Kip gritted his teeth, hoping against hope that they wouldn’t be too late.
Rose stared up at the slowly descending ladder. An amplified American-accented voice rang from the hovering helicopter.
‘Hold tight, we’ll get you out of there just as soon as we can. We picked up your distress signal and came looking for you. We were just about to give up and head back to base.’
Rose looked hopefully at Tamara but saw that she was staring towards the doorway where several Neanderthals were coming slowly across the flat roof towards them, their powerful arms extended. Rose looked anxiously back towards the helicopter. The rope ladder was descending, but slowly, much too slowly for comfort, and the leading Neanderthals were already very close.
‘Hurry up!’ yelled Rose. ‘There’s not much time.’
Tamara was looking around for some kind of weapon but there was nothing here she might be able to use. She seemed to come to a decision. She let go of Rose’s hand and stepped forward to face the first Neanderthal.
‘OK, you big ape,’ she said. ‘You want trouble, you came to the right place.’
‘Tamara, no!’ cried Rose. ‘Come back here.’
‘It’s OK, honey. I’m just going to buy us a little more time. Don’t worry, I’m a black belt in karate.’ She launched herself forward and aimed a savage kick into the creature’s groin. He gave a small grunt of surprise, but didn’t seem hurt in any way. Now Tamara threw a punch at his stomach. He grunted again, but didn’t seem particularly bothered. Now it was his turn. He reached out a dirty hand, grabbed a fistful of Tamara’s hair and flung her to the ground. She hit the roof with a thud and rolled over. The Neanderthal stepped closer and reaching down, he grabbed Tamara by the arm and pulled her upright. Then he began to strangle her.
‘NO!’ screamed Rose. ‘Please. Let her go!’
She started forward to try and help but froze in her tracks as she heard a sudden whooshing noise. There was a brilliant flash of light. Quite suddenly, Captain Holder was standing beside her, looking somewhat bewildered. He was holding a torch. He looked down at Rose and smiled with what looked like relief.
‘I’m back,’ he said. ‘I’m really back!’
‘Never mind that!’ screamed Rose. ‘Help her!’ She pointed to where Tamara and the Neanderthal were struggling together. Captain Holder said something under his breath and sprang towards them. He drew back his fist and punched the Neanderthal full in the face. The caveman’s head rocked a little but he seemed completely undeterred. Then Captain Holder appeared to remember something. He flicked the torch on and brought it up to point the beam right into the creature’s eyes.
The result was amazing. The Neanderthal bellowed as though in terrible pain. He let go of Tamara and, lifting his hands to his face, he tried to stumble away, unaware that he was moving towards the edge of the roof. One of his feet stepped out onto empty air and he stood there a moment, waving his arms in a pathetic attempt to stay upright. Then he fell.
Rose ran to Tamara who was clutching her throat and gasping for breath.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked.
Tamara nodded her head. She looked at Captain Holder. ‘Where have you been?’ she croaked.
‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,’ he said. ‘Are you two OK?’
Tamara nodded grimly. More Neanderthals were approaching and Captain Holder swung round and gave them a blast from his torch to slow them down. He glanced up at the helicopter and saw that the rope ladder was finally coming within reach.
‘Who are these people?’ he asked suspiciously.
‘I don’t care who they are,’ said Tamara, getting to her feet. ‘So long as they’re human and they’ve used a bar of soap in the last six months, then they’ve got my vote.’
‘OK, Tamara,’ said Captain Holder. He did something odd then. He reached out and took her in his arms, staring longingly into her eyes. ‘You knew I’d come back for you, didn’t you?’ he said, and his voice sounded less gruff than usual.
Tamara stared at him, a little bewildered.
‘I … kind of hoped you would,’ she admitted.
‘I guess you were depending on my strength, my courage, my rugged good looks.’ He leaned closer, going in for a kiss.
‘Er … could we talk about this later?’ asked Tamara. ‘Only it’s a little frantic right now.’
‘Oh sure.’ Captain Holder seemed to remember where they were. ‘No problem. You go first. Then the girl.’
