by S G Read
'You tied him to a goal post and kicked footballs at him!' David replied.
'He is fifteen dad!'
'Is he? You say he knocked you of your bicycle?'
'Yes dad, with a football!'
'Seems like poetic justice then. I’ll keep an eye on Leonard Mole' David replied. 'Are we visiting Jenny tonight?'
'Wouldn’t mind.' Stuart replied, then remembered the card, it would not arrive until tomorrow. He shrugged his shoulders. 'When are we going?'
'After we eat, you’d better get washed up.'
The boys hurried back, neither of them minded visiting Jenny.
Chapter 5
Silas emerged from the house and walked to where he parked his car, in his hand he had a crisp new twenty pound note. Not a real one but one Willie had printed earlier. He held in up to the light to inspect it and was pleased with the result. He put it in his pocket carefully but when he looked up he saw Marmalade standing five metres away and with no chain on! He screamed and ran but Marmalade was quicker. Willie heard the noise from inside the house, mainly Silas screaming for him to get the dog off him. He ran over and pulled the dog off before any serious harm was done.
'I thought you chained him up!' Silas cried angrily, once he was safely in his car.
'I did. I don’t know what happened, he must have got loose somehow.'
'Well if he gets me again I am going to shoot the bloody thing! Guard dog or no guard dog!' He drove off as Willie held Marmalade.
Once Silas was out of the gate Willie let Marmalade go, he knew he would never go out of the gate.
'You sure have taken a dislike to him haven’t you Marmalade!'
Jenny saw them coming and her eyes lit up as they approached. There was no Brian this time, as he was working but she was just as glad to see the others. They brought several games with them to play while they were there and stayed until they were thrown out. They left the games with Jenny, hoping she would find someone to play with, when they could not be there. It was too late to go and see Marmalade when they went home and ended up on the computer.
Leonard Mole stood and watched as the two boys walked across the field from the woods. He saw them driven away before he emerged from where he was hiding and walked over to where he saw the boys come out from. There he found the raft. His first idea was to sink it but then he started to wonder what was on the other side of the pond. He stood on it and found it pond worthy enough to start poling across, using their poles. On the other side he walked off to explore, he had no idea there was a dog over there and Marmalade was nowhere to be seen. He did not tie the raft up either, it did not occur to him. He heard a car horn and looked up as a man caught hold of a guard dog and chained it up. The car drove up and the two men started talking heatedly. Leonard crept about just to see what was there and found a twenty pound note. It was a mistake to stand up and look at it; to make sure it was what he thought it was. The two men saw him and the forged twenty pound note in his hand! Leonard was not about to give up what he had found, not easily anyway and ran for it. Willie ran after him, Silas just watched, as his running days were over, unless he fancied a heart attack! Leonard dodged in and out of the cars, steadily increasing his lead on Willie until he slipped and fell. He was up immediately but Willie managed to close the gap and when he saw Leonard next time, he threw the car tyre spanner he was carrying at him. It was just a bent bit of iron with a wheel nut remover on one end and a wedge shaped bit on the other end but it flew true and hit Leonard on the head. Leonard fell in a heap and did not move again. Willie moved closer, making sure that he did not start running again while Silas came over. Silas looked at the inert form.
'Is he dead?' He asked.
Willie shrugged his shoulders.
'Well feel for a pulse!' Silas said testily. 'The bloody dog is to blame for this!'
Willie felt for a pulse, not that he knew what he was doing. 'Can’t feel anything so I reckon he is dead.' Was his non-professional opinion.
'Marvellous, bloody marvellous! We use this place to keep a low profile and end up with some dead kid to dispose of, do you have any suggestions?'
'I’ll dump him elsewhere and take his clothes off to make it look like it was sex crime. That should keep them busy!' Willie replied.
He effortlessly lifted the dead boy.
'Well don’t do it now! Stash him somewhere and dump him after dark.' Silas ordered. 'You still have work to do!'
Willie dropped him into the boot of a nearby car and closed the lid. 'Okay boss.'
In the morning the two boys walked across the field to the pond only to find their raft on the other side floating aimlessly.
'Lenny Mole, I bet!' Stuart cried, and started to take his shoes off.
'What are you doing?' Stevey asked.
'WE are going to swim across in our pants and rescue our boat, so that Lenny Mole has to go right round or swim back as well!' Stuart answered vehemently.
'We are?' Stevey asked but he already knew the answer. He started to undress as well, moving behind a nearby bush to be out of sight of onlookers.
They swam across to the other side and looked about for signs of Leonard, a sweet wrapper lay on the shore.
'See what I mean?' Stuart acknowledged and swam to the raft.
Stevey followed and they pushed it back to the other side. When it was tied up they put their clothes on over their wet pants and walked back to change. They could see a police car at the end of the road and wondered what Leonard had been up to, or was he telling the police about their ambush and payback for his actions! They hurried up stairs and watched out of a front window. Ten minutes later the police car drove away and they breathed a sigh of relief. That night they did not return to the raft but played on the computer and snooker table until bed time. Every now and then one of them would look out to see if a wet Leonard Mole walked by but they did not see him walk by.
