‘Great’, said Smithy. ‘At last you have control over everything’.
‘Lets test it again’, suggested Tommy as he concentrated once more.
The legs reappeared and started running up and down all over again bringing the giggles back to Smithy as he watched his mate trying to stay seated.
‘Stay here’, Tommy commanded as he finally got the legs under control. ‘Well that seemed to work well Smithy’, he said as he wobbled above Smithy’s head.
‘Good’, said Smithy as he started in the direction of the farm buildings through the woods.
Tommy followed behind in his unsteady transport. He found the journey quite difficult as he kept having to tell the legs what to do all the time. One minute they were taking long strides and the next they were on tip toes walking at a snails pace. It was like riding a camel through the desert apart from the fact that they would never duck to allow Tommy to avoid low branches. At times Tommy even thought they were doing it on a purpose just to get their own back.
After twenty minutes of making a path through the dense woods they finally reached the small field which backed onto the farm buildings. Smithy climbed over the wire fence but Tommy’s legs decided they wanted to jump the fence and hung back to make a run at it. With Tommy hanging on for dear life the legs shot forward and set sail over the fence with legs wide apart like a ballet dancer to land like a baby elephant on the other side, which nearly spilt Tommy out of his chair. Once again Smithy was in fits of laughter as he watched the antics of Tommy’s legs.
‘They are really good for a laugh’, Smithy said. ‘It looked so comical’.
‘It’s all right for you’, Tommy replied sounding very cross. ‘Your the one that doesn’t have to ride them. They seem to have a mind of their own which seems to be that of a child of two’, he added.
They crossed the field and came along the back of the main barn. Still unseen from the house they made their way between the barn and a shed heading for a side door in the side of the barn. As they crept forward they didn’t notice the farm cat peacefully asleep in a small indent in the ground, asleep that was until one of Tommy’s legs placed its foot on its tail sending the cat screaming towards the house.
The effect on our hero’s was dramatic to say the least. Whereas Smithy hit the ground trying to hide himself from view, Tommy’s legs had other ideas. With a turn quicker than lightning they turned fully round and started to dash back towards the woods like cattle stampeding after a lightning strike. Tommy was riding them like a true rodeo cowboy, pulling back on the arms of his wheelchair and shouting ’STOP STOP’ for all he was worth. The legs were just about to make a second leap into the woods when he finally gained control. He sat back looking completely worn out before he turned the legs and headed back to where Smithy was sat doubled over in laughter.
‘That’s the best yet’, he said through clenched teeth to stop himself from bursting.
‘When this is over’, Tommy growled. ‘I’m taking these personally to the scrap dealer’.
There was a sudden noise that brought the boys back down to earth. They crept back along the side of the barn and in through the side door. They moved to the front of the barn to peer through holes in the main doors. They had a full view of the back of the house where a man they didn’t recognise stood smoking a cigarette. It was obvious that they had not heard the commotion of a few moments ago or else they would have been searching for the cause of the noise. The man stood there a few more minutes before being joined by the man with the scar. They spoke to one another but the boys were too far away to hear what was said. A couple of minutes later both of the men went back inside the farm house.
‘We need to get closer to the house’, said Tommy as he surveyed the yard that stood between the barn and the house.
It was fifty metres of open space with only a low broken down wall of no more than 250 mm high running down one side of the yard between them and the house which gave the crooks a clear view of anyone coming in that direction.
‘If only that wall was a little higher we could hide behind it and make our way across’, said Smithy.
Tommy looked at the wall again and turned to face Smithy. ‘Get yourself one of those short planks from over in the corner’, he said to Smithy. ‘I have an idea how we can get across, follow me’.
Tommy made his way out of the side door of the barn trying to control the legs as best he could. Smithy with his plank followed a short distance behind. Tommy led them to the back of the barn and along the back wall of the adjoining outbuilding from which the broken wall was attached. On reaching the start of the wall at the corner of the building Tommy told his legs to go, leaving him sat once again in his wheelchair. The wall looked even smaller now that they were closer and Smithy started to shake his head.
‘We are never going to get you and your chair passed this gap below that’, he said. ‘I don’t think that even I could crawl below it all that distance without showing my bum’, he added.
‘You won’t have to’, said Tommy as he started to concentrate on the situation. ‘Just stand clear a minute.
No sooner had he said it than Tommy’s wheelchair seemed to collapse onto the ground. The handles started to stretch like a couple of railway lines towards the far end of the wall. Little wheels started to sprout along both handles like brussel sprouts. For his part Tommy was now laid flat on his back with the seat and back of his wheelchair forming a stiff board for him to lay down on.
