The Magician: An Andromache Jones Mystery (Short Story#1) [COMPLETED]

Chapter Eight: The Finale

It was lucky that Mac did not pass any speed cameras as she pushed her Beetle to its limits.  She retraced her route back past The Black Horse Inn, through Market Higham and then took the next right-hand turn, leading to Hatton Cross.

Hatton Cross was either a large hamlet or a very small village.  It did not have a shop of its own and its pub had closed its doors to the thirsty and the hungry a few years previously, Mac guessed, from the state it was in.

Driving slowly through Hatton Cross, she scoured every nook and cranny for an envelope, a balloon or anything else that The Magician might have left for her.  It wasn't until she had exited the village that she noticed a red balloon tied to a hedge.

Without looking for a place to park the car, she just stopped and got out, running over to the balloon to fetch the next, and hopefully the final envelope, which she opened as she ran back to the Beetle.

The end is in sight, Miss Jones.  Go to Flinders Forest.  Drive the car down the track into the woods and then pull over when you reach a fence that blocks your path. Then travel on foot according to the directions below:

N300, NE104, E54, NW276, W192, SE83

The gravestone marks the spot.

She picked the map up from the passenger seat and located the forest. She had approximately a four or five mile drive in front of her.  She started the car and went.  On the way she made one last phone call.

'I'm on my way to the forest.  How long do I have left?'

'Twenty two minutes.'

'Is that all?'

'I am afraid so.'

'Is it enough?'

'I can't answer that.'

'It isn't, is it?  You and your bloody game,' she hissed.  Mac was the first to hang up this time.  It took all the strength she could muster to remain calm and composed as the thoughts of what her grandmother was going through threatened her self-control again.

Ten minutes later, she had parked the car by the fence and was looking at the instructions.  What can the numbers mean?  Think, Mac, think!  The only answer she could come up with was that the letters referred to compass directions and the numbers steps. 

She quickly paced out the first twenty or so steps to gauge the distance between one footstep and the next and then broke out into a run.

100 steps.

The trees were spaced quite far apart, which aided Mac in her run through the woods.

200 steps.

As she ran, she trained her eyes to look immediately at the ground in front of her to ensure that there was nothing to trip her up, and then back up and straight in front, so she could see where she was going.

300 steps.

She stopped, turned to the north-east and started moving again. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5...25, 26...

The incline increased slightly and she began breathing heavily.

71, 72, 73...100, 101, 102, 103, 104.

She stopped, faced east and again broke out into a run.

19, 20, 21...36, 37, 38...49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54.

Then north-west.

100...150...200...250...273, 274, 275, 276.

West.