There was a pause before Leanne said. ‘You mean like Geoff. Is Geoff really poor?’
Kevin laughed, ‘No, Princess, Geoff isn’t really poor.’
‘Mum, perhaps when Auntie Helen visits us we could have scouse for dinner.’ Jamie suggested.
‘Jamie you are getting more and more like your Father every day.’ Debbie said giving him a mild admonishment.
Kevin gave Jamie a ‘that’s my boy’ look, but said ‘I think we’d better leave Auntie Helen alone. So, do you like bacon and pork sausages, Geoff?’
Geoff smacked his lips, ‘Hmm, I do like sausages, but I could eat bacon butties for every meal.’ Geoff was wondering why Jamie was shaking his head as if trying to warn him about something, but Geoff carried on speaking.
‘Not stringy bacon, though. I can’t stand that, but I like thick lean bacon, It’s so…….’
Jamie looked serious when he interrupted his friend, ‘Geoff we don’t eat bacon in our house since dad started working with his piggy friends.’
‘What do you mean piggy friends?’ asked a puzzled looking Geoff.
‘Didn’t I tell you that dad works on a pig farm? He reckons that they’re such sweet natured creatures. Isn’t that right, Dad?’
‘I’m sorry, Mr Tranter, I didn’t know.’ Geoff apologised.
‘Take no notice to him Geoff. I do work on a pig farm, but we all eat bacon here, except our Leanne and we can blame that film Babe for that. Now are those chips ready, love? I’m sure Geoff is starving by now.’
* * *
After dinner Kevin was amused by the boy’s banter as they recalled some old incidents at school and he asked Geoff if he still collected stamps.
‘No, I gave that up. I’m interested in birds now.’
‘That’s good. It’s about time our Jamie showed some interest in girls. What say you, Debs?’
‘I think Geoff means bird watching, soft lad,’ replied Debbie.
‘Right,’ Kevin said, pretending that he didn’t know that already. ‘So you’re a twitcher, Geoff!’ and then anticipated Leanne’s next question by adding, ‘A twitcher is someone who watches birds, Princess.’
‘It must be a bit boring Geoff,’ claimed Jamie, ‘especially in Liverpool. They’ve only got sparrows and pigeons.’
Geoff’s eyes lit up as he defended his hobby, ‘You’d be surprised just how many species there are. I’ll show you my bird spotter’s book later.’
When Jamie again jokingly mocked his friend’s hobby as being boring, his dad defended Geoff.
‘Not everyone likes computers, Geeky Boy. At least Geoff gets out in the fresh air. You should take him over to Haverley Woods tomorrow.’
‘Haverley Woods is supposed to be haunted, Dad,’
‘Who told you that?’ Kevin asked.
‘Mr Cranleigh and he should know. I bet the ghosts in the woods are even related to him.’ Jamie replied and then laughed.
‘Well that’s all right then. If they get up to any tricks just tell them that old Rufus is your neighbour.’
‘I remember reading a book about witches,’ Geoff said. ‘It said that they still existed in woods somewhere down south. It might have been in Devon now I come to think of it.’
Kevin laughed, ‘There aren’t any witches or ghosts around here, Geoff, apart from the old lady next door and she’s harmless.’
‘I’m not kidding, Dad. Mr Cranleigh really did tell me that Haverley Woods are haunted, but it would be a good place for bird watching, Geoff, unless you would rather look them up on my computer. You could research any bird in the world without leaving our house.’
‘I’ve just become interested in Australian birds and I’d like to see those if we could.’
Jamie was thinking that before Geoff went home at the end of his holiday he would have developed an interest in computers. Geoff was in for an awesome experience when Jamie showed him some of the games on what Jamie now called the ‘Stanley Machine’.
Kevin smiled. ‘I bet Australian birds are all big, Geoff, and I don’t suppose many of them are able to lift off the ground.’
Geoff looked puzzled and replied, ‘I don’t think they’re particularly big, Mr Tranter, apart from the Emu of course.’
