Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death (3 page)

'Aren't they cute, Pol? When I opened the
back door, they both wandered in.'

Polly squatted. 'I've never seen kittens so
brightly coloured, and look at the tails! Shall we keep them?' One
of the creatures left the milk and wrapped itself round Polly's
ankles.

She picked it up, and it purred and cooed.
'I think it likes me.' And looking into its beautiful eyes, she
said. 'It's like a cross between a kitten and a meerkat, but with
something else as well.'

'I thought so too. Anyway, you wanted to go
out for coffee? Shall we take these two little animals with
us?'

'I think we should. We can buy them a little
harness and a warm coat, and we might be able to find the owners.
They are probably missing them terribly.'

~

They walked to the city and after buying the
little animals all they needed from the local pet shop, they went
for the much-needed coffee. They sat outside their favourite café,
Brown Sugar, under a coloured umbrella, their new 'babies' settled
comfortably on their laps, waiting for their coffee and
croissants.

Two motorbikes came roaring round the corner
and pulled up outside the film studio next door to the café. The
men alighted dressed in the appropriate leather gear and helmets,
looking very sexy. As he took off his helmet, one of the lads said,
'Shall we have a coffee before work?'

'Good idea. I'm a little peckish,' the other
said.

'Miles mate, why am I not surprised?' Piers
said, as he glanced round and saw two good-looking girls with the
most amazing-looking animals sitting in their laps. He walked over
to them with a grin on his face. 'Mind if we join you? All the
other tables seem to be taken.'

Polly looked round - half the tables were
empty - but she smiled up at Piers and said. 'Cheeky thing.' A
pleasant shiver went through her veins. Not only was this lad
incredibly good-looking, but she also had a feeling she knew
him.

'Can I presume that's a yes. I'm Piers, and
this is Miles. What would you girls like? My shout,' Piers offered,
and he called over the waitress.

'Hi Lily. The usual for us, and whatever the
girls would like, please. Oh and some of your excellent pastries
too.'

'Hello Lily, our usual too,' Polly said,
smiling.

Piers smiled. 'Do you come here often? I
don't remember seeing you here before,' he said.

'Only since my best friend Lily took over,'
Polly said.

'Well, I'm glad you did,' said Miles. 'And
what amazing-looking animals! What are they?'

'We don't know,' Alison said. 'They just
wandered into our kitchen this morning and were so cute we decided
to keep them safe till we find the owners.'

'If we wandered into your kitchen and looked
cute, would you keep us too?' Miles asked. They all laughed, and
both the girls thought, yes!

Piers patted the little animal on Polly's
lap. It cooed, ran up his arm and sat under his chin, purring.

'I think she likes you,' Polly said. She
took the little animal back and tickled behind her ears. 'We
weren't sure if they were kittens or meerkats, and perhaps they had
a squirrel for a mum as well. It's a lovely bushy tail.'

'And maybe a bit of a peacock as well. Look
at the colours,' Miles said, but he was reluctant to pat the little
creature that sat on Alison's lap in case it bit him.

Lily brought out the coffee and croissants.
'It's my break. Mind if I join you?'

'Not at all,' Polly said happily, and the
two girls shifted round. Piers and Miles were pleased, as now they
were sitting so close to the girls they were almost touching. They
enjoyed the morning tea, finding they had much in common. Piers, as
offered, paid the bill.

'I hope you don't mind me asking, but can we
go out Saturday?' Piers had felt so good in the girls' company he
wanted to see them again.

'Yeah, that would be great,' Miles
added.

'We would love that. But we have friends
coming over for dinner Saturday. Hey, why don't you come and you
Lily and bring Lucy? That's her twin,' Polly added.

'I didn't know you were a twin, Lily. And
you're not going to believe it, but I'm a twin, and so is Miles,'
Piers said.

'Really?' Polly said. 'Then they are invited
too. Everyone's invited.'

~

The Spider Freeflyers hiding in a dark
corner of the café held their breath. This was the time when the
codicil-memory that had been planted would really be tested.

'Unfortunately that can't happen Polly. Our
twins Zack and Knox are in Australia, finding old caves and digging
up artifacts.’

The Freeflyers breathed a sigh of relief -
the codicil-memory had worked.

