by S G Read
'Then we won’t give them the chance but we must do something!' Stevey declared.
'You’re the one who was quite happy not to go over there the other day!'
'I know and I don’t really want to go over there again but we have to do something!' Stevey replied emphatically. 'It’s the thing to do!'
'Any ideas then?'
'Yes. We keep watch from Gordon Hall and when they ship the money they have printed, we’ll make another anonymous phone call, telling whoever we phone what is in the car or lorry they are using and just who the driver is and also what he is wanted for!'
Stuart smiled, that was a good idea.
'Sounds safe enough but how do we keep Jenny safe?' He asked.
'We could split up, one goes and keeps watch while the other one plays with Jenny.' Stevey answered. 'The only other way is to let her in on what is going on and get her to watch with us!'
'We don’t want to have to rescue her from Willie again though!'
'She didn’t know it wasn’t safe over there! Did she?' Stevey replied.
'She still doesn’t, she thinks it is risky because of Marmalade.'
'That’s why we should tell her!' Stevey insisted.
Jenny arrived to end the conversation. 'Come on, we’re through the till.' She said and pointed to where Wendy was waiting.
The three walked over to her.
'Another informal meeting of the Minton Cruisers right the world club?' Wendy asked.
'Just deciding on our next course of action.' Stuart replied surprisingly openly.
'Just you be careful Stuart, with men as clever and nasty as they are, you might end up getting hurt, and we wouldn’t want that. I have had all I can handle in the worry department for a while and your father goes back to work tomorrow!'
'We were just deciding how to do things ultra safely but still end up catching the bad guys!'
'Ultra safely I like, catching the bad guys I can live without.' Wendy replied.
They loaded up the car and Wendy drove home, Jenny was quiet all the way and went up to her room when they arrived, leaving Wendy and the two boys to unload.
Wendy waited until it was all unloaded and put away before she spoke again. 'I think you have upset your guest!' She said pointedly. 'I know she is only a girl but they do have feelings.'
Stuart opened his mouth to reply but said nothing, he just walked outside, followed by Stevey.
'Now what have I said!' He said as he flopped on the grass.
'Search me, I thought she was happy there for a moment, now she is in a mood!' Stevey replied. 'I don’t think I understand girls!'
'Me neither.'
They sat looking over toward the car breakers, unaware that Willie was still there watching them!
'It does mean we are free to go over there to have a look round if we want to!' Stuart said after a while.
'But do we want to?' Stevey asked. 'I remember the words ultra safely, is going over there ultra safely?'
'Probably not.' Stuart admitted and silence returned.
The silence remained until Stuart added. 'But watching from Gordon Hall should be safe!'
'Why did you have to say, should be?' Stevey complained.
'I don’t know if Jenny will take it into her head to come over and get herself into trouble again, do I!' Stuart declared, louder than he should have.
'It wasn’t a dream, was it?' Jenny said from behind them.
Stuart did not even turn round. 'No!' He replied but did not add to it.
'Was that the man who killed that boy?' Jenny asked.
'We think so.' Stuart replied.
'But he- well you know- he-' Jenny spluttered.
'Yes he did, that is why we had to get you back out before he had the time to do it to you!' Stuart explained.
'If you had told me about it, I wouldn’t have been so stupid as to walk over there in plain sight!' Jenny declared. 'What were you doing in there anyway?'
Now Stuart turned to look at her. 'We were trying to figure out how to get into the cellar to have a look at what was going on!'
'And did you?'
'Hardly! I was down there but I was trying to get you out and I couldn’t find the thing that opened the door from the inside. I almost poohed myself!' Stuart replied.
'How did you get me out then?' Jenny asked.
'Stevey opened it from the outside and made sure it didn’t close again until we were out!'
'Thanks Stevey, and thanks Stuart but let me know what is going on or I am going to get myself killed or worse.'
'What’s worse than being killed?' Stevey asked.
