Tracey was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Matthew was sleeping. He was tired after taking the dog for a walk. He left it up to his sister to wake him up on time.
A moment later, it seemed, Krystal could hear her alarm under her pillow. It sounded loud in her ear. She quickly reached under the pillow and turned it off. "Noisy thing!" she muttered, glaring at the round face. Her bedside light was still on. She blinked at the bright light and rubbed her eyes. After a moment she leapt out of bed quietly.She had put her long nightie over her outdoor clothes and was ready to go as soon as the nightie was dragged over her head.
Krystal reached under the bed and grabbed her
joggers. She pushed her nightie and a pillow under the blankets and stuck her brown teddy bear just under the top sheet. Surveying the shape, she thought it looked just like her, well almost! She flicked the light off.
Krystal wondered if her dad had come home from the prayer meeting. She hoped they'd not meet him on the way out. She could hear Kevin moving around his room.
She wished Kevin would hurry up and join her as she quietly opened and closed her bedroom door.
As if he had heard Krystal's thoughts, Kevin's door gave a creak and Krystal could hear a slight squeaking of floorboards as he moved along the hallway.
Krystal turned as he came behind her.
They both headed for the front door. Suddenly they heard a car. They stopped and waited. The headlights shone through the lounge-room window.
The two looked at each other thinking the same thought. They knew it was their dad returning from the prayer meeting. They stood still for a moment. The garage door opened and then closed with a slight thud.
"Now!" whispered Krystal, heading towards the front door. Dad should come up the back stairs, as he usually did. They stood near the door, waiting, until they could hear Steve Cormack unlocking the back door. Krystalimmediately opened the front door and the two hurried through and drew it shut with a click.
They quietly ran down the front steps and hid behind a bush and waited. A light went on in the house.
"Let's go," said Krystal, heading towards the grassy pathway in front of the house.
Kevin followed silently.
The two moved speedily along the pathway away from the house, not even glancing back. It seemed like ages before they reached the corner where Krystal and Tracey met every morning.
Krystal stopped almost automatically. Her heart was beating fast; she could hear her brother breathing heavily.
They paused for a moment to catch their breaths, then hurried along the street towards the old Queenslander. They could hear a couple of dogs barking as they made their way along the familiar paths.
As they neared the old Queenslander they slowed down a bit. It was darker in this part of town. New houses were being built in the distance, but except for Mrs. Potter, nobody could see the front of the old Queenslander from here.
The two arrived at the house and leaped quickly up the steps.
Krystal pushed open the front door. Everything looked black. She hesitated a moment. It was strange going into such blackness, and she knew it would be even darker in the attic.Kevin was right behind. The two groped their way towards the room with the cupboard. Kevin shone his torch into the cupboard as he pulled the door open.
Two scared faces looked at them.
Tracey dropped her torch. "Give me a fright, why don't you?" she exclaimed crossly as she bent to pick it up.
"Sorry." Kevin shone his torch on Matthew, who was peering through the hole in the ceiling, with a hammer in his hands.
"Don't crowd me. I'm fixin' this door thing," said Matthew, putting the last little screw into its place on the hinge. "Tracey, shine the torch. I can't see what I'm doin'," he whinged.
Tracey flashed her torch on the ceiling of the cupboard.
Kevin and Krystal decided to wait a few moments before climbing into the cupboard. All they could hear was the graunching noise of the screwdriver and a few sighs.
"Did you leave something in the bed in case Dad looks in?" Krystal looked at her brother.
"Yeah. I chucked a few trucks and cars under the blanket, and my bulldozer," Kevin replied.
"What! Cars and trucks, and a bulldozer; sounds like a wrecking yard!" Krystal exclaimed.
Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "It looked just like a body to me."
Matthew leapt down and shone his torch at his finished work. The four looked upwards, admiring their new entry.
"Can I try it?" Kevin asked.
"If you want." Matthew wiped his brow.
"Yeah, you go up, Kevin and Tracey; it's best we split up, just in case," said Krystal.
