The Team's Return (A Team book Book 2)

by S G Read

‘But at least we get to go in a helicopter!’ Simon replied.

  ‘I wouldn't mind a ride on a helicopter.’ C.J agreed. ‘But they seem very-’ He paused, searching for the right word. ‘Well thick really, they'll probably fly right over that place where the Captain was shot down and be surprised when a missile comes up and hits the helicopter up the bum!’

  ‘We'll just have to make sure that that doesn't happen.’ Stuart replied. ‘The man who interprets for the sergeant seems to be okay, we'll have to work on him!’

  ‘Does that book of yours tell you how to fly a helicopter?’ Ben asked.

  ‘No. In fact there's not much left of it now and it's got a dirty great bullet hole through it!’ Stuart replied. ‘But it will make a nice trophy when we get home!’

  ‘Don't tell me you're going to say that you were reading it at the time.’ Ben asked.

  ‘You've got it!’ Stuart admitted.

  ‘Well I'm after a bit of that helicopter I trashed as a trophy, that’s why I’m going back there!’ Ben replied.

  ‘But that means landing in old collywobbles front garden!’ Simon pointed out.

  ‘That's true!’ Ben admitted. ‘But I've got to take something home as a trophy, everyone else has got something!’

  ‘I've decided to take the axe.’ Sherman whispered, although there was no one nearby to overhear.

  ‘How? You'll never get it through customs!’ Ben retorted.

  ‘I'll find a way.’ Sherman assured him. ‘I haven’t worked it out yet but I’ll find a way!’

  The talk turned to who was taking what home as a trophy and was only interrupted by the immanent arrival of Gerald Fforbes White, the attaché, they could see him walking across the beach toward them. Stuart instinctively covered the arm they had taken both blood samples from.

  ‘It's alright old chap they haven't sent me for more blood, I’m not Dracula! I was just checking that you were fighting fit! I have arranged for you to telephone your parents!’

  If the attaché expected gratitude he did not get it, no one said anything.

  ‘I thought you would be happy if you were able to speak to your parents!’ He said with some surprise.

  ‘We would be if it actually happened!’ Ben replied.

  They did not expand their answer and explain about their earlier attempts to phone home.

  ‘I can assure you that I have relatives in England and I often telephone them!’ The attaché answered, a little put out when his efforts were not appreciated.

  ‘Come on let's go and try, maybe we'll have more luck this time!’ Stuart urged.

  ‘Have you tried to use the telephone already?’ The attaché asked, picking up on the ‘this time’.

  ‘Yes, we could have ordered some Chinese food but it would have been cold by the time we called for it!’ Ben Replied.

  ‘How could you pay?’ The attaché asked.

  ‘We found some money,’ C.J replied, ‘and a man changed it into coins we could use in the phone for us!’

  ‘Well mine is a direct line.’ The Attaché assured them. ‘We will have no trouble telephoning all your parents!’

  The boys followed the attaché into the hotel and all squeezed into the lift. The attaché led them to a plushly furnished room, with leather bound chairs and a huge ornate mirror which hung on the wall behind a large desk which was neatly equipped with blotting pad, pen holder, inkwell, pen, telephone but no paperwork.

  ‘What does an attaché actually do?’ Simon asked, on seeing the lack of paperwork.

  ‘I look after British interests in Colombia.’ The attaché replied. ‘If anyone with a British passport has a problem I have to sort it out for them and usually in time for them to go home after their holiday!’

  ‘I haven't got my passport!’ Simon replied. ‘My dad’s got it, does that matter?’

  The attaché smiled.

  ‘No, in this instance I think we can overlook that.’ He replied.

  The attaché dialled and waited, then passed the phone around. The boys could here the speaking clock all the way from England.

  ‘You see what I mean? Now who is going to be first?’ The attaché said smugly.

  He dialled the first number but nothing happened, the line crackled then was silent. The attaché dialled again and again then tried a different number. This time it made a connection, it was the same Chinese restaurant the boys had talked to. After an hour of trying to redeem him self, the attaché slammed the phone back into its cradle.

