Jack could not believe how good the bread tasted, it was so fresh! It then dawned on him, if there was no way out of this mine, then, where could the mine inhabitants possibly be getting the bread from?
‘Hey, wait a minute,’ demanded Jack.
‘What is it now? I hope this is not another one of your outlandish ideas,’ protested Henratty.
‘Have you all not realised, we’re in a mine with supposedly no way out! So, where are they getting fresh bread from? The strawberries I can just about understand as we are underneath a strawberry field, but how does one explain the bread and butter. There’s only one explanation that springs to my mind: they’re getting it above ground, and that means there’s a way out …’ proclaimed Jack.
‘If that’s the case, why would these animals want to live down here when they can all get out and go back to their hometowns?’ asked Lyndi Lou.
‘Jack, could be right – I smell a “rat” and I think Cooper and Nora know the answer. Did you not notice how they would constantly gaze at each other from time to time almost as if they were waiting for us to say something out of the ordinary, and why were they asking how much we knew about the mine? Also did you notice how all the other inhabitants told us how they ended up in the mine and seemed to have a good reason for wanting to live down here but Nora, Cooper and Alfonso said nothing, very odd indeed,’ noted Henratty.
‘Diamonds I think!’ declared Jack, as he stood up proudly. He then started to sift through his army jacket pockets, as he whipped out his tiny metal detector and said, ‘And I have the very tool that will prove I was right all along!’
All the other meerkats were now staring at Jack perplexed by what he had alleged, as on first inspection one would not have a clue what this gadget was; it was quite deceiving. Jack had managed to persuade Papa Brian to let him have the metal detector, as his father had only ever used it once and it really was no use to him, and now this little device could just be their saving grace, well in Jack’s eyes.
Henratty, Lyndi Lou and Oscar were listening intently as Jack continued with his farfetched theory as they finished their slices of bread and strawberry juice, when suddenly the door burst open. Luckily, Jack’s quick reflexes had enabled him to slip his metal detector back into his army jacket pocket literally seconds before Nancy the hedgehog entered the dormitory.
‘Don’t panic, it’s only me, Nancy. I’ve just come to collect the trays. I hope you enjoyed your breakfast, it was all homemade!’ Henratty and Jack looked suspiciously at each other, but did not say anything.
They could see that Alfonso was hovering outside the door, arching his neck high to ensure Nancy would not come to any harm. He was hissing again to try to instil fear into the meerkats to ensure that they did not do anything stupid, not that they would when they were outnumbered.
‘So, Nancy, did you make the bread yourself then?’ Jack quizzed.
‘You know the answer to that; we have been given strict instructions not to talk to any of you, until Nora said so.’
‘Is that in case you slip up and make it known that there is a way out of here. Well, you can save your breath, as we have already worked out there is definitely a way out. We know there is no way you could possibly have made that fresh bread down here and even if you gave us some plausible explanation, where would you get the ingredients from? No matter how hard you try to convince us, we’re not buying it, so you can go back to the “old bat” and give her that message,’ Jack retaliated assertively.
Upon hearing Jack’s counter-attack, Alfonso raised his head above Nancy and moved much closer to him. He was almost touching his face, but Jack was fearless and did not budge an inch despite Alfonso’s apparent intimidation.
‘Listen, Jack, I suggest you watch that tongue of yours and show a little respect to Nancy, who incidentally was the one that managed to persuade Nora to give you all something to eat. She is the kindest, most hardworking and loyal hedgehog I know. So, if she said she made the bread here, then that’s what she did. I suggest you think twice before you speak to Nancy like that again and thank your lucky stars it was not Nora you had just spoken to like that.’
‘Look, Mr Rattlesnake Not! I’m not scared of you. No matter how threatening you get nothing will convince us that there is not a way out of here. Whatever reason you guys are down here, has nothing to do with us and to be honest, we really don’t care. All we want to do is go home. Furthermore, whatever you are all hiding or guarding down here, is of no interest to us. It could be diamonds for all we care – we just want to go home, so go back to “Ms Bat” and relay what I have said, perhaps we could negotiate?’ Jack suggested bravely.