"Why me?" asked Tracey. I'd like to stay with you.
"No. It's better if Kevin and Matthew split," Krystal continued, "otherwise they'll be too noisy. And if you stay with Matthew you'll just argue about everything. It's safer up there," she added, encouragingly.
"Fair enough. Will we take the bags up too?" Tracey asked.
"Yeah, do that," Krystal replied.
Matthew shone his torch on the ceiling of the cupboard as Kevin reached up.
Kevin pushed the flap open and grabbed the edge of the opening.
Krystal handed Kevin all their bags.
Tracey then leapt up and grabbed the ledge; Krystal caught her legs and gave her a push up.
Tracey had the most difficulty getting into the attic from here, being shorter than the others. Soon her face beamed down on Matthew and Krystal. "What do we do now?" she whispered.
"Just wait," Krystal suggested.
"I hear something. Quiet." Matthew turned his torch off.
Kevin and Tracey closed the flap of the opening andwaited. It was pitch black in the attic.
Tracey felt a shiver run down her spine. She hoped the night would go quickly.
Matthew and Krystal put their ears to the cupboard doors.
"They are coming," Matthew whispered. "I think it's them!" He was feeling so elated that he forgot to feel scared.
"Be quiet!" Krystal snarled. She felt relieved that someone was coming, but really scared at what might happen if they were discovered.
~~~~Chapter Twenty~~~~
Monster or Gorilla?
Loud footsteps and voices came closer. Krystal and Matthew strained their eyes to see who was coming into the room. A light shone and Krystal could see the shapes of two boys. They must be Nathan and Davo, she thought.
Matthew had trouble seeing through his small crack in the door and shifted. The cupboard boards creaked.
Krystal froze. She felt like boxing Matthew's ears. Maybe Tracey should have stayed in the cupboard. At least she would have froze with fright and been still, Krystal thought.
Matthew glanced at Krystal and sensed her annoyance. He bit his lip to keep quiet.
Nathan and Davo sat on the floor. They shone their torches on their hands; they appeared to be reading something. They were quiet for a few moments while they read.
"Hope this is gonna be worth it. Mum and Dad will be mad if they find me missin'," said Nathan. Although he spoke quietly, the words could be clearly heard in the crisp night air.
"Me too," Davo admitted.
The lights from a vehicle shone through cracks in the boarded up windows. An engine was turned off, and doors closed. Footsteps came briskly through the house. Nathan and Davo rose to their feet and stood still.
Two lights were followed by two figures. They were Chevy and Merc. Chevy shone the torchlight into the boys' faces. Both boys put the backs of their hands up to shield their eyes.
"Attention!" Chevy addressed the other three. Heels clicked.
Chevy strode up and down the floor, staring at the two boys. The noise of his heavy boots going clomp, clomp, was the only sound to be heard in the stillness of the night.
Krystal and Matthew did not even dare turn their heads. They could hear slight noises above them. Krystal silently wished Tracey and Kevin would keep still.
>
Lights from another vehicle shone through the room. Chevy stopped marching and turned towards the lights.
"We're getting a very special visitor. I want you guys to be on your best..." He stopped speaking as sounds of heavy footsteps came towards the room.
Everyone seemed frozen in their places.
Two figures entered the doorway and stopped. One was a tall thin figure with a hat. on. The other looked like some sort of animal.
"A man and his gorilla?" Matthew exclaimed under his breath, stepping back and standing on his torch. His torch made a cracking sound.
Krystal glared at Matthew in the dark.
~~~~Chapter Twenty-one~~~~
A Noisy Tiger
The tall man shone his torch over the other five, then stopped at Chevy. Chevy saluted.
"Good work," was all he said, then he handed his torch to the figure that looked like a gorilla. A grunt could be heard on the dark side of the torchlight.
The tall man took a packet out of his inside breast pocket and started passing around what looked like pieces of paper.
Nathan shone his torch on the slip. "One hundred bucks!" he exclaimed.
"Waw!" Davo exclaimed. "Are these real?"