Tamara nodded. She threw up a hand and grabbed the bottommost rung of the rope ladder. Rose could see the highly-defined muscles in her arm flexing. She clambered up a short distance and then reached a hand down to Rose.
‘Come on, honey,’ she said. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
Rose reached up to grab Tamara’s hand. She scrambled onto the bottom rung of the rope ladder; but just then, she heard somebody shout her name. Turning, she saw that two figures had just emerged from the shattered doorway and were running frantically towards the helicopter, weaving in and out of the slower-moving Neanderthals. Rose gasped in surprise. Kip and Beth. She stared down at them amazed.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘We came to get you,’ yelled Kip, having to shout over the roar of the helicopter’s rotor blades. Beth turned to train her torch on the advancing Neanderthals and Captain Holder went to assist her. ‘We’ve been following you all through this pigging film,’ added Kip, gazing up at her. ‘You won’t believe what we’ve had to go through to get here.’
Rose scowled down at him.
‘Well, you needn’t have bothered,’ she said. ‘I’m going off with Tamara now.’
‘You’re what?’ Kip stared at her, horrified. ‘You … you can’t!’ he protested. ‘If you do that, you’ll be stuck in the film. You’ll never be able to get out of it.’
‘Tamara’s my friend,’ said Rose. ‘She’s looked after me, really, really well, which is more than you ever did.’
‘That … that’s not fair,’ said Kip. He paced anxiously around on the roof for a few moments. ‘And anyway, what about Mum and Dad?’
‘What about them?’ muttered Rose. ‘Tamara is pretty and she has Barbie-doll hair and she nearly got killed trying to look after me.’
Tamara was looking intently down at Rose now and her eyes filled with tears.
‘Honey, if you have a Mommy and Daddy waiting for you, maybe you should go with …’ She glared down at Kip. ‘Who are you exactly?’
‘I’m her brother.’
‘Yes, he’s my brother,’ said Rose. ‘And he’s always being mean to me. He makes nasty comments when I play with my dolls and he makes me sit up in the projection room when he wants to go in and watch a film.’
‘I won’t do that to you again,’ Kip told her. ‘I promise. And I won’t make comments about your dolls any more. OK? Rose, you’re my sister and I … well, I …’ He made a real effort to get the words out. ‘I … care about you,’ he said. ‘Lots.’
Rose didn’t look at all convinced.
‘You’re just saying that,’ she sneered. ‘You’re just worried what Mum and Dad will say if you go back without me.’
Kip looked up at her desperately. Now the helicopter was starting to rise higher in the air.
‘Rose, you’ve got to come back with me. You’re not meant to be here, none of us are. And if we don’t go very soon, it will be too late for all of us. Do you want to be stuck here for the rest of your life? Being chased by smelly cavemen.’
‘Well …’ said Rose.
‘Please, just let go of the ladder and I’ll catch you.’ He shoved his torch into his pocket and held out his hands. ‘Just let go.’
‘You’ll drop me,’ cried Rose.
‘I won’t, I promise. Come on, it’s only a short distance.’
Rose frowned. She looked up at Tamara and sighed.
‘I suppose I’ll have to go with him,’ she said.
‘OK, honey.’ Tamara leaned down and gave
Rose a kiss on the cheek. ‘It was sure nice meeting you. And I’ll never forget you.’
Rose smiled. She glanced down again. ‘Don’t you dare drop me,’ she warned Kip.
‘I won’t.’
Rose took a deep breath. Then she let go of Tamara’s hand and fell the short distance into Kip’s arms. He held her close to him and she hugged him back.
‘I was so frightened,’ she whispered into his ear. ‘A big snake ate Tad. And Jade got killed by Number Tails.’
‘It’s not real,’ Kip assured her.
‘It felt real,’ said Rose.
‘Well, you’re safe now,’ he said. ‘I’ve got you.’
‘Are we going home now?’
‘Yes,’ said Kip. ‘We—’ But then a sudden terrible thought struck him. ‘Oh no,’ he gasped, ‘the Retriever!’ He looked at Beth. ‘We still don’t have the Retriever. We can’t get back without it.’
A big hand came to rest on his shoulder and he looked up in surprise to see Captain Holder smiling at him.
