'Yes I do know where Hamish is… and Steve and Lucy. The Rebels told me I have to find Piers and Miles and within twenty-four hours and take them to where Hamish and Lucy is, or they will be killed.'
'Who will be killed?'
'Hamish and Steve and Lucy.'
'Where are they, Polly?'
'Iceland.'
'Right. Forget Brown Sugar Polly. We have a long trip ahead.'
'I'm ready, willing and able,' said Polly.
'Salute, call in the dogs.'
~
But before they could leave, Alison came running up the front drive.
'Polly, you're back!'
'Get rid of them, Polly. Quick! Time is of the essence,' Salute whispered.
Before Polly could speak, Alison yelled. 'Get rid of me? Polly, what is going on?'
'Alison, it's not what you think.'
'Not what I think? What's not what I think?'
'That was just a…'
'Oh for God's sake, Polly,' Event said. 'We'll take her with us.'
'And Gemma and Lily?' Alison piped up. 'They will be worried sick if I disappear too.'
'It's not a day trip to Brighton, Alison.'
'Please.'
'Good heavens above, it's turned into a Charabanc trip. Where are they?'
'Brown Sugar.'
'Alright, let's go.'
'I have to get India, we can't leave her here on her own. 'India, come here darling,' Polly yelled up the stairs. 'We have to go.'
India came running down the stairs.
'Wait! Fifi! Where's Fifi? We can't leave her behind,' Polly said.
'Salute's already got her. Is there anything else you want to take?'
But Event's sarcasm was lost on Polly as she took him seriously. 'Umm, should we take some tomato sandwiches?' she said as Event lifted his eyes to the heavens.
'Polly, shut up. Iceland here we come.' She put her arms round India and gave her a reassuring kiss on the cheek.
Event switched all his human sense feelers - sight, touch, auditory and taste. Salute suggested he should switch on all his animal sense feelers as well, and then they would have covered all eventualities.
Gemma and Lily had no idea where they were. One minute they were in Brown Sugar, next it seemed they were in a black bag with Polly, Alison and India.
'Are we in the gypsy's black basket?' Lily asked.
'No. Remember our old lodgers, Lily?' Polly said.
'Um, sort of.'
'Well, we are in one of his huge pockets, and we are on our way to Iceland to rescue Hamish, Lucy and Steve.'
'Are you are telling me I am travelling at what seems faster than the speed of light, on the way to Iceland in a large pocket?' Gemma asked.
'Yes.'
Gemma went deathly white. 'I think I'm going to faint,' she said, but decided it was a dreadful nightmare and hoped she would soon wake up.
Miles does a deal
The Freeflyers bundled a still protesting Miles into the energy traveller.
'I don't know what your game is, Zack, but it won't last,' Miles blurted out.
'Oh, but I think it will Miles, all I need is a few hours. Knox will pretend he is you, and that will give him access to all the Freeflyers' lairs and Byzantine Crescent. He can banish the girls to our outer regions, and I can assure you it's not very nice there… not very nice at all.'
'You bastard Zack. What have we done to you to make you do this to us?'
'By this, do you mean destroy Earth?'
At that time, Miles wasn't actually thinking about the Earth, but of his friend Piers, who was in terrible danger, and no one would listen to him.
'Would you like to do a deal to save your beloved cousin's life, Miles?'
Miles had already decided he would not listen to anything more Zack had to say, but he decided this could be worth listening to.
'I don't give a rag what happens to him. I'm more worried about myself right now.' Miles hoped the tone of his voice was convincing.
'Miles, if you pretend to be Knox for,' he looked at his time saver, 'twenty-three hours, I will let you know where Piers is. Promise.'
'You promise? What a joke! How can I trust you will keep up your end of the deal?'
'Easy.' He clicked his tongue, and the two Liddles jumped out of his top pocket and sat on his lap.
Miles recognised the two little animals he knew as Minx and Manx that belonged to the girls. He recovered his composure remarkably quickly and said, 'So what can they do?'
'Whatever you want them to do. I will give them to you right now.' Zack stood. 'Miles, if I wanted to escape, I could. This antiquated lock-up couldn't keep a Rebel baby a prisoner.'
