Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death (25 page)

It was cut short, however, when Commander
Rhettnor said, 'Boys before you get too gung-ho, you have to go
back to the snow shack Piers, and take dopey face here with you.
Then, you have to get into the cavern and down the Tunnel of Death.
Hamish, Lucy and Steve should be there. Polly was with them but was
released to bring you two back within twenty-four hours. If she
doesn't, they will die.'

'You're kidding.'

'I wish I were.'

'Where is Polly now?' Miles asked just
before Piers did.

'I wish I knew. Several Rebels are holding
Hamish, Lucy and Steve captive. The Tunnel of Death is full of
traps and dangers, and it changes at will. The chances of getting
through and then getting them back safely are slim.'

'Slim, but not impossible?' Piers asked.

'Those odds suit me,' Miles added.

'Listen, you two blockheads, this is not a
game, you could both die.'

Miles looked at Xavier. 'What you did to me
was not nice. You hit me in the head, and it really hurt
Xavier.'

'Oh for Gods sake Miles, you know the reason
I did that, don't be so melodramatic, where you're going it going
to be much worse.'

'That's enough recriminations!' shouted
Rhettnor. 'Time is something we have not got. Everyone please shut
up.' And all eyes turned to the Commander. 'Stand up, boys, and
turn round and back again.'

Seconds later, the boys looked at each
other.

'That's amazing! Miles, you look exactly
like Knox.'

'You only have twenty-three hours, after
that you'll return to your original selves with before you ask, no
side effects.'

'And you do look exactly like Zack,' Miles
butted in. 'I know we are identical twins, but this is ridiculous.'
The boys were still fascinated and could not stop looking at each
other and the mirror. 'How will we ever be able to tell the
difference when the time comes? And are these real Rebel
clothes?'

Miles looked at Piers and started to giggle.
'Sorry Piers, but will you stop pulling Zack's face?'

Piers, who had been practicing Zack's stern
formidable face, grinned back. 'Well, Miles, you have Knox's stupid
face down pat. Been practicing?'

Miles charged at Piers, about to start a
wrestling match, when Rhettnor stepped in. 'Can you remember you
are not children for more than two seconds?'

The boys stood to attention both saluted and
at precisely the same time said, 'Jawohl, mein Commandant!' They
looked at each other and grinned.

Rhettnor smiled. 'You may not be twins, but
you two must be joined at the hip,' he said. 'Now please, some
serious rules. You must be aware you will be seen as enemies to any
Freeflyers you come across. And most important, in case of being
separated, you must have some sign of recognition.'

'A wink?' Miles suggested.

'Too obvious.'

'A sniff?'

'No.'

'Licking our lips?'

'No.'

'Licking someone else's lips?' Miles said,
and Piers burst out laughing again.

Rhettnor was at the end of his patience. 'Be
serious, you pair of idiots. Oh, sort that one out yourselves!' And
before they could answer, they were gone.

'I hope they will be okay, Rhett. If
anything was to happen to them…'

'They have a few tricks up their sleeves
they don't know about.'

'Still, a lot is at stake. Why don't we just
attack?'

'What with? You, me and the cat next door?'
Rhettnor slumped in his chair.

'If anything happens to those two boys, Lord
Knightly, amongst others, will not be too happy.' Xavier shook his
head.

'Do you think I don't know that?'

Things Heat Up

Event and Salute landed in front of what
looked like an early Icelandic wood-and-turf church. It was very
quiet… too quiet.

Event pointed at the building and whispered.
'That's the front of the Rebels' home base in Iceland. The shack's
hidden at the back. I hope we're not too late to save them
Salute.'

'What can we do to draw the Rebels out?
Somehow, we have got to get into that church.'

'I have some special burning fuel. It makes
a lot of smoke but no fire. We could throw it into the church, and
as they come running out, we slip in behind them under cover of the
smoke and get to Hamish, Lucy and Steve.'

Muffled voices came from Event's pocket and
at the same time as little yaps came from Salute's.

'Event, you forgot about us again,' Polly
said as Event took the girls out of his pocket, and waited while
they grew to their original size.

Fifi and the two Chihuahua's were delighted
to be let out and again played the game of who could jump the
highest.

'I'm starving,' Alison said.

