Authors: Bill Williams
‘Are you sure you won’t come with us?’ Kevin asked as the rest of the family were preparing to leave to go to the Sunday car boot sale. Jamie wasn’t keen on the idea of going with the family and intended to do some reading in the garden and then have a good session playing computer games.
As soon as he heard the front door being slammed, Jamie gathered his magazines together and headed out into the garden and positioned the old deckchair by the pond. It had been good seeing Geoff, sharing the same sense of humour, enjoying the banter and he had mixed feelings that the family had not returned home to Liverpool when the trouble with Devilmortex had been really bad. His mum and dad had settled in well and even Leanne seemed content now that she had her horsey friends. Soupinpota had been good fun, at least before the troubles started, but it wasn’t the same as having a proper mate to knock about with. If only Soupinpota, as he now referred to him and not Daniel, had been real like he’d pretended to be in the beginning. Maybe he wasn’t a computer after all, but an alien. Jamie wondered who had started the idea that aliens had massive heads and little green bodies. They might all be twelve feet tall and have blue faces or tiny heads. Jamie figured that the big head theory was linked to the thought that they must all have much bigger brains because they were more advanced than us.
The hot sun soon had Jamie feeling drowsy and he dropped the magazine on the ground beside the deck chair and was mesmerised by the antics of the five goldfish in the pond just in front of him. It was as though they were playing the old game called ‘tick’ that his dad said they used to play in the street. The game involved chasing and catching another player, touching them and then shouting, ‘tick’. The idea being to avoid being ‘ticked’ until you were the last player remaining. After a few minutes the biggest of the fish must have become bored with the game because whilst the other fish continued darting around the pond, he became more interested in Jamie. This fascinated Jamie because all the fish had always appeared jumpy, but the inquisitive one didn’t move even when Jamie leaned forward. Jamie wasn’t usually able to sleep during daylight, no matter how tired he was, but staring at the goldfish had left him sort of hypnotised and relaxed. He lay back in the chair, closed his eyes and was soon drifting in and out of sleep. He felt a tickle on his neck and flicked his hand at what he thought must be a pesky fly or mosquito. It was annoying, but it didn’t stop him from falling asleep.
* * *
Jamie’s throat was parched and sore when he opened his eyes and squinted towards the sun which was behind the man who was leaning over him.
‘Are you all right?’
‘Is that you, Dad?’ Jamie asked, while putting a hand to his neck which was now feeling even more painful than the inside of his throat.
Jamie struggled, but was unable to sit up and he accepted the help of the outstretched hands.
‘Do I look like your dad?’ Rufus asked
‘Mr Cranleigh what are you doing here?’ Jamie asked as he stared down at the branches that lay on the ground.
‘You’ve had a bit of an accident, lad. I was in my garden when I heard you choking. You sounded really frightened, so I came around to investigate. It was a good job that I had my pruning shears in my hand and managed to cut that creeper that had wrapped itself around your neck.’
Jamie’s mind was beginning to clear and he asked Rufus how that could have happened. It wasn’t as though the creeper was that close to Jamie’s chair.
‘It does seem strange, but it must have dropped on you and then you got tangled in it and then fell forward.’
Rufus had stayed with Jamie until the family returned and he explained his theory to an angry Kevin and a very anxious Debbie. As soon as Rufus had left, after receiving repeated thanks from Jamie’s mum and dad, Kevin headed for the garden shed for his shears, pickaxe and a spade.
Kevin was still fired up with the anger generated by the thought that Jamie was lucky to escape with only bruises when he set about hacking the creeper. When only a few stumps were left sticking out of the ground he swung the pickaxe repeatedly to loosen the roots. Kevin was sweating heavily by the time he had dug deep into where the creeper had rooted and was satisfied that he had done enough to stop it growing again.
Rufus’s explanation about what had happened seemed reasonable enough, although Kevin thought it more likely that Jamie had been larking about and wrapped the fallen branches around his neck before he had fallen asleep and then lurched forward.
