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batteries, but it was better
    than nothing, and it was a heavy, comforting object to have in- her hand
    anyway on this evening when the whole world seemed full of movement and
    menace and unidentifiable sounds. She shone the torch ahead of her, and her
    heart almost leaped into her mouth when it picked out something large and
    white in the hedge, something which bent and swayed in the wind. A large
    notice board, she realised, with hysterical relief, and what an utter fool she
    was making of herself. She had spent the greater part of her life living in the
    country, so why was she behaving like a townie, leaping at every shadow,
    letting her imagination play tricks. It was nonsense to think that this dark,
    unfamiliar landscape was rejecting her. She was letting Biddy's warnings
    really get to her.
    Or was she? she wondered drily a moment later as she allowed her torch to
    play over the lettering on the board. 'Private Road to Trevennon Only', it
    stated unequivocally. No sign of the welcome mat there, she thought
    philosophically, and walked on.
    She had been walking for about ten minutes and wishing that the notice
    board had given some idea of the distance involved when it happened. The
    shriek of the wind had been rising steadily, and now in a sudden boiling
    crescendo of sound there was a loud crack just ahead of her, and with a
    slithering rumble a tree fell right across the road in her path.
    She stood very still for a moment, then put her case down, and began to
    shake. She wasn't hurt. For God's sake, it hadn't even touched her, but it had
    been close, and at this rate her nerves were going to be shot to pieces and she
    was going to arrive on Dominic Trevennon's doorstep a gibbering lunatic.
    What was more, although the tree on closer examination did not turn out to
    be particularly large, nevertheless it had blocked the road. She could climb
    over it, but that was not the problem. Private road it might be, but
    presumably people at the house had vehicles and visitors with other
    vehicles, and the tree had fallen awkwardly between two bends in the lane.
    A driver would be on top of it almost before he realised.
    She caught hold of one of the sturdier branches and tugged, but to no avail. It
    might not be large, but it was heavier than it looked. She supposed her most
    sensible course of action would be to hurry on to the house wherever it was,
    and warn someone, trusting to luck that no one drove along the lane in the
    meantime.
    Ironically, the wind now seemed to be lessening, as if aware it had done its
    worst and could now be satisfied. And behind her, in the distance, she could
    just hear the sound of a car engine, coming fast. Morwenna swung round,
    her eyes searching the darkness. She was not all that far from the main road,
    she told herself. There was no reason to think that the traveller would not go
    straight on. But even as she watched, she saw the glare of a pair of powerful
    headlights and knew that against all the odds the car had turned off towards
    Trevennon. And the driver knew the road. He was covering the narrow
    twisting road without a check, and any moment now he would be here,
    unaware of the waiting danger.
    Morwenna almost hurled her case and rucksack into the 'shelter of the hedge
    and ran, stumbling, back to the bend. She stood in the middle of the lane,
    swinging her torch from side to side in a desperate attempt to attract
    attention, but wouldn't the pitiful light it afforded be swallowed up in the
    darkness?
    The car lights seemed to slice across the evening sky, and then with a snarl
    of the engine the car was upon her. She gave the torch one last wave, then
    dived towards the hedge, but not quite soon enough. Something grazed
    her— perhaps a wing—and she fell, not hard but sufficiently to wind her.
    The car stopped with a squeal of brakes, a door slammed and Morwenna
    found herself being hauled to her feet with considerably more force than she
    felt was necessary.
    He was tall, and