'Go on then, big head, show me.' Miles challenged.
'Here, Miles.' He plonked the Liddles on Miles lap and disappeared through the open window high in the cell. Miles gawped as Zack returned.
'Now do you believe me?' Then Zack's super-sharp hearing heard footsteps outside the door.
'Are you with me, Miles? Will you pretend to be Knox? Quick, yes or no?'
Miles did not have to think twice, he would do anything for his friend. He nodded as he quickly stuffed the Liddles down his jumper.
~
A key turned in the door, and Rhettnor and Xavier walked in.
'Good morning Gentlemen.' Zack said.
'It might be for you, Commander Rhettnor, but not for long I think.' Zack lolled back on his bunk and examined his nails.
Miles jumped up, but before he could say a word, Xavier grabbed him roughly and twisted his arms behind his back.
'I know what little tricks you get up to, Knox. Take him to the soundproof room Xavier, we will question these Rebels separately.'
As Miles was pulled out, he saw Zack drag his finger across his throat. Miles was in no doubt what the Rebel meant, and the thought of a soundproof room scared him to death.
'This way, youngster.' Xavier pulled Miles round a corner and down a dark, narrow corridor. Miles had been well over six-foot since he was fifteen and hadn't been called 'youngster' for years, and then only by his uncle, Lord Knightly. Xavier slightly released his tight grip on Miles.
Miles saw this as an opportunity. 'Please can I talk?'
'Shut up, or you won't see another day Knox.'
Miles could have wept as they approached the end of the very long corridor it was dark and dinghy. I can't believe this is happening Miles thought, as he saw a heavy iron door with several locks.
'There is no way you will ever see daylight again, Knox,' Rhettnor gleefully said.
'Commander, please I'm not…'
The Commander slapped him round the head hard. 'Shut up,' he said. 'Now before we go into this room, I can assure you, depending on what you say, you may not come out alive.' Miles was violently shaken. 'Are you going to talk Knox?'
Miles wondered how much pain he could take to save his friend. He stayed silent.
'Fine,' Rhettnor said. 'Open the door, Xavier.'
~
Inside the room, it was dark and eerie. Miles was violently pushed in, and the heavy door was slammed shut behind him with a resounding bang.
'So Knox, prepare to meet your maker.'
Miles stood resolute. 'This is the last thing I can do for Piers my loyal friend,' he said. 'Long live England. And he started to sing “Rule Britannia”. '
'Miles.' A familiar voice spoke
'That's a lousy trick to test my loyalty. You rotten bastards. What are you up to? You want me to think that's Piers? Well, I know it's not. So do your worst. I'm saying nothing.'
'Miles, mate, don't be like that. Fancy something to eat?' the voice said. And the lights slowly lit. Someone was standing in the middle of the room with the biggest smile ever on his face.
Miles stared. 'Piers?' he said.
'I knew you'd be hungry,' Piers answered.
And no one knew who was crying the loudest till Miles, between sobs, said, 'You rotten buggers.'
'Sorry for the subt
erfuge, Miles. I hope I didn't hurt you, but it was imperative Zack was kept in the dark. He must think you are still pretending to be Knox. We all know Zack is as cunning as a bag of snakes, so we have to be very careful. Anyway, I expect you two would love to catch up, so let's all have something nice to eat and hear what Piers has to say.'
After a while, when the boys' eating frenzy subsided somewhat, Rhettnor suggested Piers start his story.
'Well, we left the shack and dropped down into a cavern… And Piers started his story.
The longest walk
'Can you manage another hour before we rest Piers?' Lord Girdur inquired.
Piers was frozen to the bone, and every step he took was excruciatingly painful, but he said of course and steeled himself to keep going that extra bit. Suddenly, Lord Girdur fell flat on his face and stayed still.
'Lord Girdur.' Piers ran to the front of the sled, fell to his knees and pulled at the old man. 'Lord Girdur, come on! Lord Girdur, Lord Girdur please.' After what seemed like hours, Piers finally sat back on his heels and buried his head on the old man's chest.
