by Paul Gait
‘Oh yeah,’ Joe said sceptically. ‘Are you sure you’re not covering for him. The bugger’s disappeared from site.’
‘You know what he’s like. He’s probably got a ‘bit’ he’s taken behind those old sheds. Although, he was chatting to Liz earlier on, but she didn’t leave until a long time after Frank.’
‘Yeah, you’re probably right. But if he does come back here tell him to give me a call, urgently.’
‘Why don’t you call him?’
‘I’ve tried. He ain’t answering his phone.’
‘Oh OK, will do.’
Joe made his way back to his car, racking his brains as to where his missing partner might have gone as he punched in his mobile number again muttering to himself.
The phone rang out. Joe was impatient and muttered under his breath. ‘Where the hell are you Frank?’
Back in the collapsed hole, Frank heard his mobile vibrating and ringing again.
‘Oh shit, that made me jump. Where the hell is it? If I can just…move…my hand again and feel around …perhaps it’s not dropped down too far.’
With a lot of effort he pushed his hand down through the dirt until his fingers touched the vibrating phone and it immediately stopped ringing.
‘Shit They’ve hung up,’ he groaned. His sprits fell.
At the other end of the call Joe was just about to hang up when it was answered. ‘Oh he’s answered! At last. Frank, where the bleedin’ hell are you? You idle assed sod. I’ve been looking all over for you…Frank…FRANK!’
In the hole Frank could hear a tinny voice,
‘I must have answered it. HELLO CAN YOU HEAR ME?’ he shouted excited with this sudden change of fortune. Perhaps all was not lost after all.
‘Frank, FRANK is that you? You sound very distant. Get your hand out of that woman’s knickers and stop pratting around.’
‘HELLO, I CAN’T HEAR YOU…WHOEVER IT IS, YOU’VE GOT TO HELP ME,’ Frank shouted.
‘Frank, stop pissing around and pick up the phone and talk properly.’
‘HELP, YOU’VE GOT TO HELP ME…I’M STUCK IN THIS HOLE.
‘I can’t hear what you’re saying…you’ll have to speak up,’ Joe shouted at the phone.
‘It’s no good I can’t hear what you’re saying. JOE, IF THAT’S YOU…YOU’VE GOT TO HELP ME…I’M AT THE SITE…’
‘Frank, if that’s you, I can’t hear you. We must have a dodgy line. I’ll call you again.’
‘THE HOLE…I’M TRAPPED IN THE HOLE,’ Frank yelled at the top of his voice.
‘It’s no good, I’ll try calling again. I can’t hear a word,’ Joe repeated and ‘cleared’ the call.
‘NO, DON’T HANG UP… ‘.Frank pleaded. He heard the call clear. ‘Shit.’ His hopes dashed again.
Joe punched in the numbers again but immediately got the message ‘The number you are calling is not available.’
He tried again several times with the same result and eventually gave up and drove back to his small office.
In the meantime, Frank was trying to grab the phone again. ‘If only I could get the phone …’ All the while, he was frantically moving his fingers to capture the errant mobile but just as he thought he’d got it, the mobile slid out of his grasp again. It slithered out of reach down a small void on to the floor of the excavation clanking against the bomb casing as it fell.
‘Shit, shit, shit,’ Frank exploded. ‘I can’t take much more of this, I’m either going to be blown up or be suffocated in this hell hole.’
Joe finished off the paperwork in the office and popped in to his ‘local pub’ on the way home. One of the customers was Frank’s landlady at his B & B.
‘Hi Joe, how’s the job going?’ she said sitting at the bar stool next to him.
‘Yeah OK. Well, at least it was until Frank decided to slip off early.’
‘Oh you can’t begrudge him that after all it is his birthday. Bless him.’
‘So long as he doesn’t cock-up our contract, no I suppose not,’ Joe said sternly.
‘Has he gone somewhere nice?’ she asked.
‘I thought you might know.’
‘No, I haven’t seen him. He would normally dive in for a bath before he hit the town,’ the landlady informed him.
You ain’t seen him then?’
‘No, not this afternoon. He’s probably gone back to the pub.’