'Ali, you and Miles are made for each
other,' Salute said.

'Really? Why?' Ali said. And everyone burst
out laughing.

'Shhh! Keep the noise down,' Event said. 'I
don't want to attract attention before we are ready.'

'Too late!' screamed Polly. 'Look!'

The doors of the church swung open, and
Commander Rekrap stood on the step. Next to him was Captain Bean in
his hands was an execution ray unit, and his finger was on the
trigger. He was ready for any bear that attacked.

'Welcome, welcome,' Commander Rekrap said.
'Please come in.'

Realising there was no way out, Event
whispered, 'Do as he said.'

As they all slowly trudged to the church,
the dogs ran ahead. Commander Rekrap looked at them, trying to
decide what to do next. Suddenly, he yelled, 'Kill them!' and
pointed to the dogs.

'No!' screamed Polly. She ran, grabbed Fifi
and stood in front the two little Chihuahuas. They cowered where
they stood, not sure what to do.

'Kill them,' repeated Rekrap. 'All of them.'
Polly threw herself on top of the three little dogs.

Captain Bean was in shock he didn't want to
kill the dogs or Polly, but he had never disobeyed his superior
officer before. He froze, what should he do.

'Bean, I said kill them Bean. NOW.' Rekrap
screamed.

'I don't think so, Captain Bean,' Commander
Pope said and held out his hand.

Bean was so thankful he sagged at the knees.
He saluted and handed, with a great deal of relief, the killer ray
unit to the Commander.

Rekrap went red in the face with anger.
'Commander how dare you?'

'Captain Bean, will you please take
Commander Rekrap to the dining room for a cup of tea, and leave me
to deal with this lot.'

Commander Pope looked back to where the
Freeflyers had been standing, and they were gone.

'Oh no! Search the grounds!' Pope
yelled.

Rekrap giggled. 'Who Commander? You, me,
Bean here? Or all three of us?'

'Bean, follow me! Quick! Down to the crypt!
We have to stop any rescue attempt. Rekrap, call for reinforcements
at once, man.' Pope started to run. 'Bean come with me. NOW.'

Commander Rekrap was left alone on the steps
of the church, and it was freezing cold. All he wanted was a warm
fire and cup of tea and maybe a nice digestive biscuit. Yes, he
thought, that's what I want. 'Now what did Old Nitty ask me to do?
Umm… I can't remember' He tottered around the church steps. 'I
don't like it here, it's too cold. And when I find that Polly girl,
we can talk about the movie again.' He took a last look round,
walked back in and headed for the dining room.

~

Event was not happy, he had a gaggle of
girls with him, making as much noise as they could, as he helped
them through the church kitchen window. What was it about the word
quiet they did not understand?

'Polly, Polly, come here.'

'Yes, Event.'

'Which way is it?'

'I don't know, Event. I was literally zapped
both ways.'

'Then that's a problem. Turn on the
transparency watch and have a scout round. We will hide here and
protect the girls. The last place the Rebels will think of looking
is the kitchen.'

'I'll do my very best.'

'Synchronise times. Okay Polly, be back in
the kitchen in one hour, okay? And stay invisible at all
costs.'

Event went back to the kitchen, leaving
Polly alone in the main hall. She decided to go back outside and
see what was round the back. She tiptoed past the kitchen, being
invisible was good fun. She crept to the front door.

As she went past Fifi the dog put up her
head. I know that smell, Fifi thought, and without waiting a
moment, she happily trotted out after whom she knew was Polly.

The minute Polly stepped outside, she
realised the transparency watch also protected her from the cold.
Wow! I'm going to keep this watch. It's fabulous. A nipping at her
heels broke into her thoughts.

'Fifi, what are you doing out here? You'll
freeze to death, you silly dog.' Fifi leapt up as Polly bent to
pick her up. Polly felt happy till she remembered why she was
there. 'My brother and Lucy… I have to rescue them.' As she walked
round, she realised how much the back of this church reminded her
of the back of Byzantine Crescent. She looked up. That looks like
the ambry window. If I find a ladder, I could get up to there. And,
with any luck, I should be able to find my way around. 'Fifi,
you're the dog genius. Find me a ladder.' Polly put Fifi down, and
the dog ran to a work shed. She started barking happily. Polly ran
after her, and sure enough, there was a ladder. 'Fifi, you are
marvellous.'