* * *
By the time the family had finished dinner Jamie was getting fed up with all the attention he was getting, except from Leanne who made gestures indicating a ‘hanging’ from time to time. When his mum propped up his cushion on the settee as they settled in to watch television Jamie had had enough fuss and retreated to the computer room. The flashing ‘urgent message’ on the screen frightened Jamie and left him having further doubts that the creeper incident had been just an accident. The message made it clear that Jamie was now in serious danger and he was to contact Soupinpota immediately and stay inside the house until further notice.
Jamie had groaned when he had read the warning message because it seemed that Devilmortex had not lost interest in him like he had hoped. In his concern about the flashing message, Jamie hadn’t noticed that the Titantula status message was indicating ‘disconnected’. When he checked the time and date of the message he discovered that it had been sent before his encounter with the creeper. Jamie made repeated attempts to re-establish a connection before he gave up and told his parents that he was going to bed early.
* * *
The next morning Jamie was still feeling very rough and wasn’t well enough to go to school. He had made a number of visits to his computer room and the status indicator was still showing ‘disconnected’. He had intended to keep checking, but his mum had insisted that he stayed down on the settee or went back to bed. He would have to suffer some serious pampering from his mum, but he was remembering Soupinpota’s warning to avoid going outside the house and so he planned to make the most of his injury to avoid going to school for the rest of the week.
* * *
By the time it was Friday Jamie was bored out of his socks and so when his dad arrived home he told him that he was feeling much better and was ready to go back to school on Monday.
‘That’s good news, son. The bruising has nearly gone, but I was beginning to think you might have some internal injuries. I bet you can’t wait to meet up with your mates and if you feel up to it perhaps we could have a gentle kick about on the field tomorrow. You’ve been cooped up inside all week and it will do you good to get some fresh air.’
‘I’m not sure I’m ready for that just yet, Dad,’
‘No worries, maybe we can sit in the garden later and play one of those board games.’
Jamie told his dad that it was a good idea, but he was already trying to think of excuses to avoid venturing outside before he went to school on Monday.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
It was a typical Saturday morning in the Tranter household. Leanne was playing with her dolls. Mum was in the kitchen emptying the washing machine after the overnight wash, while dad and son were busy doing what they always did. Kevin was reading the newspaper and Jamie was watching television.
Kevin rarely read anything other than the sports section and the front page and he was soon folding the paper and placing it on the coffee table in front of him.
‘So, are you coming with us to town this morning, our Jamie? Kevin asked showing fresh concern that his son had been cooped up all week. ‘You really should get out today.’
Before Jamie could answer with another excuse Kevin went to answer a knock on the door, ruffling Jamie’s hair as he passed by him. Jamie heard the door being shut and then his dad saying, ‘Jamie’s through there in the living room.’
Jamie sat up, wondering who the caller was and he hoped it wasn’t one of his teachers. He was proud of his dad, but he could be embarrassing at times, especially in front of teachers. Jamie recognised one of the men immediately and the other was familiar and they weren’t teachers.
‘Mr Judd wanted to see you again and check if Uncle Stanley’s computer is still working. I told him about your accident in the garden.’
Cyril Judd looked concerned as he greeted Jamie, ‘I’m sorry to hear that you haven’t been well, young Jamie, but I just wanted to make sure that the old computer is still working. This is ………’
‘I think Jamie knows who I am,’ the other man interrupted, ‘don’t you, Jamie?’
Jamie looked in the direction of his dad before he replied, ‘You’re my dad’s Uncle Stanley, aren’t you?’
‘Don’t be daft, Jamie!’ Kevin said showing a rare trace of embarrassment as he studied the face of the man who was supposed to be dead.
‘Yes, Jamie, I’m Uncle Stanley,’ he replied and then addressed his nephew. ‘I’m sorry, Kevin, for shocking you in this way, but I have my reasons. Some of which I will be able to explain later, but I really am your Uncle Stanley.’
Kevin gave a huge sigh and then asked, ‘But how does Jamie know who you are. He hasn’t even seen a single photograph of you and you are supposed to be …..’ Kevin faltered and Uncle Stanley said, ‘Dead, yes I know it must be a real shock for you.’
Kevin turned to Jamie and asked, ‘What’s this all about, our Jamie? ’
‘I have seen a photograph on the computer, but I couldn’t tell you about it and I really thought Uncle Stanley was dead until just now.’