‘No I tried there.’ Joe advised her.
‘What about that woman he’s been chatting up?’
‘Yeah, I suppose he might be with her,’ Joe conceded.
‘But then he would have had to come home to ‘doll himself up’ if he’s on a date,’ the woman suggested.
‘Yeah I suppose.’
‘You want me to give him a call?’ she asked.
‘Well I’ve already called him several times with no luck.’ Joe thought about her suggestion for a minute. ‘Yeah I suppose, he might answer it if he knows that it’s from you. He might be pissed off with me and rejecting my calls for the bollocking I gave him earlier.’
The landlady removed the phone from her bag and called Frank’s number. She listened for a second. ‘No, it’s gone straight into his voicemail.’
‘Ok, well thanks for trying anyway. That’s another theory down the tubes.’ Joe had another thought. ‘Cynth, was Frank’s car at home?’
‘No. He drove it off this morning.’
‘I didn’t spot it on the site. Then again I was so angry. The only thing I saw was the mess he’d made of one of the holes he promised me he’d complete. You want another drink before I go?’ he asked her.
‘That’s very kind,’ she said emptying her glass. ‘A Bacardi and coke, thanks.’
Joe left the pub wondering what the hell had happened to Frank, ‘but he’s a grown man. I’m sure he’ll turn up tomorrow boasting of some conquest or other.’
CHAPTER 24
A group of four bored 14 year old school kids pushed through the broken chain link fence surrounding the industrial site, keen to see what was going on there.
‘Look, they’ve only dug some holes that’s all. Nothing interesting. Come on, let’s go over the playing field instead,’ the spikey haired one suggested.
‘Yeah, come on,’ one of the others agreed.
Just as they started to leave they spotted the yellow digging machine where Joe had parked it.
‘Hey look, there’s that JCB; it’s still here.’
‘Have you seen that You Tube video of the dancing JCBs?’
‘You what? Dancing JCBs! No way.’
‘Way” It’s great. See, they got this line of them doing stuff set to music. Going up on the back hoes.’
‘Back hoes?’
‘Yeah, that digging arm at the back of it.’
‘Hey, do you reckon we can do something like that? Let’s see if we can get in to it,’ the spikey haired one encouraged. The group ran over to the machine and he climbed up and tried the door.
‘Nah, the doors locked. Give us that lump of metal,’ He ordered.
‘What you going to do?’
‘Smash the glass.’
‘What if it’s alarmed?’
‘Then we piss off real quick.’
One of the others found a bent reinforcing bar and gave it to him. It took several attempts but finally he smashed the glass on driver’s door and pushed his way into the cab.
‘Hey, that’s not fair. I want a go,’ a pimply face youth demanded.
‘I’m driving. It was my idea.’ The spikey haired yob announced. ‘Looks like nobody’s driving anyway,’ he told them, after looking around. ‘There’s no keys in the ignition.’
‘Can you hot wire it?’
‘Don’t know. Never done one before. I could try. I suppose.’
In the meantime one of the others had spotted Frank’s car.
‘Hey over here. Behind that portaloo. It’s a Renault 19.’
‘Bit old though ain’t?’
’Yeah, but its 16 valve and pretty fast
for its age. I know how to hot wire one of them, come on.’
The spikey haired one leapt down from the JCB and ran over to Frank’s car.
‘Yeah, but don’t they have immobilisers fitted?’ the pimply faced one asked.
‘We’ll soon find out,’ the spikey haired youth said breathlessly. He pulled open the driver’s door ready to start the key bypass ‘modification’, when he spotted the keys still where Frank had left them. In the ignition.
‘Yeah, we’re in luck. The geezers left the keys for us.’
‘Brilliant, jump aboard, we’re going for a spin.’
The others quickly scrambled into the car and almost before they had closed the doors, he started the engine. He stamped heavily on the accelerator and it leapt forward spitting stones from its wildly spinning tyres.
‘This one’s got multi-point fuel injection. They reckon it can do 130 mph,’ the spikey haired driver informed them as he attempted a handbrake turn.
The others derided his failed attempt.
‘Call that a handbrake turn? Let me have a go,’ the youth in the passenger seat beside him shouted.
