Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death (14 page)

Rekrap's movie

Filming in the studio was finally starting
to move forward. Stars and extras knew their lines, and the crew
was on high alert to start filming. Brad arrived at the film studio
within the hour as promised. But Steve was still fuming. Where was
Polly?

'Brad this is getting out of hand. Where is
that stupid girl?'

'That stupid girl is here and has been here
for some time. I just kept out of your way, Mr Smith,' Polly said
sarcastically, 'whilst waiting for Mr Capriole the star to
appear.'

Brad rushed over to Polly. 'Sorry Polly,
I've had a dreadful time.'

'Really? I haven't seen you since the party,
Romeo.' Polly's sarcasm had not waned. 'I'll be back in a moment -
a girl thing.'

'Yes, of course. Take your time,' Brad
bleated.

'Cut out the small talk Brad.' Steve walked
to the center of the set. 'Third scene, places everyone. Silence on
set.'

Silence ensued whilst everyone, breath held,
waited for the director to say the word: 'Action.'

'Ouch, and look out you'll knock over that
vase', and various other loud noises came from the back of the set,
and everyone stopped and looked round. Steve would have happily cut
out the tongues and shot the offenders that had disturbed his
filming.

'Sorry I'm late.' Commander Rekrap suddenly
appeared.

Brad looked towards the noise, saw who it
was and wished the ground would open up and swallow him. 'Mr
Rekrap, we were not expecting you.'

'Well, I wanted to come and see how my money
was being spent, and to learn my lines. Bean, for Hell's sake stop
dragging my stuff around, lift it man, lift it. Find me a chair,
and get me a cup of tea. I'm exhausted.' Without drawing breath,
Commander Rekrap turned to Brad. 'Brad, when are you going to
introduce me to your eminent director? Umm, I seem to have
forgotten his name.'

Steve was livid. 'What is going on Brad?' he
said, trying to hold onto his temper. 'And who the hell are these
people?'

Amazingly, Brad regained some of his
composure. 'This is our investor Mr Rekrap and his assistant Mr
Bean. Mr Rekrap, this is Steve Smith, our Director.'

Steve ignored Mr Rekrap's extended hand,
waved his own to the exit and said. 'Get them out of here, before I
lose my temper.'

And the mild-mannered Mr Rekrap grew to his
full size as the nasty Commander Rekrap, warrior extraordinaire -
in his own mind anyway. 'What's that you said?' he asked between
gritted teeth, and before Steve could repeat, 'get them out of
here,' Steve Smith had disappeared.

'Now, Brad,' a satisfied Mr Rekrap said,
'let's get down to business. Where is that delightful Polly? And
where are my lines? I have never been so excited. I've never been
in a movie before. I've even put taking over the world on hold till
later.'

Brad should have been used to what Commander
Rekrap was like, but he wasn't. 'What have you done to Steve?' he
asked, fear in his trembling voice.

'Him? Oh, I've sent him somewhere where he
can cool off.' The Commander laughed till tears ran down his face,
and as usual, he went into a coughing fit. Captain Bean slapped him
on the back a little harder than necessary.

'That's enough, Bean. You are hurting me,
again,' he spluttered.

~

Polly walked back into the studio just in
time to see Commander Rekrap talking conspiratorially to Brad.
'Hello. Nice to see you again, Mr Rekrap.' Polly extended her
hand.

He took her hand, kissed it and held on to
it a little longer than he should have. It gave her the creeps.
'It’s good to see you again Polly. We were discussing what my part
was going to be. Now you have arrived, I suggest we dismiss all the
crew, and you and I, and, of course, your leading man Brad, can go
and have lunch.'

'I would love that,' Polly said, her eyes
shining. 'There's a lovely little café next door. Shall we go
there?'

'Your wish is my command, my dear.' And
waving Brad and Bean to follow, he tucked Polly's arm in his and,
chatting merrily away, followed her lead to the Brown Sugar
Café.

Brad did not like what he saw. I have to
move fast, he thought. That old goat prefers Polly to me. I could
lose my part if Polly suggests it to him. And what the hell has he
done with Steve? I bet that dreadful Harry the Hand's got him. And
where are Zack and Knox? They are never around when I need
them.

