Authors: Bill Williams
‘I was about to ask you the same thing,’ Jamie replied and then suggested that they sat on the trunk of a fallen tree that he could see further into the woods, so that it might give Geoff a chance to see some birds.
‘Have you noticed how it has suddenly gone dark in here and there’s that sound again,’ Jamie said as he handed Geoff his drink.
The boys strained their ears trying to identify the sound that was now louder and then they realised it was the sound of the wind that had suddenly started swirling around the woods. The wind increased and the boys were startled by the cracking noise of the branches and then the crashing sound as some of the trees were uprooted and fell close to the boys who soon became trapped by the trees
‘What do we do, Jamie?’ Geoff asked, with fear in his voice and then asked, ‘Is this Devilmorty up to no good again?’
‘I don’t know, Geoff, it might just be a storm. Let’s try moving some of these fallen branches to see if we can get free.’
Geoff’s face hadn’t lost its terrified look as he moved forward with Jamie. Their hands had just gripped the large branch when it rose from the ground driven by a sudden powerful swirling wind. For a moment the boys kept hold and they were six feet off the ground when another burst of wind caused them to lose their grip and they dropped on to the cushion of rotten leaves and fallen branches.
‘Not a bright idea,’ Jamie reflected on his suggestion after he had recovered from being winded. His point was reinforced when more branches and leaves started falling on to them. Geoff was the first to start shouting for help as he realised that they would soon be buried alive. Jamie joined in the shouting, sensing that their only hope was if his dad and Mr Rosser came back soon.
The branches had reached up to their necks when Jamie announced. ‘They’ve stopped, Geoff. Look above there are no more branches left to fall.’
‘I can’t move my head, Jamie.’
‘I’ll see if I can wriggle free, Geoff and try to help you.’
Jamie struggled to free his hands and then felt the branches beneath them giving way and they began to sink and started sputtering when the leaves covered their faces.
‘Hang on, Geoff,’ Jamie shouted once more, followed by. ‘I’ve got one arm free.’ Jamie had tried to sound confident, but they would be in serious trouble unless they could clamber on top of the branches before they were suffocated. Jamie was looking towards the sky that had been cloudless when they had entered the woods and now he was seeing giant flashes of lightning and then the woods suddenly became silent. The movement of branches beneath them had stopped and then it dawned on Jamie that for the moment they were safe.
‘Don’t move, Geoff,’ Jamie advised, forgetting that neither of them could budge at present, ‘I think we’re going to be all right and my dad will be back soon.’
Jamie didn’t know whether the smell of the smoke reached his nostrils before he heard the crackling sound of burning wood and the boys began coughing and spluttering in between their screams. Jamie had managed to reach over to his friend’s face and tried to shield it with his hand. Geoff shook his head, objecting to what he thought was his friend’s attempts to silence his screams, not realising that it was a vain attempt to protect him from the thick smoke.
Jamie concentrated on trying to free himself, hoping that he could then help Geoff. He had just managed to climb to the top of the falling branches when he saw the red and yellow amongst the smoke and recognised Devilmortex’s favourite bird, the Trioptica.
* * *
Kevin smiled as he carried the bag containing drinks and biscuits towards the woods, wondering how the boys had coped with their first real job. He had seen the smoke on his return and had thought it was in a field on the next farm, but now he realised he had been mistaken and threw the bag to ground and started running towards the woods that were partly hidden by a large cloud of smoke.
‘You stupid lads, what have you done?’ he shouted out even though the boys were nowhere to be seen.
Kevin’s dread turned to relief when he saw Jamie and Geoff emerge from the smoke and stagger towards him. As they drew closer he saw their reddened eyes and faces that were blackened and scratched and he suddenly became very angry at the thought of what might have happened to them and roared at his son, ‘Jamie, why did you light a fire in the woods? You stupid, lad, I thought you had more sense than that. What will Mr Rosser think? You were supposed to help him, not burn his woods down.’
‘It wasn’t Jamie’s fault, Mr Tranter. He didn’t start the fire,’ pleaded Geoff in defence of his friend.
‘You stay out of this, Geoff. I know what Jamie’s like trying to show off. I expect he thought he would impress Mr Rosser by burning the dead wood.’
