by Paul Moxham
However, if Will memorized the number plate of the van, then raced to the nearest house and contacted the police, roadblocks could be set up. So he knelt down and studied the numbers and letters.
Just as he finished doing so, a beam of light suddenly shone upon him. Will quickly stood up and attempted to run away, but he didn’t get far before a strong hand gripped his left arm.
Will had no choice but to stop and turn around. As he did so, he gazed into the eyes of Chang.
The man smiled at the red haired boy. “I thought I heard someone following us. I just wasn’t sure. The question is, are you alone?”
“Of course I’m not,” Will lied. “The others will be here with the police any second.”
“Then we’d better not waste any time.” Chang dragged Will to the side of the van and pushed open the door. “In you go.”
Will sighed and did as he was told, bitterly regretting his actions. If only he had stayed in the bushes, then none of this would have happened. He could have gone back to Dragons Den and told the others what had happened. But now they would know nothing and thus be unable to do anything to help him or Christo.
~
Both Joe and Amy were overjoyed when they saw the police uniform that the man was wearing as he climbed out of the car and walked over to them.
Even though Joe would have liked to see Christo, he was glad he and Amy hadn’t had to walk to the nearest village to contact the police. Instead, the police had come to them.
Over the next few minutes, the children explained to the man what had happened. They weren’t sure if the police officer would readily accept what they had to say, especially since they were only children, but as it turned out, he believed everything. This was due to the man being Constable Lubic, the police officer who Christo had contacted earlier regarding Joe’s theory about Dragons Den.
Lubic had been planning to visit the place the following morning, but then he had received a phone call from a worried Nadia who was concerned for the welfare of her husband and the three children. So, to put her mind at rest, he had driven to Dragons Den straight away.
After Lubic contacted his superior with details of the van, he drove the two children back to the farmhouse.
As they were speeding along the road, Joe turned to Amy. “I hope Will and Christo are together. I’d hate to think of Will being all alone somewhere. I remember last time we were in Monrovia when Carrie and I were separated. It was only then I realised how much more scary things are when you can’t speak to anyone about the situation.”
“Well, at least Will has had some experience of being alone in Monrovia,” Amy said. “After all, he managed to find Dragons Den all on his own last time, so I’m sure he’s okay. By the time morning comes, I’m sure the police will have good news.”
Joe nodded. “I hope so.”
“As soon as I hear anything, I’ll let you know,” Lubic said. “My superior also told me he’s going to send some men to search Dragons Den again, especially that secret room you told me about, so we should be able to get a better idea of what Chang’s plans are.”
“I just hope it isn’t going to be too late,” Joe said.
“Well, there isn’t too much we can do in the darkness,” Lubic stated, “but that also applies to Chang, so best if you get some sleep and see what morning brings.”
Chapter 11: The Green Windmill
Christo had told Will that he should try to get some sleep, but he couldn’t. Ever since Chang had stopped the van and dragged the two of them into the abandoned farmhouse and up the steps to a bedroom, he had been trying to think of a way to escape.
Unfortunately, not being on the ground floor meant that the window wasn’t an option. That only left the door. And that was locked. Which meant that escape was not possible at this point in time.
Will had no idea how Christo had managed to get to sleep so quickly, but he had. Only half an half an hour or so after the Chinese man had delivered them some bread and water, Christo had announced he was tired and lay down on the single bed in the room.
Will had also been a bit sleepy, but after lying down for a while, he had got up out of bed and was now gazing out through the window. As the stars twinkled high above in the night sky, he wondered where Joe and Amy were. If they had found a way into the secret room then they may have found something that would lead to the police raiding the farmhouse in the morning.
In all likelihood, Will knew that there wasn’t much of a chance of this happening, but at least it gave him hope. And so, with this thought in his head, he walked back to the bed and lay down again. It took quite some time but, finally, he drifted off to sleep.
~
As the farm telephone shrilled noisily, Joe paused eating his breakfast. This was the second time it had rung in as many hours. The first time it had been the police officer who had picked him and Amy up at Dragons Den the previous night. He had no news to tell them at that point in time, but he was hopeful that now that it was light, details would soon emerge of what had happened to Chang, Christo and Will.
“I wonder if that’s the police again,” Amy said, taking a sip of milk.
“Hopefully,” Joe replied. “I can’t imagine anyone else would be telephoning this early.”
“Maybe it’s Christo saying he and Will managed to escape,” Sarah said, hopefully.
Amy laughed. “I wish that was the case, but it’s highly unlikely.”
A few minutes later, Nadia entered the kitchen and sat down on one of the vacant chairs. She had been crying when the children had first got up from bed and had looked very upset, but now, for the first time this morning, she gave them a smile.
“Have they found the others?” Amy questioned.
“No, not yet, but the police have made some progress,” Nadia replied. “The officers who were sent to Dragons Den have uncovered another secret room adjacent to the one behind the fireplace.”
“I said there had to be another room!” Amy exclaimed.
