The Savage Gorge by Colin Forbes

habits. The discrepancy bothers me.'

'Look at the wording on the stone,' she exclaimed.
    FOR LIZBETH

YOU WILL RETURN ONE DAY YOUR LOVING FATHER
    'It doesn't add up,' she protested. 'The affection. When you think this is the same man who stormed off the terrace as we were leaving. How abusive he was - not only to us but also to Archie MacBlade.'
    'I agree. We still don't know what sort of a man Lord Bullerton really is. As I've told you before, human nature is a fascinating and complex mixture. Now for the Gorge. The river is indeed very high.'

Lepard sat in a chair overlooking the High Street closer to the Gorge. He had chosen the only accom modation available for a two-week stay, a cottage with a notice in the front window. Room Available For short Let.
    He would never be recognized now even in the East End. He wore a large grey shaggy wig with a very British wide-brimmed straw hat he never took off. He had explained to his landlady, Mrs Wharton, that he had been ill, that the doctor had warned him never to expose his head to the sun and to protect his hands. He therefore always wore gloves. No fingerprints. He had even gone to the lengths of wearing contact lenses that changed the colour of his eyes. To complete the disguise he now wore large horn-rimmed spectacles with plainglass. With his disguise removed he was confident Mrs -Wharton would never pick him out of a police line up, if it-ever came to that.

On his mobile he told his second-in-command, Ned Marsh, to bring up a bazooka with rockets when he summoned his gang to Gunners Gorge.

He had foreseen that Tweed might summon his key team. In which case it would be a massacre, probably launched by his gang from the top of the Gorge, which he had explored very thoroughly. The window he watched through was masked by dense net cur tains. He could see out but no one could see in. The only disadvantage was he was too far up the High Street to view the Gorge or its summit.

He sat up straight with shock as Tweed's Audi cruised slowly past. If it was Tweed's habit to travel the same route he was a dead man.

'You know,' said Paula as they neared the turn-off
    leading direct to the summit of the Gorge, 'I don't see how Cromwell's cavalry ever climbed those steps as Bullerton described. Hooves would slither all over them.'

'You've missed something,' he told her. 'Alongside each flight there is a wide grass verge between steps and the beautiful houses. Horses could easily mount as high as they needed to by galloping up the grass.'

'Of course. I missed that,' she admitted.
    'Another thing,' he went on. 'Last night before I got into bed I phoned Marler and asked him to come up here today, so he could arrive at any moment.'

'Why Marler?' she wondered.

'Because he is a master strategist. So it's important that he checks the lie of the land, especially in this area.'

Further down the High Street, Lepard was still watching through the net curtains, seated comfortably in his chair behind a table. A few minutes after spot ting Tweed's Audi he saw the next vehicle, a green Saab, driving slowly towards the Gorge. Without pas sengers there was a single driver behind the wheel. Lepard saw no significance in this brief event, assum ing it was one of the locals ...

Approaching the turn-off to Aaron's Rock, Paula became aware of a disturbing sound, a muted roar of great power which steadily increased as Tweed drove up a steep dusty track. On either side high granite boulders gave her a feeling of claustrophobia.

They were in the open now. Tweed turned the Audi
    round for a swift departure. Jumping out of his car he was followed more slowly by Paula. She was staring at a huge cloud of spray and the roar had become deaf ening.

Determined to keep up with Tweed she ran after and past him, stopping suddenly as she gazed at the awesome spectacle. The river was the kind of surge you see when a massive dam breaks. Her feet and her willpower carried her towards the brink and she stared