Friday morning came and so did the police. They walked down the stairs together and were taken into the kitchen.
'Good morning boys.' The policeman greeted. 'I am hoping you can help me, I am looking for Leonard Mole, it appears he has gone missing. When did you last see him?'
Stuart answered truthfully. 'We saw him on Wednesday, we were playing football with him.'
Stevey nodded his approval.
'And that was the last time you saw him?' The policeman asked.
'Yes.' Stuart replied.
'He went home before we finished playing.' Stevey added.
'Thank you for your time.' The policeman said and walked to the door. 'If you do see him or hear anything, you will let me know, won’t you?'
The two boys nodded and the policeman left.
'That was the truth?' David asked.
'Yes dad, ask Stevey.'
'That was the last time we saw him Mr Sellars.' Stevey added without being asked.
'Good, now let us have some breakfast!' David replied.
After breakfast the two boys stood out by the garage talking.
'Now what do we do?' Stevey asked.
'Now we go over and see if we can’t find any proof that Lenny Mole was over there.'
'I suppose we don’t really know if he just untied it and went somewhere else do we?' Stevey admitted.
'No we don’t but I for one would like to know. If he was over there and something happened to him, then I would like to tell the police rather than them tell us!' Stuart replied.
'Me too!' Stevey said and climbed the fence into the field.
Stuart followed him and they found the raft still tied up where they had tied it. They poled across and Marmalade appeared as if by magic. They both jumped onto the beach to see him and have their face licked, much to their annoyance. They both gave him a bone and while he ate it, they walked into the car breakers looking for any clue to show that Leonard Moles had been there. The first thing they saw was a wheel nut remover, laying by a patch of blood.
'Is that what I think it is?' Stevey asked.
'
Sure looks like it to me!' Stuart replied.
'Are we going to tell anyone yet?' Stevey asked hopefully.
'Could be anyone’s blood, might even be a rats, I’m sure they have rats here!' Stuart answered. 'I want to be sure.'
Marmalade joined them having finished the bone, he walked up to the boot of a car and sniffed it with great interest. So much so that it aroused the two boy’s suspicions.
'What do you think is in that boot Stu?' Stevey asked.
'I don’t think you want to know what I think is in there Stevey.' Stuart replied.
'Do we open it Stu?'
'I think we have to Stevey. Just to be sure.'
The two boys looked round for something to open the boot with and Stuart found an old iron bar but he had little success.
'Will these help?' Stevey asked, holding up a set of keys.
'Where did you get them?' Stuart asked.
'From the ignition of course, where they were left!'
Stuart took the keys and tried the one most likely to open the boot lid but it did not work. He tried another one, the lock gave an audible click and opened. Both boys jumped out of the way but the boot lid only opened and inch then stopped there. Stuart plucked up the courage and walked back. He lifted the boot lid and they both looked inside, the boot was empty. Both were relieved and disappointed. Stuart looked closer and saw a large red stain in the boot.
Willie stepped out of the cellar in time to see the boot lid open. He knew it did not open by itself and picked up his baseball bat. He slipped out of the house unseen and headed towards the two boys by the open boot of the car, the very car he had hidden the dead Lenny Mole in.
'He isn’t here now but I think he was here at some point.' Stuart said a little afraid. 'And who ever put him in here isn’t going to be too pleased that we’re here poking around!'
'I move that we move.' Stevey proposed.
'Seconded, let’s leg it!'
At the little beach they dropped the rest of the bones on the grass for Marmalade, then they poled across the water as fast as they could, unaware of the baleful eyes which watched them go. Willie stood there by the fence the baseball bat in hand, cursing the fact that they had managed to get away.
The two boys ran across to the house and sought out David.
'We think we know what happened to Lenny Mole.' Stuart blurted out when he had his father’s attention.
'You do, how?' David asked.
'You know our raft?' Stuart continued.
'Yes.'
'Well we’ve been going across the lake and playing in the car breakers-'
'I didn’t know there was a car breakers there, you wait until I talk to the firm who did the sweep!' David said indignantly.
'Dad listen this is important!' Stuart complained. 'We went over there on Thursday to see Marmalade-'
'And who is Marmalade?'
'The guard dog, he’s our friend-'
'That’s why you wanted that bit of pork!' Wendy exclaimed from the doorway.
'Yes it was but will you stop interrupting me please?' Stuart answered patiently. 'Now where was I?'
'Marmalade.' Stevey prompted.
'Yes Marmalade. Well we found the raft adrift in the pond and assumed Lenny Mole had taken it over to the other side, so we swum across and brought it back. We tied it up and came back to change, then the police arrived.'
'And you didn’t see fit to tell them that?' David asked.
'We didn’t have any real proof that it was Lenny Mole, Mr. Sellars, only a sweet wrapper. That is why we went across this morning to make sure it was him who took our raft.' Stevey answered.
'And what did you find this morning?' David asked.
'One of those things you use to take the wheels off with.' Stuart replied. 'You know a bent thing with a nut shaped hole in it.'
'I know what you mean.' David answered.
'Well this one had blood on it and there was blood on the grass next to it! When we opened the boot of a nearby car there was blood in there as well.' Stuart continued.