Send in the Clowns

Something fell through the roof of the shack
in the snow and crashed to the floor, bits of wood and dust flying
everywhere. Piers and Hamish woke with a start and jumped up. They
had forgotten they were tied by the ankle, and they both fell in a
heap.

After struggling across the floor, dragging
Hamish behind him, Piers got to the interloper before he realised
what had happened. 'Hamish, grab his legs!' Piers yelled. 'I've got
him by the throat.'

'Get off me!' A terrified voice was heard,
as whatever had fallen through the roof tried to pull Piers arm
from round his throat. 'Christ! You're strangling me.' And after
struggling and losing badly, he decided to lie limp so he might not
get hurt as much.

'I've got him, Hamish! Light the candle.'
Piers tightened his grip on the man's throat. 'Who are you? And no
tricks!'

As the hut lit up, Hamish said, 'it's Steve
Smith.'

'Yes it is!' Steve yelled. 'And get this oaf
off me.'

'What,' Piers said, his anger rising, and he
exploded. 'An oaf am I? Well, old son, it's you and me, get on your
feet so I can knock you down again.' Piers stood fists ready. Then
he realised who it was - Steve Smith, the uppity director of the
movie. 'Steve, how the bloody hell did you get here?'

'I could ask you the same question,' Steve
shot back.

'Hey, settle down guys,' Hamish said. 'We
are all here against our wishes, so let's swap stories, and perhaps
we can work out how we can get back home.' Hamish looked at Steve.
'He's no match for you, Piers. He's no match for me, and that's
saying something.'

'Would you two mind not talking about me as
if I'm not here please?' interrupted Steve.

'Okay. You tell us how you got here, and
we'll work it out from there. But first let's clean up the mess
from the roof. We can use one of the sacks over there in the corner
to cover the hole in the roof.' Hamish was on a roll. 'Piers, you
are the biggest and strongest, so up you go and do your best.
Steve, you can help him.'

'Why not you?' said Piers impishly.

'Firstly, I'm the eldest. Second, I was here
first and last…' He hesitated.

'There is no last, you're just frightened of
heights.' Piers grinned.

'You're right, and someone has to make the
tea.'

Piers, with Steve getting in the way, fixed
the roof the best way he could while Hamish amazingly got together
a pretty good meal.

'Someday you'll make someone a good wife,
Hamish,' Piers said.

'Any more of your cheek and I'll set Steve
on you,' Hamish replied.

After they had more or less finished the
meal, Hamish said. 'Now down to business. Steve, how did you get
here?'

Steve, as uppity as he was, still knew what
side his bread was buttered on and decided to co-operate. 'Well, we
were on the set about to shoot scene three when Rekrap turned up,
making as much noise as a herd of elephants. I told him to get out,
and the next thing I remember is falling through the roof.'

'That's similar to me,' Piers butted in. 'I
went to the cottage to meet Polly to sort things out, and some men
were in there. Polly said they were the film crew. One of them a
strange looking man - I couldn't see him clearly - objected to me
being there. Well that got me even angrier. I wanted to tell Polly
I was sorry I had behaved badly, but not with an audience. I was
about to walk out, and one of them - the strange looking one -
asked me where I would like to be. I said as far away from here as
possible. Next thing I was standing knee-deep in snow, freezing to
death. I saw this hut in the distance, and luckily I managed to get
here. What about you, Hamish?'

~

'Well, as you know Piers, I work for
Air-Ice, and I was on my way to Iceland, a trip I regularly do. I
was delivering some new equipment for our scientists, and you
honestly won't believe what I'm about to tell you. I was attacked
by,' he hesitated, 'warriors. There were about twenty of them. God
knows how they got on the plane. Anyway, the leader told me he had
thrown my co-pilot out of the plane, and I was next. He then called
one of his soldiers to step forward, and I kid you not, he was my
double. He said that a soldier was going to take my place at home.
Next thing, I woke up in a luxurious room with a beautiful
woman.'

'What beautiful woman?' Steve asked.

'I don't know, and when I didn't do what she
wanted, I ended up here.'

'Well, we won't ask what she wanted you to
do right now. What we do need is a plan,' Steve said. ' It's a bit
like a movie I once made, it was about three men lost in the
snow.'

'Really? What did they do?' Piers asked, all
ears.

'They went out one at a time to try and get
rescued.'

'And?' said Hamish.

'From memory, they all perished.'

