Hugo and the Bird

by Jeff Mills

  “Okay. We’d better check it out.” With the constable in the lead, carrying the lamp, which was beginning to dim, the three worked their way up and along the narrowing passage.

  They were nearly at the end, and having to crouch even lower to avoid banging their heads, when there was a noise behind them and a pile of mud, sand and stones dropped from the roof, blocking the chance of any retreat.

  Coughing from the dust, the inspector looked around. In the panic of the collapse, the constable had dropped the lantern as he raised his arms to protect his head, so that they were now in pitch blackness. The inspector had also dropped his torch and the three knelt down, feeling blindly for it.

  “Found it!” the sergeant exclaimed and tried to switch it on but nothing happened.

  “Give it here!” the inspector shouted and made a grab for it. The torch fell to the ground again and the glass lens and bulb shattered. He cursed under his breath and was about to admonish his sergeant when the constable shouted out that he could see a light. Sure enough, but very faint, there was a pinpoint of daylight ahead. The trio started to move towards it but as they did so the tunnel became smaller, so that by the end they were crawling on their hands and knees.

  Ten minutes later they emerged into the open air, coughing and spluttering. Beside them was a small pile of white stones. As they stood, shaking the dirt from their hair and clothes, there was a noise behind them and the tunnel infolded on itself in a crease of mud and stones, completely sealing the entrance.

  “That’s enough for me for today,” sighed the inspector. “I’m going home. Sarge, take that phone back to the station and give it to forensics and I’ll need your report on my desk first thing in the morning!”

  With a final grunt, the inspector, trailed by the sergeant and constable, headed back along the coastal path to where the patrol car was parked.

  It took several minutes of brisk walking to get back to where it was parked. As he walked the inspector swore under his breath and brushed even more of the dust and dirt from his clothes.

  Panting, he reached the car and felt in his pockets for the key but could not find it and swore again but this time, out loud. A jingle of keys made him look up as the constable held them aloft. Glowering at the him, the inspector snatched the bunch, opened the car and climbed into it. Without waiting, he started the car and drove off, leaving the sergeant and a constable quietly fuming and stranded.

  “Yes sir, thank you, sir, three bags full, sir.” the sergeant said sarcastically as he watched the inspector drive off in his patrol car.

  “Need a lift?” the constable asked, smiling. The sergeant didn’t answer. He just climbed into the constable’s patrol car, muttering obscenities under his breath, directed at his boss The two drove back to the station in silence, speculating on the possibilities of who, or what, had lived in the cave.

  It was after midnight that the sergeant finally slapped his report down on the inspector’s table, muttering, “I hope it chokes you,” as he did so.

  Chapter 37

  Time to Leave

  The cavern was now in almost total darkness; only the glow from the dying embers of the fire gave any form of illumination.

  From the shelter and concealment of Morgana’s personal alcove, the witches had watched the intrusion and antics of the policemen. Putricia was clearly distracted and kept repeating,

  “It can’t be? She wouldn’t dare.”

  Morgana made no comments but suddenly told her sister to be quiet. Together they both listened intently. They could hear the voices of the complaining policemen coming from the tunnel that led out towards Abbotsham Cliffs.

  Quickly, but noiselessly, the young witch took a series of powders from one of the shelves and rapidly mixed them, wrapping them in a piece of old tarpaulin. She ordered Snatch to go into the tunnel and drop the package at the doorway. The animal growled and looked reluctant to respond. A hiss from Putricia coaxed it into action and off it crawled with its tail between its legs, only to return a few minutes later, minus the package.

  Minutes elapsed, during which time no-one moved within the cave, then a rumble was heard within the tunnel and the two women turned and grinned at each other.

  “That’ll teach them to interfere.” Morgana chuckled as the roof of the tunnel fell in on the policemen.

  Morgana rapidly set about trimming and relighting some of the lamps while Putricia threw some twigs onto the fire. The dry wood quickly caught alight, making the whole cave flash and flicker in the flame-light. All the time the small, black-cloaked witch muttered,

  Turning back to her sister, Morgana asked her to pack up everything she needed as they were going to move from their cave. The young witch looked longingly at the cauldron but realised that it was too big to take and reluctantly dismissed it.

  By morning the only items that remained were an assortment of bottles and jars scattered over the floor and shelves, the large cauldron hanging lazily over the almost dead fire, while the only noise that could be heard was the dripping of water from the roof onto the debris-strewn floor.

  Chapter 38

  The Aftermath

  Mr Bennett rushed around what was left of the Gnome Reserve, kneeling and attending to both injured gnomes and goblins, using what medical knowledge he had. Several of the gnomes were involved in the gruesome task of identifying and removing the bodies of their friends who had been killed. The reserve’s owner had personally collected Barguff from his house and carried him into her office, where she carefully laid him on her office table, covering him with a large tea-towel that was handy. Chipper jumped from the owner’s apron pocket onto the table and held his hand, almost being swamped by the tea towel. The owner then, after noisily blowing her nose on a tissue she ripped from a box at the end of the desk, turned and went to make some tea for everyone, more to take her mind off the night’s battle and its dire result than because she felt thirsty. Though on reflection, she did.

