Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death (17 page)

'Using this?' Rhettnor said, and could not
help the smile that played around his lips at the sight of Rekrap's
face when he saw him holding the transformer. Rekrap started to
search his pockets.

'It's no use looking, Commander Rekrap. Or
may I call you by your first name, Percival?'

'No, you can't. Only my family and close
friends - I mean friend - can. And where is my cup of tea?'

The Freeflyers started to laugh. Commander
Rekrap was renowned for his strange antics, but today beat all they
had either heard or experienced before.

'You can have a full high tea Percy once you
have told us where you have zapped the boys and where Captain
Hamish Pippin is.'

'How would I know? The transporter has a
mind of its own.' Considering he was a prisoner of the Freeflyers,
Rekrap was quite belligerent.

'We can wait,' Rhettnor said.

'Tee hee.' Rekrap was in his element. 'I
don't think you can,' he said. 'I don't think you can.'

At this point, Selim lost it. He grabbed
Rekrap by the neck and squeezed tight. 'Where are they?' he yelled
in Rekrap's face. 'Where are Piers and Miles?'

'I know,' a quiet voice came from the
corner, and all the Freeflyers turned to face Captain Bean.

Commander Rekrap was red in the face and
frankly choking. 'Let him go Selim,' Rhettnor said, and Rekrap fell
to the floor, coughing and gasping for breath.

'Where?' Selim asked.

'I will only tell you if you let us go.'

'I'll kill him,' said Selim as he lunged at
Captain Bean.

'Freeflyers group!' shouted Rhettnor. And
all the Freeflyers, including Selim, stood to attention. No one
ever disobeyed an order from a superior officer. He pointed to
three Freeflyers. You, you and you, take them to the Garden of
Consolation.'

While Rhettnor was giving his orders, Rekrap
furtively moved closer to where Rhettnor had put the transporter.
'That's far enough Rekrap,' Rhettnor said.

Commander Rekrap smiled. I don't need it
Rhett, I just don't want to leave it behind.'

Commander Rekrap found what he had been
furtively searching for under his cloak. He pressed the button on
his chest protector, and three bodies disappeared, himself, Captain
Bean and the Freeflyer, who was closest to the captain, Selim.

Sadness in the snow

Hamish and Steve clambered up out of the
tunnel entrances in time to see Piers trying to force the bear trap
open to release the bear's leg.

'Oh my God! If that thing comes to,' Steve
said, as he cringed as far away from the bear as he could. But
Piers was on a mission.

'Warm some milk for that cub, and hold it
close to keep it warm Steve. Hamish, help me release this bloody
trap. Who could do such a thing?'

Hamish very reluctantly pulled on the hinged
trap till it was wide enough for Piers to gently lift the bear's
leg clear. 'Destroy it and throw the bloody thing out,' Piers said
as he rummaged through the things they had found. He knew he had
packed a Red Cross box, which he quickly found. 'Warm some water so
I can wash the wound,' he said, as he felt the bear's leg for any
break. 'And get something soft to lay its head on.'

Piers gently lifted the bear's head and laid
it on a soft blanket, and he was bathing the leg when the bear
stirred and opened her eyes. She grunted in pain but made no
attempt to move or attack Piers. 'Come on my lovely,' Piers
whispered. 'We will soon have you better.'

Once Piers had cleaned the wound, it did not
look so bad. But what he did not know was the trapper had put some
poison on the claws of the trap. And it was working its evil way
through the bear's system. He wrapped up the wound and moved closer
to the bear's massive head. He washed the muck out of the bear's
eyes and offered her some water. The bear opened her eyes and,
without taking her eyes from Piers face, gratefully drank. The cub
who after drinking the milk was quite lively for a while, then
snuggled under its mother's chin and fell fast asleep.

The bear put her huge paw on Piers shoulder
and pulled him closer.

Steve was the first to react. 'Piers! Get
away!' and both men grabbed Piers legs and started to pull. The
bear held on. 'Christ! It's going to kill him!' Hamish screamed and
went to pick up a large piece of wood to hit the bear with.

'No Hamish stop and be quiet,' Piers said.
'She’s trying to communicate with me.'

'Yeah, it's hungry, and you are its next
meal,' Steve said.

The bear licked Piers face and looked deep
into his eyes again. She pushed the little cub close to him, closed
her eyes again and lay back.

