Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death (19 page)

'Probably because of the heat,' Steve said.
'After all, it is a polar bear.'

'You would be right,' Hamish said.

'So it looks like the middle one after all,'
Piers said. 'And if I hadn't helped her mother, we wouldn't have
little Daphne to decide our fate, would we?'

'That's small compensation. Let's hope she's
right.' Steve laughed. 'I must admit she's cute though.'

'Wait,' Piers said. 'I don't know why, but
something is still holding me back.'

'Piers, please be reasonable. We have just
about run out of food…'

'I know, but some evil force somehow put us
here, and will most probably come back and get us. I for one would
like to be here when they come back. Alternatively, we could get
rescued.'

'And bears could fly. Be reasonable, Piers,'
Hamish said.

'Yeah, okay, you're right. So the middle
tunnel it is.'

Steve walked to the middle tunnel first.
'Okay, Piers, pick up little Daphne. I don't want her running on
ahead.'

Because the entrance of the tunnel was
narrow, they could only just squeeze through one at a time. Steve
handed Hamish the end of the rope.

'Right,' he said. 'I'll go first Hamish, you
follow and Piers can bring up the rear with little Daphne.'

Steve entered the tunnel, and once he got
through the first narrow opening, the tunnel seemed to lighten up
with every step he took.

'Okay, Hamish, I'm through that first narrow
bit, and it's looking good.' Hamish gave the other end of the rope
to Piers.

'He put his arms round Piers and the bear.
'See you on the other side, old son,' he said.

Piers responded. 'See you Hamish.' They
grasped arms. 'You have become a good friend.'

Hamish squeezed into the tunnel, it took a
little longer than Piers expected, probably because he was a little
larger than Steve. 'I'm through Piers!' he shouted. 'Come on.'

Piers sat on a rock, wrapped Daphne's
harness lead tightly round his arm, adjusted the bundle on his back
and walked towards the tunnel. Suddenly he was in total darkness.
He ran his hands over the wall where the tunnel entrances had been.
They had vanished. 'Hamish! Steve!' he yelled as he pummeled the
wall till his fists bled. He leaned against the wall. 'Oh my God,'
he whispered. He was alone in the dark with the little bear.

One step forward - two steps back

Selim walked into the great hall to the
sounds of astonishment. No one - but no one - had ever escaped from
the Rebels before. Commander Rhettnor ran to meet him.

'Selim, Selim, my boy,' he said with tears
in his eyes, and he threw his arms round him. 'Thank all that's
good! Selim, we thought you were a goner… gone for good. How did
you get away?'

Selim could hardly talk, he was still
suffering from the recoil of the circle of restraint. God knows
what Bean must be feeling. 'Uncle,' was all he could manage to
say.

'Take him to recovery,' Rhettnor commanded
two Freeflyers who were standing close by. 'And where is Xavier?
Find him and tell him his nephew is here safe.'

'He is on his way to Iceland, sir, trying to
find the missing UFOs.'

'Still get in contract with him and get him
back here. The rest of the Freeflyers can continue the search. We
need every senior Freeflyer available to find Miles before he slips
between the universes into the void. We can't lose that boy. The
worse thing is, even the Rebels do not know where he is. Well, what
are you waiting for? Go, go!'

'Yes, sir,' several voices answered the
Commander, as they lifted and flew out of the emergency window.

More mishaps

Lord Knightly was expecting a visitor for
morning tea. He had got out the best tea set and had the usual
selection of the best cakes money could buy. The girls love cakes,
he thought as he arranged them on the plates.

The doorbell jingled. Creek the Butler
answered it and announced Lord Knightly's daughter Gemma.

'Good morning Daddy. Any news from Piers or
Miles?'

'Not yet, but it's only a matter of time.
Come and sit down. Look, I have your favourite cakes, darling.'

'Daddy I'm not five. Still, they are my
favourites. Coffee please Daddy? Milk, no sugar.'

The doorbell jangled again. 'Are you
expecting someone else today, Daddy?'

'No, I'm not,' Lord Knightly said and looked
up expectantly.

'Good morning, sir.'

Sreip, come in. Happy to see you. Gemma, you
know Commander Sreip.'

'Miss Knightly,' Sreip said. 'And may I
introduce Captain Jamie Brummell Sir.'