‘Track stay’, ordered Tommy as he looked up at his bewildered friend. ‘Well, are you coming for a ride or aren’t you’, he asked.
‘You bet’, came the answer as Smithy placed his board on the track and laid flat upon it.
The two boys zoomed off at an incredible speed, the track allowing them to keep well below the level of the wall. Smithy was in front and was enjoying every second of his ride as he headed for the far side of the wall. It was at this point that he started to wonder how he was going to stop, but before he could utter a word his board, with him on it, left the end of the track and sailed through the air before crashing Smithy head first into a large mole hill. Tommy on the other hand had no such problems as his seat was firmly fixed to the track which came to a smooth stop at the end.
Tommy tried for all he was worth to muffle the bout of laughter that came over him as his best mate removed his head out of the soft earth of the mole hill with his face all streaked with a dark brown camouflage. For his part Smithy sat there spitting out bits of dirt that had entered his mouth during the forced landing. He shook his head to release a shower of earth that had stuck to his hair. Tommy in the meantime had stuffed his hanky in his mouth to stop him from laughing so as to keep down the noise. He finally pulled himself together to instruct the track to go, and he was immediately back in his wheelchair.
‘Very funny’, Smithy said in annoyance as he rejoined Tommy at the side of the farm house.
The two boys edged along the wall until they arrived at the only window on that side of the house. The window was too high for them to reach so Smithy suggested that Tommy brought back his legs to give him the height they needed, but Tommy said no to this suggestion knowing that he could not control them that well to do a delicate manoeuvre such as this.
‘Stand on my lap’, Tommy told Smithy. ‘I can take your weight and it should allow you to see in’.
Smithy climbed up onto Tommy’s lap and slowly raised himself up so as to be able to look in through the window.
‘The rooms empty’, Smithy said in a low voice. ‘There’s no furniture or anything in the room and the doors shut so I can’t see any further.
Smithy carefully climbed back down.
‘It’s going to be a bit dodgy going down the back of the building’, Smithy said. ‘If someone comes out they will catch you for sure’.
‘No they won’t’, replied Tommy. ‘I have an idea’.
They moved back towards the back of the farm house and stood peering around the corner to s
ee if anyone was around. Tommy sat concentrating once again, and what appeared next took them both by surprise. A long brass tube slightly bent and splayed open at one end appeared. Stuck into the bent end was a large eye and at the other end was an eyepiece much like a telescope.
‘Stay’, Tommy commanded.
‘What’s that’, asked Smithy.
‘its a telescope’, Tommy replied.
‘Well that’s a fat lot of good’, joked Smithy as he examined this strange object whose eye winked at him. ‘It’s too short to reach any of the windows’, he said.
As quick as the words had left Smithy’s mouth then that telescope started to stretch along the back of the farm house until it came upon the first window, where it moved slowly over the window sill to peer in through the window. Tommy placed the end of the telescope to his eye and was presented with an excellent view of the inside of the room.
‘Blimey that’s good’, said Smithy. ‘Can I have a look’?
Tommy passed the telescope to Smithy who’s only comment was ‘wow’. On its part the telescope seeing no one in the room now started heading for the next window on the ground floor, bending over the back door like
a wiggly snake until it reached its goal. Again it slowly moved in for a look.
‘There’s two men in the room’, Smithy said. ‘I don’t recognise either of them’, he added.
‘I wish we could both see at the same time’, said Tommy, his hand outstretched for Smithy to pass him the telescope.
Within an instant of him saying that, the eye piece started to grow bigger until it resemble the screen of a small television.
‘Great’, said Smithy. ‘This is a wonderful bit of kit’.
The screen showed the two men talking and Tommy identified the man with the scar as being the one that had held him and his Mum prisoner. The two men were standing over a piece of paper laid out on a table in the middle of the room.
‘I wish we could hear what they were saying’, said Tommy.
Again no sooner had he said it than a bump appear on the top of the eye that was peering through the window from which a second tube appeared on the end of which was a large ear. The ear pushed itself against the glass and instantly the two boys heard voices coming from the viewer.
‘It’s just like watching TV’, said Smithy.
They listened as the men went over their plans of how they intended to escape once they had the money from Tommy’s Dad’s bank, laughing and joking as to how rich they would be. Tommy instructed the telescope to look through the other two windows to try and find out where they were holding Smithy’s Uncle Frank. All of the rooms were empty so he told the telescope to go back to the room where the two men were.
‘I wonder what they have done with horrible Uncle Frank’, Smithy said. ‘With a bit of luck they may have chucked him down the well’, he added.