'You'll be okay,' Piers said, tears in his
eyes. He thought the bear was going to die, and the bear knew it.
He picked up the cub and put it close to the mother bear's face.
'It's your baby, and I will protect it with my life. I promise
you.'

The big animal sighed. Although she was
still in tremendous pain, she lay still. Piers put his arms around
the cub and the bear, and he stayed, talking in soothing whispers
to the big animal till the mother breathed her last. Tears ran
freely down his face, and he continued to stroke her till darkness
fell round the shack.

Piers woke to the mewing of the bear cub.
Surprisingly, Steve and Hamish were with him and still asleep. He
jumped to his feet. The mother bear was gone. But she had been
dead, Piers was sure of that. Had she rallied and dragged herself
away to die alone? The tiny little cub was obviously starving and
was jumping at his legs as if to tell his new mother.

'Okay, okay.' He picked it up. 'I wonder if
you are a girl or a boy,' he said. 'Come on, let's have a look what
we've got to feed you, you little monster.' He found some dried
milk and beef jerky, which made him a little queasy, but bears are
not vegetarians. 'Maybe I could train you to be the first veggie
bear,' he said, and he nuzzled and stroked the little creature as
its mother would, as it lapped up the milk and ate.

Steve and Hamish woke a little later and
would have thought they had dreamt about a bear in the shack if the
little cub weren't sitting on Piers shoulders, munching the food he
was giving it. Piers explained that he thought the mother bear had
died in the night but when he woke, she was gone.

'Good thing really. Except, how are we going
to feed that little devil?' Hamish chucked it behind the ear.

'Well, it would make good hamburgers.
Problem solved,' Steve said and then quickly retracted it, shouting
that he was only joking, as Piers leapt up and headed for Steve's
throat.

Steve looked out of the window, it was still
snowing but not so heavily. 'Okay, what now?' Steve said as he
attempted to light a stove to make some hot coffee.

'At least now we know we are not threatened
by anything,' Hamish answered. 'So we can take our time, do a
little scouting and have a better look in those tunnels.'

'Good idea Hamish. You should go in with a
rope tied around your waist, so, if anything untoward happens, one
tug on the rope and we'll pull you back.' Steve smiled, he knew he
would get a reaction. 'So, obviously you're not going to be the
intrepid explorer, Steve?'

'I was going to offer but knew you would
want to be first in Hamish… you with all your military
training.'

'I'll go first if one of you will hold
Daphne,' Piers butted in.

'Daphne?' both Hamish and Steve asked.

'Yeah, I think it's a girl. I once had a
girlfriend called Daphne. Oh, I was six at the time.' Again, the
shack rocked with laughter.

'Right now back to business. This good
weather isn't going to last. We either have to put on the snow
boots or go underground,' Hamish stated. 'Personally, from the
experience with the bear, and hearing Steve's movie tale, I would
rather at least look in the tunnels.'

'I elect Hamish as captain and leader of
this expedition.' Steve stood and saluted Hamish.

'Seconded,' Piers said, trying to salute,
while juggling the tiny bear Daphne.

Hamish packed the belongings again while
Steve made coffee and some porridge. 'Many a war has been won on
porridge,' Steve said as they ate, and Daphne guzzled it down like
it was mother's milk. As they ate, they all wondered where the next
meal would come from.

It Can Only Get Better

Polly had never felt so lonely or confused
in her life before. United Artists had pulled the plug and
cancelled the movie contract. Brad was found on a desert island,
where he had been for several weeks. He was rescued after a
tip-off, luckily just before his food and water ran out. Right now,
he was in a mental hospital, having suffered a nervous breakdown.
Piers and Miles had gone away, and no one knew where. Alison had
moved out and taken Minx and Manx with her. Lily and Lucy had gone
overseas for a holiday and had closed Brown Sugar for a month. So
she had no one's shoulder to cry on. And if that wasn't enough,
Hamish and his co-pilot had not returned from a trip to Iceland,
and his company thought the plane must have gone down. After an
intensive air and sea rescue search had found nothing and the
search was abandoned.

‘I think you should go back home to your
parents on the Isle of Wight, Polly,' a very fed-up Mrs Hart said
as she cleared away yet another untouched meal.