Alfonso’s head shot back in utter amazement. He could not believe someone as young as Jack could be so upfront and brash enough to challenge someone like Nora, whom everyone, although were scared of, respected for her wisdom and sincerity. She was harmless really but had such a presence one could not help feeling intimidated by her.
‘Well, we’ll see about that,’ refuted Alfonso as he swiftly flicked his tail around and then said, ‘Nancy, let’s go.’
‘I’ll just grab the trays and I’m right behind you,’ replied Nancy hesitantly. She then quickly went over to Jack, undetected by Alfonso who had now left the dormitory, and whispered, ‘Look, Jack, if you want to get out of here in one piece, I suggest you don’t speak anymore and keep your opinions to yourself, especially around Alfonso. You have been warned,’ continued Nancy, as she shut the door behind her.
‘Jack, have you gone completely mad … now you’ve really done it?’ shouted Henratty.
‘Yes, not your finest moment,’ said Oscar stating the obvious.
‘I want mama, I want to go home, I hate it here and Jack is making everything worse,’ sobbed Lyndi Lou. Everyone was staring at Jack stunned by what he had just alleged and were all waiting for an explanation.
‘Oh, what now? Look, I’m convinced that Nora and Cooper are hiding something, something that the other inhabitants know nothing about, but something that they are convinced we know about. Am I making sense?’
‘Can you repeat that again please, Jack,’ requested Oscar.
‘I think Nora, Cooper, Nancy, Jasper, Poppy, Escargot, with the exception of Enoch and possibly even Alfonso, are happy to live down here in this mine. Judging from the little bits they told us, they all have legitimate reasons for wanting to be here and seem quite happy and able to survive in this environment, whereas, Enoch is very forgetful and is not even sure why he’s down here and something tells me that he wants to get out. If I’m right about the diamonds, Nora will want to interrogate us even more, especially as I insinuated that I knew about the diamonds, so I am going to pretend that I really do know that the diamonds exist and see how she reacts. If the bat starts to get flustered, then we have definitely stumbled onto something big! Somehow one of us is going to have to try to get out of here without being detected and I think I know how.’
Jack then explained that he had noticed whenever they lock the dormitory the meerkats were being kept in, they always leave the key in the door.
‘So what’s new – we’ve noticed that too?’ retorted Henratty.
Jack was now holding the metal detector in the air and started waving it like a magic wand and grinning like a Cheshire cat that had got the cream and more!
‘And what do I have here?’
‘Oh, spit it out, Jack. We don’t have time for your wisecracks!’ demanded Henratty frustratingly.
‘I’m sorry, well, this is not just any old metal detector, because it also has a magnet attached to it. When I press this button, the metal detector becomes magnetised so one can scoop up whatever treasure one finds underground especially when it’s hard to get to.’
‘So what if it’s a magnet?’
‘Do all of you really not understand what I have just said?
‘Well, obviously not,’ Henratty replied sarcastically.
‘You see that gap underneath the door, I think m
y metal detector can just about reach under there, and if I extend the rod to say two feet and then activate the magnet, I reckon the force will be strong enough to rip that key out of its keyhole,’ Jack deduced proudly.
‘You’re crazy!’ asserted Henratty. ‘Not a bad theory but I think you must be dreaming. Do you honestly think that it is going to work?’
‘Absolutely, if you think you can do better, then please share your idea with us?’ confronted Jack. Henratty now felt under extreme pressure as she racked her brains for a better solution, but nothing came to mind. The other meerkats looked on keenly awaiting her answer, but all she could do was shrug her shoulders with disappointment.
‘I guess you’ve got me there, Jack. I really can’t think of anything.’
