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Chapter two

The Accident

Jake was the first to leave the meeting. His face was red with anger. The directors had not agreed to the idea of constructing a new office building but, worse, they had refused to listen to any plan which both Jake and Luke did not agree to. He walked past the secretaries and out to his car.

He didn’t say anything to Luke because he didn’t want to fight him. Not yet. He was going to try once more to change his mind.

Back at Luke’s house, Nathan heard his father’s car coming. He ran to the front door.

“Daddy! You’re late! Come and see my model aeroplane! I’ve nearly finished it! Daddy, it’s beef curry for dinner, your favourite! I’m starving, are you? Can we go out on our bikes together tomorrow?

“Hey, slow down a bit!”

“Hello darling! At last!”

“Hello, my love. Ah, it’s good to be home.”

They all went into the living room to enjoy the evening together.

The next morning, as they were having breakfast, the telephone rang. It was Jake.

“Hello.”

“Good morning Luke! Listen, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we go out hunting? It’s been a long time since we went hunting together. Maybe we can bring a rabbit home for Megan to cook.”

Luke was pleased that Jake was in a good mood. And although it was Saturday, Luke decided to go out with Jake. It was a chance for them to do something together as friends, just as they used to do in the past.

“Good idea! Let’s do it! We’ll go in my car - I’ll come and pick you up in an hour. I need to clean my gun first. I haven’t used it for ages.”

It was a glorious day. A perfect day for hunting. The sun was shining through the trees. The birds were singing. As they walked through the woods, Jake started talking about work - and the office building.

“Oh, come on Jake! Let’s forget about the office building for today, and just enjoy ourselves.”

“Life isn’t that simple, Luke. We have to pay for everything - even days out in the woods. That’s why we can’t afford to build children’s homes, Luke.”

“Jake, I told you. The city needs the home, and we have almost promised we are going to do it. It’s the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do is what’s good for us - not the others.”

“Come on, Jake! Let’s just hunt rabbits. Now, what’s that I see over there? Looks like a nice tasty dinner to me!”

Luke picked up his gun. So did Jake. But Jake wasn’t looking at the trees, or the rabbits.

The bullet from Jake’s gun flew past Luke’s face.

“For goodness sake! What are you thinking of? You almost killed me!”

“I’m sorry. It was an accident. I touched the trigger by mistake. I’m very sorry.”

“Look, I think it’s time we went home. We are obviously not going to do any serious hunting today.”

“Well, I didn’t mean to do it, and I’ve said I’m sorry. But if you want to go, then let’s go.”

The two men sat in the car and stared at the road in front. Neither of them spoke. Luke changed gear as they came into a narrow road. Jake looked down at the view across the hills and of the city below.

Luke turned the steering wheel as they came to abend. There, approaching them, was an enormous lorry on their side of the road. Luke shouted, “Get onto your own side of the road!”

But the lorry driver didn’t notice them. He wasn’t looking at Luke’s car - he was looking at the pleasant view below.

“Move over, you idiot! Watch the road!”

The tyres screeched as Luke tried to move out of the way. But the lorry just came towards them. Luke turned the steering wheel again, fast. The car left the road, and disappeared over the side of the hill. For a moment there was silence as the car flew through the air. Then came the crash.

Neither of the men heard the noise, or felt the flames as the car exploded. Their burnt bodies were thrown out of the car and onto the grass.