by S G Read
With nothing in plain sight, she rummaged deeper and found a strong wire coat hanger. She used the hook end and tried to lift one end of the grating and after a struggle it lifted a little way. She left it where it was and did the same to the other end but the first end dropped back down when she lifted the second end, causing her to swear. She left the end which she had just lifted sticking up and went in search of something to stop it from falling back down as the other end had. She found a fish box but her efforts to pull it apart quietly, so that she would not alert the men who were coming down the alley toward her position, were in vain. It would not break! In the end she dropped it on the ground and kicked it to pieces. She wedged a piece of wood from the fish box under the grill and lifted the other end but as she lifted it, she saw the wood slip out and the grate settled back down to where it had started.
A lesser girl might have given up but Cally just took a deep breath ready to try again, then she heard the bolts being slid back on the restaurant door! She looked about, not in panic, she was beyond that now. She looked at the door and saw that it actually opened outwards so barging the door had been a total waste of time. She had a sudden thought, the chair! She ran over to the door, jammed the chair under the door handle and ran back to the grate. She lifted it again and slid the wood in but it promptly slid right inside and dropped out of sight. She tried to kick a bigger piece of wood it the gap but it meant her lifting the grate higher and by now her back and arms hurt as much as her right shoulder did. She heaved and kicked the wood into place and she moved to the other end. A key turned in a lock, then another and she heard a man’s voice on the other side of the door.
‘If the door aint open by the time I count to five you are a dead man!’
The door opened a little way but stopped against the chair. Cally breathed a sigh of relief and found the strength to heave the grating in a circle by pivoting it on one corner, she moved it far enough for her to squeeze inside.
‘Get it open.’ The man shouted.
‘It’s stuck, it aint my fault.’ Another man replied.
‘Five!’ The other man replied and Cally heard gun shots.
She slid inside the grating and tried to close it again but there was no way she could shift it from where she crouched in the drain. She looked about, picked up the coat hanger and pulled at the mattress that she fell on, over to try to get it to cover the drain. A volley of shots made the door splinter and the chair jumped up in the air. This gave her the strength and she pulled the mattress over the drain. She knew they would soon find it and started along the drain pipe. It was big enough for a man and she expected them to follow her but once she was in the main drain, she would be back on her turf.
It was difficult to hurry in such a small pipe but she knew she had to and moved with as much speed as she could. She squirmed her way along the pipe head first, trying to feel in front of her as she went. Suddenly the pipe ended and there was no longer any support beneath her. She fell, head first, into the pipe below. Luckily, the water running through the bigger pipe she fell into softened the landing. She was winded by the landing and sat there getting her breath back; as she sat there she tried to work out where she was. The pipe she had fallen out of was above her, to her left the flowed away from her and led to the main drain. To her right the pipe led to another heavy grate. She could see nothing and was only guessing at everything, although she could feel the water as it flowed over her. She stood up and when her head touched the top of the pipe she tried to find the opening she had just fallen from. It was where she thought it was and she started to follow the bigger pipe toward the main drain, following the flow of the water.
From her trips into the drain, despite being told not to go in there by Dermot and any police officer who caught them in there, she knew the main drain had lights in it, they made it light enough to see what you were doing. She walked slightly crouched to stop her head rubbing on the top of the pipe, with her right hand touching the side of the pipe. She hurried even though she knew that the next drop would be a big one; it was either that or be caught by these evil men.
Lefty kicked what was left of the restaurant door open, in doing so he came face to face with Larry and Barney.
‘Where is she?’ Larry asked.
‘Well she didn’t come this way!’ Lefty replied, at least this time it was not his fault.
‘She must have gone through there!’ Barney argued, not a wise thing to do when Lefty had his pistol in his hand. ‘We searched every bit of the alley all the way up here!’
‘The last man to call me a liar is feeding the fishes!’ Lefty warned.