'My friend gave his life to save me,' he said. He stood and leaned back on the sled. It was late in the afternoon. 'I should get to some sort of shelter.' He looked round, trying to decide what to do next. Luckily, no snow clouds were in sight, so the visibility was clear for miles. He could not leave Lord Girdur here that was for sure. Somehow, he would have to get him up on the sled. But he was desperately tired and thought maybe if he lay down for a while, he would feel better. His eyelids started to slowly droop, sleep would soon be on him. Then a movement to the far left caught his eye. He squinted but try as he might, he could not bring the movement into focus. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. It was then that he heard a growl and shrank back, covering Girdur's lifeless body with his own. It was the cub that got to him first. She jumped up and bounced on Piers, covering his face with wet licks. Elska was right behind and cuffed little Kyssa and pulled her off. She picked Piers up and sat next to him on the sled, towering over him as she put her arm round him. Although he knew she was the bear he had saved, he still crossed all his fingers for good luck. While all this was happening, several bears had caught up. One picked up Lord Girdur and told him off as it cuddled him warm. 'Why didn't you let us know, Lord Girdur?'
Piers did a double take. He had understood what the bear had said. 'Lord Girdur, I understood him.'
'Yes, well enough of this soppy stuff,' Lord Girdur said sharply as he finally stood, though shakily, on his own two feet. He undid the rather large gold button at the neck of his cloak and threw it back, revealing Lord Knightly.
'Father?' questioned Piers.
'You were very hard to find, and keep the Rebels away,' said Lord Knightly as he hugged his adopted son. 'I certainly could not leave you to fight alone. I must say the bears were most obliging, and if it weren't for them, we would never have found you.'
'So you were in on it from the very start? The bear trap and all?' Piers said.
'No, that was just good or bad luck… depending which way you look at it. Unfortunately, the mother did tread on a bear trap. The Rebels set them all round here. You were very brave to try to save her, Piers. But what really won the bears over was the way you cared for the mother and loved little Kyssa. You did not abandon her, or eat her, as the Rebels tried to implant in your mind. And that's when Lord Girdur sent for me.
The bears - and there was about ten of them - crowded round, all wanting to hug Piers.
'I must say you have a way with animals Piers,' Lord Knightly said. 'Because you are a vegetarian, you do not have the smell of dead animals on you, so the animals are not suspicious of you. And you have emerged a hero who will always be welcome at the North Pole.'
'And that was about it', Piers said. 'I was rushed here in the greatest secrecy but was not told about you, Miles, until about two seconds before you walked in.'
~
'So why all the secrecy?' Miles asked. 'Zack is locked up, and Knox is comatosed for twenty hours at least. Zack showed me he could escape from the prison easily. He bragged no prison could hold him. And as it was he who immobilised Knox for twenty-four hours.'
'Miles, we are not playing his game anymore. He is not invincible. This prison he cannot escape from. It's a prison within a prison. We have to risk both you and Piers to the most dreadful danger for,' he looked at his watch, 'for twenty-three hours. Are you up to it?'
The boys looked at each other. And Miles, winking at Piers said, 'No, I don't think so, Lord Knightly. I'm scared, and I believe we've done enough. Don't you think so, Piers? Sod the others. I want to go back home.' They both nodded, and then they burst out laughing.
It was cut short, however, when Commander Rhettnor said, 'Boys before you get too gung-ho, you have to go back to the snow shack Piers, and take dopey face here with you. Then, you have to get into the cavern and down the Tunnel of Death. Hamish, Lucy and Steve should be there. Polly was with them but was released to bring you two back within twenty-four hours. If she doesn't, they will die.'
'You're kidding.'
'I wish I were.'
'Where is Polly now?' Miles asked just before Piers did.
'I wish I knew. Several Rebels are holding Hamish, Lucy and Steve captive. The Tunnel of Death is full of traps and dangers, and it changes at will. The chances of getting through and then getting them back safely are slim.'
'Slim, but not impossible?' Piers asked.
'Those odds suit me,' Miles added.
'Listen, you two blockheads, this is not a game, you could both die.'
Miles looked at Xavier. 'What you did to me was not nice. You hit me in the head, and it really hurt Xavier.'