Jamie shook his head. ‘He’s pulling your leg, Geoff. Ever since he watched some Aussie women doing aerobics on television he reckons they would give the Russian women shot putters a run for their money.’
Geoff gave a little laugh and said he knew what Kevin meant, but he didn’t.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Jamie insisted on taking a football with them when he and Geoff set off for Haverley Woods. He just hoped that none of his school friends spotted him and Geoff, the hard man, which was how he had described his friend to them. He had watched his dad struggling to keep himself in check when Geoff had come down wearing an army camouflage jacket and a matching beanie hat. The pair of large binoculars dangling from the straps around his neck looked like the sort used by sailors on iceberg watch.
His dad had greeted Geoff with, ‘Well you certainly look the part, Geoff.’ and then hid his face behind the morning newspaper that he had picked up so that Geoff wouldn’t see him smiling.
It was only half a mile to the woods and the two friends chatted about old times as they strolled along the country lane. It was a far cry from their old neighbourhood, almost a different world. They met the odd dog walker and a couple of girls from school who addressed Jamie by name and giggled as they went by.
‘So you’ve changed your mind about not liking girls then, Jamie and prefer the older ones. Those that just gave you the eye must be in at least one year above you, unless they breed them big around here.’
‘Very funny,’ responded Jamie.
‘I’m going out with a girl back home. Do you remember Alice Jenkins? Well it’s her.’
‘You’re kidding me. Not Alice who’s dad owns the chippy in Nolan Street. Didn’t they used to call her, Big Alice?’
Jamie could see that he’d gone a bit too far and tried to make amends. ‘I’m only joking, Geoff. She was bit on the big side, but a nice looker though.’
‘She’s lost a lot of weight since you left and some of the other lads have wanted to go out with her.’
Jamie was thinking that they were probably after free chips, but he decided against teasing his mate any further.
When they reached the woods Geoff set about trying to select a suitable spot that he could use for a lookout. Jamie was bored already, but he didn’t let his friend know because it was Geoff’s holiday and he was so enthusiastic and thrilled by what he’d seen so far.
‘This is going to be really brill, Jamie; I’ve already spotted four birds that I’ve never seen before.’
Geoff decided on the enclosure on the edge of a wooded section that adjoined an open field.
‘This spot will be great, Jamie. We can shelter by those smallish trees and it will give a great view over the field and then I’ll see any birds flying towards the woods and hopefully they will perch close to us.’
Geoff climbed up the small tree and positioned himself on a low branch, while Jamie sat on the football near the base of the tree with his back facing the field. Jamie was hoping it wouldn’t be too long before Geoff got hungry and they had a kick about and then headed for home, but he was soon smiling at the sounds that Geoff was making as he spotted a species that was new to him.
‘Jamie, Jamie,’ Geoff stuttered before he got his words out, ‘I’m not kidding ya, but there’s a monster bird behind you. It’s got three freaking eyes and four wings.’
‘Yeah, yeah. You won’t catch me out that easily. Anyway, Geoff, shall we make a move soon and play footy before we go home and have some nosh.’
‘I don’t think we should move, Jamie. It looks like some kind of eagle and big enough to carry one of us away.’
‘I’m sure it can,’ Jamie said, in a tone that indicated that he hadn’t fallen for his mate’s load of codswallop.
&nbs
p; ‘Jamie, I’m not joking and it looks like it’s getting ready to attack one of us any minute now.’
Jamie sensed desperation in Geoff’s face and a look of terror that meant that he was either telling the truth or had a future as an actor. Jamie stood up and slowly turned around to see the reason for Geoff’s frightened look.
‘Devilmortex,’ he blurted out, causing Geoff to give him a puzzled look. Jamie remembered what Soupinpota had told him about image change and decided that he must be seeing the same image as Geoff and it gave him an idea that would impress his mate.
‘Call yourself a twitcher and you can’t even recognise a Trioptica. They’re two a penny around here. I should have mentioned them. There’s has been the odd case of them carrying off sheep and even a cow.’
‘Now who’s spinning a yarn,’ Geoff said, puzzled, but impressed by Jamie’s coolness.’
