Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death (5 page)

'So we have no idea,' said Alison.

'And I've just been told,' Lily added.

The door chimed again. 'That will be
Hamish.' Polly jumped up and raced to the front door.

'Hamish, guess what! I've won a trip
overseas. The men who organised it are in the kitchen with Ali and
Lily. I'm so excited.'

'Calm down, Polly, and tell me what's going
on.'

'I've told you. Come on Ham, come and meet
them.

Hamish followed by Ape walked into the
kitchen, and Polly was surprised to see the two men were gone.
Alison and Lily were drinking coffee, still looking through the
brochures.

'Where have they gone?' Polly asked.

'They suddenly remembered they had an
appointment and rushed out of the back door.'

'Anyway, they have left four tickets and a
pile of traveller's cheques. We just have to decide where we want
to go.'

'Is that right?' Mrs Hart said, as she
suddenly appeared at the kitchen door. 'And what makes you think
you can go away anywhere? I doubt if you will get permission from
your parents to travel unaccompanied.'

'I agree with you Mrs Hart,' Hamish said.
'Not a good idea.'

'Hamish, you are such a pig.' Then Polly
suddenly stopped yelling and said, 'what if I invite Hamish? With
her voice laced with persuasion, she said. 'What if you come with
us, Hamish? After all, I have four tickets.'

'That's not going to happen,' Hamish said.
'Sorry Polly, but no deal. You're not going.'

'I will never talk to you again, Hamish.
Firstly, you are refusing to let Brad Capriole make the movie here,
and now I can't go overseas. Well, my dear brother, I promise you
both will happen.' And she flounced out with Alison following close
behind.

'That went well,' said Ape.

'She'll settle down,' said Mrs Hart. 'I'll
make her favourite desert.'

'Really,' said Hamish. 'And will there be
enough for two handsome lads?' He put his arms around her and gave
her a hard squeeze. 'After all we do love you.'

'Let go of me, you little devil,' Mrs Hart
said, enjoying the attention. 'Any more of your cheek and only
Algernon will be fed.'

Ape gave her a big, wet kiss on the cheek
and quickly danced away, only just avoiding a slap. And Mrs Hart
walked into the kitchen, rolling up her sleeves.

Ape said, 'Right, fun and games over,
Captain Pippin. This is worse than I thought, so down to business
Hamish, we need to talk.'

The garden cottage

'I'm going to run away,' Polly said as she
plonked down on her bed. 'I'm not allowed to do anything! Sod
Hamish.'

'It's only because he cares about you
Polly.' Alison tried to settle her down.

'No. It's only because he cares about
himself,' Polly replied. 'Oh and his Air Force mate Ape, who's
strange.'

'I like him,' Alison said. 'In fact, I think
he's cute.'

'You think all boys are cute.' Polly was in
a bad mood so was being nasty.

'I do not,' Alison retorted. She wasn't
about to take any of Polly's cheek.

'Anyway, I thought you liked Miles.'

'I do, and I don't want to go out with
Hamish's friend. I just think he's cute.'

'Polly, Alison!' Mrs Hart's voice came up
from the foot of the stairs. 'Lunch is ready.'

'Come with me Ali. Let's run away to
Hollywood,' Polly challenged.

'I thought you wanted Brad C. to make a
movie here with you as a star. You could get round Hamish.'

'Polly, Alison!' Mrs Hart became more
demanding. 'Get down here at once.'

'Look out Mrs H. is on the warpath. We'd
better hurry, or Hamish will eat everything that doesn't move.'
Alison tried to pull Polly up.

'I'm not a child. I'm going out,' Polly said
defiantly.

'Come on Polly. We have to get ready to go
out with Piers and Miles. They said they would call at seven.'

'We can ring them,' Polly said, as she
grabbed her hat and coat. 'Coming Ali,' she added.

'Only to keep you out of trouble,' Alison
answered, but Polly had already gone.

