Like Twigs in a Storm

by Ross Richdale

  "So all by yourself, you set out to rescue us?" Steve said, amazed.

  "Uh-huh."

  "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart," Lavina said.

  Between them the trio explained what happened and Cathy repeated her own hair-raising story.

  "The cops have a road block at the junction," Cathy concluded. "It mustn't be far away."

  *

  She was right. Three bends beyond the forest they saw the flashing lights and pulled to a stop. Jane Frankton stared at the carload of people with a mystified expression across her face. "Where have you all been?"

  "It's a long story," Steve said.

  "Have you found, Barrie?" Janice leaned forward and stared at the constable.

  "He's fine, Janice. A helicopter took him to the hospital."

  "Hospital!" Janice gasped. "What happened?"

  “He was hit in the leg by a bullet but he's not badly hurt. We found him hidden in that secret cellar of yours.”

  "We'll head for town then," Steve said. "It appears we have two hospitals to visit."

  "But we need to find out..." the constable protested.

  "The men you want are in the pine forest," Steve yelled back out his window. "If you've got a car at the other end they'll be trapped. Careful though, they're armed."

  "Wait!" Before the policewoman could do any more the car moved slowly forward around an orange cone in the middle of the road and headed for town.

  "Let them go," Pat Stein said from behind her.

  "But the car," Jane protested. "How'd it get out here? We know it was at their house in town."

  "The daughter drove it out," Stein said.

  "What! She's only thirteen!"

  "A resourceful family, constable." Stein's face cracked into a grin. "She even used Number Two Line to bypass our road blocks."

  "How do you know?" Jane asked.

  "We had 23 Ashley Grove under surveillance and one of our cars followed her most of the way."

  *

  Five minutes after Stein's call, three helicopters landed at strategic spots around Upper Forks Road and more armed personnel were unloaded. One helicopter, now with Stein and Frankton aboard, rose into the air again and headed for the pine forest. The pilot adjusted a pair night glasses that magnified the available light so the dark view below became visible like an old black and white movie.

  "There are two cars below," he reported a few moments later. "They've pulled in under the trees and have switched their lights off. " He grinned. "I'd say they heard us coming."

  "Let's show them we mean business," Stein said.

  The helicopter swooped along the road just above tree level and hovered mere meters above the vehicles. A searchlight switched on and lit the area like day.

  "This is the police," a loudspeaker blared out. "All the occupants of the vehicles below will move to the middle of the road, crouch to your knees and place hands behind your head."

  A suited figure dashed out from the trees and raised an arm. Nothing was heard above the engine noise but the occupants saw a flash as a gun was fired.

  "Give them a burst, Trevor." Stein nodded to a helmeted officer strapped in by the open door.

  "Right, sergeant," Trevor gazed down the sights of his automatic weapon equipped with night vision apparatus similar to the pilot's and squeezed the trigger.

  The result was spectacular. Above the roar of explosives and the twang of spent cartridges shooting up, a line of bullets slashed across the road a meter in front of the gunman who dived off the road and disappeared beneath the trees.

  "That was a warning!" Stein growled into the loudspeaker. "In thirty seconds your vehicles will be targeted. Abandon them and move to the centre of the road." He clicked off and grinned when he put on his own night glasses.

  Eight figures could be seen moving with their hands out wide into the middle of the road just as a second police helicopter arrived and hovered on the other side of the cars. Four men were lowered to the ground and took up offensive positions.

  It was over within minutes with the car occupants handcuffed and seated in a circle on the gravel. The radio crackled into life. "It's a bit narrow for the copter to land, sergeant," said a voice. "We'll use the prisoner's vehicles to drive out to the other check point."

  "Right," Stein replied. He grinned at Jane. "I'll be interested in seeing who we managed to net, Constable."

  "Perhaps there's Ryland's murderer as well as the art thieves," she said.

  "Possibly, but I wouldn't place a bet on it."

  *

  At seven a.m. Lavina escorted a nervous Cathy back into Westerfield Trust Hospital.

