The Lost Treasure of Annwn (25 page)

When Jack's grandad saw them he waved and quickened his pace.

‘What's wrong?'

‘I'm afraid the shed's been broken into and there's rather a mess,' said Nora.

‘Who could have done such a thing?'

‘I think it might have been two of those boys who don't like me,' explained Jack.

‘Have they done any damage? Is the buggy alright?'

Jack swallowed hard and tried to speak but the words just wouldn't come out. As he looked up at his grandad, tears streamed down his face.

‘There, there, nothing to cry about, come here.'

Grandad opened his arms and Jack let himself be hugged. He buried his head deep into Grandad's chest. He sobbed and sobbed, for himself, for Grandad's disappointment and for his mum. He didn't care who saw him or what they thought.

When the tears eventually stopped he closed his eyes. He felt safe in his grandad's strong arms. No one had spoken and when he felt able to open his eyes again he was alone with Grandad.

‘Let's get you inside, Nora's gone to the police station. What do you say to a nice cup of cocoa? It'll make you feel a lot better, and while you have your drink and settle yourself down I'll go and have a look at the damage.'

‘They've ruined the buggy, it's all smashed up.'

‘We'll start again. We're not going to let a little thing like this upset us, are we?'

Jack tried to smile but his lips started to tremble again. Grandad took him by the hand and led him inside.

‘Up you pop, you can sleep in your own bed tonight, I'll bring you a drink up in a few minutes, and don't you worry, we'll sort it out.'

It wasn't long before Jack heard his grandad climbing the stairs. He came into Jack's room with two mugs of steaming cocoa and put them down on Jack's bedside table. Jack climbed into bed and shuffled over a bit so Grandad could sit on the edge.

‘Feeling a bit better?'

‘A bit.'

‘Nora's suggested we rebuild the buggy in her shed. What do you say? Shall we give it another go?'

Jack nodded.

‘That's the right attitude. We're not going to let a small setback like this stop us, are we?'

While they sipped their cocoa Grandad chatted about the Flower Show but Jack wasn't really listening. There were lots of thoughts going round in his head. He wondered how he was going to fit everything in. The buggy was going to take up a lot of his time and he had to start looking for the torc. His life had unexpectedly become quite complicated.

‘Have you finished?' asked Grandad as he stood up and held his hand out for Jack's mug.

Jack drained the last of the now lukewarm cocoa.

‘That's a good lad, now you sleep tight, and in the morning you can make a start on the new buggy with Elan.'

Grandad closed Jack's bedroom door and went back downstairs. When the back door opened, Jack went over to the window and peeped from behind the curtain. He watched Grandad walk across the grass with his big flashlight. He went and joined Nora and a tall policeman by the shed. He could see them peering inside but no one went through the doors. They were too far away for him to hear what they were saying. He looked over to Ewell House; it was in darkness, which probably meant Elan wasn't back yet. He knew she'd want to rebuild the buggy; she wasn't afraid of any of the gang. He resolved to be stronger and not let them bother him. Maybe then they'd leave him alone.

He got back into bed and lay on his back. He wondered when he'd be able to look for the missing pieces of the torc. In all the confusion, he'd not been able to ask anyone about Elidon, and he didn't have his Book of Shadows to consult. He yawned deeply. He was too drowsy to think any more, it was all going to have to wait until the morning. He let his head sink deeper into his pillow and his eyelids close over his tired eyes.

 

 

AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

Jack struggled to open his eyes. He could hear Grandad talking to someone in the kitchen but he'd no idea who it was. He tried to make out what was being said but couldn't. When the voices stopped he could feel himself drifting back to sleep. The sudden memory of the night before jolted him awake. He swung his legs out of bed, pushed his feet into his slippers and made his way to the kitchen in his pyjamas. He put his ear to the kitchen door. The only sound he could hear was Grandad setting the table. He opened the door a fraction and hesitated.

‘Grandad…'

‘Come on in, P.C. Stone's gone. Nothing's been taken except a few bits of metal from the framework, but I'm afraid we're not going to be able to salvage much. They did a pretty good job of smashing it up. P.C. Stone's got a good idea who's responsible and he's going to be paying them a visit this morning.'

Jack groaned inwardly. He didn't think a visit from the police would stop Max wanting to get his own back, if anything it would probably make things worse.

‘Will we have time to rebuild the buggy?'

