Rescue

Car horns honked up and down the busy road, making the horse swish his creamy tail and jerk his head back. Silken nostrils flared, a mistake given the stink of exhaust fumes that hung in the air. Pearly flanks shuddered, and hooves clattered on the tarmac; an irregular clitter clatter that spoke of his affront at the noise.

The woman soothed him, leaning forward to whisper encouragement and rest a hand on his shoulder. She guided him through the traffic with confidence, and urged him closer to the tall green gate on the side of the road.

Towers loomed beyond it, belching smoke.

She held him steady, and leaned down to press the buzzer. There was a crackle, and an indistinct voice spoke.

Her lips, plump and pale, shaped each word with ladylike deliberateness, and then the gate swung slowly open and she nudged him through.

The visitors' carpark was quiet at this time of day. Without the blare of horns skewering his precarious confidence from all sides, the tension eased out of his body. His feet settled into a steady clip clop clip clop across the open space and down the left side of the building.

The person she had come to find was working here, stacking boxes on pallets, wrapping then in cellophane, and loading then into lorries. His face creased in an enormous grin when he saw her. Distress melted away and his eyes shone.

"I've come to take you away from all this," she said. Her voice was lifted clear above the cacophony of machinery, shouting, and the nearby hum of traffic.

He ran towards her. This attracted the attention of the Boss who seemed to swell with anger. The Boss' face bloomed cerise, and he looked as it steam might come out of his ears. When he opened his mouth to shout, she expected a jet of flame.

Her beloved reached her, and scrambled up behind. His hard hat was still wedged on his head because of Regulations. He wound his arms around her waist (most definitely her waist).

She touched the horse forward and after several strides, urged him into a canter. They clattered through the staff car park and away, with the Boss still hopping up and down and yelling about Punch Cards and Regulations. At last, his voice dwindled, and the concrete towers shrank into insignificance behind them.