was lit up in a bright smile. "I just spoke directly to Kiwi. Frank regained consciousness on the way to the hospital, and he says he’s right as rain, except for a sore ribcage. Luckily he didn’t go without oxygen for long enough to cause brain damage. They’re sending Kiwi home now by taxi."

"Is Frank coming back?" asked Joe.

"No, they’re keeping him in over night, but just for precautionary reasons, nothing more – the hospital was pretty positive apparently."

Joe sighed shakily with relief and rubbed his face to hide his emotions.

Tim turned to Rob. "You didn’t mention it was you and Kiwi who performed the CPR on Frank."

Joe stopped rubbing his face and lowered his hands slowly, "you and Kiwi saved my brother’s life?" he asked slowly.

Rob went beetroot red and didn’t answer.

"Yes they did," answered Mark proudly for him, "they were brilliant - really kept their heads."

"Oh man, I don’t know how I can thank you guys," said Joe. He leant forward and put his hand out. Rob stepped up and accepted Joe’s palm in his and they shook, grinning at one another, feeling the electric charge of closer friendship running through them.

"Well," said Tim, interrupting the silence that followed, "You two had better go have a shower and put on some clean clothes. Joe is going back to bed…AND…" he put a finger up to halt Joe from speaking "…I DON’T WANT ANY ARGUMENTS THIS TIME!"

"You won’t be getting any," Joe retorted.

***

It was a good hour before Kiwi finally turned up. The doorbell rang and Rob jumped up quickly and opened the door to let him in. He paused and looked Kiwi up and down, a laugh threatening to escape from his lips.

The New Zealander was donned in a pair of pants that were obviously meant for someone a lot shorter in height than his 6’5 friend was. The leg length finished above the ankle, causing the white socks he was wearing to glare shockingly bright in the moonlight.

"Don’t say a word, Mate!" Kiwi warned, holding his finger up. He bent down and slung a plastic bin-liner, which contained his and Frank’s kit into the hall.

"Where did you get the ‘sexy’ outfit from?" smirked Rob.

"Lost property," he replied, pursing his lips at his friend, who was still looking amused, "hey, at least I’m warm!" he said defensively, "and it didn’t stop the girlie nurses from fawning all over me and calling me a hero!"

"I think I’d rather risk frostbite."

Shaking his head, Kiwi sighed and headed for the stairs. He passed Mark halfway up, who’s face bore the same smug expression as Rob’s. Ignoring him, he said, "I’ll give you guys an update on Frank in a minute, just let me change out of these ridiculous clothes first." He stopped and turned around suddenly realizing someone was missing, "where’s Helen?"

"We’ll update you on her in a minute as well," Mark countered.

He and Rob entered the living room and sat down to wait for their friend.

Kiwi had missed Tim by a mere ten minutes. He could see no sense in hanging around now that the other two were home and could take over his ‘nursing’ duties.

The Randall brothers had only been sitting for a few seconds when the sound of Kiwi’s thundering footsteps echoed down the stairs. They looked at each other and frowned, wondering what could possibly have excited their friend this time. Kiwi jumped down the last three steps and loped into the room.

"The red car’s outside, I just spotted it under the streetlights, and…" he didn’t manage to get any further, Rob was already on his feet and sprinting for the front door, colliding with Kiwi in the process sending him skittering back against the leather sofa. As he passed the telephone table, his hand curled around a heavy, brass paperweight.

"ROB!" shouted out Mark, also jumping to his feet and taking off at a run, but in pursuit of his brother, rather than the car. Rob was already out the front door and running down the driveway before Mark and Kiwi had even got through the front entrance way.

They both bowled out onto the gravel and watched in morbid fascination as Rob tore towards the red car, and propelled the brass ornament straight through the passenger side front window as hard as he could throw it. The man who was sitting in the seat with the window wound down, was so mesmerized by the site of Rob coming down the path that he failed to duck in time and the paperweight struck him full in the face. His head snapped back and he fell against the driver.

"COME ON THEN - LET’S BE HAVING YA!" drawled Rob, livid as hell.

The motorist’s head snapped round and his face twisted into a terrified grimace at the truly frightening site of Rob coming snarling towards the car, looking every inch the wild animal. He immediately revved the engine and shot forward, stalling the car in the process.

Mark and Kiwi had by now reached the end of the front garden and could see the panicking driver trying desperately to get the car stated again, his head switching backwards and forwards from the road to Rob.

The older Randall brother was now around the other side and was diving for the driver’s door handle just as the distraught man got the engine running again. The car accelerated away, throwing Rob onto the asphalt. He got up and bellowed his frustration into the night as the sports car disappeared round the corner.

Kiwi laid his hand on Mark’s shoulder and they looked warily at one another. "As he’s your brother, I’ll let you have the honor of dealing with him." Kiwi whispered.

Mark’s eyebrows shot up, "oh, cheers Pal! I see your heroism doesn’t extend to helping me out?"

"I’m brave Mate - not stupid!" Kiwi corrected him.