‘Come on, Geoff, let’s play some footy and perhaps our feathered friend will be goalie. Mind you he could easily catch the high balls and there wouldn’t be much goal to aim at if he spread those four wings.’
Geoff’s eyes looked as though they were about to pop when the giant bird opened its two front wings, raised its head and spewed a long flame from its mouth and Geoff’s face turned deathly pale when the bird opened its hooked beak to reveal two rows of razor sharp teeth.
‘You need to see a dentist, mate,’ laughed Jamie as he stepped out of the cover of the trees.
‘Jamie, get back you, doughnut,’ Geoff roared.
‘Watch this,’ shouted Jamie and then hurled the ball at the bird.
The bird snatched the ball with its beak, chewed it and then angrily spat the torn bits of leather at Jamie. It caused Jamie to retreat into the cover of the enclosure as he felt the heat from the bird’s breath.
‘That wasn’t supposed to happen,’ stuttered a terrified Jamie as he brushed the bits of leather from his hair and climbed up the tree and wedged himself on a branch near Geoff.
‘What do you mean, that wasn’t supposed to happen?’ asked Geoff.
‘I thought the light was playing tricks with our eyes and the monster bird wasn’t real,’ Jamie replied by way of a feeble excuse for what he’d said.
The bird started to snap the branches off the trees near them, clearly intending to get at the terrified boys and soon the bird had a clear route to them and its giant beak was now too close for comfort. Jamie asked Geoff to give him his binoculars and they nearly fell to the ground as Jamie reached out for them, but managed to catch them. The bird was now close enough for Jamie to smash the binoculars against the top of the bright yellow beak, causing the bird to screech even more, flap its large wings and then fly away.
‘Let’s run into the woods, Geoff and try and hide,’ Jamie suggested, but Geoff was in a state of shock and didn’t respond and the boys feared the next attack when they heard the loud screeching which seemed to be high above them. There was a moment of silence and then the screeching sounded started again, but it seemed to be coming from further away.
‘Geoff, let’s get out of here in case it comes back.’
The boys jumped down from the tree and scanned the sky when they stepped out of the enclosure and on to the open field and saw the source of the fresh screeching sounds which were even louder than before.
‘Wow, there are two of them, Geoff and they’re fighting.’
‘The other one has different markings and it’s even bigger,’ Geoff reported, having noted that the second bird had pure white wings except for a red tip on each of its four wings.
The boys watched, spellbound as the giant birds fought a battle above the field that was like a dogfight between two fighter planes. The battle lasted for several minutes before their attacker suffered damage to his rear wings and flew away. It appeared that the ‘winner’ was content to chase the evil one out of the area without moving in for the kill.
The boy’s exchanged puzzled glances as the two birds disappeared from view. They hadn’t slowly faded from view, but had gone from sight in a flash as though they had gone into super turbo drive.
‘Let’s head for home, Geoff, before something else happens.’
Geoff was eager to get away from their terror spot and for the moment he had lost all interest in bird watching.
* * *
As they entered Hog’s End Lane, Jamie said it would be best if they didn’t mention what had happened to them when they got indoors, because it would probably mean they would be restricted in where they could go. He said he would have ‘things’ to do in his computer room, but he would s try and explain later where the bird had probably come from. Geoff had managed to keep hold of his bird spotter’s book and Jamie had picked up Geoff’s binoculars which had survived the contact with the bird’s beak and when they arrived home he was able to tell Jamie’s parents about his ‘new’ species. When Kevin said that it must have been exciting, the two boys momentarily relived their horror.
‘It was that all right,’ Jamie said, especially when a Rottweiler ran off with our ball.’
Debbie was frightened at the thought of what might have happened to the boys when she said, ‘I hope you didn’t try to get it back.’
