by S G Read
'You went in there even though you gave your word to your dad?' Antony asked.
'Yes but there’s more to come!' Stuart replied. 'We heard where they had put the body, so we went there and found it, then told the police where to find it, without letting them know it was us this time!'
'Anonymously.' Toby corrected.
'Was it like those bodies near the plane crash?' Simon asked.
Stuart nodded.
'Yuck.' Simon added.
'So we’re not going over there then?' Toby asked.
'Not until I know more about what is going on, I don’t want anyone hurt.' Stuart answered.
'But you might get hurt!' Toby retorted.
'We made silly mistakes but last time they didn’t know we were there!' Stuart reassured him. 'We saw what they were up to and where and got out.'
'They?' Sherman asked.
'Yes we think there are twins involved but we don’t know which one is which and the man who owns this land is in on it as well!' Stuart explained.
'Here comes the ref.' C.J warned them.
They all looked round to see David walking over toward them.
'Let’s play football but remember "Hat trick"' Stuart said and they moved to their positions.
Chapter 8
'What do you know about his adventure in the jungle Mrs. Sellars?' Jenny asked when they were settled on the blanket.
'I’ll tell you what I know but he hasn’t told me all about it yet, just dribs and drabs.' Wendy replied. 'The plane he was on was hijacked and diverted over the Colombian Jungle but the passengers became suspicious and revolted. A hand grenade blew up in the cockpit and left a big hole in the plane. Some people were sucked out of the plane, including Simon’s father.'
'Did they find his body?'
'No and now they aren’t looking anymore. The plane hit the side of a mountain and broke in half. Stuart’s half slid down the side of the mountain and came to a stop at the bottom. They were the only ones left alive apart from their manager, who promptly gets himself bit by a snake and dies, leaving them all alone. The hijackers were working for a drug smuggler and his money, a lot of money, in fact enough for him to happily kill a plane load of people, just to get it to his house safely. The boys found it but it wasn’t any good to them in the jungle except to help light a fire!'
'They used money to light a fire?'
'Yes, I think they were hundred dollar bills. In the end they started to walk out but they fell foul of the drug smuggler and he caught Stuart. The boys mounted a rescue bid and escaped with Stuart before they could torture him enough to tell them where the crashed plane was.'
'Stuart was tortured?' Jenny asked, remembering how she had treated him when he had gone into the day room at the hospital the first time.
'Yes but he refused to give in and luckily the boys were able to get him away.' The ball arrived and Wendy threw it back. 'But the drug smuggler and his men were following. They shot down a police helicopter and the team rescued one of the police men but he was injured so they had to carry him from then on. In the end they stopped and laid an ambush for the drug smuggler and his men-'
'They could make a film out of that!'
'I suppose they could but it all seems a little unbelievable to me, even though I know it is what they did. They beat the drug smuggler and his men and reached the coast where there was a hotel and that is all I know.'
'I wish I was there.'
'Stuart doesn’t! He wishes he had done what we said and not gone, he still has the odd nightmare about it, mainly Stephen dying and having to bury him.'
'Why Stevey?'
'He was bitten by the same snake which killed their manager but he lived whereas Milton Miller died the next morning!'
Later Jenny sat on her own, watching Stuart play, trying to imagine him in the jungle. Near the end of the second half Wendy had to return to the house, so that she was ready for the hungry mob to descend on her. The game finished and they all headed for the house and, as it was warm enough, they were having a barbeque.
Jenny rolled up the blanket and started back with them, Stuart caught her up.
'Did you enjoy the game?' He asked.
'I would have rather been playing. Did you actually kill any of the drug smugglers when you were in the jungle?'
'What me personally?'
'Yes.'
'No. I only fired a gun twice I think.'
'Did you hit anything?'
'The first time I shot off José’s finger-'
'What his whole finger?'
'Well the bit you sort of curl round the trigger.'
'He was trying to shoot the rest of us, when Stu fired at him.' C.J said before Jenny could reply, then walked on past them.
Jenny glared after C.J, then turned back to Stuart. 'And the second?'
'I shot a bloke in the foot. It was a warning shot which went too close!'
Jenny laughed. 'I bet he got the idea though!'
'He hopped about a bit saying words which, the man who was there as a translator, refused to translate!' Stuart replied with a smile.
They sat together and chatted through the barbeque, Jenny trying to find out more about their adventure and Stuart just happy to be sitting with her. Wendy watched them together and wondered what would happed between them, she was a born worrier.
A car drove up while the barbeque was in full swing and Silas Brent climbed out. Stuart recognised him as Willie’s boss and wondered what was coming next. Silas walked up and David went to meet him, the two men talked then went inside. Stuart automatically took over David’s role as cook. Simon just happened to go to the toilet and heard what they were saying, as the toilet door was not fully shut and nor was the lounge door.
'What can I do for you Mr. Brent?' David asked.
'I am worried that the boys might get into trouble over the holidays, and especially in light of the murder of that youngster. For that reason, I have decided to sell you the piece of land next door. I did have plans for it but I am sure we can come to an amicable agreement.' Silas replied.