'That ugly man taking my virginity without my permission and then killing me!'
The two boys looked at each other but neither spoke.
'You do know what virginity is?' Jenny asked suspiciously.
'Of course!' Stuart replied. 'It’s something to do with olives!'
Jenny laughed. 'Oh my God, you don’t do you?' She looked back at the house. 'Come on let us walk and I’ll tell you what I know.'
Willie watched them walk away from the house but they made no move to come nearer the car breakers. He watched until they went back into the house then walked back to the derelict house, he had money to print. The door was wedged open and once he was inside he let it close, but downstairs in the cellar, there was a new addition, a screen with four cameras attached. The cc cameras and television was bought from Bristol with funny money so it had not cost them anything, it was also a good test for the money and it had passed well. He turned it on, now he would know if he had visitors without having to look out of the little window. The window was now covered up. That way no one could see in to find out what was going on, the other window with its grate was in another room and the glass was so dirty no one could see through it, not very well anyway!
The three of them walked back inside to discuss what they could do about the horrible man, as Jenny referred to him.
'So we know how to get into the cellar.' Jenny said, counting fingers as what they knew, making the first one her little finger on her left hand. 'We know they are printing dud money!' She made that the next finger. 'We know that man who came here is involved.' The next finger.
'More than involved!' Stuart pointed out. 'He’s the boss! He’s the one behind it all!'
'The only one who isn’t involved is Marmalade!' Stevey exclaimed.
'I’ll have to meet this dog, if it exists!' Jenny declared.
'We’ll have to make sure it likes you first.' Stevey replied.
'How do I do that?' Jenny asked.
'Feed it.' Stuart replied. 'I think they starve him a bit!'
'A big bit, I think.' Stevey declared.
'All this doesn’t get us anywhere near getting them caught.' Stuart complained. 'It was easier in Colombia! At least they believed us, well in the end they did!'
'Only when the helicopter you was in to show them was shot down!' Stevey retorted. 'Over here that means when we are dead they’ll believe us!'
'Now that Jenny knows about it, we could go to Gordon Hall and watch Willie.' Stuart said a little more eagerly. 'If he was to leave, we could hurry over there and take some fake money-'
'Or the plates!' Stevey said interrupting Stuart.
'Yes of course; the plates but we should take some money as well!' Stuart argued.
'Does he ever leave the car breakers?' Jenny asked.
'We don’t know.' Stuart replied. 'Let’s go and watch but I don’t fancy getting my insides frozen again for a while.'
'No that was spooky.' Jenny said, then laughed when she realised what she had just said about a ghost.
The boys laughed with her and at her. They walked away towards the track which lead to the road.
Willie worked away down in the cellar. He had done some work on alarms and controls, now he was using a television channel changer to try to open the door. When it was working he could safely leave the yard and make some deliveries, knowing the boys could not get in with
out that particular control. After an hour of failures, it worked and the door opened at the push of a button. Willie smiled, now he was happy. No one could get in, or out for that matter! All he had to do was to lure the boys there somehow. Marmalade was being uncooperative, he seemed to sense that Willie wanted him to howl, like he did when he was first tied up, now he kept quiet unless Silas was there. Silas would be in dire straits, were it not for the chain holding Marmalade back and Silas knew it. Silas now drove past the house to make sure Marmalade was chained up, reversed out of sight of the dog, then and only then did he get out of his car!
The three reached the road and walked up towards Gordon Hall. The garden looked as good as it always did and Dan the gardener was busy as usual. It suddenly occurred to Stevey that is the house was empty, how was Dan getting paid?
'How come he still does all the garden and not just his little bit, no one can be paying him?' He said airing the thought.
No one had an answer and they changed course to where he was working.
'How come you do all the garden?' Stevey asked. 'I bet no one is paying you?'