‘Then where is she then?’ Larry asked. ‘Who is going to tell Clo she got away again?’
As he spoke Larry moved forwards causing Barney to step backwards to get out of his way. He stepped on the mattress and unfortunately for Cally, he stepped on the part of the mattress that was over the open part of the drain. The mattress he was treading on gave way and sunk into the drain with his foot following. The foot slipped past the mattress and he sat down he a jolt.
‘Get me out of here!’ He complained, threshing about to free himself while the other two laughed.
It took a few seconds for Lefty realised that that must be where the girl had gone, he pulled Barney out of the drain with Larry’s help. When he was out they pulled the mattress off the drain and threw it away, it promptly flopped back again and they had to do it again. This time they made sure that it did not drop back on the drain.
‘She must be down there!’ Barney declared straightening his dishevelled clothing.
Lefty knelt down and looked in the drain.
‘It’s a bit small, come on let’s see what Clo wants us to do.’ Lefty ordered. ‘You stay here Larry and make sure she don’t come back out when we’ve gone.’
Clo saw them coming back without the girl and went to meet them.
‘Where is she?’ He asked when they met.
‘She went down a storm drain!’ Barney answered.
‘Well get down there after her!’ Clo hissed.
‘It’s too dark to see down there!’ Lefty argued.
‘Get back to that store we passed and get a torch then!’ Clo ordered.
'Yes boss.’ Lefty replied and hurried away.
He walked out of the alley and walked up to the main street, there he turned right and walked back the way they had come. It only took two minutes to reach the store. When he walked in he picked up a torch and tried it. Nothing happened!
‘This torch doesn’t work!’ He complained to the proprietor although the proprietor was serving another customer.
‘We don’t have the batteries in them on display; I’ll have to put some in for you.’ The proprietor replied.
‘Well put some in it then!’ Lefty ordered.
‘You’ll have to wait until I have served this gentleman.’ The proprietor explained patiently.
Lefty drew his pistol.
‘I don’t wait for no one.’ He declared.
‘I don’t mind if you serve him before me!’ The man in question replied very quickly when he saw the pistol.
‘Good decision!’ Lefty replied with a laugh.
The proprietor took the torch, put the batteries in it and tested it. When he saw it light, Lefty held out his hand for it, as he still held his pistol the proprietor gave it to him.
‘Put it on the slate.’ Lefty said with a rueful smile and walked out.
As soon as he was out of sight, the proprietor telephoned the police to report a daylight robbery.
Back at the precinct, the lieutenant was sorting through all the information he had to hand about Clo and Dermot Doyle when the news of the stolen torch came in.
‘We have reports of shots fired in a restaurant near the station and now we have a torch stolen at gun point! What the hell is going on? Who do we have near there?’
‘Carter and Pruitt are nearest; they’re at the Doyle house waiting for the girl.’ Sergeant Grogan replied.
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‘Well this just might be about the girl, send them down there to have a look round and tell them not to drive slowly!’
‘Yes sir.’ Sergeant Grogan replied and walked out.
When he phoned the Doyle house Pruitt answered the phone.
‘Is that you Pruitt?’ Sergeant Grogan asked, recognising the voice.
‘Yes sarge.’
‘Any sign of the girl?’
‘No sarge.’
‘Then get down to Tiler’s mercantile on 72nd and Stanton. There’s been a robbery at the shop and shots fired at a restaurant just up the road from there.’
‘What about the girl sarge?’
‘She might be there; we have reports of a girl being chased.’ This was fiction but Grogan knew it would motivate them more than just saying get a move on.
‘We’re on our way sarge.’ Pruitt answered and put the phone in its cradle.
Lefty walked back to where Clo stood, he was now by the open drain and the lid was off completely.
‘Here’s your torch Barney.’ He said and gave Barney the torch.
‘Why do I have to go?’ Barney complained.
‘You’re both going.’ Clo replied.
‘But I only got one torch!’ Lefty declared.