‘Sod off. I was just getting used to the car,’ he said, this time executing a perfect ninety degree side slide.’ See,’ he boasted. ‘Perfect.’
This gave him confidence in handling the car and the speed hurtling around the site duly increased.
He was racing around the site using the holes that Frank had dug as the handbrake turning points when they spotted someone taking an interest in the proceedings.
‘Look, there’s somebody over there being nosey. Keep your head down. I think it’s my next door neighbour. I don’t want him to see me,’ the front seat passenger warned, pulling his hoodie up.
‘He’s alright,’ the driver assured. ‘He’s not interested in us. Just taking the dog for a walk, that’s all.’
However, distracted by looking over at the dog walker the driver missed his turning point and yelled, ‘Sod it. Hang on.’
He jammed on the brakes but it was too late. All four wheels locked on the muddy ground and they headed directly to one of the holes.
The occupants braced for the inevitable crash. The car had scrubbed off little forward momentum before it nose-dived down10 feet at about 30mph. The impact demolished the front end of the car as it hit the far side excavation. Clouds of steam immediately rose up from the smashed radiator.
‘Is everybody alright?’ the shocked driver called, as he struggled to open his door.
‘Shit man. You could have killed us.’
‘I bumped my head,’ one of the others groaned.
The driver finally decided to exit via the smashed door window.
‘Bloody hell, you maniac. It’s going to catch fire,’ the front seat passenger shouted as he clambered out through the buckled door.
‘I banged my knees you prat,’ one of the back seat passengers moaned.
‘It’s going to catch fire. Look at that smoke,’ the fourth youth called rushing to get out.
‘Its steam you idiot. Don’t you know nuffin?’ the driver called, clambering up on to the car’s roof and out of the hole.
‘Come on, we got to get out of here before they call the Police.’
‘I can smell petrol,’ the fourth youth volunteered.
‘Yeah, dummy. It’s because it’s got a petrol engine. What else would you smell?’ the driver derided, watching the others climb up the car.
‘Quick, get out before it catches fire.’
The dog walker rushed over to them. ‘Oh my god! Are you alright? That was a terrible crash. I’ve called the Fire brigade and the Police. Is everybody out?’
‘Come on Tom,’ the spikey haired leader called, grabbing the fourth youths arm and moving away from the dog walker.
‘You can’t leave. You must wait for the Police,’ the dog walker insisted.
Ignoring the dog walkers protestations, the group ran off and now having got over the initial shock they started laughing at the near disaster.
‘Come back you little sods,’ the dog walker shouted at the fleeing youths. Behind him there was a mighty ‘vroomph’ as the car caught fire. Quickly he backed away from the inferno as plumes of black toxic smoke rose into the air.
The Fire and Rescue service arrived on site within ten minutes of the call, but by then the car was pretty well gutted.
The fire chief interrogated the dog walker. ‘Were there any occupants in the car?’
‘No I don’t think so. Four of them came out and ran off. So I assume that was all there were.’
‘Joyriders again,’ the Fire chief tutted. ‘Anyway, these bloody holes are dangerous. There’s no guarding around them. Anybody could fall into them. Do you know who’s responsible for the site?’
‘No I don’t. But there’s a JCB over there. Perhaps it’s got a telephone number on it.’
‘I’ll get one of my lads to check and ask control to give them a call. Somebody ought to put guard rails around these holes,’ he repeated.
CHAPTER 25
The telephone number on the side of the JCB was indeed Joe’s, and, alerted by the Fire and Rescue chief, he quickly arrived on site.
The fire chief explained his requirement to put guarding up around the holes.
‘Yeah, well, I’ll put some rails up but nobody should be on the site anyway. Its private property and we’re preparing it for development,’ Joe replied looking at the smoking wreck of the car. ‘Christ, that car’s a mess. Anybody hurt?’
‘No. Joyriders got hold of it and crashed it. Luckily they all got out before it went up in flames. I’m not sure that guard rails would have helped, but we’ve got to safeguard anybody else who walks through here,’ the Fire chief advised.
‘Oh, alright. As I said they shouldn’t be here in the first place,’ Joe insisted indignantly.
