NO ORDINARY ROOM (16 page)

The effects of the pain soon left him when the light suddenly came on and he saw the array of equipment.

‘I knew it.  I just knew it.  This is no ordinary equipment.  It’s definitely military.’

Sligo took the digital camera from his pocket and started snapping away at Uncle Stanley’s computer equipment from various angles.  During his search of the room he picked up Jamie’s school excise book and flicked through the pages.

‘Very clever, using a kid’s school book as a code book.  I wonder how long it will take those intell boys to crack it.’ He closed the book and stuffed it inside his combat jacket.

Sligo picked up his torch, flicked off the light switch and declared with pride, ‘Mission accomplished.’

    He was already imagining the praise he would get and perhaps be recommended for a medal as he started to walk downstairs using his torch after the landing light he’d switched on had flickered and then went out.

‘Skit,’ he ordered when he saw Ohmslaw coming up the stairs, but the cat who he could still smell in his nostrils,  paid no heed and continued on its way upstairs.

‘I said skit, you dumb anim……..’ Sligo froze when the cat disappeared and he slipped and screamed as he fell towards the advancing lion that had just released a menacing growl and lifted a giant paw in a threatening movement.    

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Rufus Cranleigh frowned and then groaned when he saw the opened door and splintered door frame of the Tranter house.  It had been nearly twenty minutes since Sligo had left his house and Rufus had expected him to return straight away because he hadn’t taken the key.  According to Sligo’s ‘mission’ instructions Rufus was only to come looking for him after thirty minutes and not before, but Rufus needed to tell Sligo that he had just received a telephone call from Kevin Tranter and the family were on their way home.

 The idea that the Tranter family could be involved in some kind of sinister work just didn’t make sense.  The dad still didn’t have much idea about gardening despite the tips that he’d given him and would never be able to grow a decent sized cucumber.  Apparently the mother didn’t even mend her husband’s socks.  The lad was bright enough, but hardly old enough to be recruited by some foreign power. 

Rufus would make sure that the big oaf hadn’t bumped his head on the low ceilings or had some kind of accident because there had been a several intermittent power cuts just after Rufus had left his house.  Rufus never liked going inside the Tranter house because there had always been something spooky about it and Rufus would never forget the Tallacks’ who had lived there before Stanley Tranter. Sidney Tallack had been a gravedigger and claimed to have ‘communicated’ with some of those he had helped to bury. His motto had been ‘bury them deep’.  There had been talk that Sidney Tallack had made special arrangements to have him and his wife, who had died just a week after him, buried at the bottom of their own garden.  The spot had been left overgrown until the newcomer from Liverpool had decided to turn it into a vegetable patch, ignoring Rufus’s warning that he would disturb the drainage.  Now Rufus was hoping that he hadn’t disturbed something else!  

Rufus paused in the hallway and lit the oil lamp he’d brought with him.  He begrudged paying high prices for torch batteries that were forever having to be replaced.  The lamp flickered into life and Rufus edged his way down the hallway towards the staircase, freezing in his tracks when he heard the groaning sound.  He gasped when he saw the source of the groaning and then knelt down beside the semi conscious, Sligo.  Whatever Sligo had used to blacken his face appealed to the cat because it was licking off what was left of it.  Soon the whole of the face would be a deathly white, but Rufus was relieved when he saw Sligo’s eyes open just before he let out a terrifying scream.  The cat gave flight and Rufus knocked over his precious oil lamp, causing a scorch mark on the rug at the foot of the stairs.

Rufus decided that Sligo must have suffered some kind of head injury because in between his groaning and mutterings he was claiming to have been attacked by a lion, but he eventually got through to him that they needed to get out now before the family came back.  Their exit was never going to be quick and it would have taken a crane to lift Sligo, or at least four able bodied men, but Sligo managed to rally his strength and drag himself upright.  The lights came on, perhaps signalling the end of the power cuts. There was an anguished cry from Sligo when he saw that his camera had been smashed when he’d fell on it as he’d tumbled down the stairs and it was in small bits.

