The Team and the Move (Team books Book 3)

by S G Read

  'There’s a man down here tied up and a locked door!' He shouted up. 'The door is blistering with heat and I can hear a funny noise coming from the other part of the cellar! What are we going to do?'

  'We came to rescue Stu and Stevey and that is what we are going to do.' Sherman replied.

  By now John had come out of the burning house and Colin walked round from stroking Marmalade, who was on the chain.

  'John and Colin we need water.' Sherman cried.

  'There’s a hose just round the corner!' Colin replied and both he and John went to fetch it.

  'Lower me down C.J!' Sherman ordered. 'And pass the hose down when it gets here, with the water turned on!'

  He leant over the hole.

  'Axe coming down!' He yelled and dropped the axe, head first.

  He grabbed hold of the hook and C.J. lowered him down. When his feet touched the floor he let go of the hook and found his axe. He used it to free the man tied to a chair in the room. The man was thankful to be free but he could not do anything to help, he was too weak. The two boys had to drag him to the hook and hook him on, using the rope which had been used to tie him up. Jenny bellied down next to the window and lay looking into the hole to see what was going on. She watched the two boys drag the man over and tie the rope round his chest and under his arms. When there were ready, she signalled C.J to raise the hook and the man was lifted out of the cellar. Jenny and C.J unhooked him and dragged the man clear. They leant him against one of the old vehicles in the yard, well out of danger.

  Sherman hit the door with the axe and made a hole in it, flames came through the hole immediately. Without hesitation he hit it again. Water came squirting down through the opening at the top, followed by the hose and Toby grabbed the hose as it slithered down. He sprayed Sherman and himself with water then turned it on the door as Sherman hit it again and again.

  'I know what that noise is!' Sherman exclaimed between chops. 'It’s that song from that film.' He paused from his chopping, so that Toby could hear.

  'So it is! At least we’ll know where they are!'

  'And what’s more we know they are still alive!' Sherman added and rained chop after chop on the door allowing more and more flames the come through it. The door finally had enough, it gave way and fell off its hinges.

  A roar of flames shot through, sucking at the air above but Toby moved forward with the hose, by now they were both soaked and glad of it. He used the hose to fight the flames back and bravely stepped through the door. He could still hear the singing and he and Sherman joined in as they fought their way forwards towards the noise. They made a flame free corridor as far as the two boys and Sherman used his trusty axe to cut them free but the fire was fighting back. The hose behind them parted and water stopped coming out at the end Toby was holding. Toby ran back through the increasing flames to find the hose where the water was still coming out. He scrabbled around in the smoke and gloom until water squirted onto his arm. He followed the water to the hose and quickly doused everyone with water as they hurried past the flames but they were still far from safe. Sherman and Stevey picked up the burning door and leant it against the hole, where the flames high up, were starting to pour through again to try to hold them back.

  'Maybe I shouldn’t have trashed it so much!' He admitted as flames and heat poured through the holes, he had made in it.

  The hook with the rope on it, forming a loop was lowered on a very hot Jenny’s signal and two at a time they were lifted up to safety. They ran from the house and as soon as they were a safe distance away stopped to watch it burn. Jenny walked up to Stuart, her hair was singed and her face was black. She put her arms round him and kissed him. Then she did the same to Stevey.

  Ben walked into the customs shed and up to one of the uniformed customs men who sat there drinking tea.

  'Is this real?' He asked and held out a twenty pound note for the man to inspect.

  The officer inspected it at some length, he was just going to give it back when something caught his eye. He looked at it again, this time with a magnifying glass.

  'No it isn’t real young man. This is a forgery and a very good one at that. Where did you get it?'

  'It fell out of that car over there when the man opened the boot, I think it came from the spare wheel. Oh and I think there’s some more under the passenger seat!'

  'Wait here please, while I check this out. John, you and Harry come with me.'

  While they walked up toward Silas’ car, Ben slipped out of the customs shed and back to Charlie’s van.

  'Firework time!' He said confidently.

  They watched as the customs officers walked over to Silas’ car, they spoke to him then asked him to get out of the car and open the boot. One picked up the twenty pound note which lay in there and examined it as Silas tried to protest his innocence. They took out the spare tyre and examined it. When they opened the passenger door they found the money underneath the seat and the two metal plates they had used to print the money. When Silas saw the plates his face fell and he wondered what he had sent off, to the head of a crime syndicate.

  'Seems like he’s in trouble all right!' J.C said with great delight.

  'Too right!' Charlie added. 'Are we going now?'

  'I think that would be a good idea.' Ben admitted from the back of the van as he watched them lead Silas away. 'They’ll be looking for me when they reach the building.' He slid back out of sight and sat down on the floor of the van.

  Charlie drove away slowly, so that he did not raise any suspicions. Ten minutes later he pulled into the forecourt of a garage. Ben passed him a twenty pound note through the mesh which separated the front of the van from the back. Charlie took it and he got out. J.C gave Ben an inquiring look. Ben waited for Charlie to fill up then watched him walk into the office to pay before he spoke.

  'So, it’s a dud but even the customs man had a hard job spotting it!' Ben admitted. 'Just be ready to leg it!'

