Danny Dempsey and the Unlikely Alliance (12 page)

‘They mightn't be so rough as you imagine, Aloysius, if you got to know them better. I hear old Mr. Fantail is getting along famously with them now. If a pigeon of his age was willing to make the effort, I don't know what all the rest of you are making such a fuss about them just because they like to socialise over a few glasses of milk. I suppose Madam Noseybeak still disapproves of him going there?'

‘I wouldn't really know, Danny,' Aloysius admitted, still delving for the elusive spy his overactive imagination had conjured up, ‘I keep out of her way as much as I can. Whenever I hear her flapping and chattering through the treetops, I make it my business to take myself off in the opposite direction. One day, I miscalculated her flight pattern, and she zoomed right down and perched on my antlers. Four hours later she was still there, nattering on about everybody's business without once stopping to draw breath. Sylvia wasn't at all pleased when I told her what had delayed me getting home. I think she thought I was making it up, that I'd been indulging in you know what again. I had to get her to smell my breath before she finally believed me.' He lowered his majestic head and began raking the grass gingerly with his antlers, a look of dismay in his eyes. ‘I think this one's escaped, Danny. This could spell disaster for me.'

Danny got to his feet, brushing off stray blades of grass sticking to the knees of his jeans. ‘You might have just imagined you heard something, Aloysius,' he said, though not choosing to admit that he himself had also heard Charlie squeak earlier. Danny was glad Charlie was still in the safety of his pocket, otherwise Belinda's Father might insist he be locked up with the other prisoners of war. Which wouldn't at all have been a good idea, considering Charlie's powers of transformation.

‘Oh, I heard it all right, Danny. It sounded exactly like all the other secret agents I managed to capture who were sent to gather information about me.' He raised his head and shook it in resignation. ‘I'm going to have to be extra vigilant from now on. When Taylor hears about the vital part my antlers play in keeping me balanced in competition, I wouldn't put it past him to hire someone to shear either the left or right side off with a chainsaw when I'm asleep. I'm going to have to hire myself a night guard to counteract that piece of underhandedness. I bet Bartholomew the badger wouldn't say no to a job like that. He sleeps all day, anyway.'

‘You're sure you're not overreacting, Aloysius?' Danny asked cautiously, feeling a bit guilty that it was Charlie who had been responsible for this particular bout of neurosis.

‘I have to protect one of my most precious possessions, Danny. Surely you can see that. It's my destiny to become world champion. I've got to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. It will all be worth it in the end.'

Dusk was beginning to descend. Danny decided he could be here till Kingdom Come, and he still wouldn't have been able to change Aloysius's mind without telling him where the squeak had really come from. And when all was said and done, he'd far more important things to be worrying about right now than whether or not a neurotic stag ever realised his ambition.

If determination was anything to go by, he wouldn't be surprised to some day read about a new world darts champion in the sports pages as Aloysius maintained he was going to be. Before he said goodbye, though, he got down to the real purpose he'd decided to stay behind in the woods for. He wasn't long getting Aloysius's full attention when he told him about the case he was now working on. The stag was horrified after Danny outlined the full details.

‘Oh, Danny, that's terrible!' he exclaimed. ‘The very thought of my Belinda ever being spirited away like that makes my blood run cold. How could they do it?'

‘I want you to spread the word, Aloysius. We've absolutely no leads to go on at the moment, though we're pretty certain from their demands that they haven't left the country. Find out if any of the animals have seen or heard anything out of the ordinary in the last week or so. We're becoming desperate. I was going to contact Madam Noseybeak, but she'd only look down her beak at me if I told her we'd nothing whatsoever to go on. And I haven't time to listen to her chattering about human incompetence and all the rest of it at the moment.'

‘I know how you feel, Danny. It's a pity she doesn't show a little humility now and then to balance all that wonderful efficiency she shows when the occasion calls for it.'

Danny kept his face serious despite the temptation to smile. Aloysius hadn't exactly been hiding his own light under an elderberry bush regarding his expertise at dart blowing. In fact, he'd been downright boastful about it, and it sounded a bit like the pot calling the kettle black when he mentioned the word humility. But Danny knew the stag's heart was in the right place, as indeed was Madam Noseybeak's, despite their inability to see themselves in the light that others might possibly notice straight away. But then again, Danny knew, they were no different to every other living creature on the planet. We all had our own self-deceptive ways we weren't even aware we carried around with us in invisible containers.

‘If you hear anything that you think might help, Aloysius, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know immediately. If I'm not at home, get Herbert the hare to drop a note in my letterbox.'