The tall man laughed a sinister laugh.
Matthew pressed his eye close to the door and almost lost his balance. The door creaked.
"What was that?" the tall man asked, flicking his torch around the room. The torchlight landed on the cupboard.
Krystal and Matthew could see a small ray of light through the cracks. Krystal immediately pushed on the trapdoor above her. For a moment Matthew stared at Krystal vanishing through the hole; he began to follow her, then realised his torch was near his foot.
"My torch!" He leaned down to pick it up.
Suddenly the cupboard door opened and the inside was filled with torchlight.
"Get away!" Matthew yelled, shielding his eyes from the light. Krystal quickly, but very gently lowered the door into the ceiling. She felt terrible that Matt had been caught but instinctively knew it was very important that the rest of the gang not be caught as well. She stared at Kevin and Tracey who were quite frozen with fright.
They all wondered if Matthew would be forced to tell on them.
"It's a kid!" Merc yelled. He grabbed Matthew by the arm and yanked him out of the cupboard.
"Mind my arm, you...you," Matthew snarled.
"A little tiger," the tall man exclaimed, shining his torch on Matthew. "Who are you? What's your name boy?"
"Matt," he mumbled, trying to wriggle free from Merc's grasp.
"And what, may I ask, are you doing hiding in there?" The tall man indicated the cupboard, now open and apparently empty.
Matthew decided to act 'cool'. He stared at Nathan and Davo. "Hi, guys!"
"Hi!" they mumbled, surprised. What was Matthew up to, they wondered. They didn't know he wanted to be friendly.
Matthew continued. "I heard Nathan and Davo talking at school, and I think it sounds great. I want to join your gang." Matthew took a deep breath. What else could he say, he supposed, without giving the others away?
"Very interesting. Very interesting!" The tall man turned his gaze to Nathan and Davo. "Do you two know this boy?" He flicked the light in their faces.
They nodded "Mere, Chevy, check this place out to make sure there are no more boys around here." The tall man shone his torch around the room as he spoke.
Merc and Chevy immediately flicked their torches on and started moving around the house. Merc went right up to the cupboard and shone his torch inside.
Krystal, Kevin and Tracey could see rays of light coming and going through the cracks. They prayed silently.
"Looks like he's alone, Sir Cad!" Chevy addressed the tall man.
"Well, we can't take any chances. We'll have to try him out. Morrie, tie this fellow up and take him along for now. We'll find out if he can be useful or not." Cad spoke to the man who looked like a gorilla.
Morrie grunted, and went outside. A few moments later he returned with some strong looking rope.
Matthew's heart sank. In the back of his mind he had hoped that maybe he could line up with his buddies from school, Nathan and Davo, and get one of those one hundred dollar notes and take things from there.
"Can you two keep a watch out here for a few hours, and ring me if there's any trouble?" Cad handed a mobile telephone to Chevy as he spoke.
Matthew wriggled and made groaning noises as Morrie tied his wrists and ankles. He then pulled a large white handkerchief out of his jacket pocket, and tied it around Matthew's mouth. Matthew growled through the cloth.
Krystal, Kevin and Tracey stayed very still in the attic.They had their ears to the door in the ceiling to try and hear what was going on.
They realised Matthew must have kept quiet about them and felt grateful. Still, they could be discovered at any moment.
How would they get out of here now without getting caught?
They all wondered what would happen to Matthew?
~~~~Chapter Twenty-two~~~~
Bumpy Ride
"To the car." Cad addressed Morrie, who responded with a grunt. Immediately, much to Matthew's dismay, Morrie lifted him on his shoulders like a sack of feathers!
Matthew felt terrified. A few moments later he was thrown into the back seat of a silver coloured car, which was hidden in the bushy driveway.
As Matthew lay on the seat he tried to move but the ropes were very tight. He had remembered to tense his muscles when they were being tied, but somehow he just could not wriggle free. A tear ran down the bridge of his nose and he sniffed.
"I think they've taken Matt to the car," whispered Kevin softly.