‘It wasn’t like that, Dad. The fire was started by lightning. You must have seen it.’
‘Lightning! What lightning? Look at the sky. You’ll have to do better than that. Anyway, there’s nothing to be done here, so we’d better get back to the farm and get you tidied up. You’d better think what you’re going to say to Mr Rosser.’
When Kevin and the boys reached the farm Pat Rosser broke off talking to Jim Hanson one of his neighbours and they came hurrying towards them.
‘Thank goodness, the boys are safe. Jim was just telling me about seeing a freak lightning flash strike the woods as he was getting ready to deliver some supplies to me. The boys could have been seriously hurt or even killed.’
‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Jim said and explained his shock at what he’d seen. ‘No rain, a cloudless sky and a bolt of lightning hit the woods. I say lightning, but it could easily have been a missile, except the sky was clear and I would have seen it. Those boys must have had a guardian angel looking over them.’
‘Well it put an end to my plans for those woods. I don’t expect there’s much left of them now.’ Pat Rosser said and then he smiled before telling the boys that he would pay them extra for their ordeal.
Jim Hanson told them that he’d also seen some bright colours in the sky above the woods.
‘I expect it must have been resin burning off when the trees caught fire,’ Pat Rosser suggested.
‘I expect you’re right. No other explanation really because it couldn’t have been a rainbow. For a moment I thought it was a giant bird, but the smoke must have been playing tricks with my eyes. We seem to be getting more and more freak weather these days. Perhaps there’s some truth in all the claims about global warming.’
Jamie was busy receiving the apologies from his dad for ripping him off a strip and falsely accusing him of starting the fire. He was also remembering seeing the giant Trioptica bird lower the dazed Geoff to safety and then free him and lay him alongside Geoff. There was nothing wrong with Jim Hanson’s eyes and he must have seen the bird sent by Soupinpota to pluck them to safety.
The boys had been cleaned up before they left the farm and apart from red eyes and a few scratches they were none the worst for their ordeal, at least not physically, when they arrived home. Debbie created a fuss and blamed Kevin for taking the boys to work when they should have been enjoying their holiday. Kevin made allowances for Debbie’s upset and said that the boys could live off their experience for the rest of their lives.
‘They can tell their grandchildren how they battled with a forest fire and lived to tell the tale.’
* * *
Geoff was with Jamie when he tried unsuccessfully to contact Soupinpota and Jamie told Geoff that Mr Rosser and his neighbour were probably right about what happened in the woods was just some freak weather.
‘I still don’t know how we got out, do you?’ Geoff asked
Jamie decided not to tell Geoff about their Trioptica rescuer and said they were just lucky and must have gently fallen to safety. He hoped that the Trioptica really had been sent by Soupinpota, but had been wondering if perhaps it might be the work of Devilmortex who had just wanted to frighten them for now.
* * *
The boys had just settled in to watch a DVD after their dinner and day of drama in the burning woods, when Debbie answered the telephoned and then called out, ‘It’s for you, Geoff. It’s your mum.’
‘She sounded a bit upset,’ Debbie whispered to Kevin when she sat back down again.
The family tried not to listen, but couldn’t escape hearing lots of, ‘All right, Mum,’
Geoff’s parting words were, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Mum.’
Jamie looked across at his dad, wondering what the news was that meant that Geoff would be going home a week earlier than planned. They didn’t have to wait long before Geoff returned to his seat and explained that he was going home because his Nan had been taken ill and she was asking for him.
‘I’m sorry, Jamie.’
‘Never mind, Geoff,’ Kevin said, ‘there’ll be other visits. That’s’ if you haven’t found our new life in the country too dull.’
‘That’s the last thing I would have called it, Mr Tranter,’ replied Geoff as he sort of grimaced while looking at Jamie.
The film was about an American High School with lots of laughs in it, but it was something else that was providing Jamie’s amusement. He nudged Geoff and nodded in his dad’s direction. Geoff’s puzzled and serious look meant that he wasn’t seeing that his Dad had a pig’s head. Jamie was disappointed that Geoff couldn’t share the fun which must be the work of Soupinpota who was probably trying to cheer him up.
‘Mum which animal does Dad remind you of?’ Jamie asked.