  ‘Wait here. I think someone is giving us the run around and I am not having it!’ The attaché exclaimed, left them scattered round his office and went in search of someone to shout at, which it seemed was the way you went about things in this country.

  ‘Shall we head back to the beach?’ C.J asked.

  A large clock ticked on the wall, Stuart looked at it.

  ‘We'll give him half an hour then go back to the beach.’ He replied. ‘That's a proposal.’

  ‘I'll second it.’ Sherman said gruffly.

  ‘All in favour?’ Stuart asked.

  Everyone put their hand up.

  ‘Carried.’ Stuart declared.

  It proved to be the longest half hour of their lives and they were on the beach very quickly, when it had expired.

  ‘What do you think happened to old Fforbes White, do you think he found someone to have a go at?’ C.J asked as he settled back on one of the sun beds on the beach.

  Stuart thought for a moment.

  ‘If I was giving the British government the run around, I'd make sure they didn't find me doing it!’ He said wisely.

  ‘Too right!’ Simon agreed. ‘They probably legged it as soon as he stopped trying!’

  ‘Which means if we'd have tried again we'd have probably got through!’ Ben pointed out.

  ‘The next question is do we want to try again while he's still out looking for them?’ Sherman said without stirring.

  ‘I vote we lay on the beach.’ C.J replied.

  ‘I second it.’ James added.

  ‘Any other nominations?’ Stuart asked. ‘Carried then.’

  ‘But we haven't voted!’ Denis complained.

  ‘Who cares?’ Stuart replied and settled back to go to sleep.

  CHAPTER3

  Two days later the boys were laying on the beach in much the same manner when the three officials who had first questioned them, walked across the sand to where they lay.

  ‘You are to come to room twenty-one.’ The translator said, although he was not translating as neither of the other two men spoke. ‘The doctor has said you are now fit enough for the journey and the sergeant would like to discuss it with you. You will come now please!’

  The three men walked off.

  ‘Why did they all walk over here?’ Ben asked. ‘It only needed one of them!’

  ‘And he would have had to be the translator, as the other two don't speak no English!’ Sherman added.

  The boys followed the men back into the hotel; by the time they reached room twenty-one the three were seated, waiting for them. The boys sat down where they had sat before.

  ‘Now before we leave I would like to know if you know where we are going! There is a map. I would like you to show me if you can where things happened.’ The translator said and pointed to a map on the table in front of him.

  The boys moved to the table and looked at the map.

  ‘This could be Timbuktu for all we know!’ Ben complained.

  ‘Well there's the sea.’ Simon said pointing to it.

  ‘Yes but there is rather a lot of it!’ Denis replied.

  ‘We need to know where we are at the moment on the map!’ Stuart answered, looking straight at the translator. ‘This is the first time that we've seen a map since we landed in your country!’

  The translator smiled then pointed to the coast. ‘You are here.’

  Stuart marked the spot with his finger.

  ‘Have you got a pencil to mark it with, please?’ He asked.

&n
bsp; The translator passed him a pencil and Stuart marked the spot with a large x.

  ‘Now, if we are here. Then we must have walked from that way.’ He traced the route with his finger.

  ‘That must be the last river we crossed in the dinghy!’ Ben said when Stuart's finger reached the first river.

  ‘We must have come out of the jungle about here!’ Simon added pointing to a bay near the next river.

  Stuart marked the position with the pencil with a second cross.

  ‘Can I borrow your ruler please?’ Stuart spoke directly to the sergeant, who had a ruler on the desk in front of him. To his surprise the sergeant passed it to him, before the request was translated. Stuart looked for the compass on the side of the map and drew a line east from the second cross, until it reached a mountain.

  ‘That must be where the plane crashed.’ Stuart explained. Then he traced the line back. ‘That is where we crossed the river; the first time that is, we crossed that one three times. The poppy field is somewhere here. That is the ravine where the helicopter which Stevey got, crashed.’

  The translator spoke to the sergeant and the sergeant laughed.