‘That’s settled then! Later on tonight after Alfonso has done his final spot check, we will have the best window of opportunity and this is when I am going to attempt to grab that key. If successful, I will pop out, lock the door and replace the key, just in case they do another unexpected spot check so that everything will look normal and they do not become suspicious, as mark my words they will if they notice that key was missing.’
‘Why can’t we all go with you?’ insisted Oscar.
‘Because, firstly, unless we know exactly where we’re going, this will undoubtedly slow us down especially as time is of the essence. However, if I go and check out the tunnels and try to find the direct route out of here, it will certainly save a lot of time, rather than us wandering aimlessly with no co-ordinates,’ advised Jack.
‘Are you going into battle mode again?’ asked Oscar.
‘Of course I am – this is definitely war this time …’
‘Reporting for duty, Sir,’ Oscar said enthusiastically having complete faith in his brother. Jack was trying to make sure the two younger meerkats were not too frightened and if Oscar saw this as a pretend military procedure it would make him focus on the task at hand and not be consumed by the possibility that none of them were getting out of here.
The door abruptly swung open again; this time it was just Alfonso.
‘Come with me – Nora would like to see you, Jack, and you alone.’ he ordered. Was Jack’s plan working? He had predicted that his outspoken words would cause a reaction and indeed they had, as now he alone was being summoned to seek counsel with Nora “The Great Bat”.
Jack was taken to the first dormitory on the other side of the base camp by Alfonso who insisted that Jack walked in front of him. It was clear that Alfonso did not trust him at all, but now was not the time for him to attack Alfonso; Jack had to think of the safety of Oscar and the other meerkats. He was now standing outside a dormitory, where the plaque above the wooden door said “Ms Nora”. Alfonso opened the door and gave a nod for Jack to enter which he did promptly as the door slammed behind him. The first thing he noticed was that this dormitory was a lot smaller in comparison to the others he had seen.
Nora and Cooper were sitting around a wooden table with one spare seat which he assumed must be for him. There was a short pause and then Nora spoke.
‘Please make yourself comfortable and help yourself to some strawberry juice and freshly baked scones made by our very own Nancy, homemade mind you!’
So Jack had touched a nerve, as she mentioned the word “homemade”, which had been the subject of his confrontation with Alfonso, when he insinuated that the bread could not have been homemade and somehow came from above ground, which Alfonso ferociously refuted.
‘Well, Jack, you sure do have an imaginative mind, if there was a way out of here don’t you think we would have left here many years ago? Look around you, would anyone in their right mind want to live down here for all eternity?’ construed Cooper.
‘Maybe – who knows – whatever makes one happy.’
‘A Smart Alec too!’
‘What do you know about diamonds, as you seem to think we were sitting on a fortune down here?’ asked Nora, as Cooper began to laugh.
Jack began to think that perhaps he was just fantasising and, after all, Nora was right, who would want to stay down here really, especially if there was a way out? But then he thought maybe the other inhabitants down here did realise there was a way out but just did not want to go, especially after what they had been through. Now he really was confused.
‘Look Batty…’
‘Only Enoch calls me Batty and he has good reason to, but I insist you call me Nora.’
‘All right, Nora, maybe I’m wrong about the diamonds … I just said that on a whim to see if it would provoke a reaction. All we want to do is get out of here and we promise you we won’t mention this place! We can just say we fell down the mine and eventually found our way out. All they will do is close the strawberry fields completely or ensure that the prohibited area above the mineshaft is well and truly fenced off so no one can ever again get in the position we were in. I’m sure once they know what happened to us, no one would dare to venture here anyway, scared of the same thing happening to them,’ concocted Jack.
‘So no more talk of diamonds then. The last thing we want is for Meerville Strawberry Fields to be the centre of attention and also that would mean Nancy, Jasper, Alfonso, Enoch, Poppy, Escargot and ourselves ending up homeless or even worse dead! Is that what you all want on your conscience? Also have you thought of the consequences for the inhabitants of Meerville? It would be like a circus up there what with all the media attention you would invoke with your wild story of diamonds,’ insisted Nora.