Debbie took a long look at her husband and answered, ‘It must be a cuddly bear, but why do you ask?’
‘I was just thinking about something I saw on the Internet of how people associate those close to them with an animal.’
‘What about you, Dad, what do you see mum as. I bet it’s a little kitten?’
‘Aren’t you watching this film?’ Kevin asked, slightly annoyed at Jamie’s lack of interest in a film that he had chosen. Jamie said that the film was a bit slow at the moment and he was just curious about his parent’s choice.
Kevin sighed. ‘If you must know I see your mum as an elegant swan. Now can we get on with watching the film,’ Kevin urged.
Jamie said he was sorry and settled back in the chair after he’d seen his dad’s face return to normal. Several minutes later Jamie roared with laughter at a funny point in the film, but it was the image of Kevin and Debbie faces now appearing as a bear and a swan that was the real reason for his laughter.
‘It wasn’t that funny, Jamie,’ Kevin said as Jamie’s laughter continued and was bordering on the hysterical.
Jamie’s laughter continued when he saw his mum, dad and Leanne appear as Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig and Baby Pig before changing to elephants, then donkeys and finally giraffes.
Jamie finally stopped laughing and said, ‘That was a really, really funny film, don’t you think so, Geoff?’
‘It was funny, but you must have been on the laughing gas.’ Geoff replied.
* * *
The following morning, Kevin took Geoff to the railway station ready to start his journey home to Liverpool and while Kevin went to get Geoff a magazine to read on the train the boys discussed the recent events. Jamie reminded his friend about his promise not to mention what had happened to anyone.
‘As if,’ replied Geoff. ‘Anyway, who would believe me, but I’m thinking of writing to the RSPB about my sighting of a Trioptica.’
They laughed despite their obvious concern of what might lay ahead for Jamie. By tonight, Geoff would be home and safe, but he would be thinking about his friend.
Jamie watched the long line of carriages snake their way out of the station and he was worried. Soupinpota had implied that Devilmortex had targeted Jamie and his family, but Jamie feared that he may extend his reign of terror beyond the Tranter family. Jamie could only hope that Geoff would not become an unwitting victim and an evil Trioptica might soon be seen in the sky above Liverpool.
CHAPTER FORTY
Kevin settled himself on the settee between Debbie and Leanne as the family prepared for their evening television viewing. It seemed quiet after last night when Geoff and Jamie had filled the house with their laughter, although it had been mostly Jamie’s. He looked over at Jamie who seemed unsettled while he waited for a call from Geoff and it wasn’t like Jamie to fuss over such things. Maybe he just wanted to find out if there was any chance of Geoff returning before the holidays ended once he’d seen his Nan. Kevin wasn’t worried about Jamie, but he was still concerned about Debbie and Leanne. He placed an arm around Debbie and Leanne and cuddled them, hoping that it made them feel secure after the events on the beach and Leanne’s terrifying experience at the horse show.
Jamie was thinking about the broken Stanley Machine and wondering if he would ever be able to make contact with Soupinpota. Jamie’s thoughts were interrupted when the telephone rang and he jumped up from his chair and went to answer it in the hallway and it was nearly five minutes before he returned and was looking more relaxed.
‘That was Geoff,’ he reported as if they didn’t know. ‘He said to say thanks again for letting him stay. His Nan is much better and there’s a chance he might come back for the last week of the holiday, if that’s all right.’
‘Of course it’s all right,’ Kevin said. ‘Now let’s watch the film.’
The film was only half way through when Leanne fell asleep and Kevin gave a quiet grunt when he lifted her off the settee before carrying her upstairs to their bed which she had been sleeping in with Debbie since she’d started having bad dreams a few nights ago. Debbie was feeling tired herself and when Kevin came back into the lounge she suggested that it would be best if she went up in case Leanne woke up and had one of her panic attacks.
‘She’ll be fine. She’s sleeping peacefully and you might disturb her if you go up now. I’ll kip down here again tonight.’
Debbie decided to stay and made them all a hot chocolate drink and had just settled beside Kevin when he turned down the volume on the television.
‘What was that?’ he asked.
‘I didn’t hear anything, Dad,’ Jamie answered, eager to see the end of the film.