by S G Read
‘I think you should have carried it with that side away from you!’ Sherman advised.
Ben and J.C looked at their clothes in disbelief, as the others above laughed at their misfortune.
‘My mum's going to kill me!’ J.C declared.
‘So's mine!’ Ben agreed then shrugged his shoulders. ‘It won't help worrying about it; throw down one end of the rope.’
They pulled the wood up after a struggle and moved it about, painted side down, to fit it in with the other wood they had. Then they nailed all the wood down.
‘We don't need much more to finish the floor.’ Antony pointed out. ‘Let's go and scavenge for some more!’
‘We have a motion to go and scavenge for more wood so that we can finish the floor of our tree house.’ Stuart announced. ‘Do we have a seconder?’
‘I'll second it!’ Sherman answered.
‘Are there any other motions?’ Stuart continued.
There was no response.
‘All in favour?’ He asked.
Everybody held up their hand, with the exception of Stuart who only had a casting vote.
‘Carried. Let's go we meet back here in an hour!’ He decided.
An hour later Stuart, Simon and Stephen sat on the almost completed floor of the tree house. They were the only one's there. The wood they had found was piled beside them. The others arrived in a group carrying the wood they had found, including another no parking sign.
‘Don't tell me; Vandals had pulled it of the post.’ Simon called down.
‘No, we did! It was the only bit me and J.C could find after he'd changed his clothes!’ Toby replied.
‘What did your mum say J.C?’ Stephen asked.
‘She hit the roof but I got round her!’
The floor was finished and as they ate their packed lunches the boys began to discuss the walls.
‘It's easy!’ Stuart declared. ‘Now that we've got a floor to work off, we can make up a frame the right size, nail the planks on it and stand it up. We can use a couple of poles to hold it up. You know like they do door frames and windows, on building sites! Then when all the walls are up we can fix them together, they can't fall over then can they?’
The others were enthusiastic; they used the rope to measure the length of the wood, which they agreed did not need to be as strong as the wood on the floor. The tops of some of the trees they had already cut down were pulled out of the ground and used as parts of the wall. Soon they had a frame standing up and held by two of the boys for inspection.
‘Looks okay to me!’ Ben declared.
‘All we need now is more planks to cover it!’ Toby said enthusiastically for once.
‘But we could fix it up there for now couldn't we?’ Simon asked.
They all agreed and it was propped up and the props were nailed to make sure that the wind did not blow it over, even though it was just a frame. They called it a day and climbed down the ladder.
‘How are we going to get in, when it's finished that is?’ Toby asked.
‘The ladder of course!’ Simon replied.
‘But that means that anyone who finds it can get in!’ Toby pointed out.
‘He's right!’ Ben said realising that that would be a problem, especially if the boys from Minton comprehensive found it.
‘Home work for tonight is to devise a way to raise and lower the ladder secretly.’ Stuart announced.
‘Did you have to use that word?’ John complained.
‘What secretly?’ Stuart asked flippantly.
‘No, stupid; homework!’ John declared.
‘You just used it as well!’ Stuart countered.
‘I might remind you that tomorrow is our last day of freedom!’ John pointed out.
‘No we've still got the weekend!’ Stephen argued.
‘Most of us are going out at the weekend.’ John countered. ‘We won't finish it tomorrow, will we?’
The boys had to agree that it was unlikely.
‘Let's see how we do tomorrow.’ Sherman suggested.
With no better idea they agreed to meet at the same time in the morning. They walked along the river bank; it was there in the river they spotted another of what they now knew as an eight by four sheet. J.C spotted it first and he was the one that they elected to dangle over the river bank to try to land it. In the end it needed two boys dangled over the bank to land it as the water had made it very heavy.
There was a loud cheer when they landed it and to make sure that nothing happened to it before morning, they carried into the wood to hide it. When they were relatively sure the sheet of wood would not be found, they headed for their homes. AT least now it had a chance to dry out, as long as it did not rain. Stuart's mother was busy in the kitchen when he arrived with Stephen.