'What made you look in that boot?' Wendy asked.
'Marmalade. He kept sniffing there, he was very interested in whatever was inside!' Stevey replied.
'I think it is time we called the police.' David declared. 'And you two stay put! I don’t want you disappearing like Leonard Mole!'
An hour later a police car arrived and the two boys related what they had told David and Wendy. They all walked over to the pond but there was no raft and where they had landed on the other side to walk into the car breakers, it was totally blocked with a pile of old cars.
'Where’s our raft?' Stuart cried. 'And they weren’t there before, it was open. That’s where we met Marmalade!'
'Let us go round to the entrance and talk to the owner, he has been in trouble before!' One of the police constables said politely.
The gate was wide open and the two cars drove inside. Marmalade was chained up and Willie was working on a car, seemingly taking off parts for a client. Marmalade started barking and trying to get of the chain looking every bit a guard dog. The two boys wanted to go over to him but they were made to stay away from him. Willie was quite willing to let the police search but when they arrived where the two boys said the car was and opened the boot. There was no blood stain. There was no sign of the wheel nut remover either and the grass with the blood on it was gone. The police constables made all the right noises but Stuart could tell things were not going well!
'But it was all as we said it was.' Stuart complained to David.
'I don’t see how that can be?' Willie replied, trying to sound confused. 'That pile of cars have been there for months, the dog kept swimming over the pond and running away.'
'That’s rubbish!' Stuart retorted. 'Marmalade is scared of water! He won’t even get his feet wet!'
'Stuart that was very rude!' Wendy scolded.
'But it’s true mum!' Stuart replied holding back the tears which were threatening to flow.
'It may well prove to be true but it was still rude, apologise right now!' She ordered.
'I’m sorry if I was rude sir.' Stuart said dejectedly, adding the sir for better effect.
'I think we have wasted enough of your time Mr. Bowyer.' One constable said apologetically and they were on their way home.
Stuart knew he had blown it but the investigation in the car breakers was not over, even if the police thought it was!
Chapter 6
When the police left Stuart and Stevey went up to the room they were sharing and sat on Stuart’s bed.
'Now what do we do?' Stevey moaned. 'They’ve blocked the pond of so we can’t get in there to find out what is going on and they’ve nicked our raft!'
'The question we have to ask is why.' Stuart replied. 'We were obviously seen when we looked in the boot of that car, so they moved the car somewhere else and blocked of the pond to keep us out.'
'So we have to find the car again and take the police to it without them knowing what we are doing!' Stevey suggested.
'That’s about the size of it Stevey but how do we get in without them knowing we are there and how do we find the car again? Do you know what the car was?'
'What about the hole in the fence?' Stevey replied.
'That would get us in, as long as we were not seen by the old gardener.' Stuart agreed then snapped his fingers. 'And Marmalade will tell us where the car is! You remember how interested he was in it?'
Stevey nodded. 'Yes we could hardly keep him out of it when it was opened.'
'Time for a bike ride I think.' Stuart declared and jumped of the bed.
'I don’t have a bike!' Stevey reminded him.
'You can use mum’s old bike.'
'You’re joking!'
Stuart was not joking and twenty minutes later they rode off, after being told to be home by five o’clock. They were going to see Jenny tonight and collecting Brian as well. That meant being late was not an option! The rode to the end of their road and turned
left. Rode to the main road and turned left again. Now all they had to find was the entrance to the car breakers. They rode on looking for the entrance and came to a rough track.
'Is this it?' Stevey asked. 'It’s not very good is it?'
'One way to find out.' Stuart replied and they rode up until they could see a pile of cars. 'Seems to be the right place, now all we have to do is to find the entrance to the house, with the old gardener.'
They rode back but the sound of a car coming slowly along the track made them turn off into the bushes and hide. A man drove by, stopped at the gate and tooted his horn. They watched as the man in the car breakers walked down and opened the gate.
'Is that dog tied up?' The man asked.
'Yes but we had a visit from the police!' The other man replied, the man they knew as Mr Bowyer.
'What did they want?' The man in the car asked.
'A couple of kids were snooping, I was going to give them the same treatment as the other kid but they crossed the pond on a raft before I could get to them with my baseball bat!'
The two boys looked at each other and ducked lower.
'Pity.' The man in the car replied.
'Yeah, they saw the blood and that’s why the police were here but I moved the car with the blood in it, took their raft and blocked off the pond. The police found nothing but I think those two boys might cause us more trouble!'
'If they do you know what to do with them!'
'Yes boss.'
The man in the car drove inside and the man they knew as Mr. Bowyer closed the gate behind him. They watched him walk away before they dared to move.
'Did you hear that?' Stuart whispered. 'He was going to bash our brains out!'
'Come let’s go.' Stevey ordered and pushed Wendy’s bicycle on to the track. 'Do we really want to go in there?'
'Maybe not go in there tonight but we could do a dry run and see if we can make it to the hole without being spotted by the gardener or the people who live in the house.'
'Sounds good to me.' Stevey said liking that idea better and they rode off looking for the drive to the house.