  The rest of the Bennetts and Bird helped try to restore some form of order to the reserve. They up-righted chairs and tables, brushed away broken doors and roofs and made make-shift stretchers so that the remaining gnomes could pick up and take their injured or fallen friends back to the main house for whatever attention they needed. As the first red beams of dawn hit what had been once a happy gnome village, the true effect of the devastation could be seen. Tears continued to stream down the owner’s face.

  Mr Bennett came into the office looking very tired, his hands covered in both orange and blue blood stains from the injured gnomes and goblins. The owner sniffed back her tears and with a forced smile asked him if he wanted a cup of tea, which he gratefully accepted. At the same time, Bird and the other Bennetts came in and sat around the table in exhausted silence. The reverence was broken by the sound of the gardener banging on the door and enquiring what in the earth had been going on and who had wrecked his garden.

  “I’ll kill ’em!” he shouted, but he was too late!

  Bird at last got up and announced that he was going to St Austell to visit the home of the goblins and invite them to come and collect their dead and injured and to get them to promise not to aid the two witches ever again. Stephanie started to protest that they might try to kill him if he went but eventually realised that he was right.

  After gulping down two sandwiches, just in case, he disappeared. The Bennetts also took this as a cue to leave but promised that they would be back the next day to help in the rebuilding of the homes of the gnomes and the funerals of those that had fallen.

  The drive back in the Volvo was a very subdued journey. It was not until they had almost reached their house that Hugo asked his mother why the small witch had given her such a strange look, almost as if she recognised her.

  “I have no idea at all,” she replied, but it was a question that she herself had been pondering over ever since she had left the reserve.

&n
bsp; As soon as they returned, Mrs Bennett put the kettle on and started to lay the table for a belated breakfast. Mr Bennett went to have a shower and change his clothes while Hugo and Stephanie pulled up chairs in front of the kitchen table and sat quietly, chins resting on hands.

  “One of you two feed Jake will you,” rang out Hugo’s mother’s voice. The two children looked at each other until, at last, Hugo begrudgingly, scraping his chair on the floor, pushed himself away from the table.

  “Where is he anyway? Anybody seen him?” Hugo asked and immediately he, his sister and mother looked up and searched the kitchen for their pet. It was most unusual for him not to be around, especially at food time. Hugo called and went outside but no Jake.

  “He did come back in the car with us?” queried his mother. Hugo and Stephanie looked at each other and hunched their shoulders. Mrs Bennett ran up the stairs and asked her husband if he had seen the dog but he had not.

  “It’s no good,” decided Mrs Bennett after looking in every room, “we must have left him at the reserve. I will give them a call to see if he’s there.”

  She had to look in the telephone directory to find the number but after she had finished the call she looked worried. “He’s not there. I wonder where he can be?” she said frowning.

  Hugo suddenly had a funny feeling that he knew exactly where he was but he was not going to tell anyone of his suspicions.

  Chapter 39

  The Sighting

  “Hello! Is that you Tony? I think that you’d better get down here straight away! It’s about that phone you found. We’ve managed to retrieve the info off it but you won’t believe what you see.”

  Bill Sutton in the forensics lab put the phone down and went back to the computer screen where he had downloaded the memory card from the broken mobile phone found in the cave, while he waited for Detective Inspector Anthony Hyde to join him.

  The two men sat in silence, as one by one they flicked through the images of gnomes being carried on the backs of seagulls and landing at what appeared to be the Gnome Reserve.

  At the end of the display they both sat back and let out sighs.

  “You know, and I know, that these little blighters exist ’cos we’ve seen the video but if we go to the Super with this lot, we’ll both lose our jobs and pensions,” the forensic officer said to the inspector with a voice of exasperation and desperation.

  “We’d better hope that we can find that missing girl before we have to explain this...this.” He did not finish.

  “Keep it under wraps for now and we’ll continue trying through normal channels,” the detective commented and then, with a final look at the screen, wiped his forehead with the back of his sleeve and returned to his office and the mountain of paperwork that was beginning to pile up on his desk. His sergeant’s report on the bottom.

  “Sir! Sir!” Sergeant Cummings ran breathlessly into D.I. Hyde’s office. “That young missing reporter girl’s been spotted!”

  “What? Where?” The inspector looked up at the panting figure in front of him.

  “We’ve just had a phone call from a lady who was out walking her dog along the coastal path at Hartland very early this morning. She said that her dog had run off, chasing another, a golden retriever, she thinks. She ran after her dog and found it playing with the retriever and another animal that looked like a large cat but with fangs. Two people were with the animals, a young girl, who, she thinks, answered the description of the missing reporter and a smaller person, about the size of a young teenager. She couldn’t describe this person very accurately as it was still quite dark as the sun hadn’t fully risen, but he or she was covered head to foot in a black cloak-like garment. The only thing that she did notice was that this person seemed to be bent over.”

  “Where’s this witness now?” the inspector demanded as he rose from behind his desk, so quickly that his chair toppled over and several pages of paper fell from his desk.

