Kevin was still in a state of shock as he gathered his thoughts before he eventually replied.
‘I believe you, son, even though the whole thing is absolutely crazy. I’ll try and persuade your mum to give it another go here and perhaps Leanne can stay with one of her class mates until this is all over. We better not tell your mum about what happened here because it will freak her out. Let’s get back to the farm.’
‘What about your shirt, Dad and the scratch on your back and the blood. What will you tell, Mum?’
‘I’ll think of something if she sees it, but I had better change my shirt and I will take a look in the loft before we leave to check if those blighters have disappeared.’
Kevin was relieved to find no trace of the previous night’s horror when he climbed into the loft and before he had turned the light on had seen daylight coming through a small hole at one end of the loft where he figured his screeching attackers must have used to get in through. He slowed crawled on the boards that partly covered the loft floor and used a small suitcase to cover the hole. As he was preparing to climb down from the loft he saw something that gave him an idea that might just help his family to be able to stay in the house tonight.
* * *
Jamie and his dad hardly spoke on the drive back to the Rosser Farm and they were both surprised when they pulled up at the farmhouse and were greeted by a smiling Debbie and Leanne.
‘Are we still going to Liverpool today, Daddy?’ Leanne asked, causing Kevin some anguish before he replied, ‘We might be, Princess, but I’d like to have a family discussion first.’
Kevin explained that the bats had all gone from the loft and he had sealed the hole that they had probably got in through. The family agreed that until last night they had liked living in the house and especially in the countryside. He mentioned Falcon, Ohmslaw and Jamie’s football for the school team. He didn’t deny that they had experienced a few other incidents, but they were behind them. He suggested that until Leanne felt safe in the house she could sleep in their bed with her mum and Kevin would sleep in the same room on a camp bed that he had brought down from the loft. Leanne would not be left on her own upstairs and when she went to bed, Kevin or Debbie would stay with her until it was time for them to retire for the night.
Kevin gave a big sigh after he’d finished and then asked, ‘So, what do we think, gang?’
Debbie gave an even bigger sigh than Kevin’s while looking at Leanne, ‘Hmm, I don’t know if it’s a good idea Kevin. What do you think, Leanne?’
‘Well, I would miss, Falcon just as much as I missed my best friend, Josie when we came here and if Daddy’s sure those horrible bats have all gone and someone stays with me like Daddy promised then I don’t mind.’
Kevin looked relieved and asked Jamie what he thought.
‘Cool, I think we should stay because I still haven’t had a chance to race Mrs Cranleigh into town on my bike.’
The whole family laughed at the thought of the bike race and the decision to stay had been made.
* * *
It was mid afternoon when the Vectra pulled up outside the house. Leanne was hesitant until she saw Ohmslaw approach her and she picked him up and cuddled him. Leanne had become really fond of the cat after not liking him when they had first arrived because he had caught the little mice, but her dad had explained that the mice could cause damage and spread diseases.
Debbie and Kevin smiled as they entered the house, both pleased to be home and yet still apprehensive for their daughter.
‘I think I’ll go and get my dolls to play with down here, Mum,’ Leanne said and ran up the stairs to get them without a care in the world. Debbie headed for the kitchen to make some tea and Kevin settled down in front of the television. It was as though normal service had been resumed and only Jamie knew of the real danger that they were in.
The Tranter family were about to start a new life for a second time if Devilmortex would let them?
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
General Thomas S Deerbacker walked out of the main entrance of the giant military hospital on the outskirts of London wishing that he had taken early retirement last year when he had the chance. The business with Sligo was getting out of hand and he was thinking that General Kruger had done the dirty on him when he’d transferred back to Washington and left him to pick up the pieces of this mess. He had hoped that his visit to see Sligo might have given him some hope that he could keep things under wraps, now he wasn’t convinced. He couldn’t just ignore Sligo’s testimony even though the man was obviously suffering from some serious mental problems. He also had to take into account that Agent Sligo had been acting in the interest of national security, even if he was a great, clumsy Texan. If the big dope hadn’t fallen on his camera and then left it behind then they could have avoided getting involved with a visit to the Tranter house. Sligo had mentioned seeing military style equipment and that couldn’t be ignored, but if there had been then someone had obviously removed it when Runsfeld had visited the house. Sligo’s report had been reasonably coherent except for the fact that he’d claimed to have seen a lion in the Tranter house and it was about to attack him just before he fell down the stairs. There was some divided opinion about whether Sligo suffered from illusions or hallucinations.
The latest report from the medical folks supported the previous diagnosis that Sligo had suffered some form of serious mental breakdown during the planned raid on the Rosser Farm. They were confident that he would make a recovery and had recommended that he be returned home to the United States and be placed under constant observation in a secure unit. To make matters worse the latest information from the Intelligence Service in Maryland suggested that the secret transmissions might be even more ominous than first thought and they now suspected that someone had hacked into what had been considered an impregnable defence system computer. The theory being put forward now was that another country was definitely involved and that they had been communicating with someone on a distant planet. If these assessments were accurate then it was possible that those on the other planet might form an alliance with their communicators. This could have catastrophic implications for the USA who might find themselves dealing with an invisible enemy, not knowing what sort of weapons that they might have. It was a military planner’s nightmare and General Deerbacker didn’t want to risk the possibility that Sligo wasn’t totally barmy.