The Captain saluted.

'Captain Brummell, my daughter Gemma, please
come and sit down. Morning tea is in session.'

The Lord waved his hand at the table, and
they all sat. The conversation flowed freely as Gemma passed round
the cakes, and everyone took one.

'So any news Sreip?'

'Event is leading a scouring party to find
Piers and Hamish. He knows approximately where they are. Do you
have a map of the North Pole, Sir?'

'Yes I have, all the maps are in my office.'
Lord Knightly stood. 'Come with me, Sreip. Let's see what we can
find. Bring your coffee.'

Jamie stood. 'No. You stay here Captain,'
Sreip said.

'Yes Sir,' Jamie said. He looked at Gemma
and was delighted to spend some time with her without her father
and Sreip.

~

'So, how long have you known Sreip, Jamie?'
Gemma asked.

'Only since,' he looked at his Earth time
alert, 'seven this morning, and my friends call me JB.'

'Just today. How come, JB?' Gemma said
shyly.

'Well, it was a mistake.'

'A mistake?' Gemma smiled. 'How come a
mistake?'

The first time Jamie Brummell saw Gemma
Knightly, he'd thought she was lovely. Now when she smiled he was
in love.

One Step back…

Alison woke first. When she opened her eyes,
she wasn't sure where she was, and then she remembered they were in
the cottage. 'Polly, wake up. We have to get some breakfast for our
gypsy visitor.'

'What's the time? Oh God, it's eight
thirty.' They jumped out of bed and ran up the garden path. When
they got to the door of the crypt, they were surprised it was
closed. Polly pushed and pulled, but it was locked up tight.

'That's odd,' Alison said. 'How are we going
to get in?'

'I don't know. Have you got a key to the
front door?'

'No.'

'Bugger! We're locked out,' Polly said.
'Let's walk round the front. Maybe Zola the gypsy will let us in,
if she's still here.'

But no matter how much they yelled and
banged on the door, no one answered. 'Locked out of our house. I
don't believe it,' said Polly.

'We'll have to break a window to get in,'
Alison said.

'And what if the gypsy's dead?'

'Polly, what a dreadful thing to say, she
probably left first thing this morning.'

'Get over it Ali. Which window shall we
break?'

'No, there's a ladder round the side. I
could climb and get in through a bedroom window.'

'Great idea, Ali, but I'm a bit fitter than
you, so I'll climb up. Or maybe we should stay together there's no
knowing what happened in there.'

The girls ran round the side, grabbed the
ladder and, with a great many squeals and giggles, set it up
against the wall where the window of the bedroom was. They started
to climb up.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you.' The
girls looked down to see a timeworn, very thin man. He had long
black hair that stood up straight from his head. His eyes were big
and sunken so far in his head they looked like two black sewer
holes. He had no lips, and when he spoke, his mouth formed a
perfect circle. He was dressed in black sacking, and his
fingernails were six inches long.

'What do you mean?' Polly said and looked
defiantly at the old man.

'That ladder will collapse before you get
halfway up,' he said and pointed.

The girls checked it, and sure enough, there
was a big crack halfway up the ladder that did not look at all
safe.

'Why are you in our garden?' Alison
asked.

'Your neighbour heard you banging the door
and calling you were locked out. Mrs Hart had left her a spare key,
and here it is.'

'How marvellous. Thank you so much,' Polly
said. The three of them walked to the front of the house, and Polly
opened the door. She said thank you again to the old man, who waved
his hand as he shuffled away.

~

'Alison, you put on the kettle, and I will
go and see if gypsy Zola is awake.'

'Okay,' Alison said, and walked into the
kitchen. She was going to lay the table for breakfast and tried to
move the gypsy's basket off the table. It would not budge. As she
was struggling to lift it, Polly came in.

'She's not there,' Polly said. 'How
strange.'

'Yes, and she left the basket, and it's so
heavy I can't lift it.'

Polly pushed Alison out of the way and
grabbed the handle. Try as she might, it did not budge an inch.

'See?' said Alison.

There was a knock on the door, and the
kettle started to sing.

'It's probably the gypsy coming back for her
basket. Let's see if she can pick it up,' Polly exclaimed.

Polly heard the excited sounds of Lily and
Lucy as they rushed into the kitchen and threw their arms around
her.