‘Can we have a packed lunch tomorrow as well please mum?’ Stuart asked politely.
‘You won't need it.’ His mother replied. ‘A letter arrived from the local hospital; they have had a letter from the hospital in Colombia. They want you to come in for a-’
‘No. Don't tell me they want more of my blood!’ Stuart complained, interrupting his mother.
‘Blood test.’ Wendy said completing her sentence.
Her disapproving look at being interrupted was the same as always but Stuart had changed. He was not the same little boy who left on a football tour.
‘All they do is stick in a needle, take a load of your blood and then they lose it and want some more! It's a waste of time!’ Stuart retorted.
‘You are going!’ Wendy replied.
‘But mum-’
‘You are going and that is an end of the discussion!’ It was Wendy turn to interrupt.
Stuart opened his mouth to argue but after a pause said. ‘Can Stevey come?’
She turned to Stephen.
‘Are hospitals your scene?’ She asked.
‘It's got to be better than that one in Colombia!’ Stephen replied.
‘The appointment is at Nine o'clock in the morning. I will leave here at twenty to nine Stephen.’
‘I'll be here.’ Stephen assured her.
‘Now out of my kitchen, the dinner won't cook itself!’
It was a choice between the computer and the television, the computer won.
‘Shouldn't we tell the others we'll be late?’ Stephen asked as they played.
‘I suppose we should, we'll phone them when we've had dinner.’ Stuart replied after a pause.
‘Why not now?’
‘Because if we phone Ben now, he'll phone Sherman, who will phone J.C and so on; which will mean nothing will get done to the tree house! If we leave it late enough, Ben will just say we'll be late when the others turn up and at least they will do some work on it!’
Stephen reflected on Stuart's statement for a moment, still playing on the computer as he did so.
‘Makes sense. Of course if we don't phone them at all, they'll either wait for us or come and see where we are, either way stopping work on the tree house.’ He concluded.
When Stuart's father arrived home from work, Stuart ran to greet him and gave him a big cuddle.
‘What do you want young man? I've met that cuddle before!’
‘Have you got any big nails dad?’ Stuart asked.
‘Not many. What size do you want?’
‘I think they are about a hundred millimetres long!’
‘A hundred millimetres, that's about four inches is it not?’
‘I don't know, we don't do inches.’
‘What sacrilege! I will find you some as soon as I get time! Is that okay?’
‘Yes Dad, thanks.’
Stuart returned to his bedroom, where Stephen was waiting.
CHAPTER 8
The morning came too soon for Stuart; he was comfortable in bed and did not want to leave it.
‘Time to get up Stuart.’ Wendy said gently.
Stuart mumbled an answer.
Ten minutes later his mother called him again, this time less gently. Five
minutes after that she pulled the duvet from the, still sleeping boy.
‘Shower now Stuart!’ She ordered and took the duvet out with her.
‘Oh mum!’ Came the disgruntled reply but Stuart walked into the bathroom for a shower.
When he returned to his bedroom Stephen was sitting on his bed.
‘Hi Stu was the shower okay?’
‘Not as refreshing as hanging over a waterfall but it was okay.’ Stuart replied. ‘Have you had a shower?’
‘No we've been cut off! It's cold water and candles for a while.’ Stephen said as though it was a normal occurrence.
‘How come?’
‘My mum didn't pay the electricity bill but they didn't cut her off because I was missing and it would have looked bad, now I'm back its chop, chop!’
‘Do you want to use our shower?’
‘What after suffering ice cold water to have a wash? Anyway she is going to pay them some of it today, then they said that they would put us in a pay as you use meter, set to pay the backlog over the next year!’
‘Have you been talking to my dad about the jungle?’ Stuart asked.
‘A bit, why?’
‘Oh, he was talking about the snakes and things.’
‘That was Simon!’ Stephen explained. ‘He flipped out one night and your dad went round and talked to him!’
‘I don't remember!’