'Then you’ll have to share it!’ Clo replied.
‘There is no way I’m doing that boss! I’ll get my own torch!’ Lefty declared and walked off, this time walking through the restaurant to save time.
As Carter and Pruitt approached the mercantile, they saw Lefty walk out of the restaurant and head up the street. Carter recognised him as one of Clo’s men and slowed down to make sure Lefty did not see them. They watched as he walked into the mercantile.
‘Hold it that’s one of Clo’s men and he fits the description of the man who robbed the store earlier.’ He cried.
‘I’ll see what he wants this time.’ Pruitt replied.
He jumped out of the car and peered through the window of the mercantile. He saw Lefty pick up a torch, elbow his way to the front of the queue and put it on the counter. Pruitt also saw the pistol in his belt, not tucked in the shoulder holster but in plain sight for everyone to see. Pruitt hurried back to Carter and they made plans.
‘Put some batteries in it!’ Lefty ordered, with one hand on the pistol in his belt to maintain his superiority.
While he served Lefty, the proprietor saw the police car pull up and two police constables get out, one went toward the restaurant the other stayed behind the car to get Lefty in a cross fire, just in case he resisted arrest. The proprietor did as he was told but did not hurry, to give the police officers time to get ready.
‘Get a move on!’ Lefty snarled.
‘Yes sir;’ the proprietor replied and clipped the torch back together. ‘Do I put this one on the slate as well?’
‘Smart mouths get killed!’ Lefty warned but turned and walked out with the torch, he had a little girl to catch up with!
Carter let Lefty reach the halfway point on his journey back to the restaurant before he ordered him to drop his gun.
‘Police officer,’ he cried, ready to dive for cover, ‘drop your weapon and surrender!’
Lefty’s answer was to draw his pistol and fire at Carter in one fluid movement; he had practiced his drawing in front of a mirror many times, both from his holster and from his belt. Carter dived out of harms way and Pruitt stepped out from behind the car.
‘Drop it!’ He yelled.
Lefty spun round and fired but Pruitt had already beaten him to the shot, as soon as he turned. Lefty felt the impact of the bullet in his chest and his shot was thrown wide by it. He tried to fire again but when Pruitt saw the pistol swinging back toward him he fired again, Carter fired as well from the side and Lefty crumpled in a heap, firing as he fell. He would not hurt anyone else and his future plans to be the head of the syndicate had been cut short! The two constables walked over and looked down at the dead man. Beside him lay the torch he had just stolen.
‘He was stealing another torch!’ Carter cried in disbelief. ‘Who the hell sticks up a store for a torch?’
‘Scum like this, that’s who.’ Pruitt answered. He did not actually know who the dead man was. ‘Let’s call it in; the inspector will want to know about this! Do you recognise him?’
‘Oh yes.’ Carter replied. ‘That is Lefty Collins, one of Clo’s men.’
‘Used to be one of Clo’s men,’ Pruitt corrected, ‘Clo has an opening for a new employee now. We’ll use the phone in the mercantile.’
Clo stood waiting by the drain.
‘We can’t wait for Lefty to get back Barney, you go in and I’ll send Lefty in when he gets back,’ Clo said impatiently, ‘but remember, I want her alive!’
‘I want her alive as well boss.’ Barney replied. ‘I’m not that sick you know.’
‘I sometimes wonder.’ Clo declared. ‘Just don’t bring her back in a coma like her old man!’
‘Don’t worry boss, she’ll sing like a canary when I bring her back.
He slipped into the drain a started to crawl after the fleeing girl not an easy thing for a man of his stature but his lust drove him on. By the torchlight he saw the sloping entry into the bigger drain and slid down into it. He shone his torch in both directions without seeing her but the wavy line in the algae showed him where she had run her hand along the wall as she walked and he started after her.
Standing above the drain Clo heard the shouting in the street and then the gunshots.
‘What the hell has Lefty done now?’ He asked Larry.