'That's ridiculous, Mrs Hart. And mind your
own business. I have to be here in case Hamish turns up,' Polly
snapped back.

'Mind your mouth, Missy,' Mrs Hart said in a
tone that would stop a charging rhino, but it did not stop
Polly.

'I don't have to listen to you. You are
nothing but…'

'But a special person who cares for you as
much as anyone on this planet does.' A deep voice came from the
doorway, followed by a very tall man whom Polly recognised as Lord
Knightly. 'Polly, this is not a time to make more enemies. Right
now, you are very short of friends.'

Polly burst into tears, and Mrs Hart rushed
to her side and put her arms round her. 'I'm so sorry, Mrs Hart,'
Polly said between sobs. 'You're right Lord Knightly. Mrs Hart is
the bestest person ever.'

'Well, Mrs Hart is the reason I'm here
Polly. I'm taking Mrs Hart away for a well-earned rest.'

'No, no,' Polly cried. 'Please don't take
Mrs Hart away she's all I have left.' Lord Knightly and Mrs Hart
smiled.

'Amongst others, you have me.' Polly looked
up to see Alison standing in the doorway, nursing the two Liddles,
Minx and Manx, her bags at her feet.

What followed was a very happy party. Mrs
Hart laid out the goodies Lord Knightly had brought, and as usual,
the feast would have fed the starving thousands. Polly and Alison
were chatting away as if they had been separated as babies, whilst
in between times they were filling their faces as if they hadn't
eaten for weeks. Hamish was their biggest worry. Although the
official search for the missing Hamish had stopped, Lord Knightly
still had people looking and was sure he was safe. After all he was
a very experienced pilot, he reassured the girls.

As usual, the Liddles joined the party and
much to the surprise of Mrs Hart, entertained them by dancing on
their back legs. Lord Knightly was amazed when they took a bow,
leapt off the table and landed lightly in the girls' arms.

'Quiet everyone,' he said. 'I want to make a
toast. This is going to be the start of a successful year. Everyone
will be safe and back home with us.'

Everyone cheered. 'However, it's not all
good news.' Boos from everyone. 'Mrs Hart needs to visit her sister
for a rest.' Amid the boos, he added, 'But for you girls, I will be
on call at all times.'

'Hurrah! Three cheers for Lord Knightly,'
said Mrs Hart. The girls jumped up with Minx and Manx still on
their shoulders and threw their arms round his neck.

'Oh my goodness, girls,' he said as the
Liddles jumped on him and started to lick his face.

'I think they like you,' Polly said.

'Get these animals off me!' Lord Knightly
laughed. 'I have more news. It seems Lily and Lucy has nowhere to
stay. Their house was bought by a fan of Brad Capriole because he
stayed there, sooo -'

'They can stay here,' Polly butted in, 'if
they still want me as a friend.'

'That was what I was going to suggest.'

'Great. But where will they sleep?' asked an
excited Polly.

'Wait a sec, there's more to come,' Mrs Hart
said. 'Lily and Lucy can share Alison's bedroom, and you two can
share the ambry.'

'The ambry? I don't want to sleep in there
with Polly again, we did that before, and I was so glad when we got
our own rooms back. Alison cried.

'And what about my room?' Polly asked.

'Wait and see,' said Mrs Hart.

'So we are both in the ambry?' Polly
asked.

'You'll get used to it. I'll buy you bunk
beds,' Lord Knightly added with a grin.

The girls linked their little fingers and
said, 'Bestest friends forever.'

'Mrs Hart, I think it's time for us to
leave. Come on, everyone! Group hug.'

And before the girls could ask any more
questions, there was a knock on the door. The two visitors left as
two deliverymen stood on the doorstep with a package containing
bunk beds.

The visitor arrives

Polly and Alison were so relieved when the
two deliverymen offered to put up the bunk beds, and much to their
surprise, when they opened the door, the ambry was already empty
and cleaned. Shelves had been put up, and pretty lights lit the new
bedroom. A note was pinned to the door:

Hello girls, I'm sure
you'll love Lily and Lucy's stay with you, and it will be longer
than any of you expect. I have arranged another surprise for you,
but I will not tell you right now it won't be a surprise if I do,
will it? Stay focused, my two lovely girls, believe in yourselves
and make loads of wishes. They might just come true.