Sentence The Fourhundredandthirtieth

“Now the hurly-burly's done, now the battle's lost and won . . . . .” the words of MacBeth's three witches ran like a worm through Isa's brain as she tried to take it all in; the sense of kvell she had experienced when the paramedics collected Gertie, and said that she'd saved the young Trainee WPC's life had gone, and gloom settled on her shoulders like a mandilion, but not keeping out the chill, rather, retaining it within her body just as it had entered, when she heard her phone ring,
followed by Jasmine's voice, distant and hollow, putting an end to the jamboree: “she's gone, Isa! wee Gertie's gone!” and Isa had dropped the phone, hearing it break as it hit the concrete path outside Aunty Crist's back door; shock had frozen her, mind, body and soul and it took a few moments to realise that Aunty Crist had come out and was speaking to her: “it's Jasmine at the BGH, she can't reach you on your phone,” and Isa looked down to the broken mobile at her feet, almost
automatically, without any thought, she took the landline receiver her Aunt was holding out to her: “hello, Jasmine, it's me,” and Jasmine began speaking rapidly: “Isa, they don't know where she is – she'd been in a cubicle, while they were waiting for blood results from the lab, but when the nurse went in, she'd gone, gone away!” and the full import began to hit Isa, “gone away? what do you mean?” and Jasmine spoke in a rush: “she's not there, she must have woken up and left, no-one saw her, a couple of your constables are searching and one of them has been looking at the CCTV in Security, it looks like she managed to get out through the back of the hospital and was last caught on camera heading towards The Eildons!” Isa's heart skipped a beat: “but she's alive?” and Jasmine laughed nervously: “very much so, but she's out there somewhere and no-one knows where!” which was when one of the Professor Danes appeared and approached the confused WPC: “Isa,” he said gently, “I'm the one who saw Pan after he left the house, and I think I know where he's gone – although it's more a case of when he's gone to!” and Isa lost control, she grabbed him by the lapels and shook him: “my cousin Gertie has gone too,” she yelled, “has she gone with him?”