Polly decided not to go past the kitchen but
out via the crypt, it was the only way out that would not alert Mrs
Hart. She crept down the stairs, followed by Alison. Polly put her
finger to her lips as they crept along the hall and under the
stairs to the Crypt. She put the key in the door, and much to the
girl's delight, the door opened. They walked into the darkest part
of the crypt that led to the garden. It was very dusty, and cobwebs
hung in long swathes. Polly had the only key, it was large, rusty,
and looked very old. She had found it hanging on a nail in a dark
alcove in the sunshine room when she'd been a child. She'd tried
every door in the house, but it fitted none. Eventually, she'd
tried the door to the Crypt, and the old key opened it. Excitedly,
she'd rushed down the stairs to explore the room, hoping to find
some treasure. But that was not the end of it, in the Crypt, they'd
discovered another door that led to the back garden. The key fitted
again, but the door only opened a fraction, as over the years,
vines and tree roots had grown over the door. She'd called to
Alison, and push as they might, the door would not budge, so they'd
given up, deciding to try later. But like all little children,
they'd forgotten about it, and when they'd remembered, the key had
mysteriously gone missing.

~

Much later, when they'd moved back into the
house, the key suddenly appeared on the kitchen table. Alison saw
it, and thinking Polly must have put it there, took it up to her
bedroom and threw it onto Polly’s bed. Polly saw it later and
absently put it in a draw in her dressing table.

'Do you remember when we were kids, and we
couldn't open this door?' Polly said as she put the key in the lock
of the old disused door that led to the garden. The door opened a
little, and she pushed hard. 'Give me a hand, Ali. Come on, help me
push.'

They pushed and kicked at the door, and the
gap slowly widened before the overgrowth suddenly gave way, and the
girls fell out.

'We did it,' said Alison. 'Hurrah.'

They sat up and looked round. The garden
seemed to go on forever, a high wall covered in ivy and other
climbing plants surrounded it. The trees stretched up to the sky
and created a canopy that was laden with fruits and blossoms. The
sun peeked through at intervals, throwing down tiny shafts of
light, lighting up an unruly, overgrown garden.

Then Polly saw the cottage. 'Look! How cute.
I had no idea the garden was so big or that there was a cottage in
it. How come we've never been out here before?'

'We couldn't open the door if you remember,'
Alison retorted

'We were only kids then, and we did try if
you remember, idiot.'

It seemed they'd disturbed the tranquility
of the garden. Hundreds of tiny, brightly coloured dragonflies
appeared and danced just above their heads, luring them further
down the path that led to the little cottage.

As they got to the door, Polly said, 'I
wonder if that witch that eats little children is in there.'

Before Alison could tell her how stupid she
was being, Polly had opened the door and peeped in.

Knightly and Winsor film studio

'Brad Capriole is making the film he asked
us about in Brown Sugar,' Piers said. 'I've a letter of
confirmation from the producer, Steve Smith, wanting to use studio
one.'

'What are they filming?'

'It's about a haunted house. They want to
film some sequences in the girls' house, but the brother's not at
all keen,' Piers answered. 'I don't blame him either. I don't like
Mr Capriole one bit.'

'I'm not too keen on him either,' Miles
agreed, 'I don't like the way he leers at the girls.'

'That reminds me, what time are we supposed
to be meeting the girls?' Piers looked at his watch. 'If I remember
correctly, we said about seven.'

'We did. And that doesn't leave us much
time. I have to go home and have a shower.' Miles had already
grabbed his coat and was heading for the door.

'I'll be with you in a sec,' Piers called.
'I'll just answer this letter from Steve what's-his-name. We'll say
yes and charge them double our standard rate.'

Byzantine Crescent

Thinking the girls were sulking in their
bedrooms, Hamish and Algernon ate one of Mrs Hart's delicious meals
and were waiting impatiently for dessert.

'I'd better go up and see what those two
girls are up to,' Hamish said, as he rose from the table. 'It's
unlike them to miss dinner, and if Polly does throw a tush, Alison
usually brings her round.' He got to the door and turned round.
'And don't eat my share of the dessert, Ape, or you're a dead
man.'

Hamish ran up the stairs and called the
girls. He looked in both bedrooms - no sign of them. He went up to
the sunshine room - again empty. How could they have gone out
without being seen? He walked back to the dining room and sat
down.

'There’s no sign of them. Well, they're not
upstairs anyway. What's the time?'

'Just on seven,' Algernon said, and as he
did, the doorbell rang.

Mrs Hart opened the door to two young men.
'Yes?' she said.