‘I'll get working on it straight away, Danny. You just leave it to me. I'll call a mass meeting first thing tomorrow morning.'

Before they parted, Danny gave Belinda's Father a slip of paper to pass on to Ollie the otter. It contained a remedy for his multiple ailments. All four could be cured by simply juggling eight acorns, two for each malady, beneath the overhanging boughs of a willow tree at exactly the same time as a cloud shaped like a humming bird was passing over the luminosity of a full moon.

Danny stayed where he was until it was pitch dark before he removed Charlie from his pocket. He brought Charlie's tiny ear close to his mouth and whispered something into it. In an instant came the sound of powerfully beating wings, creating a wind which shook the branches of the nearby trees, causing flurries of leaves to fly in all directions. A great black shape materialised close to Danny, and the beating wings were immediately stilled.

The night creatures had all disappeared into their dens and burrows on hearing what they took to be the onset of a storm. They were puzzled when it seemed to have so suddenly abated. They'd no sooner popped their heads out once more, when it surged up again, beating at the bushes and making the grass dance madly, resulting in the animals diving back into the safety of their various dens.

None of them saw Danny mounted on the back of a prehistoric pterodactyl as it ascended effortlessly into the night sky, his arms clinging tightly to its scaly neck, its huge batlike wings bearing both of them towards home.

He hoped the Super would approve of his mode of transport, plus his promise that he'd make sure nobody saw him on his homeward journey. The height they were flying at, plus the black cloak of night, ensured their invisibility from any earthbound eyes. Danny also hoped that Mrs. Pearson was safely tucked up in bed when the time came for them to swoop down over her house to make their landing in his compound. Otherwise, Sergeant Neville might receive a visit from her tomorrow and have to listen to another of her nonsensical stories.

M
atthew Dawson had lost count the days since his captivity. He supposed about a week had passed by now. On the day of his arrival, he'd been brought inside the house and seated in an armchair before the blindfold had been removed. The thug who persisted in addressing him as
Pops
folded it up neatly and placed it in his pocket, then left him alone in the room, locking the door after him. When Matthew became less disorientated, he stood up to inspect his surroundings.

He found that he was in a large, luxurious bedroom which was furnished in keeping with its splendour. It reminded him of a bedroom like those in the most expensive hotels in the country, except that neither a television set nor a radio were anywhere to be seen. The room contained a double bed, an
en suite
bathroom, a well stocked drinks cabinet, and every conceivable comfort associated with wealth.

There was a mahogany table with ornately carved legs in the centre of the room, with four matching chairs in place around it. He couldn't but wonder where on earth he was. There were magnificent scarlet drapes hanging from ceiling to floor adorning what was obvious a large window. When Matthew walked across the thick pile of the carpet and pulled the sash to open the drapes, he found that the window panes had all been painted black to obscure his view of the outside world. When he tried to open the window, he was unsuccessful.

Should a rescue team arrive at any second to free him, the only complaint he could have made about his treatment at the hands of his abductors was that he'd never been allowed to leave the bedroom at any stage of his incarceration. When he pointed out that he required exercise, both a treadmill and a rowing machine were installed in his room. He'd even been examined by a doctor not long after he arrived. At first he thought it was some impostor playing a cruel joke on him, but soon realised that he was wrong. It was obvious only after a few minutes that the man was indeed an experienced medical practitioner. He was familiar with the heart condition Matthew was afflicted with and, within an hour of the initial examination, after he'd left and locked the door behind him, he returned with an ample supply of the necessary medication.

When Matthew demanded to be informed of where he was and what was going on, the doctor merely shrugged his shoulders. The only time he spoke at all was in regard to medical matters, and to assure Matthew that he was at his service whenever Matthew needed him. It was the same with the others who attended on him. They were all polite and courteous, from the woman who came every day to make up his bed and tidy his room, to the man who served his meals. None of them would speak to him of anything, apart from their roles in providing for his welfare. After the third day of trying to squirrel information from them, Matthew realised he was wasting his time.

He couldn't even complain of any great degree of boredom. There was an ample supply of books lining a mahogany bookcase. Several were classics he'd always intended reading over the course of the years, but somehow had never gotten round to. There was also an electronic chess set against which he could pit his wits. He was doing just that one night, when he heard the rotor blades of a helicopter hovering somewhere outside. He couldn't help but wonder if at last his rescue was at hand.

*

Lily was becoming more and more doubtful as the days progressed. She couldn't understand why her Mommy had left her with Mrs. Stevens for such a long time. Mrs. Stevens was a very nice lady, and there was no denying that they'd had a lot of fun together, even if she wasn't particularly good at computer games.