‘You were asleep! It was two in the morning! Simon's mum was at her wits end and phoned your dad. He went straight round there and talked to Simon until morning. They talked about lots of things but mainly Simon's dad and if he could have survived the fall! They eventually got on to the snake you killed near the wreckage!’
Stuart reflected for a long time before he said. ‘Oh that one! I'd forgotten about that one!’
‘Hurry up Stuart, if you are planning to eat some breakfast that is!’ Wendy called up from the kitchen.
‘Coming mum.’
Soon they were on their way to the hospital. It was a new, square building with automatically opening doors. It was square in design with the doors at the front but for some reason the designer had put the lifts halfway along the left hand side corridor. This meant the three of them had to turn left once they were in the building then turn right at the first corner and walk toward the back of the hospital to find them. As Stuart pointed out when they studied the map by the entrance.
‘We have only got to go up one floor and go in a room which is right above our heads.’ He complained. ‘But we've got to walk miles to the lifts!’
‘It is hardly miles.’ Wendy Cajoled.
‘And they put the stairs in the same place!’ Stephen added.
‘Anyway I thought you were good at walking.’ Wendy jibed.
‘Yes. It's not as far as we walked through the jungle.’ Stephen pointed out.
‘Some of us had a ride some of the way!’ Stuart retorted.
‘Do you want a piggyback then?’ Stephen asked.
‘Okay.’ Stuart replied enthusiastically.
After several attempts Stuart managed to jump on to Stephen's back and stay there.
‘If anyone asks, I am not with you two!’ Wendy announced as she walked away from them.
The two boys lagged behind as Wendy approached the lift; they had sprawled on the floor laughing, more than once.
‘Come on you two or we will be late!’
The lift doors opened and Wendy stepped in, causing the two boys to untangle themselves and run in case the lift door closed before they were inside. The door closed just after they were inside and seconds later it opened again; they were on the first floor.
‘All that for that!’ Stuart grumped. ‘Now we've got to walk back to where we were in the first place!’
‘It's your turn to give me a piggyback this time!’ Stephen declared.
Stuart tried his best but in the end, Stephen decided that it was safer to walk.
Once inside the room marked 'outpatient clinic' they were asked for the appointment card, then invited to take a seat. The appointment time passed, with no action at all and the boys began to fidget. Ten more minutes passed with no sign of movement.
‘What's the point of being on time when they keep you waiting ages?’ Stuart complained.
‘It does seem a bit pointless giving you a time, if they are not going to take any notice of it.’ Stephen agreed. ‘It isn't as though it's late in the day and a queue has built up.’
Wendy said nothing, she was reconciled to the wait, it was not the first time this had happened.
‘Stuart Sellars?’ A nurse called, holding open the door she had just come through.
‘That's us.’ Stephen said jumping to his feet.
They all followed the nurse through the door.
‘Which one is Stuart?’ The nurse asked.
‘I am.’ Stuart said quickly.
Sit on there please Stuart.’ She indicated a metal examination couch, which was fixed to the floor in the middle of the room. It had a soft but thin covering on it which was in turn covered by a sheet of paper which had obviously been torn of a long roll. Stuart heaved himself up onto it backwards and took off his coat and sweatshirt. The tee-shirt he wore underneath was one of the tee shirts supplied by the Colombian hotel they had found, when they reached the coast after the plane crash.
Ten minutes later they were in the lift on their way out. As Stephen followed Wendy and Stuart out of the lift, he cannoned into a man who was coming in. The man grunted and continued into the lift. Stephen looked back before the lift door closed and saw the man using a mouth spray.
‘I hope he isn't a doctor.’ Stephen whispered into Stuart's ear.
‘Why?’ Stuart asked at the same volume.
‘He smells of whisky and I saw a bottle in his pocket! I think that was whisky too.’ Stephen whispered.
‘It would be my luck for him to be my doctor, if I needed one!’ Stuart replied.
The boys had something to keep them going while Wendy made the two boys a packed lunch, then, with lunch boxes under their arm, they headed for the door.