  ‘The sergeant would like to know how a little boy managed to make a helicopter crash.’ He asked.

  ‘Stevey did it, he got the pilot with a stone and it flew upwards but sort of sideways out of sight.’ Stuart tried to show the helicopters flight with his hands. ‘Then we legged it in case they came back and shot someone else! That was when Toby got shot.’ Stuart explained.

  The boys waited for the sergeant's reaction but this time the sergeant showed no reaction when he spoke.

  ‘The sergeant reminds me that we have to have an accurate account to pass on to our superiors!’ The translator pointed out.

  ‘Bloody cheek.’ C.J hissed. ‘They don't believe us! This is pointless!’

  ‘Are your superiors playing with more cards than you lot?’ Ben asked.

  This caused a discussion and the translator shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Could you explain that last question please?’ He asked.

  There was a pause as Ben tried to make him self very small.

  ‘Ben meant that do your superiors have any more information than us?’ Stuart explained, glossing over Ben's real meaning.

  ‘We have only the information supplied by you and Captain Torres.’ The translator answered.

  ‘Well that won’t be much as he was unconscious for most of the time as we carried him here!’ Ben observed.

  When that was translated, the three men looked at Ben and tried to imagine him carrying the captain. Stuart looked back to the line which he had drawn on the map.

  ‘If that is where the helicopter Stevey got, went down, then the farmhouse is here and this is where the Captain was shot down. We didn't really see where the missile came from but it was from the bamboo at that end.’ Stuart marked the area where he thought the missile had been fired from, with a cross.

  Another discussion amongst the three men, was followed by the policeman who had not contributed anything really to the proceedings, leaving the room.

  ‘All we need you to show us is where the house is and the crashed aero plane.’ The translator said after the other man had gone.

  ‘He's just done that on the map!’ C.J said still smarting from the revelation that they did not believe their story.

  ‘We will take the four of you who offered and they can show us!’ The translator replied. ‘We have a helicopter waiting.’

  Stuart was happy to go, he knew they would find everything as they said and he had never been in a helicopter before.

  ‘Have you been in a helicopter before Ben?’ He asked as they walked across the grass.

  ‘Of course I have!’ Ben replied.

  ‘What does it feel like when they're flying?’

  ‘How should I know, I was smashing the thing up so's it couldn't fly at the time!’ Ben replied.

  ‘That doesn't really count!’ Stuart admonished.

  ‘You did ask, have I been in one!’ Ben replied.

  They reached the helicopter and climbed in one by one, all sitting in the back; Stuart sat next to a side window to enable him to see below. The rotor started to move as the engine started to throb. A shudder ran through the helicopter as it left the ground. The boys could feel the power.

  ‘Wow!’ Stuart exclaimed. ‘I think I'm going to enjoy this! I wonder what Stevey would think?’ He remembered Stephen's white knuckles as they had taken off in the aeroplane, when they thought they were going to Florida.

  ‘Which way are we going?’ The pilot asked. He was also the policeman who had been translating for the sergeant.

  ‘Along the coast that way.’ Stuart looked about the helicopter. ‘Where are all the others?’

  ‘What others?’ The pilot replied, without translating the question to the sergeant.

  ‘The army or whoever you use, you know the ones with the guns and grenades and such?’

  ‘We thought we would look first, you did say that the leader was on a boat which was at sea. Did you not?’ Again the pilot failed to translate and the sergeant spoke to the pilot.

  ‘Do you mean that we're going to get blown up for nothing?’ Ben exclaimed. ‘You can land now and I'll get off; I know the way I can walk back from here!’

  ‘And we'll go with him!’ Sherman added.

  ‘Surely you are exaggerating?’ The pilot asked.

  ‘Can you out fly a missile?’ Ben asked.

  ‘We have things for such occasions, if I know where it will come from; I think there will be no problem.’

  Again the sergeant spoke. This time the pilot gave a lengthy explanation and the sergeant snorted derisively.