'Hello,' Piers said. 'We're here to see
Polly and Alison.'

'Well, you had better come in,' said Mrs
Hart, thinking what beautiful boys, as she waved them in. Hamish
came out of the dining room. 'Hi Piers, Miles. Come on in. How are
you? We're just having dessert. I'm sure you would love it, it's a
Mrs Hart special.'

'Actually, we've called to take the girls
out to dinner. Thanks anyway.'

'Well, you may have a wait. The girls have
gone out… or rather, they are not in their rooms.'

'That's okay, we can come back later,' Piers
said and started to back out. Hamish jumped to his feet and saw
Piers and Miles to the door.

'Are you sure you don't want to wait?'
Hamish asked.

'No, I'll go and get some petrol and be
back,' Piers answered and waved goodbye.

Hamish walked back into the lounge. 'I like
those blokes,' he said.

'Yeah,' answered Ape. 'So do I, you can tell
they're a decent pair.'

Suddenly, a loud noise, followed by a
scream, brought the two men to their feet.

'What was that?' Hamish said, and he started
towards the door. Another scream exploded in Hamish's head. 'That
came from the Crypt,' he said and followed by Ape, he ran into the
hall, down the stairs and into the Crypt.

'Well, they're not here,' said Ape. 'There's
absolutely nowhere they can hide.'

'The screams definitely came from here,'
Hamish said as he continued to look round. 'I think we should call
the police.'

'The police? They won't be interested. "So
you heard a scream?" they will say…'

'I still think -'

Ape cut in. 'No Hamish, not the police. It's
time we went into action.'

Brad makes his plans

Brad Capriole was basking in his own glory
as he sat in his luxurious penthouse overlooking the Thames, a
glass of the best champagne in his hand. The view was spectacular
and was made even better as the sun was about to set. He was deep
in thought as to what his next move should be. After the Rebels had
conquered Earth, he wanted to be king or dictator of the world.
Either or call it what you will, he wanted total control. Let's
face it, he thought. Once the Rebels get to the First Universe, the
Earth will be of no use to them. But to him, he could only imagine
what it would be like: the adoration of millions, money to burn and
he had the ace card, Polly Pippin… the star, in her own mind, he
thought spitefully. She couldn't act her way out of a paper bag.
But he would play along with her. I'll promise her anything, it's
my way into Byzantine Crescent. He would do it for the Rebels.

~

The first step was to capture Polly and give
her to the Rebels. It would be easy - a cinch. She was already
besotted with him, so he was over halfway there. The plan of making
a movie in her house was brilliant. Steve had thought of it first,
but Brad had made it his own. It was his idea to tell her she would
be the star, and all was going well till her nuisance of a brother
got in the way. Then the Rebel Zack thought about pretending Polly
won the trip overseas, and that was a great idea till Hamish
stopped that as well. I have to get him and his stupid friend
Algernon out of the way. No time like the present, he thought and
picked up the phone.

Piers and Miles

The day started out badly and finished
worse. Steve Smith agreed to the outrageous quote the boys had
given him to make the movie they did not want to work on.

'I can't believe it. No one in their right
mind would accept that ridiculous quote,' Piers said. 'I don't know
why, but I feel very uneasy and very suspicious. They must have an
ulterior motive.'

'Well, I think Brad and his daft director
are after the girls… and not to star in the movie. Anyway, what
would your dad say?'

'Well, you know Dad. He'd say go for it but
keep an eye on them. Did you ring to make an appointment with big
bad Brad?'

'Yeah,' Miles said, and he looked at his
watch. 'We're meeting him and his staff in about half an hour, so
we'd better get a move on.'

'Right, let's get started.

The meeting went exceptionally well, which
didn't please the boys. There was the problem of getting Hamish to
agree to film in Byzantine Crescent. Piers told Brad he would
organise that, and with no cost restriction, they would hire the
best negotiators. The meeting went on and on, and by the time Piers
and Miles shook hands on the deal, it was six. They rushed home,
had a quick shower, and changed. It had been a mad rush to get to
the girls on time, but they made it, so when Hamish told them the
girls were not at home, they were angry. Then when they did not
come home at all that evening, the boys were upset and then
worried. According to Hamish, it was not like the girls, so where
had they got to?