“What did they find?” Joe asked.
“Not much, unfortunately,” Nadia admitted, “but it’s better than nothing. The room was much smaller than the other one and only contained a small desk, a chair, and a radio.”
“So Chang went there to talk to someone,” Joe said.
Nadia nodded. “There was a piece of torn paper underneath the desk. The writing was in Chinese, so it took a while to have it translated, but they finally have.”
“What did it say?” Sarah questioned.
“Green windmill at twelve o’clock was the rough translation.” Nadia smiled. “It isn’t much to go on, but the entire police force in the area has been alerted to be on the lookout for a green windmill.”
“That might take a while,” Amy said.
Nadia nodded. “Yes, well, at least we have some time. The police think that twelve o’clock means midnight, and since no day was given, they think it refers to tonight at midnight. And since they think Chang was speaking to his people in Zakova, they believe a plane will be flying over, so there should be a large field near the green windmill, which narrows it down a bit.”
“What if it was last night?” Joe asked. “Chang could have travelled to the green windmill after leaving Dragons Den and got there by midnight. Which means he and the others, along with the crown jewels, could already be out of the country.”
Nadia shook her head. “The police don’t think so.”
As she began to get teary eyed again, Amy put her arm around her. “I’m sure Christo and Will are somewhere close by. And, if all the police officers are searching for the windmill, they might be found in the next hour or so and be home for lunch.”
Nadia wiped the tears from her face with her handkerchief and stood up. “You’re right. I should bake a cake for when they come home. Oh, but I don’t have enough flour. Well, I’ll just drive down to the shops and get some.”
“Do you want us to come with you?” Sarah offered.
Nadia smiled, patting the young
girl on the head. “No, just finish your breakfast.”
As the front door slammed shut a few minutes later, Joe turned to the girls. “Let’s hop on our bicycles and go searching for the green windmill.”
“But what hope do we have of finding it?” Sarah asked. “If all the policemen are out searching, I’m sure they’ll be able to find it since they can travel much further in their vehicles than we can on our bicycles.”
“Well, we could either stay here and help Nadia bake, or go searching,” Joe stated. “What do you want to do, Amy?”
“I’d prefer to go cycling,” Amy said. “I know we probably aren’t going to have any success, but it’s better than baking.”
“Okay, let’s go now.” Joe quickly wrote a note on a piece of paper and left it on the kitchen table.
The three children washed their breakfast dishes and hurried to their bedrooms to get changed out of their pyjamas. Even though they had just eaten, Joe grabbed a few apples and a banana which he tossed into a rucksack just in case they got hungry.
Before long, they were riding down the driveway of the farmhouse. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect cycling weather.
As there were large fields in every direction, it didn’t matter which way the children rode, so they picked one direction and started riding. There weren’t many windmills to be seen, but those they saw were mainly brown, while a few were white. One was red, but there was not a single green windmill.
As they rode, they passed a number of police vehicles which they waved to. Although they didn’t speak to the officers, they felt sure they must have been searching for the green windmill.
After a while, the children decided to have a break as their legs were getting tired from all the cycling and so, after passing over a bridge and seeing a stream below, they decided this would be the perfect place for a rest.
Leaving their bicycles by the road, they walked down to the stream, took off their shoes and socks, and waded into the cool water. Afterwards, they sat on the bank and had a rest.
While Amy and Sarah closed their eyes and lay down, Joe glanced around. The only building in view was a small farmhouse on the other side of the stream. He was just about to turn away when a flash caught his eye. He frowned and gazed hard at the upstairs window from which it had come.
Nothing. Thinking the flash had just been some random reflection, he was just about to turn away again when the flash appeared once more.
This got Joe’s attention. He stood up and gazed around, hoping that he would see a green windmill. But none was to be seen.
“What’s the matter?” Amy asked.
“I saw a flash coming from one of the upstairs windows,” Joe said.
Joe’s reply made Amy, and even Sarah stand up and take notice. As Amy looked around, she frowned. “I don’t see any windmill.”
“And the field is covered in long grass,” Sarah said. “There’s no way a plane could land anywhere near that farmhouse.”
“I know that, but I still want to investigate it.” Joe put on his socks and shoes and then navigated his way across the stream using several well placed rocks in order to get across the water without getting wet.
“What about our bicycles?” Amy asked.
“Leave them there,” Joe replied. “It’s not as though someone is going to steal them. Besides, we’re only going to be a short time.”
The girls followed their brother’s lead and were soon walking beside him through the knee high grass. As they approached the farmhouse, no sign of life could be seen.
“It was probably a reflection you saw,” Amy said, looking around at the desolate place. “From the looks of it, no one has stayed here recently.”
“Which means that it would be the ideal place for Chang to hide out,” Joe said, “so let’s be careful.” He crouched down as he got closer to the farmhouse and crawled on hands and knees through the grass.
“Do we really have to do that?” Sarah protested, turning to her older sister.