'As long as the price is not astronomical!' David replied. 'There are a lot of invasive weeds growing there which I hope you will sort out, if we can not agree on a figure.'
'I am sure we can.' Silas replied and closed the door.
As Simon could no longer hear, he slipped outside and found Stuart. 'Old Brenty has come to sell our footy pitch to your dad.' He whispered in his usual too loud whisper but it was only heard by Sherman.
Sherman moved closer to Simon. 'Whatever happens we know nothing about it, understand?' He whispered.
'But-' Simon started to argue.
'Nothing!' Stuart hissed.
Simon’s shoulders slumped. 'Okay.'
'Well done Simon.' Stuart added. 'But you really must work on that whisper.'
Simon smiled and took a piece of chicken from the plate Stuart had just put it on, ready to take to the table.
'You can take the rest over for me.' Stuart decided and gave him the plate.
Simon walked off with it, heading for the table.
'Will it get there?' Sherman asked.
'Not all of it but there is too much there for Simon to eat all of it, surely!'
'You want to bet?' Sherman said and hurried after the chicken, to make sure he got some.
Later Silas came out again followed by David, they shook hands and Silas left.
'What was all that about?' Stuart asked when David took the apron from him, keeping up the pretence of not knowing.
David tapped a glass to get everyone’s attention. 'I have just agreed to buy the field from Mr. Brent, he hopes it will keep the local children closer to home and therefore safer. It means we can make it into a proper pitch now!' He announced and everybody cheered.
The afternoon match was delayed as they cleared more of the field to make the pitch bigger. The goals were removed and David allowed his sit on mower to be used to cut down the new grass after the team removed everythi
ng that might otherwise damage it. The boys took turns to use it, even if it meant mowing a patch of grass that had already been mowed. Jenny had to sit and watch, she was not even allowed on the sit on mower. She knew it was not for long but she still grew more and more annoyed. In the end she went inside to watch a video, the first time in her life she could chose a film to watch when she wanted to watch it. She heard the game start with the boys shouting and the sound of the ball being kicked but she stayed put, in another week she would be out there playing with them! She could wait.
When the match ended, the boys all converged on the cold barbequed food, and all the drinks and snacks Wendy put out for them. Stuart came in with his drink and sat beside her. 'Good film is it?' He asked.
'As though you haven’t watched it!' Jenny replied icily.
Stuart returned to the others without replying and Jenny was immediately sorry for the way she said it but it was too late, he was gone. She watched the film but with no real interest, even though she liked the film, somehow it was not the same, watching it on your own!
Ben’s brother arrived and filled up with food, before he took the others home. Jenny watched as they all squeezed into his little blue van. -If I was rich I’d buy him a mini bus- She thought. She waved as they drove away then went to find Stuart.
'I’m sorry I was grumpy but it’s not fair having to keep from doing something I like, I feel totally useless!'
'I’ll give you a game of snooker on Stevey’s table if you like?' Stuart replied accepting the apology. 'That isn’t too stressful or energetic.'
She liked that idea but being a girl who had never played snooker before she chose to make it a doubles and asked David to help her. Wendy was invited to play but she was cleaning up and said she would come up later. Stuart and Stevey played Jenny and David but they gave no quarter whenever Jenny made a mistake, much to her annoyance. The boys still lost and when Wendy arrived David took her as his partner and they played the other three. Now Jenny was able to make mistakes and they were ignored. A subtle lesson for the two boys.
When they had played enough snooker, they watched the film Jenny had been watching right through and she thoroughly enjoyed it. It was late when they went to bed but Stuart had plans for Monday!
Monday morning came and Stuart’s plans hit a major snag, Jenny had no bicycle to go with them on and Wendy forbade them to put her on the handlebars or anywhere else. Stuart sat and thought throughout breakfast. He eventually came up with a new plan. Where the fence ended in the garden of Gordon House the car breakers fence stopped. And it was the corner of the field, now that the field had more growth cleared of it, could they get to that part? He suggested a walk instead and they walked to the far side of their pitch, where they had not cleared yet. They walked until they came to the end of the field but there was no way into the other garden. They walked down the side of the field which was attached to bottom of the Gordon Hall garden and when the garden ended there was a track. It was overgrown but they decided to explore it. Walking past overgrown bramble and saplings, which were trying to take over the track, they came to a gate.
'What road is this then?' Stevey asked.
'It must be the one Gordon Hall is on!' Stuart replied.
'Gordon Hall, what’s that?' Jenny asked.
'A big house.' Stevey answered. 'I’m going to buy it one day. You ought to see the garden it goes on for miles.'
'Can we?' Jenny asked.
'I don’t see why not, you’d like Dan the gardener.' Stuart replied and helped her over the gate.
They walked along the deserted road until they came to the drive which lead down to Gordon Hall. The two boys did not hesitate and started to walk down the drive.
'Are you sure this is alright?' Jenny asked, keeping up with them.
'Yes, we’ve been here a few times.' Stevey replied. 'We’ve even been inside!'
'What’s it like inside?' Jenny asked.
'Big!' Stuart answered before Stevey could speak. 'Makes our place looks like a caravan.'
