Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death

~ Book Two ~

By

Copyright © 2014 Sarah Godwin-Winter

All rights reserved.

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Contents

Chapter 1: The End or the Beginning

Chapter 2: Unexpected Invasion

Chapter 3: Piers and Miles

Chapter 4: Who's to Blame?

Chapter 5: Hamish and the Hijacking

Chapter 6: The Long-Lost Uncle

Chapter 7: Iceland

Chapter 8: Send in the Clowns

Chapter 9: Tempest Unleashed

Chapter 10: It Can Only Get Better

Chapter 11: One Step Back

Chapter 12: Xavier Goes Home

Chapter 13: Time to Choose

Chapter 14: Things Heat Up

Chapter 15: The End or is It

The End or the Beginning

Dawn broke over Byzantine Crescent. And
although the sun was rising with the amount of intent one would
expect for a hot summer day, thunderclouds had formed. It was quite
chilly in the house when Polly woke, yawned, opened one eye and
peered at the clock. It was seven - another day closer to the
audition for a small part in a movie. She was nervous, getting this
part would, she hoped, set her on the path to stardom. She
stretched and thought about getting up and going for a run or
turning over and going back to sleep. She bailed out of both, went
down to the kitchen and put on the kettle.

'Ali, kettle's on,' she called up the stairs
to her cousin.

Alison yawned and looked at the clock. 'What
are you doing up so early? I thought we were going out for coffee
this morning.'

'Of course, I forgot, shall we go to Brown
Sugar. Lily and Lucy have taken it over, so we have to support
them.'

'Yeah great, let's do it. After we can go to
the markets to buy some fruit. Then Polly, serious shopping. I need
new shoes.'

Both girls went back to their rooms to get
ready, and when they walked out of the house, they looked
absolutely gorgeous.

'I think we should take an umbrella - it's
August. Bloody typical,' Polly moaned.

Still, they decided to walk, even though it
was sprinkling with rain.

'Beat you to the café,' Polly challenged,
and she ran off.

Alison shook her head. 'She's such an
idiot,' she muttered.

~

By the time Alison got to the café, Polly
had ordered two lattes and a bowl of fruit salad. She looked round
dreamily. 'There's only one thing I really want, Polly said. 'I
want to travel, I want to star in a movie and I want to meet famous
people…'

Alison butted in. 'Well, that's three
things,' she said, 'and I thought you said you wanted a boyfriend
and a handsome and rich one at that.'

'Of course I do. That goes without saying.'
Polly looked over to the door as two men walked in. 'Look at those
two. I could fall in love with the blonde one.' Alison's eyes
followed where Polly was looking.

'Hi Lily, two coffees, both black,' the man
with the blonde hair called, and he walked in and sat in the
farthest corner of the café.

'Do you know who that is?' Alison whispered,
her eyes standing out like lollies on a stick. 'It's Brad
Capriole.'

'It is, I'm sure. I'm going over to say
hello.' Polly started to get up.

'No Polly.' Ali tutted and grabbed her arm.
'They hate being recognised.' She sneaked a look back over. 'And
that's Steve what's-his-name, the famous film director, sitting
with him.'

'They can only say go away.' Polly shrugged
her shoulders, got up and headed to their table. Lily, who was
about to serve the men their coffee, quickly stepped in front of
her.

'No Polly,' Lily said. 'They don't like to
be recognised.'

'Just let me serve the coffee then,' Polly
begged.

'Definitely not.'

'Please Lily I promise I won't say a word. I
just want to hear them say thank you. Anyway, you owe me.'

Lily wasn't quite sure what she owed Polly,
but because she was her best friend ever, she said, 'okay, but if
you as much as sigh, you're banned forever.'

'Thanks, Lils! You're a legend.' Polly
picked up the tray and, so as not to spill the coffee, she walked
slowly over to the two men.

'Thanks, Lily.' Brad Capriole looked up.
'You're not Lily.'

Polly smiled but, as promised, did not say a
word.

'Are you new here? I haven't seen you here
before.'

This placed Polly in a very awkward position
as she had promised not to speak. She looked over at Lily, who
nodded but only slightly, and signalled, "get back here, now".

'Actually, I don't work here. Lily is my
friend, and I asked her if I could bring you your coffee just so I
could hear you say thank you.'

'Well, that's cute.' Brad smiled. 'So if you
don't work here, why don't you sit down and join us?' He lifted his
arm and pointed to his table. 'Another coffee Lily please?' He
looked back at Polly, 'If that's what you drink?'

'Yes I do, but I'm here with my cousin,'
Polly answered, and she started to rise.

Brad caught her arm. 'Then we shall call her
over. What's her name?'

'Alison Winter.'

'And yours?'

'Polly Pippin.'

~

Lily could not believe her eyes or ears -
Brad Capriole called Alison over to his table. He introduced his
director, Steve Smith, ordered more coffee and pastries and started
to chat with Polly as if she was the girl next door.

'We are here looking for a big old house to
shoot our next movie in,' Brad said.

'It's a movie about a film being made in a
creepy old house. People disappear, and they end up on the edge of
an Evil Universe without their souls. Oh and it must have a big
overgrown garden. Do you know of anything like that hereabouts?'
Steve asked.

'I can't believe it!' Polly said. 'That
sounds just like our house. It's huge, and it used to be a church,
so it's quite creepy.'

'And it's got huge grounds,' Alison
added.