‘Stuart.’ David called from upstairs.
‘Yes dad.’
He came to the top of the stairs.
‘I have the nails that you wanted.’ He walked down to where Stuart stood.
In his hand was a tub of nails with a wire handle.
‘Wow thanks dad.’ Stuart took the tub of nails and quickly realized they were heavy.
‘I thought you might need a lot, will you be able to carry them alright?’ David asked when he saw how Stuart sagged, when he held them.
Stuart put the tub down.
‘Can you get your hand in here with mine Stevey?’ Stuart asked.
Stephen tried but there was not enough room for two hands even of their size.
‘Wait a minute.’ Stuart ordered and disappeared through the back door to return moments later with a piece of wood about a metre long and 30cm thick.
He pushed it through the handle and the boys, holding one end of the stick each, lifted the tub.
‘No problem!’ Stuart said proudly. ‘See you later dad; by mum.’
‘Mind your fingers when you are using the hammer!’ David shouted after the retreating boys, through the door they had left wide open.
When the boys reached the tree house, they were pleased to see that a second wall was in place. It was one of the long walls the one which was farthest from the tree trunk.
‘How did you do it?’ Stuart asked, when he climbed up. ‘There isn't a bit of wood at the bottom!’
‘Ant brought his dads saw.’ Sherman replied. ‘We cut half of the end of the top log away and nailed it to the top of that wall.’ He pointed to the first wall they built. ‘We held the other end up with the rope. Then we cut the ends of the uprights the same and nailed them to it while the others stopped it from moving. Then we nailed them to the joists. We had to put a piece of wood to hold up this end.’ He pointed to the end which had no wall to support it. �
��But when we put a wall there it should be okay.’
‘What are you planning to do now?’ Stephen asked.
‘We were going to eat!’ Simon replied. ‘We ran out of big nails!’
‘We brought a big tub of nails with us. If the rope can be removed we can pull them up, it's a bit heavy!’ Stuart announced. ‘My dad got them for me!’
To be able to say that gave Stuart a warm inner glow.
The boys worked on the tree house until it was time to go home, the third and last of the shorter walls was nailed firmly in place and instead of a prop for each end, they cut a log the length of the wall nearest the trunk and nailed it from one wall to the next. A short log had been nailed from that, down to one of the joists. The boys inspected their work and pulled at the walls to see how sturdy they were before hiding the ladder in the bushes then hurried home.
‘When are we coming here next?’ Ben asked as they surfaced from the wood by the river.
‘I thought we were coming here on Sunday?’ Simon declared.
‘I can’t.’ Toby declared and there were a scattering of excuses supplied for not coming on Sunday as it was school the next day.
‘What about next Saturday?’ Antony suggested.
There were nods of approval and a murmur of voices indicating the same.
‘Right then we meet here next Saturday, early!’ Ben replied. ‘Just think we are going to school on Monday! I can hardly remember what school is like!’
‘I can!’ Simon replied. ‘It's alright for you grammar school snobs, as J.C said there is a kid at the comprehensive that I go to, who thinks that he should be running the school!’
‘He could have been expelled while you've been away!’ C.J suggested.
‘Fat chance! The teachers are afraid he would come and burn their house down if they did that!’ Simon replied. ‘They're a load of wimps.’
‘We didn't take that sheet of wood that we got out of the river!’ J.C observed, suddenly remembering their struggle to get the wood out of the water.
The boys stopped in their tracks and walked back to where they had hidden the sheet of wood. It was still there.
‘We'll take it to the tree house on Saturday.’ Stuart announced ‘It should be safe enough here until then.’
On Saturday morning Stuart was not allowed to lie in. His mother said that as he was to go to school on Monday then he had to start getting used to getting up early and his protestations that he had been up early the last two days fell on deaf ears. Consequently when Stephen arrived, Stuart was more than ready to go out and play. He was extremely miffed when he was not allowed out but started to put things together when he noticed that Stephen was wearing his best jeans.