'We could put our flat in one of the rooms!' Stevey added.
A squeaky wheelbarrow lead them to Dan the old gardener.
'Good morning Dan.' Stuart said when they saw him.
'Good morning Master Stuart, good morning Master Stevey I see you have a new friend with you.'
'Yes this is Jenny.' Stuart replied.
'Good morning to you Miss Jenny, have you come to look at my garden?' Dan asked.
'Can I?' Jenny asked as though it was a gift from heaven.
'Of course you can, you come with me and I’ll show you round it. Are you young gentlemen coming?'
'We’ll be right there, we have an errand to run first.' Stuart replied. 'Will you be alright for a couple of minutes Jenny?'
'Oh yes, I could spend hours here.' Jenny answered.
The boys walked away, heading for the gap where the two fences met. With Dan making sure Jenny was happy, they could slip away and watch what was going on. They slipped inside the car breakers and it only took Marmalade a few seconds to find them. He was rewarded with a large bone which he walked away with to find somewhere quiet to eat it. They moved round making sure they were not seen and crept up the stairs to watch what went on, they wanted to see the two of them together. That way they would know how many were involved, what they really wanted was a look in the cellar but without being bashed over the head! They settled down to wait for one of them to come out for a toilet break or something else. They took turns in watching the bottom of the stairs while the other had a rest. When his turn to rest came Stuart crept quietly to the front window, the one not over the cellar but on the other side of the stairs. He carefully peered out making sure he was not seen and froze, Jenny was walking across the car breakers in plain sight! He hurried back to Stevey in time for Stevey to say. 'Just in time! One of them has just gone outside.'
Willie looked out of the little window and saw a young, pretty girl walking across the car breakers. He opened the door to the room where he kept Ronnie prisoner.
'It looks like you are going to be a bad boy again Ronnie, you are just about to take some pleasure from a pretty little girl, in fact as we are close to finishing, she can stay here and keep me company until I go. I need something to relax me, I have been working too hard. What with printing Silas’ money and a lot extra for me, in my old age. I’ll be back in a minute, don’t run off.'
He pushed the flap on the third step from the top of the stairs in the cellar and the secret door opened. He looked outside to see where Jenny was and slipped behind the nearest car. Jenny did not see him coming and the first she knew of it was when he hit her with his cosh. It was designed not to kill or cause too much bruising but to make sure the recipient did not argue about being captured and taken somewhere, where he could enjoy her company. She fell to the ground like a rag doll, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to his little den.
Chapter 9
'And I know why!' Stuart replied. 'Jenny is walking across the car breakers like she owned it!'
'Why?' Stevey asked incredulously.
Stuart shrugged his shoulders. 'Looking for us I suppose but she’s going to get more than she bargained for.'
'What if she says she is looking for us?' Stevey asked. 'We’ll be for it as well.'
'I have a plan.' Stuart announced. 'He doesn’t know Jenny is with us, so when he takes her into the cellar, you leg it across to the gate and find a car horn which works! That one on the Rover is the best one as Mr. Brent’s car is a Rover. He’ll think it’s Mr. Brent arriving and I can pop down free Jenny and leg it with her!'
'What if he just kills her?' Stevey asked seriously.
'Then I’ll kill him!' Stuart replied. 'I don’t even want to think of that! Just get ready to go.'
They watched as Willie carried the semiconscious Jenny inside, he stopped to twist the third railing and the secret door opened. He carried her inside and the door automatically closed. Stevey hurried downstairs and
across the car breakers. He pushed the button with the picture of the horn on it but nothing happened. He opened the bonnet and saw the main battery lead which went to the body of the car had been taken but the battery was still there. After a frantic search he found a piece of wire and wrapped round the terminal and then wrapped it round a metal pipe on the engine. He rushed round and frantically pushed the button but still nothing happened. He ran back and jammed the wire into a hole in the bodywork and hurried back round to the drivers door. This time the horn went off loudly. He had seen what the man named Brent had done and copied his actions just in case there was some sort of code. He saw Willie come out of the house and come his way. Stevey hurried away, keeping out of sight.
Stuart waited and waited, getting more agitated as he did so, visualising the horrible things Willie was doing to Jenny. He was just about to rush down there when he heard the horn and had to hurry back up out of sight. He did so, in time to see Willie emerge from the hidden room in the cellar. As soon as Willie was out of the door Stuart ran down the stairs. He tried to squeeze past the closing door but he was too late and tried to stop it nearly losing his fingers in the process. He twisted the bannister to re-open the door and hurried down into the cellar. Jenny was there, still only half conscious and tied up. He untied her and helped her up the stairs, not easy as she was very woozy. At the top the door was shut and he did not know how to open it! Panic set in! Soon Willie would be back and then he knew they both would be in deep trouble, he was looking about for some sort of lever when the door opened. He steeled himself for action but Stevey poked his head inside.
'Well! Are you coming?' He asked.
Stuart forced Jenny through the doorway and they half carried her to the gap where the fence met. Once they were out of the car breakers they took her into the garden and sat her on a bench.