'Really? Where is it?' Steve sounded very
interested.

'Byzantine Crescent, Docklands.'

'Can we have a look at it later?' Brad
asked.

'Of course,' said Polly and fluttered her
eyelashes.

Byzantine Crescent

They agreed to meet at the house that
afternoon, and Polly was beside herself. Brad Capriole, the most
famous movie star in the world, was coming to her house. She would
definitely ask him for a part in the movie. Deciding to check that
all was neat and tidy, the girls ran up the stairs to the room at
the top of the house - the sunbeam room. It was hidden from the
rest of the house, because just when you think you are at the top,
you turn a corner, and another staircase appears from nowhere.

'I just love it up here,' Polly said. She
flung herself down on the big, old horsehair sofa and watched the
sunbeams make pretty patterns on the floor through the stained
glass window.

'Should we clean up?' Alison said as she ran
her finger along the window ledge. 'It's a bit dusty.'

'No, I think it makes it look old. Leave it
as it is.' And Polly, who did not like housework, snuggled further
down into the sofa.

'Well, I'm going down to tidy the kitchen.
Perhaps we should make afternoon tea. And I think we should invite
Barbara. She's the best cake maker ever.' Alison ran downstairs to
ring her.

~

Polly had never been so excited or nervous.
Her thoughts went on a wild ride. She was convinced Brad would fall
in love with her, marry her and make her a big star.

The front doorbell rang. Brad was not
expected for at least three hours, so who could this be? 'Coming!'
said Polly as she ran down the stairs. She was surprised to see two
policemen at the door. 'Are you Polly Pippin?'

'Yes.'

'Would you come with us, please?'

Thinking the worst, she said, 'Has something
happened to any of my family?'

'No, your family is fine, it's you we want.
Just come with us, please.'

Alison, hearing voices at the door, came
running into the hall. 'Polly, what's happening?'

But Polly was gone with two burly policemen
flanking her. As they walked down the path, the taller of the two
asked, 'you served Mr Capriole his coffee, did you not?'

'Yes.'

'Why?' the policeman questioned.

'I wanted to talk to him.'

'Or did you want to poison him?' The
policeman turned on her.

'Poison him? What do you mean did I want to
poison him? Has he been poisoned?'

'As if you didn't know. You'll be in prison
for the rest of your life for murdering Brad Capriole.'

'This is ridiculous! Is he dead, I didn't
murder him!' Polly said, anger flashing in her eyes.

The policeman pushed Polly. 'Get in the
car,' he ordered. 'I have spoken to Lily Holtz, the waitress, and
she told me you just about tore the tray out of her hands. Then you
sat down next to Mr Capriole, uninvited… or so Mr Smith says. And
do you want to know what I think?'

'No, I don't. This is ridiculous. And Lily
would not say a thing like that.' She started to struggle. 'Let go
of me!' she yelled.

The policeman ignored Polly and started to
laugh. 'Then you got poor Mr Capriole to call your friend over to
distract him while you poured the poison into his coffee.'

'No, no that's not true.' Polly tried to get
out of the car.

'Take her to the police station, Sergeant.
Lock her up and throw away the key.'

It was hard to believe what was happening.
Polly indeed had not poisoned Brad, her hero, but there she was on
the way to the police station to be charged with his murder.

~

Alison was sitting in the kitchen, feeling
absolutely confused, when Polly's brother Hamish walked in,
followed by his friend.

'What's this about, Alison? I just got your
message that Polly's been arrested. Are you being serious, or is it
just another one of her sick jokes?' He looked round for his
sister. 'Oh, this is Algernon Ponsenby Eagles - Ape for short,' he
added.

'Hi, Alison,' said Ape. 'Do you have any
idea what happened?' He held out his hand, which she took.

'No,' Alison replied, tears filling her
eyes. 'It all started when we went to Brown Sugar for coffee, and
Brad Capriole, the film star, was there. Would you believe it?
Polly went over and talked to him. He called me over, bought us
coffee and told us about a movie he was making. He was supposed to
be coming here today.'

'What for?' Hamish and Ape asked
together.

'Well, Brad and Steve Smith, the movie
director, told us they were looking for a house to make a movie.
They said this house sounded perfect, and we arranged to meet here
this afternoon.'

'Polly had no right to do that, Alison!'
Hamish exploded. 'And you know it.'

'Wait Hamish, settle down. Look, I'm not
sure how much I can tell you Alison,' Ape said. 'But what I can
tell you is this. The two men that took Polly away were not
policemen, and Brad Capriole has not been poisoned. It's probably a
publicity stunt, so don't worry about it.'

'What are you talking about - a publicity
stunt? How do you know they were not real policemen?' Alison said.
She started to yell. 'If they were not the police, then who were
they Hamish? Has she been kidnapped! Where have they taken
her?'

'They actually said they were the police?'
asked Hamish.

'Yes.'

'What else did they say?'

Alison looked from Hamish to Ape and broke
down.

Ape smiled and put his arm round Alison's
shoulders. 'Don't worry Alison they will let Polly go. They will be
hoping you'll think it just was a publicity stunt.'

A knock on the door stopped them all in
their tracks. Then the front door swung open, and heavy footsteps
sounded in the hall. Ape and Hamish ducked down behind the table,
pulling Alison with them, warning her to be quiet. Before Alison
could ask what on earth was going on, Barbara Brown appeared.

'Hi Polly, Alison, it's me - Barbara.'