‘This must all seem very strange to you, Kevin, but my friend Cyril and I are here because we have some important work to do and I would like you to trust me for just a short while. We need to speak to Jamie alone, upstairs in the computer room.’
Kevin studied the face of the man who was claiming to be his ‘dead’ uncle. The bushy eyebrows were certainly like his old dad’s, as was the straight nose. He was older looking than he remembered his dad before he died, but there was a likeness.
‘Have you come to claim your house back?’
Uncle Stanley made it clear that the house was Kevin’s to keep and he had no intention of trying to claim it back.
‘I’m sorry for suggesting that, but all of this is doing my head in,’ Kevin apologised. ‘You do what you have to do upstairs and I’ll make us all a cup of tea.’
Uncle Stanley smiled, ‘That would be nice, thank you. Now, if Jamie will lead the way to his computer room please, although I do know where it is.’
Kevin was holding a tray with tea cups on and stood at the foot of the stairs when Debbie came in from the garden where she had been hanging out the washing.
‘Who are those for? Has our Jamie got some mates in?’ Debbie asked.
‘Hang on, love. I’ll be down in a minute and make you a cuppa. One of these is for Uncle Stanley.’
Kevin continued on his way upstairs while Debbie scolded him from making jokes about such things.
Debbie was looking serious when Kevin came back down and he explained about their visitors and the dramatic appearance of Uncle Stanley.
‘And you believe him?’ asked a sceptical Debbie
‘Of course I believe him. Do you think I’d leave him with our Jamie and make him a cup tea if I didn’t?’
‘Did he say where he’s been all this time?’ Debbie asked.
‘Well I don’t suppose he’s been in some graveyard until they dug him up again. Perhaps he’s been in one of those deepfreeze capsules,’ replied Kevin, trying to sound serious.
‘Kevin stop it, he might hear you,’ whispered Debbie.
Kevin smiled and said, ‘So, you do think it’s him?’
‘I suppose so. If he’s convinced you then it must be true. What will happen to us when he moves back in?’ asked an anxious Debbie.
‘We’ll have to lodge next door with Rufus and his mum until we decide what to do,’ joked Kevin and then added, ‘Hang on, it sounds as though they’re coming down.’
* * *
Rufus turned on the tap and washed the lettuce that he’d picked from his garden and then made a cup of tea for him and mother. He was annoyed when he discovered that the biscuit tin was empty because it had been half full this morning and his mother didn’t like them.
‘You’ve been feeding those birds chocolate biscuits again. It’s a wonder that I grow anything after the way you attract then into the garden,’ he grumbled as he placed the cups down on the small table.
‘Don’t be silly, Rufus. Why would the birds want to eat your seed when they can have chocolate biscuits? What would you sooner have?’
Rufus decided to ignore the question and told her that he’d seen two old men digging in the garden next door and one of them was no stranger.
‘Who was it then?’
‘It was the former occupant, Stanley.’
Mrs Cranleigh frowned and gave Rufus a disbelieving look before she spoke, ‘But I thought he was dead!’
‘I knew there was something fishy going on. He just disappeared and we never found out if he was supposed to have died in hospital or had an accident and now he’s back.’
‘But why is he digging. I don’t ever remember seeing him do any digging while he was living there?’
‘He’s digging in the spot where the young feller got hurt. His dad made a real mess of removing that creeper when he attacked it like a man possessed.’
‘Maybe he disturbed something that belonged to the Uncle and he’s come to check that it’s still there,’ Mrs Cranleigh suggested.
* * *
Uncle Stanley had waited until he’d heard nosey Rufus close his kitchen door before he made his way to the shed for the second time. Kevin and Debbie watched him from the kitchen window as he carried the large box from the shed and placed it beside the freshly dug earth, the result of Kevin’s recent digging.
Uncle Stanley knelt down and scraped away the soil with a small trowel and turned to Cyril and shook his head in a way that suggested that they had a serious problem.
‘What are they doing, our Jamie,’ Kevin asked when Jamie came into the kitchen.
‘They’ve got some odd looking components in that box, but I don’t know what they’re doing, Dad and that’s the truth, but you can trust them. ’