05.One Last Breath Read online

  At last they got into the car, reversed carefully among the police vehicles, and turned out on to the road towards Edendale. Simon drove a little too fast, as if afraid he might not get a second chance, after all, if he didn’t get away soon.

  Cooper had heard of a Chinese religion called Taoism. Its members believed you were born containing all the breath you’d ever possess in your life. For them, every exhalation was a step nearer death. When you used up your last breath, there was no more.

  But Cooper had thought about it in the last few days, and he knew they were wrong about that. There was always one last breath.

  Speedwell Cavern, 10 September 2004

  It was towards the end of the summer when a party of retired college teachers from Virginia climbed slowly down the steps at Speedwell Cavern to take the underground boat ride.

  When they disembarked on to the platform above the Bottomless Pit, they straightened their safety helmets and looked up into the roof of the cavern hundreds of feet above their heads, where the remains of primitive wooden ladders still protruded from the rock.

  Then they gazed down into the green water far below as the guide told them about the lead miners who’d hurled tons of rock into it. They listened politely to his stories about the Devil, who the miners believed had lived at the bottom of the lake, and about the giant white serpent that was supposed to emerge from the water and roam the passages, seeking human prey.

  ‘And, of course, it’s the high lead content of the rock that gives the water its green colour,’ he said.

  The guide was about to turn off the lights and lead his party back to the boat. But one visitor had been leaning over the parapet and staring closely at the water. He was an old physics professor, and he had a question.

  ‘Excuse me, sir,’ he said. ‘I understand it’s the lead that makes the water green. But what causes the bubbles?’

  Puzzled, the guide looked over the parapet. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The bubbles, see? Oh, and another thing – the smell?’

  The guide wasn’t a man to be frightened by his own stories of giant white serpents. But even he could see there was something in the lake seventy feet below. It was pale and bloated, and it almost shimmered in the lime-green water as bubbles of gas burst around it.

  And one thing he was sure of. The thing was rising slowly to the surface, gradually re-emerging from the depths of the Bottomless Pit.

  STEPHEN BOOTH

  Stephen Booth was born in the Lancashire mill town of Burnley, and has remained rooted to the Pennines during his career as a newspaper journalist. He lives with his wife Lesley in a former Georgian dower house in Nottinghamshire and his interests include folklore, the Internet and walking in the hills of the Peak District. One Last Breath is the fifth in the series featuring Derbyshire detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry. The second, Dancing with the virgins, was nominated for the coveted Gold Dagger Award.

  For automatic updates on Stephen Booth visit HarperCollins. co. uk/stephenbooth and register for AuthorTracker

  www.stephenbooth.com

  By the same author

  Black Dog

  Dancing with the Virgins

  Blood on the Tongue

  Blind to the Bones

  Copyright

  Although this is a work of fiction the death of Neil Moss

  in a caving accident at Peak Cavern in 1959 is a real

  historical event. However, any resemblance to any persons,

  living or dead who are unconnected with the accident

  is entirely coincidental.

  HarperCollinsPublishers

  77–85 Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8JB

  www.harpercollins.co.uk

  This paperback edition 2005

  1

  First published in Great Britain in 2004 by HarperCollins

  Copyright © Stephen Booth 2004

  Stephen Booth asserts the moral right to

  be identified as the author of this work

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins eBooks.

  ePub edition June 2008 ISBN-9780007290598

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  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty One

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty One

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Chapter Thirty Four

  Chapter Thirty Five

  Chapter Thirty Six

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  Chapter Thirty Eight

  Chapter Thirty Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty One

  Chapter Forty Two

  Chapter Forty Three

  Chapter Forty Four

  Chapter Forty Five

  Chapter Forty Six

  About the Author

  By The Same Author

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapt
er Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty One

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty One

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Chapter Thirty Four

  Chapter Thirty Five

  Chapter Thirty Six

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  Chapter Thirty Eight

  Chapter Thirty Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty One

  Chapter Forty Two

  Chapter Forty Three

  Chapter Forty Four

  Chapter Forty Five

  Chapter Forty Six

  About the Author

  By The Same Author

  Copyright

  About the Publisher