'We're going to be staying Polly,' Lily
said, and she jumped up and down with excitement. All the girls
joined hands, cheered and danced round in a circle.

'So, you're all here together at last.' The
girls looked up to see Gypsy Zola standing in the doorway.

~

'We couldn't find you Madam Zola,' Polly
said with a smile. 'Come and join us. We are just about to have
breakfast. And your basket is safe here we did not look in it.'

'Did you try to move it?' the gypsy said
icily.

'Yes,' both Polly and Alison said in
return.

'I wanted to lay the table,' said
Alison.

'I'm glad you told me the truth,' said Zola
as she sat at the table and pulled the black basket closer. Polly
and Alison stared in disbelief.

'I'll make the coffee,' said Lily to break
the tension.

'No, you just sit down. I want to speak.'
The gypsy waved her arms to the empty seats, and the girls sat. The
two Liddles, Minx and Manx, jumped on the table. 'Ah, Zack's
Liddles, and where is your master?' the gypsy said.

The Liddles sidled up to Zola and whispered
in her ear.

'Minx, Manx, come. I have your favourite
sweets,' Polly stood and called. The Liddles changed colours but
stayed with the gypsy. 'Minx, Manx!' Polly called again.

'Polly, sit down at once, and if you are not
quiet, I will banish you to a place you will not like. Now shut up
and listen to what I have to say.'

'How can you be so horrible?' Alison said,
'after we invited you into our home and were nice to you.'

'I said sit and be quiet, all of you,' she
said. 'Don't make me lose my temper.'

'How dare you? Get out of my house at once,'
Polly said and walked round the table to grab the gypsy and throw
her out.

But before Polly got close, the black basket
started to open. A dirty, grey, foul-smelling mist drifted round
the table.

'If you do not want anything bad or painful
to happen to your friends, Polly.' And while she was speaking, the
mist formed hands and drifted round the girls' necks, tightening as
she spoke. 'I suggest you sit back down.'

'Come here, Polly, please,' Alison said
desperately. Polly walked back to her seat and sat down. The mist
disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

'Right, now listen very carefully to what I
have to say. It not only affects you round the table but everyone
you have ever known and loved. Do you understand?'

'No, I don't understand!' Polly yelled. 'Get
out of my house!'

'Polly, I have warned you twice. On the
thrice, I will put a curse on you and all you come to love, and I
promise you, they won't like it at all.'

'Polly, please,' Alison whispered. 'Sit
down. Let's hear what she has to say.'

'Your cousin is very wise, as are your
friends.'

'We're not frightened of you or your party
tricks,' Lily said.

The gypsy was rearranging her shawl and did
not see who spoke.

'Who dared to speak?'

No one answered.

The gypsy cackled. 'Do you think I don't
know it was you, Lily?' she said. 'However, I will let it pass… for
now. But if any of you speak, move or upset me again, I will punish
Lucy.'

Now she had total control, no one would do
anything to hurt Lucy.

'Right, it's time. Now where is my helper?'
and she lifted the lid of the basket. The old man who had given the
girls the key slid out. He was as flat as a piece of paper and
stood behind the gypsy.

'Now let me see what else I have in my
basket. Heh, heh, heh.'

The girls had no idea what was going to
happen, so they all joined hands.

The polar bear

Piers stood stock-still, he was in a state
of total shock. How could a whole wall move just like that? It
can't. He cuddled into Daphne. There must be a logical answer. An
earthquake? Or did the wall just move on its own? He looked in his
bundle. Luckily, he'd been given the tools to carry - probably
because he was the youngest and strongest - and in amongst them was
a torch.

'Thank the Lord,' he said. He switched on
the torch, and after examining the wall and finding it rock solid,
he walked back to the trap door. After a great deal of swearing,
pulling and pushing, he managed to push the trap door back open. He
lifted the bear cub up first and climbed up into the empty
shack.

~

There is a lot of provisions, and bedding
left, so unless I go mad from loneliness, I can at least survive.
But, my dear little bear cub, what about you? Piers looked at the
cupboard in the back of the shack. He found and made some porridge
for them both. When they had finished, Daphne licked the dishes and
the saucepan as clean as a whistle. 'Saves the washing up,' Piers
said. And surprising himself, he smiled.