  "Hello Cathy," the morning charge nurse said when she approached them. "You've been quite naughty, you know."

  "I'm sorry nurse." Cathy stood gazing at the floor. She resented being talked to like a child.

  "She got homesick," Lavina explained, "We tucked her in bed at home. I did call in to explain."

  "Have you eaten anything?" The nurse fixed Cathy with a frown. The girl shook her head and the nurse broke into a smile. "No harm's been done, then. With the ten o'clock operation, you can't have a full tummy. Come on Cathy, back to your room."

  *

  CHAPTER 20

  Dr Horstmann looked as if he could have been an athlete in his younger days. Tall and slim with a mop of grey hair, his manner was relaxed and almost casual in front of Lavina, Steve and a nurse.

  "The big day, Cathy." He smiled and winked at Lavina who felt as nervous as her daughter. "You can cut the bandage off, Nurse."

  The nurse used scissors to slice away the bandages to reveal Cathy's new foot. Lavina bent forward and gasped. The new toes were so realistic it was almost impossible to tell they were synthetic. It was only a raised scar line and the colouring that gave them away as they appeared tanned compared with Cathy's white natural toes.

  The doctor bent forward and spent several moments examining his work. "How does it feel, Cathy?" he asked as he poked and prodded various parts of her foot.

  "A little sore but nothing too bad."

  "Good, now I want you to sit on the chair and place your foot on that mat." He indicated a small blue rubber mat placed in front of a kitchen type chair.

  The nurse gave Cathy a hand and she was soon sitting and gazing fascinated at her complete foot.

  "Oh Cathy, it's as if you never lost any toes." Lavina said, "

  "I like the toe nails," Steve commented.

  "Yes," Doctor Horstmann replied. "We know young ladies like long toe nails. The advantage of these is that they'll never need to be clipped." He turned to Cathy. "Now, I want you to leave your big toe on the mat and raise your other toes up."

  Cathy pursed her lips and bent forward to see her own efforts. The two natural toes rose and the artificial ones followed with the smallest one shifting only slightly.

  "They all moved," Cathy gasped.

  "Good," the doctor continued. "Now do the same thing with your other foot."

  Cathy did so and her natural toes moved in almost exactly the same way as the artificial ones.

  "The small toe doesn't move a great deal but helps all movement," Doctor Horstmann explained to Lavina and Steve, "We have programmed in movements but may need to fine-tune them. Now Cathy, stand up."

  Cathy gritted her teeth and stood up, fumbled and without thinking, stuck her new left foot forward. Lavina watched in horror and expected Cathy to tumble. But she didn't. The five toes worked in unison to reach out, Cathy's heel came off the ground for a second before sinking back but she was still standing.

  "Now take three steps towards the door," the doctor said.

  Cathy did. Once again all the toes worked together. There was hardly a limp. "It feels as if I have a block of wood there," Cathy said.

  "That's to be expected," Doctor Horstmann replied. "Your body took a while getting used to having missing toes, now it has to get used to having them back again. It's like someone getting used to wearing contact lenses. After a whi
le, you won't even notice. Now walk back."

  With more confidence, Cathy stepped out and walked back to the chair. There was a limp but nothing compared with the one she had before the operation.

  Lavina turned to Steve. "I reckon we'd better book the church soon," she said, smiling. "We promised to wait until Cathy could walk into the church without a limp before we got married."

  "Aye, an incentive." the doctor smiled. "It'll take a little while to lose the limp. That's all for now, Cathy. We don't want to overdo it the first time. You can go home in three days."

  Cathy's eyes glowed. "Can I doctor? I was told it'd be a week."

  The doctor just smiled. "Don't expect everything to be perfect straight away. You'll find your foot will feel tender for ten days or so and will become quite sore if you use it too much. Your leg muscles will also ache. I'll prescribe a painkiller for you." He turned to Steve. "Book your wedding for the end of next month, Steve. By then she'll be will be able to wear new shoes down the aisle without a limp." He winked at Cathy. "If she does her physiotherapy exercises, of course."