‘I guess you must be Kip,’ he said.
Kip nodded, mystified.
‘A crazy old guy asked me to give you this.’ Captain Holder reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out the Retriever. ‘He said you’d know what to do with it.’ He pressed it into Kip’s hand. ‘Well, I’d love to stand around and chew the fat but it’s time I made a move.’
He threw his torch at the head of the nearest Neanderthal, then made a quick run across the intervening space and launched himself through the air in what could only be described as a heroic leap. His hands slapped around the bottom rung of the rope ladder. He clung on and waved his arm at the helicopter pilot. The rope ladder began to glide slowly back up into the helicopter. At the same time, it swung away from the rooftop, taking Tamara and Captain Holder with it. For a few moments, the pair of them were still visible, waving down at the three children on the roof, but then they were gone, swallowed up by the darkness. Only the blinking red lights of the helicopter revealed where they were.
‘Right,’ said Kip. He set Rose down on the roof and hung the Retriever around his neck. Beth was still dazzling Neanderthals for all she was worth, but it was clear that it was a losing battle. The creatures were blundering closer and closer all the time, their eyes gradually adjusting to the glare, their arms groping to try and touch what they wanted more than anything else. Fresh meat. More and more of them were spilling out onto the roof through the shattered doorway.
‘Everybody hold hands,’ instructed Kip. ‘We’d better hurry, we must be really close to the end credits.’
Beth dropped her torch and did as she was told. Kip was painfully aware of the Neanderthals, unhindered now, closing in for the kill on all sides. He glanced around at the other’s anxious faces. ‘Everybody hang on tight,’ he warned them. He let go of Beth’s hand for one second, levered up the cover on the Retriever and pressed the EXIT button. Then instantly, he grabbed her hand again.
For a long, terrible moment, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. Kip stared down at the Retriever for a moment and glanced nervously over his shoulder, only to see a hideous bearded figure closing in on him with an expression of feral rage. He saw two red, staring eyes, two rows of rotten teeth and two big hands with dirty fingernails. He was so scared, he nearly let go of Beth and Rose so he could make a run for it. But he hung on tightly.
Then the familiar melting sensation pulsed through him and he was only dimly aware of the Neanderthal’s hands passing right through him as though he had no more substance than a shadow. A bright light flared with a brilliance that momentarily blinded him … and, an instant later, he was standing on the wooden platform as it slid smoothly out of the light.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
KIP BLINKED A couple of times and let his vision swim back into focus. He was relieved to see that Beth and Rose were also there, crammed together on the round wooden platform. Then he turned his head and saw Mr Lazarus, a welcoming smile on his face.
‘So you’re back at last,’ he said. ‘I was beginning to fear you’d left it too late. That you were going to end up like Federico.’ He gestured to the glass window and Kip could see the end credits going up the screen, the final theme music playing. ‘You made it out of there by the skin of your teeth,’ he said.
Kip let go of Beth and Rose’s hands and stepped off the platform. They followed, all of them staring around, as though trying to convince themselves that they really were back in the projection room of the Paramount.
‘That was very nearly an unhappy ending,’ Kip told Mr Lazarus. ‘When we finally got to Rose, she was just about to go off with Kara Neetly in a helicopter.’
Rose shook her head.
‘Her name was Tamara Flyte,’ she said. ‘And she was an anthro … an anthro … she was a nice lady.’
‘Yes, she seemed very nice,’ said Mr Lazarus. ‘And she looked after you well.’ He smiled at Kip. ‘I saw the last scene, by the way. It was very emotional.’
Kip shrugged his shoulders. He glanced at Beth. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked her.
She nodded. ‘That was beyond weird,’ she said.
‘It was ’orrible,’ whispered Rose. ‘There was snakes and Number Tails and all kinds of nasty things. Just wait till I tell Mummy and Daddy what happened.’
‘You don’t need to tell them,’ said Beth anxiously. ‘Do you?’
‘Yes I do.’
Kip fixed Mr Lazarus with a look and lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘What are we going to do about Rose?’ he asked.
Mr Lazarus smiled.
‘Do about her?’ he echoed.