'You are right there young Master Stevey, I haven’t seen a wage packet in years.' Dan replied, stopping work out of politeness. 'I did sit and look for some years but when you have looked after a garden as long as I have, it comes hard to let it go back to nature. My wife, when she was alive did some while I was out working and I did some in the long summer evenings. We used anything we grew and I sold a few things to local hotels and pubs. When my wife died, three years, two months and twelve days ago I retired and just did this garden, it brought back a lot of good memories.'
'We’ll buy some vegetables from you, if you want.' Stuart offered. 'They’re bound to be better and fresher than the stuff you get in the local supermarket!'
'Ask your mother what she wants and I’ll see what’s ready for picking.' Dan replied. 'I still keep the local pub in vegetables and fruit. On my little pension, more money is always welcome.'
Stuart looked about the garden but this time he was seeing what was growing in it, not just a panoramic view. There were rows of potatoes, cabbages, carrots, celery, onions, in fact there seemed to be everything growing there. 'There sure is a lot of stuff growing here.' He declared. 'We’ll see you when we go home, if you are about.'
Dan tipped his cap and carried on working while they walked up to the house.
'Why doesn’t he mind us going into the house?' Jenny asked when they were far enough away, so that Dan did not hear her.
'Glad of the company I expect.' Stevey replied. 'He lives here all alone now and only sees anybody when he takes stuff to the pub or goes shopping, if he does go shopping!'
'Maybe he barters for stuff from the pub.' Stuart suggested. 'You know like turns potatoes into tea bags or coffee.'
'Could do I suppose.' Stevey replied. 'It makes sense, doesn’t it?'
The closer they got to the house the bigger it looked. They stopped to look at it, before they walked round the other side where the cellar door was. The keys were still in the same place, sticking in the back of the lock of the shed door, with the others hanging down. This time Stuart marked the shed door key with his knife so they knew which one it was. The first key he tried in the cellar door unlocked it and he made a mark in a different place to show which one that was. They unlocked the door to the east wing and listened. It was very quiet.
'Maybe he’s on his tea break.' Jenny said quietly. A cold chill ran right through her chilling her to the bone. 'No I think he is right here with us. Come on then show yourself, we aren’t going to run this time!'
Nothing else happened and no one appeared.
'That sorted that!' Jenny declared and walked into the east wing.
They set up watch, taking turns to see if and when Willie left for any reason. They could see Marmalade chained up and looking very miserable.
'We should feed Marmalade.' Stuart said after his second stint with the telescope.
'That is probably what that horrible man is waiting for!' Jenny said wisely. 'You go just to feed the dog and the next minute you are in his cellar, not a place I would recommend. Well not with him there anyway, not after what he did to that other boy.'
There was no movement at all in the car breakers, all the time he was watching Stuart was thinking of a way to get some bones to Marmalade without getting himself caught but apart from a fishing rod to cast the bones over there, nothing came to mind. The crying started in the room up the corridor but they ignored it, now was not the time but later they could try to meet the ghost face to face!
'Hey! Willie has just appeared.' Stevey announced.
'What’s he doing?' Stuart asked.
'He has a bucket with him and he has just tipped out some water.' Stevey answered.
'Where did he get water from, we can see the kitchen from here!' Stuart asked.
'Maybe there is a tap in the cellar.' Stevey suggested.
'My dad’s been on sites where there weren’t any toilets, he said a bucket sure came in handy there!' Jenny exclaimed and the three exchanged glances.
'I think I’ll stick with the tap in the cellar theory.' Stevey replied, not wanting to picture the other possibility.
'Me too.' Stuart added.
'He’s getting into his car!' Stevey yelled and stood up for a better view. 'Yes he’s driving toward the gate, he’s opened it and now he’s getting back in the car. He’s out again closing the gate and now he’s driving away. What do we do now?' He turned, expecting an answer but he was alone, apart from the crying ghost. 'Don’t wait for me will you!' He called after the other two but they did not hear him. He put the telescope back in its case and hurried after them.