‘We need to go now,’ Rufus said firmly and placed Sligo’s arm on his shoulder and started edging his way down the hallway.  Sligo soon dispensed with the token help that Rufus was providing and used the wall of the hallway for support and when he reached the front door he stumbled out onto the porch way, but managed to stay on his feet and started walking down the path.

‘Hold on,’ Rufus called out as he followed Sligo out before stepping back to close the door.  At least the splintered door frame would help convince the Tranters that their house had been broken into and so it wouldn’t matter if Sligo had damaged something and it would also explain the scorch marks on the rug.

Sligo was still rambling when they got inside the Cranleigh house, but Rufus managed to guide him to the settee and it rocked when Sligo slumped down on it.  Rufus had already decided what to do and quickly read through the instructions on the mission sheet and telephoned the emergency number.  He had almost given up when his call was answered and he told the person at the embassy that Agent, Slytexasboy, was injured and needed code 774 help.  

Rufus felt relieved after making the telephone call, but was soon having fresh concerns when Sligo stopped rambling and went into a kind of trance and there was no response from him when Rufus clicked his fingers in front of Sligo’s face.  

* * *

Rufus saw the car headlights at the end of Hog’s End Lane and it looked as though the family from next door and Sligo’s American helpers might be arriving together.  He gave a sigh of relief when the cars stopped outside and he could see that one them was a private ambulance and the other wasn’t the car from next door.  The four Americans came bustling in as though they’d come to put out a fire. The two men dressed in white medical uniforms attended to Sligo and within seconds one of them had removed a syringe from a bag and plunged it into Sligo’s arm.  The short man with dark cold eyes, who seemed to be in charge, asked Rufus to give a brief summary of what Sligo had been doing and then looked at the other non medical man before declaring with a heavy sigh and shake of his head, ‘What a mess.’  

The short man proceeded to instruct Rufus as to what he must do and say when the family from next door returned and stressed that his help would benefit Anglo American security and keep their mutual enemies at bay.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

 Kevin was glad when he turned his car into Hog’s End Lane because it had taken much longer than expected to get home because of a major accident just near the halfway point.  Even Jamie had joined his sister in the land of nod for the past hour, exhausted by their exciting day at the beach.  There would be no late film for them, or anyone else for that matter.

‘Heh up, Debs, something must have happened at old Rufus’s,’ Kevin said when he saw the private ambulance and the large car pulling away from outside the Cranleigh’s house.

Debbie had been dozing rather than sleeping and rubbed her eyes before asking, ‘Do you think it is for old Mrs Cranleigh?’

‘I doubt it, not unless their lodger has pulled a few strings.  That ambulance and the car were American.’

Kevin pulled up outside their house and turned towards the back seat.

‘We’ve home, kids.’

Debbie leaned over and gently shook the sleeping brother and sister.

Kevin and Debbie were out of the car and the children were still struggling to wake up when Rufus approached.

‘I’m afraid there’s been a burglary at your house,’ Rufus said, trying to remember what he’d been told to say by the American.

‘What!’ Kevin shouted out and then shook his head in despair because it was the last thing he needed after the problems with his car

‘I’m not sure if they’ve taken anything, but they made a bit of a mess.  My lodger saw the intruders going in and he tackled them, but they have done a bit of damage and I’m afraid they got away.’

    Kevin looked serious for once when he asked Rufus about the ambulance.

‘Oh, that was for my lodger.  He’s just got a few cuts and bruises.  The Americans who came to help him said that they’ll be in touch.  They’ll inform the police and they said that they would pay for any damage or missing items.’

‘Why would they do that,’ asked a puzzled Kevin.

Rufus was nervous once more when he said he thought his lodger worked for the embassy and the American didn’t want any fuss or publicity.

‘Anyway, it’ll save you claiming on your insurance and the Americans have got more money than sense.’

Kevin was about to say, ‘What insurance!’ but instead thanked Rufus and told him that he hoped his lodger would be all right.  Rufus didn’t tell Kevin that he didn’t expect to see his lodger again.

Kevin and family were apprehensive when they made their through way through the damaged entrance, but were  soon were relieved when they couldn’t see any obvious signs of damage inside apart from some burn marks on the rug near the stairs.  When Kevin saw the badly damaged camera on the stairs he picked up the broken bits intending to throw them in the bin.