  Simon was tiring, peddling as fast as he could but starting to lag behind Ant and Willie was closing the gap on him. He had the wheel spanner in his hand and Simon knew he knew just what to do with it but he just could not keep going. Suddenly he saw something he recognised, a blue flashing light through the trees. The men saw the light before they saw the police car as well, they turned and ran in the opposite direction.

  'Get them!' Simon shouted to the policemen in the car as it passed them, then both of them turned and rode back toward the lorry.

  Willie and Vernon stopped running and tried to face it out. After all they had not broken any laws and these boys had let their tyres down. The police might even lend them a pump. Simon stopped at the gate and disappeared over it while the police investigated, with their normal precision. Ant was questioned about his part in the letting down of the tyre and his protestations that they were the bad guys fell on deaf ears until a parcel of money fell out of the lorry. It split on landing and twenty pound notes fluttered about in the wind. Willie saw it at the same time as the policeman but Willie was the first to react. He hit the nearest policeman and pushed the other one over, then he ran. Vernon took the chance and ran as well. Another police car came up its siren blaring and they quickly caught Vernon, as he was running down the road in the direction they were coming from. Willie was quickly over the gate and away across the fields before they could catch him. Simon jumped down from the back of the lorry and picked up a bundle of twenty pound notes.

  'Now this is what they call funny money!' He said flapping it in the face of the policeman who had been punched, the same policeman who had refused to believe Stuart and Stevey. 'Hard to spot from the real thing and what Stuart Sellars was trying to tell you about some time ago! The man who just hit you, is the man who printed it. His boss is Silas Brent, who is trying to cross to France on a ferry as we speak, to miss the strike by the French lorry drivers tomorrow. Now if you don’t mind we would like to go and make sure Stuart and Stevey are all right as Willie, who ran off over there, sent fire to t
he house while they were in it!'

  'That was Willie bowyer?' The policeman asked from the ground.

  Simon nodded and walked off to get his bicycle. Ant met him, pushing both bicycles and they rode back to the car breakers.

  Ben watched Charlie pay and collect his change. 'See I said it would be okay!' He crowed.

  'What was all that about being ready to leg it then?' J.C asked.

  'Belt and braces, J.C, belt and braces!'

  Charlie jumped in and they drove away, it would be a while before they made it back to Stuart’s house, the agreed rendezvous point.

  When Simon rode up to the house it was well alight. He saw Stuart and Stevey, dropped his bicycle on the ground and ran over to them.

  'You made it then?' He asked, stating the obvious but no one minded.

  'Yes we made it thanks to Minton Cruisers!' Stuart replied happily. 'And we got a really good tan out of it, free of charge!'

  'I thought that was just dirt.' Simon replied in his usual direct manner.

  'There could be some of that as well.' Stevey said, thinking about the dirty cellar.

  'Did you do it Simon?' Sherman asked.

  'Oh yes!' Ant cried. 'Well apart from Willie legging it across the fields!'

  'He got away?' Stuart cried. 'He’ll be back to bash our brains in any minute!'

  The mood changed and the boys picked up anything they could find, to use as a weapon. A car coming up the drive made them jump but they saw it was a police car. They looked inside, just to make sure but it was a policeman with a bloody nose. He surveyed the scene, the burning house, Ronnie Bowyer lying on the ground, obviously in need of attention and a group of children, including the two who had told them what was going on in the first place.

  'I think I owe you two an apology.' He said looking down at them.

  'It doesn’t matter.' Stuart replied. 'It doesn’t really matter which country we are in though, the police don’t believe anything we say!'

  The policeman still in the car climbed out. 'I have called for an ambulance, how many are injured?'

  'Just the two!' Simon replied.

  Jenny looked about for the second injured person, was it Stuart or Stevey? The policemen looked round and saw the blood on Jenny’s tee shirt and assumed she was the second, as the rest looked reasonably healthy, for boys.

  'I wonder how Ben got on?' Sherman said quietly to Simon.

  'Won’t know until he gets back.' Simon replied. 'Did you get Willie?' The second bit aimed at the policeman with the bleeding nose.

  'Oh yes, we got Willie alright. He’s on his way to a police cell. He won’t see the light of day for a few years!' The policeman answered.

  The weapons dropped to the floor.

  'He killed Lenny Mole you know and dumped him in that cave.' Stuart declared.

  'How do you know?' The policeman asked.

  Stuart looked at Stevey for approval before he answered. Stevey nodded, they ought to know!

  'We heard him tell his boss where he put the body. We went there and found it before we phoned the newspaper to tell them where it was.'

  'And we saw the blood stained tyre spanner and blood in the boot of the car, like we told you.' Stevey added. 'If you had found the car you could have solved it without us nearly getting burnt alive by Willie!'

  'You were in there?' The policeman asked, pointing at the burning house.

  'Marmalade!' Stuart shouted and ran off, the rest followed.

  The policeman watched in dismay and scratched his head.