'Thanks Steve.' Hamish got up, demolished a
chair and threw the wood on the fire. 'That cheered me up.' They
all laughed, and Steve mumbled it was in bad taste. 'Anyway, what
we should do now is sleep and decide what to do when it gets
light.'

'Best idea yet,' said Piers. They re-shared
the blankets, huddled round the fire and were fast asleep in
seconds.

Freeflyers to the rescue

Miles was decidedly worried. Where was
Piers? It had been two nights since anyone had heard from him.
Miles phoned Lord Knightly. His secretary said he was away and
asked Miles if he would like to call back in a few days. Miles then
remembered when he'd left Byzantine Crescent with Sreip and Selim,
they said if he needed them, to leave a message with Lily at the
Brown Sugar Café and they would get in touch immediately. That
seemed like a good option, and as it was only a short walk away, he
decided to take a stroll to Brown Sugar. Grabbing his wallet and
keys, he left the flat and walked out into the bright sunshine. Ten
minutes later, the door to the café tinkled, and Lily looked up to
greet Miles with a smile.

'Hi Miles, lovely to see you. Heard from
Piers?' Lily said. She threw her arms round him and kissed him on
both cheeks.

'Not a word, Lily, and it's so unlike him.
He walked out of Polly's cottage and hasn't been seen or heard of
since. Lord Knightly is away, so if Piers doesn't come home
tomorrow, I'm going to the police. Frankly, I'm worried sick. Mr
Sreip told me to leave a message here, so that's what I'm doing,
only in person.'

'I'm sure they will be able to help, Miles.
Come and sit down. I'll make us a cup of coffee, and I happen to
have your favourite cake.'

'You are such a love, Lily. I'd marry you if
you would have me.'

'Right Miles,' Lily said as she walked back
into the kitchen. 'Just name the day, kiddo.'

Before Miles could reply, the doorbell
tinkled again, and in walked Sreip and Selim.

'That was quick,' Miles said, as he stood
and shook their hands. 'How did you know I wanted to see you?'

'No big deal Miles. We were on our way here,
so it's just coincidence we arrived here when you wanted to see us.
So what's it all about? Have you heard from Piers?'

'No, and that's the trouble. He has never
stayed away before without letting me or his dad know where he is.
I asked Polly as she was the last person to see him, and she hasn't
a clue where he is either.'

'Can I join in?' Lily cut across Sreip as
she arrived at the table, laden down with coffee pots and
cakes.

'No. Sod off Lily,' said Miles. 'You're
always gate-crashing my parties.'

Lily clipped him round the ear, pushed her
chair close to his and warned him she would make him marry her if
he spoke out of line again. Miles grovelled with apologies as
laughter ran round the table. It was some time before they all
settled down sufficiently to talk seriously.

'Right, as I was saying before you rudely
interrupted us Lily,' more giggles. 'Selim can go and make some
inquiries while Miles and I enjoy this fantastic feast.' Sreip
said, his eyes on the delicious cakes.

'We can all tell who thinks they are the
boss here,' said Selim. 'Once again, I have to do all the dirty
work. Miles, save me a cake, please.'

'You're on,' Miles said, 'if there's any
left once I've eaten my favourites.'

'That'll be right. No ones on my side. I'll
be back with Piers, so save enough for two.' And with a smile and
wave of the hand, he was gone.

'If anyone can find him, he can, so stop
worrying, Miles.'

'Thanks, Mr Sreip.'

'Forget the Mr, just Sreip is fine,
Miles.'

'Thanks Sreip. I wonder how long we will
have to wait.'

'Don't worry about that. Let's have a bite
to eat,' Sreip said, 'and if he's not back within the hour, you go
home and wait Miles and I'll go and look. We will have Piers back
before the day ends. That's a promise!'

Polly in danger

Polly was fed up to the teeth. Things were
getting out of hand in Byzantine Crescent. The movie and Mr Rekrap
were totally taking over. Steve was gone, totally off the air, and
Brad was being a bloody nuisance.

'I'm going for a walk!' Polly yelled to
Alison, and she slammed the front door before Alison could ask her
where she was going and if she could come.

Polly debated whether to go to Brown Sugar
and decided not to, she was not in the mood to talk to anyone - not
even her best friend, Lily. All she could think was, where was
Piers?