Here's the next part of the story
Alf brought his car to a halt at the cross roads, should he head back to Aidensfield, drive on to Ashfordly or head further afield and search Whitby or Elsinby? It was a difficult decision, he could hardly go back to the pub without finding Merton, but where would he look. He took out his cigarettes and smoked one thoughtfully as he mulled it over in his mind. If he were Dennis where would he go to entertain a young lady, Alf wondered, it would have to be somewhere smart, but Merton wasn’t foolish enough to blow all his money on such a venture, somewhere smart and not too expensive. Alf ran through a mental list of hotels, ticking each off in his mind.
The pick suddenly broke through the door, stopping Kate as it broke the rhythum of her blows. A blast of icy air surged through the gap. It was a struggle to free the implement from the wood, but she managed it, a mighty blow on the door a few inches from the gap splintered the panel. Kate resorted to alternately kicking the door and swinging the pick under arm at it until she had made a hole large enough to crawl through. She stood back, admiring her work for a moment before wondering what to do next.
Dennis smiled at her as she glanced back at him.
“I’ll take a look outside.” She whispered, suddenly almost afraid of what lay out there.
Dropping to her knees she cautiously peered into the moonlit yard of the quarry. It seemed deserted, the gates stood ajar and the road beyond seemed empty. Kate put her head and shoulders through the hole, casting her eyes over the yard. In the dim shadows close to the steep wall of the quarry a car was parked. His car. Her spirits lifted.
“Your car is in the yard.” She told him, kneeling at his side, her stockings were already laddered and her shoes scuffed, she gave them no thought as she knelt at his side.
“All we have to do is get out there.” Dennis eased himself up on one elbow, he felt terrible, every now and again the room started to spin making him feel sick, his head was pounding and the light of the fire hurt his eyes. “I think you’re going to have to help me.” He drew up his knees and managed to sit up.
“Take it easy.” Kate laid her hand gently on his shoulder, she could see that he was fighting the blackness that was threatening to engulf him again. She hated to move him, maybe it would be better to leave him here and go for help. “Shall I go for help?” She asked.
“No.” He was deffinate, no matter how much of a struggle it was he wasn’t going to let her go out there alone, he had to go with her. “We both go together.”<br>
The fire was fading as they made it to the door. Kate squeezed through first and helped Dennis crawl onto the cold dusty earth of the yard. Using the building for support he managed to get to his feet, swaying slightly as he gulped the cold air. Closing his eyes only made it worse, he focused on the car, draped one arm around Kate’s shoulders, thankful for her arm about his waist as he leaned on her more heavily than he liked to.
“Lets go.” He whispered, if he had to stand still much longer he felt as though he would fall to the ground. Walking felt unnatural, the ground seemed to rise up to meet his feet at each step. Keep thinking about the car, he told himself over and over, fixing his eyes on it.
His eyes closed as the familiar sound of the car door opening met his ears. Kate pushed the door wide open, Dennis put both hands on the roof of the car, the smooth metal was icy cold but very solid and familiar, he let his head drop for a moment. At least the interior light of the car was steady and comforting.
“Dennis? Are you OK?” Kate asked, her hand on the center of his back, between his shoulder blades. He concentrated on her touch.
“Are the keys there?” He asked.
“I’ll check.” Kate rounded the bonnet and opened the drivers door, praying that they keys would be there. The ignition was empty, she checked the floor inside the car and out, casting her gaze around the quarry she searched for a tell tale glint of metal, nothing. “I can’t see them.”<br>Dennis muttered a curse under his breath.
“Pop the bonnet.” He instructed. “Handle is in the footwell.”<br>“Got it.” Kate said after a moment of searching. There was a loud clunk as she released the catch. She lifted the heavy bonnet and struggled to settle the support arm into its slot. “Now what?”<br>Dennis took two deep breaths, he was feeling very sick, and wasn’t sure that he could hotwire the car in his present state, he certainly didn’t feel confident enough to instruct Kate to do it. He moved slowly to the engine bay, hand over hand on the side of the car until he reached his goal. He reached up and switched on the emergency light on the underside of the bonnet, thanking his lucky stars that he had bought the Rover when his wages had been high and not sold it on his move to Aidensfield, a less expensive model wouldn’t have been so thoughtfully equipped.
“Right.” He said trying to focus on the mass of wires. It was a long time since he had been shown how to do this, an awful long time and the engine was far more complex than the one in the cars at the police training school. He fingered the wires tracing their route. Kate watched intently, hoping that he knew what he was doing. Every now and then she cast her eyes over the yard, hoping that the bad guys where not going to return and hoping against all hope that she might spot the car keys.
Dennis pulled a couple of wires free from their connections, twisted them together and rested his hands on the wing of the car. His eyes kept drifting out of focus. He wasn’t totally sure that he was doing things right. He worked methodically for a few minutes then turned to Kate.
“There’s a tool kit in the glove box.” He told her. “Get a screwdriver, stick it in the ignition and turn it.”<br>Kate was about to question his instructions but thought better of it. The tool kit was a small wrap, she selected a flat bladed screwdriver, pushed it as far into the lock as she could and turned it. The engine turned over.
“Give her a little gas.” Dennis instructed. Kate pressed the accelerator gently, with a roar the large engine sprang to life. As Dennis reached up to close the bonnet he almost fell. “Kate!” He called out to her.
She grinned at him, then caught his meaning and was at his side in an instant, one arm around him incase he did keel over.
“Sorry.” His voice was just a whisper.
“Get in the car.” She told him, taking his hand and looping his arm across her shoulders so that she could support him more fully.
He sank into the passenger seat and watched helplessly as Kate struggled to lift the bonnet off the support. As she dropped it into place with a heavy clunk, she realized that she hadn’t switched off the light. Never mind, she thought. She dashed across to the gates and pushed one fully open.
It felt strange sliding into the driving seat of his car. The seat was too far back for her to drive comfortably but she didn’t adjust it.