'But my older sister Gemma is visiting us
just now. Could I bring her?' Piers asked. 'She doesn't eat much,'
he added, grinning.

'We'd love to meet her. I'll invite my older
brother Hamish to keep the numbers even.'

After paying the bill, the boys rode off,
saying they were looking forward to next Saturday.

'Oh no! I was so excited,' said Polly, 'I
forgot to give them our address.'

'That's okay. They own the film studio next
door and come in every day. I'll give it to them,' Lily said.

The girls walked home with the two little
creatures riding on their shoulders, hoping Piers or Miles would
ask for the address, and secretly feeling confident they would.

The dinner party

Mid-afternoon of the party, Polly rang her
brother. 'Hi Hamish. You're coming tonight, aren't you? You could
meet the girl of your dreams.'

'No.' The reply was instant and
definite.

'Don't be such a spoilsport. I've invited a
girl especially for you.'

'She's probably spotty and ugly.'

'Now you're being mean. Come on Hams. It's
Piers sister - that chap I just met - and he's very good-looking.'
Polly was a little defensive.

'According to you he is, but it doesn't
always follow… Anyway, do I have a choice?'

'No! See you at seven.' Before Hamish could
say another word, Polly slammed down the phone.

The girls were all aflutter. 'How many are
coming, Pol?' Alison asked as she made the shopping list.

'Well, there's Piers, Miles, Lily, Lucy and
Piers sister Gemma- that's five. Hamish rang this morning and wants
to bring his friend Nick along, so that's seven. I've invited
Barbara. I want to keep the numbers even. So, including us, it's
the magic number ten.'

'Barbara? That'll be fun,' Alison said
sardonically. 'Barbara never stops talking… or eating.' She bit at
the end of the pen. 'Shall we have the usual favourite for dessert
- chocolate cream cake and strawberries?'

'Why not? It might put the boys in a
romantic mood.' Polly rolled over and kissed the cushion. 'Even
Barbara could get lucky.'

'You really are a dreadful thing Polly. At
times I can't bear to think we're related.' Alison pretended to be
angry and threw a cushion at Polly as she added. 'Anyway, shut up.
I'm trying to make a list.'

Eventually, the list was finished, shopping
done and everything in the kitchen was happily bubbling away. The
girls were in the bedroom deciding what to wear, and that was the
biggest job of all.

~

'Hellooo,' Hamish had arrived early “to
help”.’

'Hamish, get out of the kitchen and don't
you dare touch a thing,' Polly said as she came rushing down the
stairs.

'I'm only going to be the taste doctor.'

'No, you don't. Is Nick with you?'

'No, he's gone to get some plonk.'

'Oh my God! It's nearly seven. Make yourself
useful Hamish, light the candles, please.' She rushed back upstairs
to do the finishing touches to her make-up.

'Slave driver!' Hamish called up.

'And stay away from the food,' she
returned.

Hamish lit the candles and had a little
taste of everything. He decided it was as good as it usually was,
and then the doorbell rang.

'Open the door please Hamish,' Polly called
as she took a last look in the mirror and got to the door just
behind him. An electric charge flew between Hamish, Piers and
Miles. Hamish didn't know why, but he felt immediately comfortable
with these Lads, which was unlike him he usually didn't like
anyone.

'Hi! Come in, come in, glad you could come.'
Polly opened the door wider.

Piers introduced his sister Gemma, who was
stunning. Polly mouthed, 'I told you so' to Hamish.

'Hi,' a female voice came from behind the
group on the doorstep. Lily and her twin Lucy arrived with Nick in
tow, laden down with bottles of champagne.

'Come in, come in, all of you, and welcome.'
Polly shepherded them all in.

Alison put on the music, and Nick was
looking for a bottle opener, dancing the salsa as he did. Hamish
put the champagne in the ice buckets and started to sing. The
evening was looking very promising. After everyone had arrived and
was sitting round chatting, Hamish stood and clinked his glass.

'Okay, time to introduce ourselves and where
we fit in,' Hamish suggested. 'There's nothing worse than being at
a party and not knowing anyone. So starting with my sister, this is
Polly, or Pollump, as she is known by family and close friends.
She's going to be a famous actress. Well, in her own mind
anyway.'

