Prologue or Chapter One?

            The village was in darkness, just a string of pearl like roadside lamps leading the way through a single narrow street.  Slowing the car to the speed limit the road ahead was dark and wet from an earlier shower.  In the hills above the village, he had driven through a deluge that flooded the road but here the weather had been kinder. 

            Daniel had spent a few nights staying at a hilltop hotel, which offered breathtaking views across the Derbyshire countryside.  A favourite haunt for artists, they seemed to fill the place leaving just a few rooms for Daniel and his business colleagues.  The hotel itself was pleasant enough but Daniel was not happy about the treatment he and the other guests had received.  The staff although very young lacked what he would have expected from a luxury hotel.  Senior staff members were not much better, in fact he had witnessed one of the receptionists being very rude to one of the elderly artists and Daniel himself had suffered curt comments from a manager.  It was then that he decided that once home he would make a complaint to the head office of the chain who owned the hotel.  He was not supposed to check out until the following morning but he was missing Clara and wanted to return home as soon as possible so he made the decision to drive through the night.   

            Following the gentle curve in the road, he pushed the gear stick forward slowing the car even more.  His sat nav told him that once on the motorway the journey time would be just under four hours.  He doubted that, closer to five he thought, but at least at this time of night there was less traffic to contend with.

            As he approached the last house in the village, his eyes flicked to the darkened space to his left.  This was a water meadow and open fields.  Here a river ran through the valley, he imagined the view on a summer’s day.  Suddenly movement caught his eye and before he had time to react, a car shot out of a small side turning in front of him.  It bounced across a narrow pathway completely out of control before disappearing into the darkness.  Braking hard, Daniel brought his car to a stop and threw open the driver’s side door.  Climbing out he stood in the road hardly able to believe what had just happened, then running to the spot where the car had left the road, he peered into the darkness.  He could see very little but there was a vague shape against the denseness of the shadows.  Moving forward he soon discovered the car resting on its roof.  The headlights were out so searching his pocket he found his mobile phone and turning on the torch directed the beam into the car.  Air bags had deployed but were now deflated, the limp material filling the space where the driver should have been.

            “Hello,” he called out and reaching for the handle pulled open the door.

            It was a small sports car, just two seats but luckily, it had a hard top.  A soft top car would have collapsed completely crushing the driver.  Leaning in he found the driver squashed into the foot well.

            “Are you hurt?” leaning in further he reached out.

            Strands of dark hair covered the face that peered back at him and playing the light over the interior, he realised that he was looking at a woman.  She groaned.

            “We need to get you out,” he said shuffling further into the car.

            Grasping her by the hand she responded by wriggling out from the cramped space.

            “Can you stand?”

            “Yes I think so, help me please.”  Holding onto him, she pulled herself from the wreckage.

Daniel supported her gently and she groaned again as she collapsed against him.  He could feel her heart racing, her body trembling then he caught the aroma of expensive perfume.  They stood like this for several moments before he suggested they move.  Lights from his car were a welcome beacon in the darkness of the street.  The last roadside lamp was a hundred yards away, its beam failing to reach them.

            “You are hurt,” Daniel said as he helped her into the passenger seat.  “I should call for an ambulance.”

            “No please.”  Alarm filled her face.

            “At least let me take you to the nearest hospital.”

            “There is no need, please do not concern yourself, it’s only my pride that is injured.”

            He doubted that, but doing as she asked he climbed into the driver’s seat.

            “My name is Daniel.”

            “I’m Sophia,” she replied and laying her head back against the rest closed her eyes.

            “Where would you like me to take you?  We should call someone to take care of your car.”

            “No please, tell no one.  Will you take me with you?”

            Looking at her, he frowned.  “Surely someone will be worried about you.”

            “There is no one.”  Pain masked her face but she hid it well then she opened her eyes.  “Will you take me with you?  I will explain everything later.”

            “Is there anything that you would like me to fetch from your car?”

            “No, I have everything that I need.”

            Daniel hesitated uncertain about what to do next.  What would the consequences be if he did as she asked?  Clearly, he had to do something, he could hardly throw her out into the night.  He told her where he was going and she simply nodded her head then closing her eyes again, she sighed.

            Daniel drove slowly away leaving an overturned sports car in a field on the edge of a village somewhere in Derbyshire.  

I woke up the other morning with this running through my head so I wrote it down.  It could be the beginning of a new thriller so perhaps I should develop it a bit further see where it goes, but first something for you to think about.

1. Who is Sophie?

2. Who/what is she running away from?

3. Has Daniel done the right thing or should he take her to a hospital or police station?

4. What would you do in the same circumstances?

I'm considering the same questions so this might just turn into a full blown novel.