5
A LONELY NIGHT
She hurried him back inside the house, choosing the first open door she could find and closing it behind them. Richard’s breath was rasping. She steered him to a chair and guided him down and told him to breathe through his hands. She cast her eye around the room, spied an old newspaper by the fireplace and went and fetched a couple of internal pages. Then she made a makeshift bag and told Richard to breathe through the paper.
‘Try to slow your breathing. That’s it. Now don’t pant. Take bigger breaths. That’s the way.’
She watched on, placing a comforting hand on his back. Slowly, his breath returned to normal.
When he coughed again, she said, ‘Try to repress it.’
She rummaged through her canvas bag and extracted a water bottle.
‘Take a few sips.’
When he handed ba