  Stuart was watching the coast below. ‘We go east from here.’ He said when he recognized the beach where they had come out of the jungle. The pilot turned and they started to travel over jungle. As landmarks came up the boys pointed them out.

  ‘That's the river, over there!’ Ben shouted excitedly. ‘The bamboo won't be far now!’

  The flat area where the bamboo grew loomed in front off them.

  ‘The missile came from over there!’ Ben said pointing to where the first puff of smoke had come from.

  The pilot turned a switch above his head then pressed a button. The sergeant remonstrated with him.

  ‘You just sit down and shut up!’ Sherman hissed at the sergeant. ‘I have no intention of being dumped back in this sodding jungle or getting a missile up the bum!’

  ‘Smoke over there!’ Simon yelled.

  The pilot flicked a lever up and pushed the button below it. An explosion rocked the helicopter but it was not hit.

  ‘You see!’ The pilot crowed. ‘No trouble!’

  ‘The next valley you see will have the house in it!’ Stuart warned. ‘If they're there they'll have guns!’

  ‘I will not go too low, I promise.’ The pilot was now starting to think that there was some truth in what the boys were saying and it was not all make believe.

  The helicopter roared over the side of the valley and was met by a volley of machine gun fire. The helicopter which Ben had trashed had been moved to their side of the valley and the roof had been taken off, to enable the machine gun to fire upwards. The pilot said something in Spanish which was not translated and pulled back on the joystick. A hail of bullets hit the helicopter, before the pilot could take them out of range and smoke started to pour from the engine.

  ‘We are hit, I must land!’ The pilot shouted.

  ‘Well don't land here. They'll torture us, then kill us especially Stu, after what he did to old Collywobbles!’ Ben shouted back.

  ‘Where then, we do not have a lot of time!’ The pilot replied, now having to shout to be heard over the whine of the engine.

  ‘Go East!’ Stuart shouted. ‘I told you there's a poppy field the other side of this hill!’

  For the first time there was no argument or sly comments in Spanish, the pilot aimed the, now screamin
g, helicopter toward the East and fought to keep it on an even keel. He started to speak into the radio microphone in Spanish, waited and repeated the words but the sergeant pointed to a hole in the control panel just above the radio. The radio was dead.

  ‘They've got a brand spanking new helicopter down there and it's just started up!’ Simon shouted, pointing as he did so.

  ‘It's a shame you didn't do the gun on the one you trashed Ben!’ Sherman shouted.

  ‘What! After the shooting they did at us, of course I did it; that has to be another gun!’ Ben shouted back. ‘I just wish I had taken something then as a souvenir, I could be back in the hotel now!’

  ‘I cannot keep this helicopter up much longer!’ The pilot shouted, now with a tremor in his voice caused by the vibration of the helicopter.

  ‘Keep going it's not much further!’ Stuart shouted back.

  ‘But there are only trees!’ The pilot shouted desperately.

  ‘You'll see!’ Stuart shouted, after tightly crossing his fingers.

  The helicopter engine started spluttering.

  ‘I need somewhere to land!’ The pilot shouted.

  Stuart recognized the tree in front of them as the tree they had seen the monkeys in when they had first entered the poppy field.

  ‘You've got it, if you can get this thing over that tree the field is just the other side of it!’

  ‘I will try, hold on tight!’ The pilot shouted. ‘I think it will be a close thing!’

  The bottom of the helicopter clipped the top of the tree and it threw the helicopter sideways but it managed to clear the tree, then the engine stopped dead. The helicopter dropped, hit some branches which served to slow its fall then it landed on its runners heavily. No one was hurt although they were all badly shaken, as they climbed out into the poppy field.

  Stuart tugged the sergeant's sleeve.

  ‘Poppy field!’ He said angrily and pointed at the poppies. ‘Now are you satisfied, you-’

  ‘The other helicopter will be here any second!’ Sherman warned still inclined to shout although there was no need anymore, as the helicopter was now silent.

  Stuart stopped his tirade and said. ‘Let's go then! That thing's no good anymore!’

  He pointed to the smoking helicopter.