Stuart was hurrying to feed Marmalade and make a fuss of him, while Jenny just wanted to meet him. Stevey caught them at the gap where the fences met and followed them through. They hurried to where Marmalade lay and he was obviously pleased to see them. They fed him, including Jenny, and they all made a fuss of him. With Marmalade fed and Jenny now his friend, they looked in the house. Stevey remained in a position to see if Willie returned while two were in the house.
'The bannister’s gone!' Stuart declared. 'How do we open it now?'
'I can’t even see where the door is!' Jenny replied.
'It’s there, that moulding comes open with the door but I don’t want to force it or he’ll know we’ve been here.' Stuart said pointing to where he thought the door was. 'The window, we can see through that little window.'
They went outside and walked round to where the window in the cellar was.
'Make sure the other one doesn’t see you.' Jenny warned but the window was blacked out.
'I don’t think Ronnie is a problem.' Stuart answered.
The warning, a whistle let them know when Willie was back and they slipped away to the other side of the pile of cars. They watched him carry bags of groceries inside, then return for another bag.
'But do we know which one that is?' Jenny asked.
'We’re guessing it is Willie and Willie has done away with his brother, or is keeping him a prisoner while they print the money.' Stuart replied.
'We are?' Stevey asked. 'Where did that come from?'
'It makes sense though.' Jenny declared. 'You only see one at a time don’t you. I bet the other one has been killed and is buried out there somewhere. If he was a good guy!'
Willie walked back inside and did not re-appear. The three returned through the gap where the two fences met and looked about. There was no sign of Dan so they walked back to lock up the house, expecting to see him while they walked but there was still no sign of him. They returned to Stuart’s house and sat in the garden discussing their next move.
'If we can’t get into the cellar, how can we get some evidence to show the police?' Stevey asked.
'We can get in but it’s a matter of them not knowing we’ve been there so that they can’t make us look silly again!' Stuart replied.
'What was wrong with go
ing in through that little window?' Stevey asked.
'It was blacked out.' Jenny answered.
'So if it was broken and we crept in that way, we could seal it up and come out through the door to the cellar.' Stevey continued. 'That way they wouldn’t know we’d been there until the police arrived and felt their collars.'
'A good plan but if Silas Brent wasn’t there he might get away with it, you know, not grassing on their mates.' Stuart replied. 'What we need is a way of getting the evidence and also a way of getting Silas Brent there before we get the police.'
'How?' Stevey asked.
'I have no idea, if the worst comes to the worst we’ll go with your idea and just hope that it comes out right.' Stuart answered. 'In the meantime I’m open to any other ideas.'
'The others might have some good ideas.' Jenny suggested.
'They might.' Stuart conceded. 'It’s worth a try. I’ll phone Sherman later and get him to pass it on.'
Wendy walked out with a tray.
'I thought we’d have a picnic as it is such a nice day.' She said as she stood the tray on the grass. 'Can someone help bring it out?'
Stevey immediately stood up to help. Stuart remained on the grass until Wendy looked at him, in that way only mothers can and he knew it was time to get up and help.
Chapter 11
Willie returned with his supplies and used his new control to open the cellar door. Nothing looked out of place but to make sure he walked round to see the dog, Marmalade looked very contented when he checked him and there was a small patch which was wet. Meaning someone had given him some water and then tipped the rest away! His suspicions aroused, he walked back in looking for anything out of the ordinary and there was a fresh footprint in the dust, covering and old footprint. This was a small footprint! He smiled. He knew now that they were watching him and when he went out they came over to investigate, he could use that knowledge to his advantage. He just had to work out how! He walked down into the cellar, closed the door, then started up the press and printed more money. For every ten notes for Silas, he printed one for himself, which he carefully hid, when it was dry. When he had enough he would hide it in his car when Silas was not about, ready for a quick getaway. Like all small minded villains, he was not satisfied with what he was to be paid for his work and wanted more.