  He chatted a while, gave some instructions to the nurses, shook hands with Lavina and Steve and left Cathy lying on the bed with her new foot sticking out the end of the blankets so she could see it.

  She wriggled her toes and watched as they all performed together. "Funny isn't it, Mum? I never even thought of my toes before the amputation and now I think of hardly anything else."

  "And the time will come when you won't need to think of your toes again, sweetheart," Lavina replied.

  *

  Like many police actions, the round up at Upper Forks Road hauled in mainly local petty criminals well known by Stein and six charges of theft, assault and illegal use of a firearm were handed out. Two of the suspects, though, proved more interesting. After having their history checked, Petra Roberts and Laurie Ellis were both charged with theft of the Rubens painting with further charges pending. The woman seemed to be the one behind the deal but was going to be hard to crack. Stein was still certain an international organization was involved but the case was now being handled back in Auckland.

  "That was quite a haul out at the farm Pat but now I want you to concentrate on the Ryland murder," Inspector Harold Matthews said as he sat in his office. "What suspects do you have?"

  "Since the ransacking of Ryland's farm, I've added Petra Roberts to the list. She's as hard as they come and is quite capable of a revenge killing." Stein took out a small green notebook, licked a finger and flicked through a couple of pages. "Lavina Ryland may still have been associated with the killing but I've really eliminated her from the suspect list so that leaves Janice Ludlow, the mistress." He frowned. "There is one other lead I am following, too."

  "I want a final all out effort on this Pat. It's been a while now so someone may get careless. Have you had any other reports from the examination of the crash?"

  Stein looked up. "Our boys found a small section of the engine cowling about a hundred meters from the wreck. It must have been blown away by the initial explosion or when the Cessna clipped the rock on its way down. It's being examined for prints."

  "Good," the inspector muttered. "That could provide the evidence we need."

  *

  "Where are we going, Steve?" Lavina frowned as the jeep, recently returned from the panel beaters, wound up a hilly road.

  "Patience, my dear." Steve grinned.

  Lavina smiled. After a busy three weeks, it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon; Cathy had gone out with friends so only the two of them were travelling along the country road. The jeep had only suffered some minor denting with no structural or mechanical damage at all. They'd helped Janice clean up the farm house, an odd jobs man had been employed to repair the kicked in wall and two couches had to be replaced. By the time Barrie had been discharged from hospital, the house and outbuildings were almost back to normal.

  After crossing another hill the jeep arrived at a broad plateau with rich farmland all around. The road was now a straight strip of seal heading towards distant ranges towering up across the whole horizon.

  "Almost there." Steve smiled and slowed down at a small settlement. Four closed stores hugged a small grass square opposite an ancient hotel, also closed and a couple of other commercial buildings. Steve turned left at an intersection, past a handful of houses and a half demolished dairy factory. Three cars were parked at odd spots around but not a soul appeared. The village was like a ghost town, empty and alone.

  "What a sad little place," Lavina commented. "Why are we here?"

  Steve smiled and pulled to the curb in front of a massive hedge. "Come on." He grinned and led Lavina through a gate.

  Behind the trees stood a wooden school building. Except for the size, it was identical to the Upper Forks Road School. Four classrooms stood in front of a cracked tennis court covered in weeds. A dozen sheep grazed around what was once a lawn while, in the corner of the grounds a child's swing sat, like the rest of the village, rusting and unwanted.

  "This was once a district high school." Steve reached out and placed an arm around Lavina.

  She was even more mystified as he produced a set of keys and opened the old school's door. The interior was identical to Upper Forks Road before they'd upgraded it, with a long corridor and doors to the right leading into the classrooms. Even the sinks and pegs along the wooden wall were the same. If anything, though, this building was in poorer condition with faded blue paint peeling off the walls and one broken window replaced by a sheet of iron.

  "Like it?" Steve asked.