‘I expect he is just shooting someone for the fun of it boss.’ Larry answered.
‘Go and see what is keeping him Larry.’ Clo ordered.
CHAPTER 4
Cally walked along slowly and carefully, slightly crouched, making sure she did not fall down again. More than one part hurt now and she wanted this adventure to end. Although it was dark in the pipe after a while she became aware of the sides, then the top and bottom. At first she thought it was because her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark but in front of her she could see a glimmer of light. She moved faster, no longer feeling the need to keep her hand on the side of the pipe.
She walked until she came to the end of the pipe she was travelling along. It emptied into a much larger pipe, one she could stand up fully in. There was a drop down to the floor of the bigger pipe and Cally hesitated at the end of the smaller pipe as there was a lot of water running through the bigger pipe.
A look behind made up her mind, she could see light in the pipe behind her. Worse still she could also see her hand mark on the side of the pipe advertising where she had gone. She turned and lowered herself over the edge then dropped to the floor of the bigger pipe. This tunnel had a row of lights along the side but the lights were higher than the pipe she had just left. This had to be the pipe she played in but she had never come this far in before.
The water in the big pipe flowed to her right as she stood awkwardly with her back to the pipe she had just left. To her right she could see another outlet at the same height as the one she had just come out. To her left she could see another but on the other side of the big pipe. She thought for a moment and tried to picture the streets above. The one to her right went under an alley; the one to her left was under the street that led to St. Mary’s church, her church!
She knew the street and headed for that pipe but getting into it was not going to be easy, as it was quite high up. The noise she could hear coming from the pipe she had just come out of and the flashing of the light, told her that she would soon have company, the wrong kind of company! At that time, she did not know how wrong.
The pipe she was in was round making it hard to get near enough to reach up and get a handhold on the pipe she had to climb up into and jumping was out of the question as the floor sloped where she stood. She took the time to glance at the light in the other tunnel as in grew brighter and then splashed her way across the water and up the pipe on the other side. S
he was oblivious of the danger and went fast to try to catch hold of the edge but her hand just missed the edge of the smaller pipe.
She looked at the approaching light and tried again and again, until her left hand caught hold of the smaller pipe. It was a terrible strain but she kept hold and threw her right hand up as well. Now all she had to do was to pull her self up. By now her dress was soaked and she felt a tiredness she had never felt before. She tried to pull but nothing happened. She looked at the tunnel behind her and could see the torch beam; whoever was coming would be there in seconds.
She tried to scramble up the side of the big pipe, driven on by fear. She used her legs to scrabble against the side of the big pipe and found the energy from somewhere. Finally, her feet found some grip and she scrambled into the entrance to the little pipe, quickly pulling her legs in, once she was inside. As she pulled her legs into the pipe, the torch beam flash across the entrance. Had he seen her? She scrambled along the pipe hurrying but trying to make as little noise as possible.
It was a long straight pipe with nowhere to hide and when she heard the person who was following her land in the water in the bottom of the big pipe she started to panic once more. Now she was just going as fast as she could without thought of falling. If she did fall at least then she would be out of sight when the torch shone up the pipe. She looked back and the light flashed at the end of the pipe. She no longer ran her hand along the side of the pipe to advertise her position and hoped he would not choose her pipe first.
-Not this pipe you stupid man, go to the other one- She thought.
By now, she had decided that it must be one of the two men, who were chasing her, in the big pipe. He was getting closer and closer to the end of the pipe she was in and Cally had nowhere to hide. She had given up all hope of finding a hiding place when she heard the sound of a car running over a grating above her. She felt to one side, then to the other, then up. The grating was right above her but there was nothing to use to climb up. There were no handholds no nothing. In desperation she jumped and her hand hit something! She jumped again and felt it again; it was the rung of a ladder! She looked down the pipe and saw the man’s face in the torch light just before he turned the torch to point down the pipe.
