Murder Most Royal

He called Rozie back, but she ignored him.

‘There’s a pulse,’ she called. ‘But she’s out cold. Is someone calling an ambulance? I’m going to find the horse.’

Rozie moved the girl gently into the recovery position and ran round the bend in the road. A minute later, she was back.

‘Shit. There’s another one. An older woman, out cold, too. The cars must have scared their horses. I think her leg’s broken and she’s losing blood. We need to block the road before someone comes.’

A brief interval followed, while Depiscopo radioed for help.

The trouble was, as the Queen saw instantly, that help would normally come from the south, towards Newmarket, and the main road that way was blocked with traffic. Rozie had already grabbed a medical kit from the back of the car and taken it to deal with the older casualty. Depiscopo assessed the situation and instructed the Queen’s driver to get out and warn any passing traffic about the danger, while he reversed the Range Rover up a little track they had passed fifty yards earlier to get it, and Her Majesty, out of the way. The Queen knew that officially, what he should do was ignore the injured women and drive on. Jackson would have done it without a qualm; the sovereign’s safety was paramount. But she took advantage of the new officer’s uncertainty. Like all her staff, he would be trained in first aid. Thank goodness they were there.

He parked the car at the top of the track, on a little ridge out of sight of the road, next to an empty field.

She was increasingly worried that Rozie would be busy ministering to the older rider or rounding up the horses, and might get hit by a passing car in the process.

‘I’ll be perfectly all right here,’ she said, because she would be. ‘Go and see what you can do.’

‘Are you sure you’ll be OK, ma’am? I’ll be one minute. Please stay in the car.’

The Queen assured him that she would be perfectly safe. He ran down the track.

But he was not back after one minute, or even five. Meanwhile, the Range Rover was getting cold and it was eerily quiet.

On top of that, her knee was giving her gip. Outside, high above the trees, two lapwings flew in a complicated dance against the bright blue sky. She opened the door and stepped out to get a better look, and the fresh air on her face made her feel instantly better.

She couldn’t see what was happening in the road below because Depiscopo had carefully chosen a parking spot masked by pines and hedges.