Sgt Lee Jeffers held open the door of the waiting staff car for the General. He’d been watching some of the patients walking in the grounds of the hospital with escorts and it had given him the creeps. More than that, it had depressed him and as was always the case when he was feeling low, his thoughts turned to food and lots of it.
Sgt Jeffers fastened his seatbelt and waited for the order to move off. He had risked a glance in the internal mirror to see what sort of mood General Deerbacker was in and the signs weren’t good. The jowly face was even more reddened than usual and no doubt the hat was hiding some of the worry lines that rarely left the General’s face these days. Jeffers sensed that something big was going on, but it was being kept under wraps and none of the other drivers had heard a whisper of what it was about. Well, there had been one rumour about a UFO being spotted on some godforsaken place called Salisbury Plain.
Jeffers sneaked another look at the General, wondering what the holdup was because they should have been on the move by now. He hated being sandwiched between the two Special Service vehicles that always accompanied the General’s limousine. Jeffers glanced at his watch, eager to get back to base for his mid-day meal. It was exactly 12-30, but it would be several minutes before the lead car finally moved off, no doubt delayed by whatever the General had been discussing on his specially equipped scrambler telephone in the back of the limousine.
The motorcade had reached the motorway and headed in the opposite direction to the base when Jeffers realised that he wouldn’t be having lunch just yet. He would soon learn that he might be having his next meal or snack in some
part of England they called Devon.
* * *
Sgt Jeffers wasn’t a happy man when the motorcade had stopped in the tiny lane even though he had managed to stock up with an assortment of chocolate bars when they had stopped for gasoline. It wasn’t his hunger that troubled him now, but the state of his vehicle. The roads that he’d negotiated for the past few miles were hardly adequate for a horse and cart, let alone a wide bodied limousine. At first he had thought the joker leading in front had got himself lost, but then a civilian had appeared from nowhere when they had made a sudden stop and was now in the back talking to the General. Jeffers had been told to take a stroll whilst the General conducted some classified work with the stranger. The stranger was an American, but Jeffers didn’t quite catch his name, despite straining his ears. Whatever was going on didn’t make sense, unless this feller was some kind of private investigator who had been doing some personal work for the General. The rumour on the station was that one of the General’s sons had got mixed up with some commie sympathisers at University and the General had gone ape when he’d heard about it and wanted to know who was responsible for corrupting his son. The General was a heart attack waiting to happen being overweight and in a highly stressed state most of the time. He’d dedicated his life to the serving his country despite being a member of one of the richest families in America.
When Jeffers had walked clear of the car the General asked the man beside him a question that would have had Jeffers nodding smugly and saying, ‘Was I right or was I right? This is personal.’
‘Did you get any photographs?’
‘None that are worth looking at, General,’ replied Ed Runsfeld and then added, ‘But I do have a suspect. Well he’s more than a suspect and we’ve got Sligo to thank for making out such a detailed report and the Brits for keeping their old church records.’
‘Is it the one that we discussed yesterday and does he have an accomplice like we thought?’
‘Correct on both counts, sir. If you have time I’ll take you to their base, but I wouldn’t recommend closing down his operation just yet. He might lead us to bigger fish and we’ve still got to get the cooperation of our British friends.’
Jeffers muttered to himself, ‘Good,’ when he was ordered back to the car expecting to be told to head for home, that’s if you could call the little rabbit hutch that he lived in on the base, a home. Sgt Jeffers was wondering just what the hell was going on after the civilian had stayed in the car and he discovered that were not about to head for home.
Jeffers was soon experiencing anxious moments when once again he was negotiating very narrow lanes and was relieved when they finally stopped at the end of the narrow tree-lined street. It wasn’t the sort of place where he would expect some loony students to live, but what would bring a three-star General to this godforsaken place unless it was something very personal and why else would the general employ a private investigator? Any chance that he might eavesdrop on what was being said in the back of the car was thwarted when the general flicked the switch that filled the driver’s section with loud rock music.
Jeffers could see the face of the two men, but he couldn’t lip read. The General was doing lots of nodding and he seemed happy enough. Within a few minutes the music stopped, the private investigator got out and whatever interest the General had in the odd sounding Hog’s End Lane he was certainly in a better mood than when they’d left the hospital all those hours ago.
The General hadn’t heard Jeffers roar out, ‘Hallelujah’ after he had a call on his phone from one of the Special Service vehicle drivers telling him that they were heading for home.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Jamie was looking forward to going back to school on Monday. The holidays had been a bit boring after Geoff had gone home early and couldn’t come back as planned because his Nan had taken ill again, even though they had not been without incident. He had thought of contacting Ethan and trying his hand at some fishing, but decided it would be pushing his luck if Devilmortex was still be operating.