‘She’ll tell everyone what happened. Anyone who’ll listen. She won’t be able to stop herself.’
‘And you think people will believe her?’
Kip shrugged.
‘They might if she goes on about it enough.’
Mr Lazarus considered for a moment. Then he nodded.
‘Rose, come here,’ he said. ‘I have something to show you.’ He pulled an old-fashioned pocket watch from his waistcoat. It looked just like the one he had given to Norman. ‘Now, look at this for a moment,’he said. He let it dangle from its length of chain and began to swing it gently from side to side. ‘If you look really closely,’ he said, ‘you’ll see a little dancing pony.’
Rose fixed her gaze on the watch and Kip noticed Mr Lazarus’s lips moving as though he was chanting something under his breath. Suddenly, Rose’s eyelids fluttered and she began to fall. Kip caught her under her arms and looked at her pale face in dismay.
‘What’s wrong with her?’ he gasped.
‘Nothing,’ Mr Lazarus assured him. ‘She’ll sleep now and when she wakes up she’ll remember hardly anything about her experience. If she should ask any questions, just tell her it must have been a nightmare she had.’
Kip nodded. He lifted Rose into his arms and carried her across to the folding bed on the far side of the room. She was clearly in a deep sleep but her chest rose and fell and there was a smile on her face, as though she was having a nice dream.
Only now that he was out of the film, could Kip fully appreciate what he had been through. He lifted a hand to his face and rubbed at his eyes.
‘You must be exhausted,’ observed Mr Lazarus. ‘After all, it’s not every day you take on Neanderthals and sabre-toothed tigers.’
‘And a giant bat,’ said Beth. ‘I expect you missed that bit.’
Mr Lazarus nodded. ‘I didn’t see everything,’ he admitted. ‘Most of the time I was following the action with Rose. But I did see you arrive on the roof. That was quite a scene.’ He smiled. ‘I think we should all head outside now,’ he added. ‘If I’m correct, your father will be arriving back any moment. Let’s hope he doesn’t notice how grubby you all are.’
‘Dad!’ Kip had forgotten all about his father’s trip to the hospital. He glanced at Beth. ‘We have to act like it’s just been a normal night at the Paramount,’ he warned her.
Bet
h was looking down at her torn T-shirt and stained jeans.
‘Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on telling anyone the truth,’ she said. ‘Though how I’m going to explain this lot, I don’t know. These jeans were clean on today.’
‘I think you three need to get a good night’s sleep,’ said Mr Lazarus. ‘We can discuss what happened in more detail when you’ve had time to think it over.’
‘Yes,’ said Kip. ‘Good idea.’ He pointed to the Lazarus Enigma. ‘As for that thing, you need to take it apart. Seriously. We can’t risk having any more accidents like the one we had with Rose.’
Mr Lazarus smiled thinly.
‘Like I say, let’s discuss it later. If I dismantle the system, then we won’t have the improved picture quality and sound. Two things that I think are already helping the cinema to find the wider audience it needs.’
‘Well—’ said Kip.
‘No, come along now, no more discussion! Let’s get you outside. We’ll talk about this another time. And besides, we need to see the rest of the audience out.’
‘The audience!’ Kip opened his mouth in dismay. He’d forgotten all about them. He looked at Beth. ‘What are they going to think?’ he gasped. ‘They must have seen everything!’
‘They’ll think they’ve seen a very bad film,’ said Mr Lazarus calmly. ‘One or two might even tell themselves that they’ve seen somebody they recognise in there. But who’s going to believe what they say? That the boy who sells the popcorn and his friend were in a Hollywood movie?’ He laughed. ‘Who would believe such a ridiculous story? And if they should come back for another look, well, they’ll see that they must have been mistaken. Because the film will be back the way it was always meant to be.’
Kip lifted Rose into his arms again and swung her carefully across his shoulder. She didn’t stir. She seemed to be in the deepest sleep.
‘You’re sure she’ll wake up?’ he muttered.
Mr Lazarus nodded. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Trust me, Kip. You worry too much. Everything is going to be fine.’ He held out a gloved hand. ‘But I think once again you have forgotten something, yes?’
Night on Terror Island Page 14
