As the sun rose so did Sebastian Abercrombie. He stretched, wiped the sleep out of his eyes and padded to the bathroom wearing just his pyjama bottoms. His morning routine was always the same. He would look in on his children to make sure they were OK and then head for the kitchen where he would make tea for himself and his wife and take her cup up to the bedroom. But this morning the routine was to change somewhat. Still bleary-eyed and still wearing his pyjama bottoms Sebastian walked down the stairs across the hallway and into the kitchen. He had done the same thing so many times that it was like remote control when he reached out to pick up the handle of the kettle. But this time nothing happened. He looked. The kettle was missing. ‘Where can it be,’ he thought as he looked around the worktop. The toaster was missing, and then he saw it lying broken on the floor. The coffee machine was missing… and that’s when Sebastian Abercrombie started to panic.
‘Oh my God,’ he thought as his breathing accelerated. ‘How am I going to break this to Rebecca.’ He didn’t care that the house had been burgled. At least no one had been hurt. And he didn’t care what items had been taken because everything was insured. His only concern was for what his wife would say. Sebastian wasn’t as strong-willed as Rebecca or as fiery, and a dread came over him as he thought back to the incident in the night when his wife believed she heard a noise coming from downstairs. ‘She’ll crucify me,’ he thought. ’This is going to cost dearly.’ But he had no alternative, he had to break the news to her. So wearily he went back upstairs, empty-handed and opened their bedroom.
‘Morning darling,’ he said.
‘Good morning,’ replied Rebecca, lifting herself up on the pillow and trying to focus on her husband. ‘Where’s my tea?’
‘Ahhh, well,’ began Sebastian. ‘You see,’ and then all at once he took a deep breath and spewed out the sentence as quickly as he could, as if it was one word: ’We’ve-had-a-burglary.’ And then he stood rigid, his face frozen in a half-smile.
‘Very funny Seb,’ said his wife. ‘And you’re telling me they took the kettle. Very funny.’
‘No, no, it’s, it’s true…’
And then her husband’s words sunk in.
‘That noise I heard in the night,’ she said as if her thoughts were coming back in a staccato rhythm. ’Something breaking, crash, you sleeping.’
And then she gave vent to her real feelings: ‘You useless, spineless, idiot. I told you I heard something but all you did was go back to sleep. My God…oh no, how are the children?’
‘They’re fine, now calm down. Everything is OK, just a few things taken that’s all.’
‘Calm down,’ shouted Rebecca. ‘Calm down.’ And she flung herself out of the bed and snatched at a dressing gown, and ran into the boy’s room.
‘What’s happening mum?’ said Zack, who had just pretended to wake up. ‘What’s all the commotion, is the house on fire?’
‘Nothing, nothing,’ she said, then ran into little Lucy’s room to find her still fast asleep.
Satisfied the children were safe she walked back to Sebastian and shook her head three times as if to say, ‘Why am I married to a man like this?’
Together they went back down the stairs to the kitchen to assess the damage.
‘I’d better phone the police,’ said Sebastian.
‘A lot of good they’ll do. What are you going to tell them, be on the lookout for a missing kettle’ said his wife sarcastically.
‘Well we’ll need a reference number for the insurance claim. I’m, just trying to be practical.’ His wife was now becoming irksome and he wanted to fight back. ‘Don’t move anything they may want to take fingerprints and things.’
Rebecca surveyed her kitchen. It was a mess. Apart from packing and bubble wrap strewn everywhere cupboards and drawers were flung open and she spotted the broken toaster on the floor. ‘Well that can go for a start,’ she thought. Picking up the toaster and going out of the kitchen door and without looking around at anything she flung it in the bin and left it with half its power cord hanging down the outside. Then she strode purposefully back into the house.
‘The police will be round sometime later, couldn’t give a time,’ said Sebastian to his wife, as he put the phone down
‘How on earth did they get in?’ said Rebecca.
‘Well it looks like that window there,’ answered Sebastian pointing to the open window above the worktop. They must have climbed in there. Youngsters probably.’
‘But you always turn the door and window alarms on at night. Seb you did turn the alarms on didn’t you?’ her voice rising accusingly.
‘Well yes, of course, I mean, I thought I did. I always do. I don’t know Rebecca, I don’t know. Now stop blaming me. I didn’t burgle our house. Let’s just have a look at what’s missing.’
‘And how did they get passed the security lights outside?’
‘I’ve told you, how do I know.? Let’s leave that up to the police. Now….’ But before he could finish Zack and Jake came into the kitchen.
‘What’s going on?’ said Zack, immediately spotting the broken toaster missing from where it had been on the floor.
‘Nothing to worry about,’ said his mum. ‘Now go back upstairs, you too Jake.’
‘But I heard you two arguing.’
‘You heard your mother,’ said Sebastian. ‘You two, back upstairs.’
*
Gadgets: The Great Escape Page 7