‘What time is the boss due back’, said the man with the scar.
‘Half eleven’, replied the other.
‘Well it’s nearly that now, so we had better tidy the place up a bit, you know what he’s like’, the man with the scar said.
‘Did you hear that’, Tommy said. ‘Their boss is coming soon so we’ll find out who’s behind all this’.
It wasn’t long before they heard the sound of a car coming down the drive and stopping in the front of the farm house. Tommy sent Smithy to have a look but the hedge was too high for him to get a good view and before he could push his way through the hedge they had all gone back inside the farm house. Smithy rushed back to rejoin Tommy to find out who the mystery man was.
Chapter 4
The Discovery
Smithy joined Tommy just as the two men entered the back room.
‘The boss looks pleased with himself’, the scar faced man said to the other.
‘You know the boss’, said the other man. ‘He enjoys making other peoples lives a misery’, he added.
‘You’ve got to admire him’, the scar faced man said. After all he planned every move down to the last detail. No one will ever find out who we are, and we will be long gone before they find the bank manager’s body.
Tommy froze on hearing this comment.
‘They intend killing my Dad’, he said, his voice not being able to hide his upset.
‘No they won’t’, said Smithy. ‘Not if we have anything to do with it, they won’t’.
One of the men left the room leaving the other to pour out a number of drinks. A few minutes later a third man entered the room with the man who had left a few minutes earlier who had his hand around the wrist of the new man.
‘Its horrible Uncle Frank’, Smithy blurted. ‘They must have been holding him prisoner in one of the other rooms’.
Before Smithy could say another word, the man holding horrible Uncle Frank’s wrist raised his arm in to the air along with horrible Uncle Frank’s.
‘Here’s to you boss’, the scared faced man said as he handed him a drink.
‘What’, Smithy said. ‘Horrible Uncle Frank’s the leader of the gang. I don’t believe it. I..I.. Yes I do’, he’s just the type, horrible, big headed, tight. You know he has never given me a penny all the time I’ve known him’, Smithy went on angrily. ‘Let’s get the police and have the lot arrested’.
‘No, we can’t do that’, answered Tommy. ‘Well not until my Dad has been rescued. If we reported it now he’d just deny it, and we haven’t any real proof yet that involves him with the gang’, Tommy added.
‘I suppose your right’, said Smithy. ‘It’s just when I think of all the times he...’
Smithy was cut off in mid-speech by what was taking place on the screen. Horrible Uncle Frank had produced a new plan of the bank and had hung it on the mirror so that everyone could see and so that he could play the big boss with his pointer.
‘Now lets go over this once again’, said horrible Uncle Frank. ‘Monday morning we will take our bank manager over to his branch situated here’, he said pointing with his stick. Ronny the Rat will stay outside in the car with the engine running while the bank manager, myself and Jimmy the Scar go inside Right’, he said like a Company Sergeant Major. ‘When the security system switches off at 8am we go into the vault and load up our bags with lots of lovely lolly. Ten minutes later we leave the bank by the back door with the bank manager, where you Ronny will be waiting with the get away car. We then head back to our hideout at the .....’
Horrible Uncle Frank’s last words were drowned out by Ronny the Rat’s coughing fit, to Tommy and Smithy’s annoyance.
‘Could you make out what he said’, asked Tommy.
‘No’, replied Smithy. ‘Not a word’.
‘Right’, said horrible Uncle Frank. ‘We’ll finish our drinks and we’ll head off to keep our captive company. He must be getting hungry by now, I know I am. We’ll stop off and get some fish and chips on the way’, he added.
‘Did you hear that’, Tommy said. ‘We’ll have to make our way back to the road before they leave so that we can follow them.
Tommy told the telescope to stop and it disappeared instantly. He then reproduced the railway lines they had used before, but this time Smithy decided to go second so that he had Tommy to stop him from flying off again. Safely back across the gap to the outbuildings, Tommy summoned his legs again and they made their way back towards the woods. The legs hadn’t improved with age as they continued to behave like those of someone drunk, first wobbling this way and then that. By the time they reach the edge of the wood and the road Tommy was feeling quite sea sick. He was glad to get back to his wheelchair.
‘There no sign of them yet’, Smithy said looking down the road towards the farm entrance.
‘We had better make sure that no one see’s us or they will know their games up’, said Tommy. ‘I know lets go back down the road a little further to the Lay-by. We can then bring back the ‘Dynocar’ and sit in it and wait for them to appear. We can see the entrance from there so it won’t be hard to follow them’.
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Four Wheeled Hero Page 4