'Oh for Gods sake Miles, you know the reason I did that, don't be so melodramatic, where you're going it going to be much worse.'
'That's enough recriminations!' shouted Rhettnor. 'Time is something we have not got. Everyone please shut up.' And all eyes turned to the Commander. 'Stand up, boys, and turn round and back again.'
Seconds later, the boys looked at each other.
'That's amazing! Miles, you look exactly like Knox.'
'You only have twenty-three hours, after that you'll return to your original selves with before you ask, no side effects.'
'And you do look exactly like Zack,' Miles butted in. 'I know we are identical twins, but this is ridiculous.' The boys were still fascinated and could not stop looking at each other and the mirror. 'How will we ever be able to tell the difference when the time comes? And are these real Rebel clothes?'
Miles looked at Piers and started to giggle. 'Sorry Piers, but will you stop pulling Zack's face?'
Piers, who had been practicing Zack's stern formidable face, grinned back. 'Well, Miles, you have Knox's stupid face down pat. Been practicing?'
Miles charged at Piers, about to start a wrestling match, when Rhettnor stepped in. 'Can you remember you are not children for more than two seconds?'
The boys stood to attention both saluted and at precisely the same time said, 'Jawohl, mein Commandant!' They looked at each other and grinned.
Rhettnor smiled. 'You may not be twins, but you two must be joined at the hip,' he said. 'Now please, some serious rules. You must be aware you will be seen as enemies to any Freeflyers you come across. And most important, in case of being separated, you must have some sign of recognition.'
'A wink?' Miles suggested.
'Too obvious.'
'A sniff?'
'No.'
'Licking our lips?'
'No.'
'Licking someone else's lips?' Miles said, and Piers burst out laughing again.
Rhettnor was at the end of his patience. 'Be serious, you pair of idiots. Oh, sort that one out yourselves!' And before they could answer, they were gone.
'I hope they will be okay, Rhett. If anything was to happen to them…'
'They have a few tricks up their sleeves they don't know about.'
'Still, a lot is at st
ake. Why don't we just attack?'
'What with? You, me and the cat next door?' Rhettnor slumped in his chair.
'If anything happens to those two boys, Lord Knightly, amongst others, will not be too happy.' Xavier shook his head.
'Do you think I don't know that?'
Chapter 14
Things Heat Up
Event and Salute landed in front of what looked like an early Icelandic wood-and-turf church. It was very quiet… too quiet.
Event pointed at the building and whispered. 'That's the front of the Rebels' home base in Iceland. The shack's hidden at the back. I hope we're not too late to save them Salute.'
'What can we do to draw the Rebels out? Somehow, we have got to get into that church.'
'I have some special burning fuel. It makes a lot of smoke but no fire. We could throw it into the church, and as they come running out, we slip in behind them under cover of the smoke and get to Hamish, Lucy and Steve.'
Muffled voices came from Event's pocket and at the same time as little yaps came from Salute's.
'Event, you forgot about us again,' Polly said as Event took the girls out of his pocket, and waited while they grew to their original size.
Fifi and the two Chihuahua's were delighted to be let out and again played the game of who could jump the highest.
'I'm starving,' Alison said.
'Ali, you and Miles are made for each other,' Salute said.
'Really? Why?' Ali said. And everyone burst out laughing.
'Shhh! Keep the noise down,' Event said. 'I don't want to attract attention before we are ready.'
'Too late!' screamed Polly. 'Look!'
The doors of the church swung open, and Commander Rekrap stood on the step. Next to him was Captain Bean in his hands was an execution ray unit, and his finger was on the trigger. He was ready for any bear that attacked.
'Welcome, welcome,' Commander Rekrap said. 'Please come in.'
Realising there was no way out, Event whispered, 'Do as he said.'
As they all slowly trudged to the church, the dogs ran ahead. Commander Rekrap looked at them, trying to decide what to do next. Suddenly, he yelled, 'Kill them!' and pointed to the dogs.
'No!' screamed Polly. She ran, grabbed Fifi and stood in front the two little Chihuahuas. They cowered where they stood, not sure what to do.
Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death Page 18