Every time she asked her when she was going to be taken home, Mrs. Stevens told her it would be very soon now. Her Mommy was in Paris with her Daddy at the moment. Her Daddy had had a minor accident when he went over there on a business trip, so her Mommy had flown to stay by his side until the doctors discharged him from hospital, which would be any day now. Her Daddy was perfectly all right, Mrs. Stevens said quickly when she saw the look of concern on Lily's face. It was only a twisted ankle, which would be as good as new in no time. Mrs Stevens told her her Mommy had sent a text message yesterday saying that everything was coming along nicely, and they'd both be home soon. It all seemed very strange to Lily.

Why on earth would her Mommy chose Mrs. Stevens to mind her when she lived so far away from town? Why hadn't she asked Mrs. Birmingham, who lived beside them, to look after her? Mrs. Birmingham and her Mommy were the best of friends. And Mrs. Birmingham's daughter, Cathy, was the same age as Lily. They played together all the time. They even went to the same school, for heavens sake. All Lily could think of was that her Mommy must have been very upset at the time of receiving the news about her Daddy, and she hadn't been thinking properly when she asked Mrs. Stevens to pick Lily up from school.

Lily had timed the car journey the day Mrs. Stevens collected her. It had taken over three hours. But why anyone would want to live in such a desolate area she'd simply no idea. They'd eventually driven down a narrow country lane which made the car hop and squeak before driving towards a great big towering hedge which could have done with some serious pruning.

Lily was sure Mrs. Stevens had taken a wrong turning, but then part of the hedge swung open as though by magic. After they'd gone through the gap, Lily thought she saw the opening disappear in the rear-view mirror, which was straight in her line of vision. She squirmed around in her seatbelt, looking through the back window to see if she'd imagined it. She hadn't. The gap had disappeared. Not only that, but there was a man in Wellington boots and dungarees sliding a bolt into place in a big steel gate located at the back of the hedge. Then Lily remembered Mrs. Stevens making a call on her mobile phone about ten minutes before they got to the hedge, telling someone she'd be arriving soon.

Lily suspected that Mrs. Stevens must be a very wealthy lady to hide herself away in the middle of nowhere behind a gate that nobody could possibly know was there. She must be even richer than her own Daddy to go to all that trouble to protect her privacy. Maybe she'd won an enormous amount of money on the Lotto and was afraid someone would kidnap her and hold her to ransom. Then Lily told herself not to be so silly to be thinking things like that. But she really couldn't help it.

Even her own Daddy had become very security conscious, now that there were so many awful things happening all over the country. He'd had CCTV cameras fitted at the back and front of the house not that long ago, though how on earth anyone could get close to it, Lily couldn't imagine. There was a ten foot wall surrounding their house, with electronic gates leading into their driveway, plus an intercom system built into the gate pillars visitors had to announce themselves through before they were admitted.

Every house on the tree-lined avenue in which they lived was protected in much the same way. They'd been advised to do so by the authorities not long after criminals had tried to break into Mr. and Mrs. Clarke's house. Mr. Clarke was the president of a building society, and everyone was quite shocked at the time, even if the intruders hadn't managed to breach the security system. They'd been caught on camera fleeing the scene after the alarms went off but, as they were wearing balaclavas, the footage hadn't been any help to the Gardai in tracking them down.

When Lily asked Mrs. Stevens why she didn't bring her to school every day, Mrs. Stevens told her she wasn't to be worrying about anything like that at the moment. Miss Rawlings had granted her special leave of absence until her Mommy and Daddy came home. Miss Rawlings thought it was the best thing to do under the circumstances. Mrs Stevens said the headmistress thought Lily mightn't be able to concentrate on her lessons properly until things returned to normal. Not, of course, Mrs. Stevens added, there was really anything to worry about. But Lily was an extremely inquisitive little girl, and she continued to ask questions. Sometimes she got answers that satisfied her. Sometimes she didn't.

Lily shared a bedroom with Mrs. Stevens. It had two single beds, and was a lovely room. Lily wasn't confined to it day and night as her grandfather was to his. She'd no idea he was in the same house as herself, and alarm bells might have gone off in her head had she been made aware of it. Lily loved her grandfather very much.

He was her Mommy's Daddy, and he visited them every second Sunday for lunch. His wife had died before Lily was born, and he lived in a big house on the outskirts of town. It had higher walls than the ones her Daddy had had built around theirs, with even bigger electronic gates leading to the long driveway towards the house itself. Whenever they visited her grandfather, her Daddy always phoned in advance with the exact time that they'd be arriving, so the gateman would be expecting them.