  The dog was straining the chain to get further away from the heat when Stuart reached him and he released him from the chain. They all moved away, with Marmalade making lots of new friends but when he saw Ronnie laying with his back against a car he ran over to him. After an initial greeting, which Ronnie had to fend off Marmalade lay down next to him, content.

  'Yes they were in there!' Simon said answering the earlier question.

  'How did they get out?' The policeman asked.

  'Minton Cruisers did it. No one beats us!' Simon said proudly.

  The ambulance arrived, it took Ronnie and an unwilling Jenny away. The paramedics had looked at her wound and as it was only the local hospital she grudgingly agreed, after Stuart promised that they would come and get her as soon as she was fixed. Ronnie asked for someone to look after Marmalade until he got back and there was no shortage of volunteers, although some would have found it difficult from London! The fire engine arrived and the boys watched as the firemen worked on the blaze, by the time it was under control the house was more or less gutted.

  Charlie drove up to Stuart’s house but there was no one about except Wendy.

  'I didn’t know you were coming today.' She complained. 'I will have to have words with that son of mine!'

  'It’s the school holidays Mrs Sellars.' Ben replied. 'And Jenny asked us to come, not Stu.'

  'Well they should be here to greet you!' She retorted. 'It is too bad!'

  'Maybe they were tied up.' Ben replied, with a sly smile. 'We’ll go and find them.'

  They drove away and headed for the breakers yard but the road was blocked by a police car and they were turned back. Ben, not one to be beaten, crossed the football pitch, ran up the side road and crossed the garden. He found the gap where the two fences met and walked toward the flashing lights, a little apprehensive as to what he was going to find when he arrived. But as he approached, he saw Stuart and Stevey next to Sherman.

  'Mission completed boss!' He said to Sherman. 'One Silas Brent nicked good and proper!'

  Thirteen fists punched the air, another goal for Minton!

  'I’m hungry.' Simon complained.

  This time there was no laughter, everyone agreed with him they were hungry as well.

  'Mum’s in for a bit of a shock.' Stuart said as they headed for his house. Some by the road on their bicycles and the rest via the gap where the two fences met.

  'More than a bit of a shock, when she knows Jenny is back in hospital!' Stevey replied. 'She is going to go ballistic.'

  'She already knows about us being here.' Ben replied 'but I vote Stuart goes in first anyway.'

  'All in favour.' Sherman called and every hand went up except Stuart’s, he did not get to vote on this one.

  At the gap Marmalade stopped, he could get through but he refused to budge. Dan walked over to them, he had been watching the fire.

  'He won’t leave the yard without Ronnie.' He explained. 'I fed him all the time Ronnie was gone.'

  'I need someone to bring some food back for Marmalade.' Stuart asked, not expecting any takers.

  'I’ll do it before I eat.' Simon replied. 'He deserves that.'

  Wendy was watching the smoke from the side of the house and saw them coming.

  'Where did you lot spring from?' She said when they reached her. 'I wish you’d tell me when they are coming!' She complained. 'I take it you could all manage a barbeque?'

  She was right, they could all manage a barbeque but it still raised a laugh when Sherman added.

  'We nearly had one earlier, but the food escaped.

  The laughter died and Wendy was none the wiser.

  'You two need a bath before you eat-' Wendy continued. 'Where’s Jenny?'

  'They took her to the local hospital but she didn’t want to go!' Stuart replied. 'She was bleeding again.'

  'Again?' Wendy asked. 'Right, bath for you two, then you get to cook the food for the others while I go and make sure Jenny is alright! She is our guest!'

  Before he went up for his bath he showed Simon where his supplies for Marmalade were kept, Simon walked back to make sure he was fed and filled up his water bowl. As he walked back Marmalade walked with him as far as the gap but there he stopped and would go no further.

  As soon as the food was cooked, it was eaten, they cooked until there was enough food left for Wendy and Jenny when they returned, then the boys sat talking.

  Chapter 14

  Wendy drove to the hospital
, she had driven there early on after they had moved there, so that she could find it in a hurry if need be. It was a small hospital compared with the one in London which Stuart had been in. She found Jenny in a bed and pulled the curtains round so that she could put on her own pyjamas. She had brought them just in case.

  'They had to put some more stitches in.' Jenny complained. 'They said it might scar!'

  'We’ll have to wait and see.' Wendy said trying to reassure Jenny. 'These doctors always exaggerate.'

  'Are the boys coming in to see me?' Jenny asked.

  'I had a job to stop them coming now but I assumed I could take you back with me.' Wendy lied. 'So I expect you’ll have them all in here tonight. I’ll try to send them in small groups.'

  'At a guess it will be the boys in Charlie’s van first and the other two later.' Jenny replied. 'How they got in with the bikes as well, I’ll never know!'

  'I’ll suggest they leave some of the bicycles at our house to collect later but I don’t know if it will do any good! Now I’ll go and sort out the boys, is there anything I need to bring back when I come?'

  Jenny smiled and shook her head. 'No just some company, I’m bored already!'

  Wendy found them still sitting outside, with no food in sight.

  'Yours is in the oven keeping warm.' David said when he saw her. 'Not my idea, it was already in there when I came home. To what do we owe this pleasure?' He asked pointing to the group of boys.