The Turnarounders and the Arbuckle Rescue (41 page)

Ralf and his dog jumped down to meet him.

‘It’s all over the village,’ said Alfie. ‘Your sister’s well hard, innit?’

Ralf beamed. ‘Yeah, she was pretty cool, actually,’ he said. ‘You should have seen Brindle’s face!’

‘Not that chuffed?’ said Alfie, impishly.

‘Not really, no!’ chuckled Ralf. ‘How’s it going with the Muntons?’

‘That’s why I came down, cuz,’ said Alfie, seriously. ‘I’ve had ‘em under surveillance, pretty much twenty-four, seven since you asked.’

Ralf frowned. ‘But how, Alfie? What about sleep?’

‘Nah, mate,’ Alfie grinned. ‘Not just me. I’ve had the Crew on it. They’re a good lot, as it goes. You know – little, but feisty! I got them on a rota. Even got village kids and London kids working together. The grown-ups hate it!’

Ralf laughed. ‘Good thinking. So what’ve you got?’

‘Burrowes has been down to talk to the Muntons twice. They looked pretty nervous both times but somehow they managed to convince him they’re on the straight and narrow.’

‘And are they?’

‘Are they, heck!’ said Alfie. ‘They’ve only been out on the boat twice since last week and both times they came back with empty nets. What are they living on, eh? Sea water?’

‘Interesting,’ said Ralf.

‘That’s not all, though. Gordon Kemp’s all over them like a rash. He’s been down to talk to them most days. He’s keen for them to move on but they aren’t budging.’

‘But what are they hanging round for?’ Ralf asked. ‘And how do we find out?’

‘That’s just it,’ said Alfie. ‘I think we’re going to. I been psyching them out proper, man, and I think they’re about to crack! Look!’

Ralf’s eyes followed Alfie’s pointing finger to his old mooring spot right on the end.
The Lot's Lady
was tied there. There was no one on deck but on the quayside stood three small, silent figures, staring at the windows of the boat, still as statues.

‘Alfie,’ Ralf looked at Alfie sternly. ‘What are they doing?’

‘I had the idea after the run, right?’ Alfie grinned. ‘It was you who did it really, dressed up like that, you know, the freaky white haired kid that doesn’t fit in?’

‘Cheers.’

‘No worries,’ said Alfie. ‘Anyway, it reminded me of this old film I saw once. There was all these kids with blond hair and blue eyes born in this little village. And they was cleverer than all the adults and when they wanted to get someone to do something they just stood there, silent, in a group and watched them. All the grown-ups got weirded out and had breakdowns and stuff.’

‘Alf,’ said Ralf. ‘I’ve seen that film. Things do not turn out great for the kids at the end of that, ok?’

‘No, no, Wolf! It’s sweet!’ Alfie grinned. ‘Trust! So I get The Crew together and we go on watch in twos and threes, right? It’s totally working! They’re fighting all the time, man. Thought Oyler was gonna take a swim at one point, yesterday. Gadd had him pushed right over the rail.’ Alfie’s eyes sparkled with excitement. ‘Anyway, after they’d calmed down, Gadd told Oyler to watch the boat and said he was going to check on things. I didn’t know what he meant at first. So I left The Crew watching the boat and followed him. He went up the little path at the back of Brindle’s and into the wood then I lost him.’

Ralf smiled as he realised where Alfie was going with this.

‘But we’ve got Cabal now!’ he exclaimed. ‘I bet he’d be able to sniff it out!’

Alfie grinned back at him. ‘Exactly.’

Ralf had no lead for Cabal but found he didn’t need one. The dog trotted happily at his heels as they left the harbour. He loped a little way ahead on the path that ran behind the High Street shops but came to back to join them as they emerged on to the lane. Checking the way was clear they Shifted, with the dog yipping joyfully after them.

They’d been moving for about twenty minutes and were deep into Tarzy Wood when Alfie, breathless from Shifting came to a stop in a small clearing.

‘This is where I lost him,’ he said. ‘I was only about a hundred yards behind him but when I got here there was no sign.’

Ralf looked around. A feeling of familiarity buffeted him but he put it to one side. He could have passed through this clearing any number of times.