Her grandfather was always very kind to Lily, and she knew he loved her every bit as much as she loved him. Mommy had been his only child. Sometimes Lily's mind would dwell on this, and she found it hard to imagine that her Mommy had once been a little girl like herself.

If it wasn't raining on the days they visited her grandfather, her Mommy would take Lily out into the grounds for a walk, while her Daddy and grandfather discussed business after lunch. They rarely talked about anything else, and Lily often got the impression that her Mommy became very bored listening to them on days when it was too wet to go outside. Lily didn't blame her, thought it seemed to Lily that her Daddy and her grandfather liked nothing better than discussing percentage points and interest rates and other things she didn't understand. Just as soon as the servants had cleared the table and left them alone, out would come the brandy and cigars, and off they'd start.

Sometimes Lily thought her Mommy couldn't get out of the house quickly enough. It was especially lovely on a summer's day. Her grandfather had a gardener working fulltime to maintain the grounds, and he was an expert at his job. Sunday, which was always the day they visited her grandfather, was the gardener's day off, so herself and her Mommy had it all to themselves.

They'd wander through the avenue of trees, with the sun sending shafts of light through the trellised branches, projecting the shapes on the pathway as though they were stencilled there. Then they'd emerge from the dappled canopy into the full heat of the sun and take a stroll around the artificial lake to watch the carp in the shimmering water. Lily only wished she was there with her Mommy right now.

When she'd asked Mrs. Stevens to take her for a walk outside, Mrs. Stevens said she didn't think it was a very good idea. And when Lily suggested she be allowed out by herself, Mrs. Stevens told her she thought that would be even
less
of a good idea. Lily asked her why. Because, Mrs. Stevens said, opening her eyes very wide, and putting on a frightened expression, ‘There are wild animals out there.'

She didn't sound very convincing. ‘What sort of wild animals?' Lily asked.

‘All sorts,' Mrs Stevens said, giving a silly shudder for effect, which did nothing to make Lily believe she was telling the truth. ‘All sorts of ugly monsters lurking in the bushes waiting to gobble up anyone foolish enough to wander around looking for trouble.'

‘Then why was that man in the dungarees out there by himself when we were driving up to the house the day we arrived?'

‘What man would that have been, Lily?' Anna asked her, her eyes narrowing a fraction. ‘I didn't see anyone.'

‘He closed the gate after us, Mrs. Stevens. Surely you must have seen him in the rear-view mirror.'

‘Oh, him!' Anna replied, sorry now she hadn't the heart to follow the Boss's orders. She'd been instructed to tie Lily's hands together and put a blindfold on her as soon as she had her safely in the car. ‘He's even scarier than the monsters. I wouldn't like
him
to get his hands on me.'

‘I don't believe in monsters, Mrs Stevens. That's all nonsense. And I didn't think that man looked one bit scary either. You just don't want to take me for a walk. I'm fed up being cooped up in here every day.'

Anna Conway sighed. Lily was far too bright for her age. And it was becoming harder and harder every day to keep her amused and convinced of the story about her Mommy and Daddy. Not that she doubted for a minute that the Boss knew exactly what he was doing down to the last detail, but she'd really have perferred if he hadn't included Lily in his plans. Anna didn't think it was necessary. Surely nabbing the Governor of the Central Bank would have been enough of a shock to the nation to make the authorities hand over whatever was demanded.

Herself and Lily were located in a secluded part of the house. Special partitions had been included in the building of it, so that at the touch of a switch the house could be divided into four separate self-contained entities. But the house was so big, each section was large enough to provide accommodation for several people. And each section, through an intricate feat of architectural brilliance, could gain access to the main entrance.

In Anna's and Lily's section was a bedroom, kitchen, games-room, lounge and dining room. No access to any other part of the building, apart from the main entrance, could be achieved unless a specific request was made from Anna over a secret intercom behind a framed painting hanging in the lounge. All she had to do was inform the control room, and the partition separating them from the rest of the house would be made disappear into the floor.

It was whispered that the Egyptian architect, plus the entire foreign workforce who'd been contracted to construct the house had all disappeared as soon as the last piece of the amazing jigsaw had been completed. Rumour had it that they'd been taken on sightseeing helicopter rides in twos and threes out over the great expanse of the ocean by Myles Moran and some of his employees, and been given a closer view of the surging sea than they may have wished for. But that was only speculation. They'd more than likely merely boarded an aeroplane at the airport to head home after their tasks had been completed, substantial cheques in their wallets, presented with compliments of Moran Enterprises.