“Well, I suppose…” Amy paused and then dropped to the ground as the front door of the farmhouse opened and a man appeared.
It was Chang!
All three children stayed as silent as mice, glad that the knee high grass hid their bodies. However, if the man walked towards them, it wouldn’t be long before he caught sight of them. Luckily though, he only spent a minute strolling around before heading back inside.
As the door closed behind the man, Amy breathed a sigh of relief. “That was close.”
“Thank goodness we weren’t any closer,” Sarah whispered. “But I don’t understand. Why is he here? Where does the green windmill fit into all of this?”
“I don’t know,” Joe admitted. “However, this means that the flash of light I saw earlier was almost certainly not a coincidence. I would say it was either Will or Christo. Come on, but keep quiet.”
Luckily, the tall grass went all the way to the main structure and so the children were able to get to the house without fear of being spotted.
However, in order to get immediately below the window from which Joe had seen the flash, they had to risk it since there wasn’t any grass, just gravel.
“Stay here.” Joe crept along the wall until he was right below the window. He then knelt down and picked up a small stone.
Before the girls realised what he was doing, he had thrown it up against the window pane on the upper level.
Sarah gripped hold of Amy’s arm in fear, worried that Chang would have heard the noise of the stone hitting the glass.
Chapter 12: Follow The Van!
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief a few moments later when nothing happened to indicate that Chang had heard anything.
Instead, much to the delight of the children, Will’s face appeared at the upstairs window.
Joe smiled and waved. He knew he couldn’t talk, or even whisper to him, so he just waved and then walked back to the girls. As they retreated into the knee high grass, Joe attempted to think of a plan.
Suddenly, a van roared up the driveway. The three children, who had just reached the grass, fell down out of sight.
Joe hoped that the driver of the van hadn’t seen him, but only time would tell. As the van came to a stop next to the farmhouse, he waited for the driver to climb out.
However, the man didn’t. He just kept the engine running. Intrigued, Joe peered between the tall blades of grass and was astonished by what he saw. The side of the van was clearly visible and it was completely white except for one symbol, which was painted green.
It was a windmill.
Amy, who was right beside him was also surprised. “Is that what I think it is?”
Joe glanced at his watch. It was twelve o’clock exactly. “The police were completely wrong! They are looking for an actual green windmill and not a symbol of a green windmill.”
Suddenly, the door to the farmhouse opened and out hurried Chang with a rucksack on his back.
Joe stayed still until the van had left the driveway and then he leapt to his feet. “Sarah! See which way the van goes. Amy, come with me.”
The girls did as Joe said and, as the boy entered the farmhouse, he called out. “We’re coming Will!”
When the two children reached the upstairs level a few moments later, they saw a key poking out from the keyhole of a closed door. Certain this was where his friends were being kept prisoner, Joe turned the key and flung open the door.
Will peered up from where he was bending over Christo. “I can’t wake him! I think he’s been drugged.”
“Leave him! Chang is getting away!” Joe turned around and raced down the steps and out of the farmhouse.
As Will caught up to Joe and Amy, he puffed and panted. “Christo had a drink last night and then he fell asleep. He hasn’t woken since. Chang must have put something in the water.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine when it wears off,” Joe said. “In the meantime, we need to catch Chang.”
As the three children ran down the
driveway, Joe quickly filled Will in on what had just occurred. When they reached Sarah, Joe yelled out. “Which way?”
Sarah pointed to the left. “That way!”
“Good,” Joe said. “Now we just have to hope a car comes along pretty quickly.”
“What about our bicycles?” Amy asked.
“No, they would be too slow,” Joe replied.
“We could run to the nearest house and telephone the police,” Sarah suggested.
“But we don’t know where the vehicle is headed,” Will pointed out.
“But we do know what it looks like,” Amy said.
“By the time the police start searching for that van, they could have ditched it and stolen another one, just like they did with Christo’s vehicle,” Joe said. “I think the best thing…” He paused as a lorry came into view around the bend. “Let’s wave this driver down!”
The others followed Joe onto the road and they all waved their hands. As the lorry came to a halt, a friendly faced farmer peered out through the half open window. “What’s the matter? Is someone hurt?”
“No, we need you to follow someone in the van,” Joe said. “The man is wanted by the police.”
The man frowned. “What van? I can’t see one.”
“It’s just up ahead, but you have to hurry!” Joe shouted.
“Okay, but three of you will have to hop in the back,” the man stated. “There’s only enough room for one of you beside me.”
“I’ll take the front,” Joe stated, hurrying over to the passenger side of the vehicle.
The others raced to the back and Will helped the girls up into the lorry. There was plenty of space since it was empty.
As the farmer drove down the road, Joe quickly filled him in on what was going on and urged the man to go as fast as he could so that they could catch up to the van.
The man, who had been on his way to the local shops, listened intently to every word that Joe said and increased the speed of the lorry. Luckily, the road didn’t intersect with any other road and so, unless the van had turned down a driveway, they would soon catch sight of it, which they did.