‘Thanks. But duty of care and all that. You’ve even got to look after the vandals these days, I’m afraid.’
‘Even bleedin Joyriders? God! Whats the world coming to? Well whoever’s car that was won’t be having any joy will they? What was it?’
‘A Renault 19, I think.’
‘You could have fooled me.’ Joe said in disbelief, looks at the rusty wreck.
‘Yes, we think so.’
‘What a mess!’
‘We’ve dragged it out of the hole to make sure we’ve extinguished it completely.
Suddenly ‘the penny dropped’. ‘A Renault 19! No surely not!’ Joe exclaimed.
‘What. You think you might know the owner?’ the fire chief quizzed.
‘Oh my god. I think it could be my partner’s car.’
‘Well here’s whats left of the number plate.’ The fire chief showed him the charred plate he’d been holding.
‘Oh my god! Yes. That’s it. It’s his car.’
‘Does your partner always leave his car with keys in the ignition for joyriders to help themselves?’
‘What?’
‘Yes, the keys were in the ignition.’
‘He does leave them in the car…But only when he’s around. Usually even on site, he’s never very far from it,’ Joe said, wracking his brains to try and remember the sequence of events. ‘He was here just before four… but when I came back about quarter past he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I thought he was getting his ‘leg over’ somewhere…but now I’m not so sure. What hole did you find the car in?’
‘That one there,’ the Fire chief said, pointing at a nearby hole.
‘God, it’s full of water,’ Joe blurted.
‘Difficult to put the fire out without using water sir,’ the Fireman said patiently.
‘Oh my god…what a fool… Frank must have been here all the time…he would never go off site and leave the car with the keys in…Quickly check all the holes,’ Joe shouted, becoming animated. ‘Let me think. Now where was the JCB when I moved it?’
Joe ran over to the JCB and spotted the damaged glass. ‘Those little bastards have smashed the glass on th
is…now don’t be distracted,’ He told himself.
‘Just a second Sir, what’s going on?’ the Fire Officer asked puzzled.
‘My partner has been missing all afternoon.’
‘Yes, I got that bit. So what makes you think he’s in one of these holes?’
‘I don’t know, I can’t think of anywhere else he could be…’
‘Well if he was in the one where the car crashed, if the crash didn’t kill him the fire or the water would have.’
‘Thanks for those comforting words…’Joe said looking around wild eyed.
‘So you haven’t spoken to him since just before four?’ the Fire officer probed.
‘I think I contacted him once, but he was very faint. I’ve tried ringing his mobile again, but it just rings out or goes to his voicemail.’
‘But it rings out first?’ the Fire chief queried.
‘Yes. Occasionally. The signal round here is crap.’
‘Well, let’s try and locate him from that,’ the Fire chief suggested.
‘As I say, the signal around here is pretty intermittent though.’ Joe repeated anxiously.
‘Well, it’s a slim chance but we’ve got to try it. Right guys, can you spread out around all these holes and let’s get some quiet on site. Turn the pumps off and turn your radios down. OK. So you’re listening for a mobile ringing,’ he instructed them. ‘Right. You want to call him?’ he asked Joe, as the firemen reached their positions.
‘OK.’ Joe selected Frank’s number and was relieved to hear that it was ringing out. ‘It’s ringing,’ he shouted.
‘OK guys, ears to the ground… Anybody got anything?’ the Fire Chief said, scanning the group.
A chorus of No’s and then one of the Firemen on the far side of the site indicated that he’d heard something.
‘I thought I did, but it’s stopped,’ he announced.
‘Yeah. It’s just gone in to voicemail,’ Joe informed them, ‘I’ll call again.’ He tamped the keys on his mobile again and listened. ‘Damn, no signal. I told you it was pretty crappy around here.’
‘Just keep trying,’ the Fire chief encouraged calmly.
After the fifth attempt, Joe got a signal again and informed the listeners that it was ringing.
The fireman who thought he’d heard something had taken his helmet off and was lying on the ground listening intently. ‘Yes definitely something coming over here. It’s very faint but it sounds like… Dido singing ‘White Flag?’ he said, as if not believing his ears.