‘Cabal!’ he called. The dog padded over and Ralf scratched behind his ears. ‘Right, boy!  Do your stuff! Find the Munton’s hideout!’

Cabal, an uncanny look of understanding in his brown eyes, nudged Ralf’s leg and then put his nose to the ground. He sniffed every inch of the clearing. At times he was slow and painstaking, at times he covered ground rapidly at a trot. At one point he paused by a large hellebore and pawed the earth but then he shook himself and padded to the other side of the open space. Ralf and Alfie followed him excitedly for the first five minutes but as time passed their hope faded. Cabal stopped more often and began to nose at Ralf’s hand, as if seeking reassurance.

‘Well,’ said Alfie, eventually, ‘we tried.’

‘I should have given him something belonging to the Muntons, so he could follow the scent,’ said Ralf.

‘I’m not sure that would have helped,’ said Alfie. He crouched near the hellebore, examining the soft earth. ‘Look here.’

There were boot prints in the mud. Ralf knelt to examine them. ‘Three different sets of prints it looks like,’ he frowned. ‘There’s been a lot of movement through here recently. The scents must be crossing each other. Cabal doesn’t know which one to follow. Don’t worry, boy!’ he said, patting the dog’s large head. ‘You did your best.’

It was at that moment he felt Cabal’s muscles tense under his hand. The dog turned away and trotted quietly away.

‘Someone’s coming!’ Alfie, whispered. ‘Maybe Gadd’s coming back!’

‘Come on!’ Ralf grabbed Alfie’s arm and the two boys Shifted in the direction Cabal had taken. They found him, low on his belly, in deep thicket a short way from the clearing and dropped down to join him when they heard voices.

‘ …happened just like he said it would. They’ve gone into Belgium, Holland and France and any as stands in their way’s been cut down like corn,’ said a familiar voice. ‘But things’ll change now, you’ll see.’

‘Dad says Winston Churchill being made Prime Minister is the best thing that could’ve happened,’ said another. ‘Did you hear him yesterday? ‘
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat…’
Dad stood to attention at the end of the broadcast. I swear there were tears in his eyes.’

Ralf edged forward and peered through the leaves. Ben Cheeseman and Walter Sedley stood by the hellebore scanning the trees around them.

‘Are we clear?’ Ben Cheeseman asked.

Ralf ducked back down, blinking. Walter Sedley was a beacon of colour in the trees. The sunshine yellow that surrounded him lit up the forest like a flare.

‘Clear,’ Ralf heard him say. ‘Let’s get in, transmit the drop message and get back home. I’ve got potato pie for supper.’

Ben Cheeseman chuckled. ‘You’re always thinking about your belly!’

Ralf tentatively raised his head again and was just in time to see man and boy duck behind the hellebore. There was a muffled thud and then a faint sound of creaking, which seemed to come from underground.

Ralf caught Alfie’s eye. ‘The Zero Station!’ he mouthed.

Alfie nodded then jerked his head back towards the road. As one, the two boys Shifted. Cabal bounded after them.

‘I’d completely forgotten it was there!’

‘And Walter’s part of the Auxiliary Unit’ exclaimed Alfie, when they reached the edge of the wood. ‘I had no idea! He’s only seventeen.’

‘Makes sense,’ said Ralf. ‘He and Ben
Cheeseman are ideal candidates, actually. Young farmer and milkman. Freedom to move about. No one would suspect. And you should see his colour! Ben’s got nothing but Walter is shining like a glow stick!’

‘But the Muntons can’t be part of it,’ Alfie exclaimed. ‘No way!’

‘No,’ said Ralf. ‘But I think I’ve figured out why they’re so stressed out. The Crew watching them won’t help, but I think their main problem is that the Zero Station’s being used now.’

‘So?’

Ralf smiled. ‘I think their hideout and their stash of stolen goods is nearby. Maybe even within yards. With people coming in and out of the Zero Station at all hours, they haven’t been able to get to it.’

Alfie grinned back. ‘Makes your heart bleed, dunnit!’

Despite, their failure to locate the hideout, Ralf and Alfie were cheerful and strangely excited as they stepped back on to the lane. Leo turning up a second later added to the sense of expectation.

‘You’ve got to come and see this!’ he said, breathless from his Shift from the village. ‘Mr Fitch is on the rampage!’