According to Soupinpota’s last message they had been really close to locating the evil one, but he had been inactive recently and they would have to wait for his next move. Jamie had been reminded to stay on his guard.
‘Are you sure you won’t come with us?’ Kevin asked as the rest of the family were preparing to leave to go to the Sunday car boot sale. Jamie wasn’t keen on the idea of going with the family and intended to do some reading in the garden and then have a good session playing computer games.
As soon as he heard the front door being slammed, Jamie gathered his magazines together and headed out into the garden and positioned the old deckchair by the pond. It had been good seeing Geoff, sharing the same sense of humour, enjoying the banter and he had mixed feelings that the family had not returned home to Liverpool when the trouble with Devilmortex had been really bad. His mum and dad had settled in well and even Leanne seemed content now that she had her horsey friends. Soupinpota had been good fun, at least before the troubles started, but it wasn’t the same as having a proper mate to knock about with. If only Soupinpota, as he now referred to him and not Daniel, had been real like he’d pretended to be in the beginning. Maybe he wasn’t a computer after all, but an alien. Jamie wondered who had started the idea that aliens had massive heads and little green bodies. They might all be twelve feet tall and have blue faces or tiny heads. Jamie figured that the big head theory was linked to the thought that they must all have much bigger brains because they were more advanced than us.
The hot sun soon had Jamie feeling drowsy and he dropped the magazine on the ground beside the deck chair and was mesmerised by the antics of the five goldfish in the pond just in front of him. It was as though they were playing the old game called ‘tick’ that his dad said they used to play in the street. The game involved chasing and catching another player, touching them and then shouting, ‘tick’. The idea being to avoid being ‘ticked’ until you were the last player remaining. After a few minutes the biggest of the fish must have become bored with the game because whilst the other fish continued darting around the pond, he became more interested in Jamie. This fascinated Jamie because all the fish had always appeared jumpy, but the inquisitive one didn’t move even when Jamie leaned forward. Jamie wasn’t usually able to sleep during daylight, no matter how tired he was, but staring at the goldfish had left him sort of hypnotised and relaxed. He lay back in the chair, closed his eyes and was soon drifting in and out of sleep. He felt a tickle on his neck and flicked his hand at what he thought must be a pesky fly or mosquito. It was annoying, but it didn’t stop him from falling asleep.
* * *
Jamie’s throat was parched and sore when he opened his eyes and squinted towards the sun which was behind the man who was leaning over him.
‘Are you all right?’
‘Is that you, Dad?’ Jamie asked, while putting a hand to his neck which was now feeling even more painful than the inside of his throat.
Jamie struggled, but was unable to sit up and he accepted the help of the outstretched hands.
‘Do I look like your dad?’ Rufus asked
‘Mr Cranleigh what are you doing here?’ Jamie asked as he stared down at the branches that lay on the ground.
‘You’ve had a bit of an accident, lad. I was in my garden when I heard you choking. You sounded really frightened, so I came around to investigate. It was a good job that I had my pruning shears in my hand and managed to cut that creeper that had wrapped itself around your neck.’
Jamie’s mind was beginning to clear and he asked Rufus how that could have happened. It wasn’t as though the creeper was that close to Jamie’s chair.
‘It does seem strange, but it must have dropped on you and then you got tangled in it and then fell forward.’
Rufus had stayed with Jamie until the family returned and he explained his theory to an angry Kevin and a very anxious Debbie. As soon as Rufus had left, after receiving repeated thanks from Jami
e’s mum and dad, Kevin headed for the garden shed for his shears, pickaxe and a spade.
Kevin was still fired up with the anger generated by the thought that Jamie was lucky to escape with only bruises when he set about hacking the creeper. When only a few stumps were left sticking out of the ground he swung the pickaxe repeatedly to loosen the roots. Kevin was sweating heavily by the time he had dug deep into where the creeper had rooted and was satisfied that he had done enough to stop it growing again.
Rufus’s explanation about what had happened seemed reasonable enough, although Kevin thought it more likely that Jamie had been larking about and wrapped the fallen branches around his neck before he had fallen asleep and then lurched forward.
* * *
By the time the family had finished dinner Jamie was getting fed up with all the attention he was getting, except from Leanne who made gestures indicating a ‘hanging’ from time to time. When his mum propped up his cushion on the settee as they settled in to watch television Jamie had had enough fuss and retreated to the computer room. The flashing ‘urgent message’ on the screen frightened Jamie and left him having further doubts that the creeper incident had been just an accident. The message made it clear that Jamie was now in serious danger and he was to contact Soupinpota immediately and stay inside the house until further notice.
Jamie had groaned when he had read the warning message because it seemed that Devilmortex had not lost interest in him like he had hoped. In his concern about the flashing message, Jamie hadn’t noticed that the Titantula status message was indicating ‘disconnected’. When he checked the time and date of the message he discovered that it had been sent before his encounter with the creeper. Jamie made repeated attempts to re-establish a connection before he gave up and told his parents that he was going to bed early.
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