‘It'll be tight, and unfortunately the plans are covered in paint. Finding wheels might be our biggest problem but we'll give it our best shot, won't we?'

Jack nodded.

‘Get yourself ready and we'll have breakfast. I've got to be in the judge's tent soon but you and Elan can make a start by taking anything we can reuse to Nora's and I'll see you all later this afternoon at the show.'

As Jack stood up there was a knock on the front door.

‘Who could that be at this time in the morning?' said Grandad as he went to investigate.

Jack raced upstairs and quickly got dressed; whoever it was he didn't want to be seen in his pyjamas. He raced back downstairs when Grandad called him. He'd half expected to see Nora or Elan in the kitchen so it was a complete surprise to find the smallest member of Max's gang talking to Grandad.

‘I've come to apologise,' said Techno, before Jack could say anything.

‘For what?' asked Jack.

‘For your racer being trashed.'

Grandad patted Techno on the shoulder.

‘He heard about what happened to the buggy.'

‘It wasn't me… I didn't have anything to do with it and I don't want to have anything to do with Max or his gang any more either.'

‘So it was Max and Tank?' asked Jack.

Techno bit his lip.

‘What's done is done,' said Grandad. ‘We mustn't let a couple of ruffians stop us. I think you need to listen to what this young man has to say. It took a lot of courage for him to come here this morning.'

Jack smiled weakly at Techno. They were about the same size but unlike Jack, everything about Techno was neat and sleek, including his jet-black hair. Techno took off his glasses and polished them on the bottom of his shirt before replacing them and speaking again.

‘I'd like to help you repair the damage.'

‘Why?' asked Jack a bit too abruptly.

‘I've got a plan, a good plan. The gang didn't want it. Max and Tank didn't want to make anything themselves. The men who work for Tank's dad have made a racing car for them at the scrapyard. I didn't know your buggy was going to get smashed up. I'm really sorry about it and I'd like to help, if you'll have me.'

‘See?' said Grandad. ‘I told you it'd be fine; looks like we've got ourselves another team member.'

‘We ought to ask Elan first,' said Jack.

‘Ask Elan what?' she said, as she appeared in the doorway.

When Grandad had explained, Techno fished in his back pocket.

‘I've got the plans here if you want to have a look.'

Jack watched as Grandad and Elan helped Techno to anchor the four corners of his plan down with the jar of marmalade, a jug, and the salt and pepper pots. Grandad eagerly examined the plans.

‘This is good, very good, much better than the ones we had for the Comet. Did you draw these out on your own?'

Techno nodded. Jack looked at the diagram on the table. It didn't mean much to him but he could see this buggy didn't look anything like Grandad's Comet. It was designed around the frames of two bicycles only there were two big wheels at the back and two smaller ones at the front. The rest of the technical information was a mystery to Jack. Grandad patted Techno on the back.

‘I say we welcome this young man to the team. Are we agreed?'

Elan nodded. They all looked at Jack.

‘It's fine with me, thanks for coming round.'

Techno grinned at them all.

‘We need to get started as soon as possible.'

‘You'd better come and see if we've got anything you need,' said Grandad, as he showed Techno to the shed.

‘Are you alright?' asked Elan, when they were alone.

‘Yes and no,' replied Jack honestly. ‘I'm worried about finding the torc. How do I get into Elidon? No one's told me anything.'

‘We would have if you hadn't had to leave so soon. I'll tell you all about it later, when Techno's gone.'

‘Shall I meet you at Ewell House? I haven't had my breakfast yet.'

‘That'll be fine. Techno and I can start taking what we need to Ewell House. Nora's already cleared a space… with a little bit of help!'

Jack smiled as Elan waved an imaginary wand around before turning and making her way to the shed.

As Jack got his breakfast he realised that he'd have to visit Camelin later and let him know that Techno was going to be the fourth member of the buggy team so would no longer need to be watched by the Flying Squad. He also realised that Camelin would be annoyed because now he would be excluded every time Techno or Grandad visited Ewell House. Jack sighed; pleasing others wasn't always easy.

 

‘You took your time,' grumbled Camelin, as Jack climbed up the loft ladder.

‘I'm sorry; there was a lot to do,' said Jack, before explaining about Techno.

‘Why did you say Techno could join in?'

‘He asked and said he was sorry about our buggy. Besides, even if I'd said no, it would have been two against one, both Grandad and Elan were really happy about it and we did need a fourth member for the team.'