‘Does that mean you are now going to let us go, if we promise not to say anything?’ Nora began to hoot as she let out this high pitched squawk and flapped her wings.
‘Listen, no one’s going anywhere, as I said to you there is no way out, so the best thing you can advise your little friends is that they better get used to their new home. Now, the choice is yours, we can either all live as one happy family or we can keep you locked up for as long as we decide to, until you all conform,’ said Nora as she stared at Jack. Jack could not believe what the old bat was saying.
Nora then summoned Alfonso back into the dormitory, but little did she know that he had been eavesdropping on her conversation with Jack, something she would not be pleased with if she ever caught him in the act. Alfonso decided to wait a few seconds as he composed himself and then entered the dormitory. A suspicious glare from Nora did not go unnoticed as Alfonso slid into the room. Nora never missed a trick and deep down she always knew he would listen in on her conversations but she trusted him implicitly.
‘Alfonso, take this rude little meerkat back to the dormitory and tell Nancy that our intruders are not to have any food for tonight, as punishment for his rebellious behaviour.’
‘Mark my words, Batty, we will get out of here. I’m not scared of you and your cronies, especially that snake, and I will find a way out of here, you’ll see!’ Clearly Cooper had been angered by what he had just said and for the second time he was no longer in a stooped position.
‘You sure do have a mouth on you, Jack. One day you will learn to keep your opinions to yourself, as all it does is get you in trouble. When will you ever learn?’ On that note Jack was led away by Alfonso back to the dormitory.
CHAPTER TEN
A Way Out
Jack had arrived back in the dormitory as Henratty and the others breathed a sigh of relief, happy to see that he was still in one piece.
‘What happened – are you all right?’
Jack had decided he was not going to tell them what Nora had conveyed about not getting out of the mine. He was even more convinced now there was a way out and that there were definitely diamonds down here, but how could he prove this. He must find a way out tonight and tonight only, otherwise they were doomed. Therefore, reluctantly he decided he would take Henratty with him – two heads were better than one and they could look out for each other. Oscar could take responsibility and look after Lyndi Lou, which Jack knew he would be happy to do and would take this command seriously.
There was no time to spare and he was determined not only to find a way out but prove, once and for all, that there were indeed diamonds in this disused mine and he was adamant that Nora and Cooper, the bat and the rat, knew they were down here. But Nora was also correct when she advised that if the media found out, Meerville Town would be like a circus – Could Jack honestly risk inflicting this on his hometown? He needed to believe he could get everyone out of here safely and hoped the MightyKats would answer his prayer.
He had gone into a trance-like state whilst contemplating how he was going to get everyone out of here. It wasn’t until Henratty clicked her fingers in front of his face, did he snap out of his trance.
‘Henratty, we have to get out of here as soon as possible, and I need you to come with me tonight to see if we can find a way out of this mine,’ Jack blurted out.
‘But what about Lyndi Lou and Oscar – we cannot leave them?’ insisted Henratty.
‘You have to trust me on this occasion, I am being deadly serious. The safest place at the moment is for them to stay here, they would only slow us down and we would probably end up getting caught. Also we need them to stay here just in case Alfonso does a spot check when we are out, at least then when he looks in our dormitory, everything will appear as normal. He will think there are four bodies altogether in those beds and we can use our pillows as decoys,’ informed Jack.
‘But we want to go with you,’ pleaded Oscar.
‘You know your big brother would never let you down nor leave you here. I need you to be brave and strong and look after Lyndi Lou. Can you do that for me? We will definitely come back for you both, that’s a promise.’ As Oscar gazed deeply into Jack’s eyes, he actually knew his brother was being sincere but there was definitely something Jack was not telling him, Oscar knew his brother all too well, but now was not the time to question him. He paused for a brief moment, thinking carefully about his brother’s every word but in the end he always did whatever his brother asked of him.
We Were Only Strawberry Picking Page 7