  “We’ve asked her to come straight in and have a look at some pictures, so she should be here in about forty minutes,” the sergeant responded, still trying to catch his breath.

  “Right then. Let me know immediately she gets here. I’m off for a coffee. In the meantime, pick that lot up.”

  The inspector nodded towards the fallen paper and chair and left. The sergeant mouthed something behind his back, lifted the chair and sat down in it. He put his feet up on the desk with his hands behind his neck and poked his tongue out in the direction of his departing superior. A secretary passing the open door looked at him, giggled and walked on. Feeling embarrassed, the sergeant raised himself off the chair, picked up the papers and went to get a coffee for himself.

  Chapter 40

  The Amulet

  “Right then. The situation is this.”

  John Blackmore from Harding and Jasper sat talking to Mr Bennett in the lounge. “Unfortunately, at least for you, we have discovered another far-flung relative of Sir Richard Benson who lives in Australia. We have yet to have him interviewed by our Australian counterparts, but it appears that you both may have an equal claim on the estate, so that I am sorry to tell you that your share, after all deductions and taxes, will only be just over two million pounds.”

  Mr Bennett looked disappointed but deep down felt almost a sense of relief. He had heard so many stories of people inheriting or winning vast sums, each one seemed to end in tragedy. Since hearing of the windfall, he felt that too much money was not necessarily a good thing. After all, two million was not an enormous sum these days and he felt that he could handle it without creating problems.

  Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Hugo was updating Emma, who had called round with her mother, since this was the last day of official isolation after Stephanie’s chickenpox outbreak. Fortunately, they both appeared to have avoided the infection. Mrs Jones was wide-eyed as Julia Bennett went over the events of the previous days. Mrs Jones was both amazed and annoyed about the role which her daughter had played in the action without telling her. However, as Hugo’s mother pointed out, it would have been highly unlikely whether she would have believed her, even if she had been told.

  “Let me show Miriam that amulet of yours,” Hugo’s mother asked him as she got to the part of the story in which it featured. Hugo and Emma looked at each other in horror. “Come on, you silly boy. Give it to me. I’ll let you have it back when I’ve finished.”

  “But Mum!” Hugo blurted out, but his mother leaned back on the chair and stretched out her hand. Very reluctantly, he eased the cord from around his neck and hesitatingly handed the pendant to his mother, fully expecting it to burn her as soon as it touched her skin, but no. As the amulet touched her hand, nothing happened.

  Mrs Bennett held it up by the cord and watched it as it rotated and glinted in the sunlight that had just made an appearance from behind a dark cloud and seemed to shine directly onto the dangling necklace, as if by order.

  “It’s funny,” she murmured almost to herself, “but this thing seems strangely familiar.” Then, as if coming round from a dream, she grasped the amulet in her hand and turned it over and over again, sending bright beams of golden light around the room from the reflected sunlight.

  “Let me have a look,” Mrs Jones asked and stretched out her hand as if to take it. No sooner had she touched it than she yelped and quickly withdrew her hand.

  Emma and Hugo, almost together, shouted,

  “Don’t!” as they saw her reach out but they were too late with the warning. Julia Bennett looked horrified and asked what was wrong but before Miriam could answer, Hugo rapidly explained that it was due to something called static electricity and that it affected some people more than others. To save further explanation, he reached out and took the dangling object from his mother’s hand and held it in his own.

  “See, it doesn’t affect me.” He looked backward and forward between his mother and Mrs Jones, smiled and repl
aced the cord around his neck. He looked at Emma, willing her to either keep quiet or back him up. She kept silent but gave him a questioning look.

  “It looks very valuable? Where did you get it?” Emma’s mother queried, still rubbing her fingers.

  It was at that moment that Mr Bennett came into the kitchen after seeing his guest out of the front door and watching him drive away. He sat down at the table and, with a deliberately glum face, he explained about the long-lost relative in Australia and that now he would only be a bi-millionaire instead of a multimillionaire. He maintained his glum look as he watched the disappointed faces of those around him, then burst into deep raucous laughter which was instantly followed by everyone else. The amulet was forgotten.

  “I have a great favour to ask,” Mrs Jones said, turning to Hugo’s mother. “Peter, my husband, has to go to Bristol for a final check-up following his illness and they have asked him not to drive, as they may need to give him a sedative to allow them to make their investigations. Could I impose Emma on you again so that I can take him?”

  “That would be no trouble but before you go I must show you the material I bought for the new curtains in the dining room. See if you like it? It was much more than I wanted to pay but since, now we’re rich, who cares?” Both women laughed.

  Mr Bennett gave a wry smile and went out to the garage. He wanted nothing to do with curtains or anything like that.

  As soon as the kitchen was empty of adults, Emma went over and sat next to Hugo. In a whisper, just in case any of the parents were still within earshot, she asked Hugo why the amulet had had no effect on his mother.

  At first he looked concerned himself and said that he did not know. The two sat there for several minutes in silence, deep in concentration, then Hugo pushed himself away from the table and began to smile.