Leo had not exaggerated. Urk Fitch was hurrying down the lane with an axe swinging freely at his belt. Clearly filled with purpose, the old man flung open Brindle’s front gate and, coat flapping, strode to her front door. He hefted the axe from his belt and used the handle to thump on the wood.

The three boys hung back in the trees and crouched, listening.

‘Brindle!’ Urk shouted, bashing away at the door with his axe. ‘I know you’re in there!’

Another bash on the door. ‘Come out and talk to me, Zilla!’ Even from their position the boys could hear movement in the house. Brindle was at home but she still wasn’t answering. Urk hammered again – hard and for a long time. The axe paused in mid-air as the door finally opened.

Brindle had her hands on her hips. She looked at Urk, at the axe over his shoulder and then her gaze strayed to the splintered wood round the lock of Cabal’s kennel. Her face flooded red. ‘You!’ she cried. ‘You’ve been helping him haven’t you! I thought that last lock was too much for a boy but you’ve been doing Osborne’s bidding all along! You!’

‘Aye, I let him out!’ Urk admitted. ‘An’ I’ll do it again too! That dog baint yourn! I knows where you got
‘im, see? He belongs with his master.’

‘The dog is mine and you are a trespasser and a vandal!’ Brindle countered. ‘I’ll be making a complaint to the police directly!’

‘Complain all you like, witch!’ Urk spat. ‘That dog came from the other side! I watched him come through! You never saw me, but I was there! He came to find his boy and you kept him away!’

‘Stuff and nonsense!’ Brindle snarled. ‘Ghost stories! I’ve far more important things to do than stand listening to you!’

‘And I know what they are!’ Urk cried. He gave a throaty laugh as the colour drained from Brindle’s face. ‘I know what you’re up to, see? And I come to tell you to put a stop to it!

‘You’re raving, Fitch!’ choked Brindle.

‘I been watching you, wandering about the woods at night, with your map and book. It’s you! You're the one who has been frightening King’s Hadow half to death, you old harpy!’

‘Me?’ Brindle was scandalised at Urk’s accusation. But Ralf was actually beginning to like the man, even though he wasn’t making a lot of sense. Frankly he wanted to hug him, despite the smell.

‘Go home, Fitch!’ Brindle spat with as much contempt as she could muster.

‘I will at that,’ said
Urk. ‘I’se said all I came to. But I’m watching you. You remember that!’ Fitch gave her a final glare then stalked away, shoulders hunched against the wind.

Brindle watched him go. She stood still in her yard for a long time. The three boys and the dog remained frozen in their hiding place.

Brindle turned in a circle. She stared down the lane and peered into the trees with narrowed eyes and an oddly furtive expression. The boys crouched stock-still. Apparently satisfied that she was now alone, the Post Mistress scuttled back into the cottage. Despite the early hour, they heard the slam of bolts being driven home.

‘Let’s go,’ whispered Alfie.

Leo shook his head. ‘Listen!’ he said, and before either of them could react, he’d Shifted across the lane, over Brindle’s fence and was edging forward, commando style towards her parlour window. Cabal whined.

‘You stay with me, mate,’ Alfie murmured, stretching an arm round the dog. ‘Wolf’ll be back in a mo.’

Ralf gave Alfie a nod of thanks, then Shifted to follow Leo.

It was cold under Brindle’s window and in deep shadow with t
he hard, stone wall at his back. Ralf couldn’t help but shiver.

Leo cocked his head, straining to hear and signalled Ralf to do the same. At first, Ralf didn’t understand what he was supposed to be hearing. A rhythmic pounding noise came from within the house. It sounded as though it were coming from a long way away. It was distorted somehow and he couldn’t understand it. There was a crackling roar then abrupt silence. He shrugged at Leo, unable to make sense of it. He pointed to where Alfie was waiting and they Shifted back together.

‘I couldn’t quite catch it,’ said Leo thoughtfully, as they walked back to the village. He shook his head. ‘Something’s not right there.’

‘D’you think she’s a witch like Hettie says?’  Alfie offered. ‘She’s definitely hiding something...’

‘I dunno,’ said Leo. ‘But while we’re hanging around for the next two weeks, waiting to do our stuff, I am so going to find out what.’