‘No way,’ replied Jamie and then told Geoff that he needed to go upstairs and send an email, but he wouldn’t be too long.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Jamie hadn’t been able to make contact with Soupinpota yesterday when they had returned from Haverly Woods and he gave a huge sigh when he heard Soupinpota’s voice. Jamie had left Geoff downstairs again and he explained that he didn’t have much time and quickly explained about the encounter with the bird which Jamie referred to as a Trioptica. Soupinpota confirmed that the attack was the work of Devilmortex.
‘What about the second bird and why did they fight?’ Jamie asked
‘I sent the second bird to defend you and your friend from the attack.’
‘I’m afraid that Devilmortex has been successful in expanding his overall processing and controlling powers. He now has powers only previously held by Koolebron. The reason for the latest gap in communicating with you was because Devilmortex inflicted more damage on my system. I am still operating in a degraded mode which means that my own capability is limited.’
‘It was really frightening, Soupinpota. I thought you said that I shouldn’t be worried because Devilmortex was only going to mess with our image processing and the scary things weren’t for real.’
‘There is something I need to tell you, Jamie and once again you are going to find it difficult to believe. The bird that threatened you was an ordinary wood pigeon until Devilmortex turned it into what you have called a Trioptica. The species of bird is common on our planet Titantula and lives in the high mountains and despite its power and what appears evil looks to earthlings, it is normally very placid.’
‘What!’ gasped, but he had got fed up of suspecting Soupinpota was having him on, so he asked, ‘But how and by the way I have noticed that your voice is now different to when you were pretending to be Daniel.’
‘I should have told you that I am using my Soupinpota voice. I will try and explain the answer to your question about how the bird was changed. All physical objects, except human life form on earth are effectively maintained by normal evolution. The evolution status of any object can be modified by changing its molecular structure by anyone who has access to what is known as the Atom Transference and Control System) (ATACS). Devilmortex has gained access to that computer and so he is able to change the physical shape of most things on your planet, including birds, animals, fish, and insects and then control them. A human being can only be changed into another life form such as animals and not into another human.’
Jamie was trying to understand what he’d just been told and he was worried, really worried, but Soupinpota was about to try and reassure him.
‘We will find and destroy Devilmortex, but before we do he may strike again and it could be in any form. It might be wise if you don’t vent
ure out unless you have to.’
Something had been bugging Jamie and he had a question for Soupinpota. ‘Why did the bird attack us if you say that it is normally passive?’
‘Devilmortex is able to change the form of any creature or human that he is able to access and then control them just like you would a model aeroplane. Koolebron had authorised me to use the same machine to create the white winged bird with red tips and we won the battle this time, but there might be other battles.’
Soupinpota advised Jamie to leave the computer on until further notice so that he could warn him if he discovered plans for another attack.
Jamie had an idea that would provide a cover story to tell Geoff that would explain about the Trioptica without giving away the secrets he had been sworn to keep. It would mean lying to his friend, but he had no choice.
Jamie had taken longer than expected talking to Soupinpota and he was startled by Geoff’s voice at the door. Geoff said that Jamie’s dad had told him to go and ‘dig Jamie out’.
Geoff was surprised by the array of equipment when he entered Jamie’s room. ‘I don’t know much about these things, as you know, but it looks as though it belongs in a museum. I don’t suppose it plays any games?’
‘You’d better believe it. I’m going to ask you to swear on our friendship that you will never reveal what you are about to see or what I will tell you.’
‘Scouts honour,’ Geoff said, amused by the secrecy.
‘I’m being serious, Geoff, but before we get down to the games we need to talk about what happened with that bird yesterday.’
‘I’m trying not to think about that,’ replied Geoff, looking frightened once more.
Jamie explained that what happened was tied up with some government experiment that had gone wrong. His Uncle Stanley had worked on the project which was conducted some miles away and it was the first time he had seen one of those birds. There were things that Jamie didn’t fully understand himself and had been forbidden from telling anyone about them. The freaky looking bird was one of the things that had gone wrong with the experiment which had probably turned a wood pigeon into the monster that had tried to attack them. The government were trying to prevent the consequences of the experiment, but until they did there was a chance that something like it would happen again. Jamie asked him if he would rather cut short his holiday and they could think up some excuse for him going home early.
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