Cheers and boos exploded around the room.
'And that strange-looking thing in her arms is Minx - a cross
between, a squirrel, a meerkat and a kitten. We are not sure!'

'Next Alison, our cousin, and Manx - same
cross.' Miles looked directly at Alison and winked. She blushed.
He's so handsome, she thought.

Hamish continued. 'I'm Polly's elder
brother. I was in the Air Force, finished my tour of duty, and now
I'm a commercial pilot. Oh and I'm single.' Laughs all round.

Nick stood. 'I'm a doctor. I met Hamish in
hospital. I was lonely and desperate, so he became my new best
friend.' Everyone laughed again. He turned to his left. 'Lily, your
turn.'

'I've known Polly and Alison since school.
We have a bond as close as I have with my twin. I want to get
married and have three sets of twins - with Hamish, of course!' And
Lily threw her arms round Hamish's neck and gave him a noisy kiss
on the cheek.

Everyone laughed, and Hamish pretended to
faint. 'Only joking,' Lily added.

'Dinner is served!' Alison broke into the
laughter as she called from the door.

'We'll continue this after dinner. And I'll
deal with you later Lily, you little devil,' Hamish said as he led
them all to the dining room.

~

Over dinner, Polly noticed that most of her
guests was left-handed. 'That's an unbelievable coincidence,' Polly
said, 'and so many twins. You Piers, and you Miles and Lily and
Lucy, you are so lucky,' she said to Piers and Miles, I always
wanted to be a twin.'

'Well, I thank God there's only one of you,
Pollump,' Hamish said deliberately, grinning, knowing Polly hated
her nickname.

'You are such a beast Hamish. For that, you
can clear the table.' Piers got up to help and followed Polly into
the kitchen.

'Anything I can do?' he asked. 'Apart from
falling in love with you,' he added.

'You are such a flirt Piers,' she said and
gave him a nudge. 'Take in the strawberries please, and ask who
would like coffee.' He saluted, and did just what he had been
told.

'Anything else you want me to do, Pollump?'
Hamish brought the last of the dishes in.

Ignoring his nauseating humour, she said,
'what do you think of Gemma?'

'She really is stunning - not my type, but
Nick is smitten. He hasn't taken his eyes off her all night.'

'Really? Any chance for Barbara?'

'Great if I wanted a dog - and a cocker
spaniel at that.'

Trying not to giggle, Polly frowned and
said, 'you are so mean, Hamish. She's incredibly successful, and
looks aren't everything…'

'They are to me. Come on, sis, I've seen
better-looking in the monkey house.'

'Yes, I thought the same.' Barbara came into
the kitchen, and Hamish nearly died of embarrassment, she had heard
what he'd been saying. 'Hamster is right, Polly,' she continued.
'Your animals do look sort of like monkeys.'

Hamish breathed a sigh of relief. Barbara
had only caught the end of what he'd said. 'When I was talking,
they both seemed to change colour. Well, their eyes did,' Barbara
said.

Polly frowned again. What was that that
fizzed in her head?

'Take in the chocolate cake please, Hams?'
she said and followed him into the dining room as casually as she
could. Piers was staring openly at her while Barbara was still
talking and bragging, and the creatures were still changing colour
if only slightly.

After the food was finished, and everyone
was congratulating the two chefs, the visitors broke up into
groups, drinking and enjoying the party.

The party's over

A knock sounded on the door, and Polly, who
was deep in conversation with Piers and had no intention of leaving
him, called. 'Hamish, get that, will you?'

Hamish walked down the hall, opened the door
and was surprised to see his friend Ape.

'This is unexpected. When did you get back?
We're having a party. Come on in. There's plenty of food and drink
left.' Ape followed Hamish into the lounge.

'Hi sorry everybody I didn't mean to
gate-crash.' And a tall, well-built man with a healthy tan walked
into the room.

'Listen up, everybody!' Hamish shouted above
the happy chatter. 'This is notorious gate-crasher and ex-SAS
officer Captain Algernon Ponsenby Eagles - Ape for short.' Algernon
looked round the room for any familiar faces.

'I was just passing, saw the light was on
and called in for a second. I won't eat much.' Everyone laughed and
said hi.

'I need to talk to you Hamish.'

'Stay Ape. Have a drink. We can talk
later.'