  "Not really."

  "I bought it," Steve confessed. "It's ours."

  "What!" Lavina gazed at his intense eyes. "Okay, what's the catch? Tell me."

  Steve led her through to the tiny staff room and offered her an old chair to sit in. "My ridiculously low tender for the place was accepted," he said. "It cost even less than Upper Forks Road. I've sold the land to a local farmer for just under the price of my original tender."

  "And this building?"

  "A moving contractor is shifting it up to Upper Forks Road next week. It will fit on the football field."

  "But it's massive. Twice as big as our school."

  "They'll cut it in two to transport it. Imagine how big our lodge will be if we make this into dormitories. It could hold fifty or more bunks and could be hired out to schools for outdoor education trips. In fact, I already have a booking in four months time."

  " Who?"

  "Emerson Heights Middle School has booked three weeks. They intend bringing out six classes to stay, one after the other. It has to be ready by then." Steve frowned for the first time. "I may have bitten off more than I can chew, Lavina," he admitted.

  His initial enthusiasm, though, was infectious. Lavina broke into a broad smile and held his hands. "I think it is a marvellous idea," she whispered and kissed him tenderly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

  Steve shrugged. "After my tender was accepted I wanted to surprise you."

  "Well ... you certainly did." Lavina laughed. She walked back into the long corridor and gazed around with renewed interest. "It's like two Upper Fork's Road Schools joined end to end, isn't it?"

  "Yes, I was told the old Education Board used the same design for about twenty years. Similar blocks in the city were replaced years ago but there are several still in use in country districts."

  "You know," Lavina said as she walked in one of the classrooms and gazed at the dusty interior; "I'd leave the corridor in this time. Each classroom could be a dormitory with perhaps one converted into an ablutions block," she bubbled out. "Even the old pegs could stay for the kids to hang their raincoats on and..."

  "I knew you'd be keen." Steve laughed.

  Arm in arm the pair examined their new acquisition. "There were over a hundred pupils here fifty years back," Steve said. "Children from five to sixteen years old all attended the same school. They closed the high school part thirty years ago and the whole school only the year
before last. It had eleven pupils at the time."

  "Just like Upper Forks Road," sighed Lavina. "Country districts everywhere are losing population. It's tragic, really."

  "But we'll bring life back to the old building, won't we?" Steve grinned.

  "We will,” said Lavina.

  She walked out into the sunshine and imagined the pupils dashing around, playing on the swings, chasing balls and having fun. But times had moved on. Now, only the sheep enjoyed the breathtaking scenery of rolling farmland with the ranges behind.

  "I love the country," she sighed and followed Steve back to the jeep.

  *

  The driver of the twenty-six wheeled Mack tractor unit with half a school on its back, took time to wave at the three teenage girls swinging on the gate of Upper Forks Road Lodge. He was a gigantic fellow with arms like tree trunks and a black beard that matched the singlet he wore over his tanned skin. Twin exhausts belched diesel fumes into the air as the man manoeuvred his vehicle through the gap in the fence and along to the existing building. His skill as he swung the building around was undeniable but the two adults further back had their attention focused on the girls, rather than the building.

  "My God, Steve!" Lavina gasped. "Look at Cathy."

  Cathy, Donna and Ellie had left the gate and were running across in front of the main building so they could have a better view of the new addition being manipulated into place.

  "Yes, two teenage girls attracted by a muscular man with a beard," Steve observed.

  Lavina turned and glared at Steve. "But what's she doing?"

  "Running across the lawn. Why?"

  "Last night she was moaning she couldn't walk across the living room without limping. Did you see her limping just now?"

  "Nope." Steve laughed and winked at his fiancée. "Aye, Cathy," he yelled out above the roar of the diesel motor and held up the yellow mobile phone he'd been given to look after a few moments earlier. "Call for you!"

  Cathy glanced up, waved an acknowledgement and came rushing up. "Who is it Steve?" she panted, as she stood in front of him in a white tank top and yellow shorts.