"Come on you lovely rescuer", he said, smiling at her. "It's time to get moving and we've a lot to do".

"What a nice way to be wakened up", she smiled. "How do you feel, if that isn't a really stupid question".

"Like I've been for a roll in a field of barbed wire", he remarked wryly, "but OK apart from that. The mean guy hadn't got round to trying to damage me permanently. I was very glad when you arrived with the cavalry though".

"I'm so relieved you're OK". On an impulse, she flung her arms round him and gave him a hug and then was very apologetic when his howl of pain reminded her to be more careful.

She inspected her face in a hand mirror, asked what the plan was and then when she received no reply, saw that everybody else seemed to know and allowed herself to be carried along in the flow. Tim's team seemed to know exactly what they were doing without any need for discussion or commands.

A mini bus was waiting for them outside the hospital. They were whisked back to a very sad looking flat in Bayswater to collect personal belongings and then off into the countryside, in yet another car.

Their efficiency was amazing, Sarah decided. There were never less than two of Tim's 'buddies' in any room with them. All areas were checked in advance of Tim and Sarah entering and she could have sworn they were part a cavalcade as they drove. She couldn't quite spot the other protecting vehicles. Nevertheless, she was sure they were there.

Eventually, after a slow drive across some particularly remote countryside outside Exeter, the team seemed convinced they'd not been followed and Sarah and Tim were left to continue the journey alone.

The motorways were now behind them and bleak Dartmoor gave way to the high hedge rows of the South Devon countryside. Roads twisted and turned with sharp bends that often reduced their speed to a crawl.

Although she was driving, Sarah had no idea of the route they had taken but merely followed Tim's instructions. She recognised few of the town names. Finally, at the end of a long winding road between high hedges, a road dropped away in front of them down into a deep valley. A sign indicated a drop of one in nine but to Sarah it seemed steeper.

At the foot of the hill a small village came into view nestling between the high surrounding hills.

"What a pretty village", exclaimed Sarah. The tiny lane they followed through the valley was bordered by a stream and edged with primroses and Herb Robert. It was a rural hamlet that was so isolated by the high hills on each side that it felt untouched.

To Sarah it seemed they had gone back in time to a gentler, slower and kinder Britain. Eventually they came to a five-barred gate. Tim got out and opened it. Beyond that was a long open single file tarmac road with fields bordering either side. Sheep grazed everywhere.

At the end of the road was an old white painted farm house with a courtyard filled with dogs and clucking chickens, a smiling lady and an old white haired man with a twinkle in his eye like Tim's.

"Welcome to my parents farm", said Tim. "We are safe here and we can collect our thoughts and decide on our next plan of campaign".

She was given a room at the back of the farm overlooking the fields. Through the window which was framed by delicate lace curtains, there was the flash in the distance of the sun on a river or lake. The window was open and she stood there silently listened to the bird song mingling with the sound of the breeze in the trees. It was wonderfully cleansing.