Polly dragged the ladder and set it up
against the wall. She checked her watch. Ten minutes were already
gone, and she had discovered nothing. She clambered up the ladder
and peered in. The room was empty, so she opened the window and
climbed in. It was dark and a little bit creepy. She crept to the
other side of the room and listened at the door. It was deathly
quiet. 'I'm so glad I have you with me Fifi,' Polly said as she
opened the door. Fifi growled and tried to pull her back by her
jeans. Polly trusted Fifi and stepped back. As her eyes became
accustomed to the dark, she saw she was standing on the edge of a
precipice.

She peered over and could not see the
bottom. 'Oh no,' she said. She tried to step back further, but the
door was in her way, it must have moved forward. She felt behind
her for the doorknob and nearly cried when she found it. She turned
it one way and then the other, but hard as she tried, it would not
budge. 'I must not panic, there must a way out of this, a lot
depends on me.' Fifi started to struggle. 'Fifi, Fifi, keep still
or we'll fall off.' But the little dog kept struggling, and Polly
was finding it very hard to hold on to her. Then it happened: One
foot slipped, followed by the other. 'Nooo!' she screamed as she
toppled over the edge, holding on tighter to the little dog.

Back in the cavern

'I can't believe it! Rhettnor has dropped us
on the wrong side of the tunnel.' Piers hit the wall with the flat
of his hand. 'This is how it was when I was left. It's rock
solid.'

'There must be another way to the tunnels.'
Miles looked round the cavern.

Piers looked up for the trap door. 'Christ,
even the trap door is gone. What else can go wrong?'

'Get real, Piers. Commander Rhettnor would
not put us anywhere that would trap us. We are supposed to be the
Rebels Zack and Knox don't forget.'

'True.'

'So what would they do?' Miles started
pressing every knob on his suit.

'Stop that, Miles. Let's see what we can do
down here first.' Piers yelled.

But Miles still kept pressing the knobs and
eventually he pressed the right button and out of nowhere, they
were in the hut, but it was pitch black. As for Piers, history
repeated itself, as someone fell through the roof of the cavern,
knocking Miles to the floor. Not being able to see a thing, Piers
fell on the body, throwing punches. A cacophony ensued - a girl
screaming and a dog yapping. It ended with Miles screaming. 'Get
off me and stop punching me Piers you're hurting me! You're hurting
me!' Piers got up and found and turned on his torch. There was no
one in the cavern except Miles.

'What was that?' Miles said. 'What fell on
me?'

'I don't know,' Piers whispered. 'Did you
hear a dog yapping?'

'Yes, and a girl screaming.'

Polly had shrunk back in the darkest corner,
holding on tight to Fifi. She was scared to breathe. How did this
happen? She was in a black hole with Zack and Knox.

'Strange things happen here, Miles. I found
that out before. Anyway, we have to find a way out of here, so
let's regroup, and try and find out what the rest of these buttons
do.'

'I would like to know what fell on me,
Piers,' Miles said.

It was Piers and Miles dressed as Rebels.
She couldn't believe her luck. She turned off the transparency
watch. 'It was me,' she said, as she jumped up.

Piers and Miles backed up to the other side
of the cavern.

'What the hell? Polly, is that you? Where
did you come from?' The boys could not believe their eyes.

'I was sent to find you,' Polly said. 'I
thought you were Rebels.'

'Find us? We were sent to rescue you. Oh and
yes, they thought we stood a better chance dressed up as
Rebels.'

'Dressed as Rebels?' Polly questioned.

'Who sent you?' Piers said.

'The Rebels.'

'The Rebels?' Piers said, 'what are you
saying Polly?'

'Wait a sec. I'm not on their side. The
Rebels told me to capture you to save the lives of Hamish, Lucy and
Steve.'

'How?' asked Miles.

'According to them, immobilise you and hand
you over.'

'Immobilise us?' asked Piers. 'That's
ridiculous. How could you possibly do that?'

'They gave me a watch that has some sort of
superpowers. And Event and Salute have come here to help. They are
hiding in the church, which I think is at the back of this
shack.'