Debbie was stroking the cat when Kevin passed her and she said, ‘Poor old Ohmslaw is a bit jumpy, perhaps all the commotion frightened him.’

Kevin didn’t comment on the cat’s state, but he was thinking that a dog might be more useful if there was a danger of being robbed when they were away.

Jamie had sprinted upstairs once he was inside and he shouted down that the computer room had been broken into.  Jamie anxiously checked the various pieces of equipment, but at least nothing was missing, except his school book.  Why would anyone want to steal his homework book?

CHAPTER TWENTY–EIGHT

 Jamie had never seen a car as big as the one that was parked outside his house when he returned home from school and continued admiring it as he stood on the doorstep before heading inside.  He carried out his usual routine of throwing his school bag under the stairs before going into the living room.

‘Here’s the young genius now,’ Kevin announced. ‘I was just telling Mr Runsfeld here about your hobby and I showed him your computer stuff.  He’s from America and he told me that they invented the computer.’

It had been two days since the break in and his dad still hadn’t fixed the door to the computer room.  Kevin had laughed when Jamie had suggested he nailed it shut and muttered something about the crown jewels.

Jamie managed to stop himself from groaning at the thought that his sacred room had been violated by a complete stranger.  What would Uncle Stanley have thought?

Ed Runsfeld was fifty four years old and small for an American.  He had slightly squinty eyes and a thin face, but his smile seemed genuine when he greeted Jamie.

 ‘It’s a fine hobby that you’ve got, son.  The future is in computers and you should have a head start according to your dad, although he tells me that he knows nothing about them himself.’

‘You didn’t switch my computer on, did you, Dad?’ Jamie asked anxiously.

Jamie was relieved when his dad replied that he wouldn’t know how to, but it was short lived when he told him Mr Runsfeld was an expert and he’d turned it on.

Jamie couldn’t hide his anguish and Mr Runsfeld looked uncomfortable for a moment before offering his hand to Kevin. ‘Well, Mr Tranter, if you are happy with the financial settlement than I’ll be on my way.  I’ll pass on your wishes and thanks to Ben Sligo.’

Kevin replied that he was well satisfied and offered to show Mr Runsfeld to the door and told him that he was sorry about the camera being taken away during yesterday’s bin collection.

When Kevin returned he smiled at Jamie and kissed the cheque before he spoke in a reasonable impression of an American accent, ‘One thousand pounds for the damaged door frames and that scruffy rug.  The Americans sure are generous, buddy boy.’

‘Dad, I wished you hadn’t shown him the computer room.  You know how special it is to me.  I hope he didn’t actually use the computer.’

‘He only played with it for a few minutes while I made him a cup of tea.  It was amazing the way his hands whizzed over the keyboard and he seemed to know where to look without any hesitating.  It was a bit like watching someone play the piano.’

Jamie was thinking about what he might have seen in such a short time.  He was certain that the American would have commented on the specification figures if he had seen them, unless he had thought they had been ‘doctored’ by Jamie for a bit of fun.

‘You look upset, our Jamie,’ Kevin said when he saw the anxious look on his son’s face, but before Jamie could reply the door was opened by Debbie who had just returned from her walk.

‘Hello, Jamie love,’ she said and settled for just placing a hand on Jamie’s shoulder rather than giving him a hug and then asked Kevin how long the American had stayed.

‘He’s only just left, but not before he handed over a cheque for a thousand pounds.  The doors weren’t really damaged, just the frames and maybe the lock fitting.  We will be able to have a really good weekend away with what will be left over and make up for our disappointment. Apparently that smashed camera belonged to the lodger next door and the American feller had looked disappointed when I told him I’d thrown it in the bin.’

 Jamie took up his dad’s suggestion that he go and play on the computer and headed upstairs, but before he did he had to correct something the American had said.

 ‘By the way, Dad, the Americans didn’t invent the computer or the Internet, we did.’

Kevin shook his head and said, ‘Trust the Yanks to try and claim credit for everything.  You learn something new every day.  I know we invented cricket and football, but I never knew about us inventing those other things, especially the Internet.  Although I think George Stephenson who invented the steam engine was an Englishman.’