"I'm going down," said Krystal, moving stealthily along the beams towards the trapdoor at the back of the house. In a few moments she lifted the opening and peered down. It seemed quite light outside compared to inside, and the silver car glinted in the soft night light.
"Close the trapdoor after me," whispered Krystal as she quietly and swiftly slid down the hole.
Kevin and Tracey gazed as she went out of their view. They quietly put the trapdoor down in its place.
Krystal's heart thumped as she moved along the shadows of the back verandah and watched as Morrie headed towards the front door of the old Queenslander again, grunting as he hobbled along. Although very scared, she determined to at least try and rescue Matthew. She climbed silently over the railing, dropping to the ground. She crouched for a moment, then crawled towards the car. As she neared the shining metal, she memorised the registration number which she could just make out in the soft night light. She moved along the side of the car and reached up for the door handle. Quickly she opened the door and peered inside.
Yes, Matthew was lying on the back seat.
"Shh," said Krystal, as she pulled the door shut and crouched on the floor. "It's me!"
Matthew sighed.
Krystal brought her camping knife out of her jeans pocket and pulled out the small blade. She felt for the ropes on Matthew's feet, and began to move the little knife over the thick ropes.
Suddenly there was the noise of someone approaching. Krystal ducked down as much under the seats as possible. The back door of the car was opened and Morrie threw a red tartan rug over Matthew. "Co-old," he grunted, as he closed the door again.
"Go!" mumbled Matthew through the gag tied around his mouth.
"No," murmured Krystal, "not yet!" She pulled a piece of the red tartan rug over her head and once more tried to cut the ropes around Matthew's ankles.
The passenger door was opened and Cad's frame sunk deeply into the soft leather seat.
Morrie moved around the front of the vehicle and got into the driver's seat. In a moment the engine started purring.
Krystal worked the little knife even more quickly over the ropes tying Matthew's feet, but the ropes were very thick. She also found she could hardly breathe under the rug.
As the car moved, she was tossed from s
ide to side, so had to stop cutting the ropes. She didn't want to cut Matthew's legs and have him screaming under his gag!
They drove for about fifteen minutes Krystal reckoned.
When the car came to a halt, the ropes were still not cut through.
The driver's door opened and Morrie stumbled out. He opened up a garage door, then jumped back into the driver's seat and drove the car into a garage.
The two front car doors opened; Cad and Morrie got out.
Morrie opened the back passenger door and reached in for Matthew. He lifted him as though he was a teddy bear. Krystal stayed still under the red rug. "Please Lord, don't let him pull the rug off, please...." She closed her eyes and waited, almost forgetting to breathe.
The door went 'bang' and Krystal opened her eyes. The rug was still over her head. She felt like crying. "Thanks Lord," she said, blinking a tear away.
If only she had managed to cut the ropes from Matthew's feet, he could have made a run for it. It was too late now; Krystal sighed. What if something awful happened to him? She couldn't bear to think about that!
After a few minutes, she heard the garage door close and the footsteps disappear.
Krystal pulled the rug from off her head and looked around, taking a deep breath. It was so dark in the car she felt that she still had her eyes closed!
Instinctively, she knew she should get out of the car before she too was caught and tied. She tugged her small torch out of her back jeans pocket and flicked it on.
She shone the light on the dashboard, searching for a mobile telephone.
The sound of someone coming interrupted Krystal's task. She flicked her torch off and reached for the door handle. She tumbled out of the car and crawled along the floor of the garage.
~~~~Chapter Twenty-three~~~~
Nightmare
The garage door opened, silhouetting the figure of Morrie. Krystal touched something that smelt like a farm. It was bales of hay! She pressed herself close to the hay away from Morrie's torchlight.
He shone the light around the garage for a moment, then on the car. He opened the back passenger door and took something out. It was the red tartan rug! In a moment he was leaving the garage, and the metal bolt made a bang as it was locked.
The Gum Tree Gang and the Mystery at the Old Queenslander Page 6
