We Were Only Strawberry Picking (13 page)

Jack then inserted the key quietly into the keyhole and gently turned it to unlock the door. He signalled to Henratty as if to say,
Are you ready
? They both took a deep breath and tiptoed out of the dormitory. He then placed the key back in the door locking Oscar and Lyndi Lou in, who could be seen making up the beds using the pillows to make it look like Henratty and Jack were still there and hoped they had done a good enough job to deceive Alfonso – only time would tell …

Henratty and Jack tiptoed along the main hallway stealthy until they came to the big wooden door entrance, which miraculously was open, as if someone had gone out,
but who would be wandering around these tunnels at this time of the night?
they thought but this was not the time to speculate as they had a job to do. They turned left into the dark and dusty tunnel and began to follow the tram tracks, as Jack gripped Henratty's hand tightly. He had the torch at the ready in his other hand, but he was not going to use it until he was as far away from the dormitories as possible.

They had been walking for approximately twenty minutes, when suddenly Jack thought he heard something clinking further up the tunnel. He immediately squeezed Henratty's hand tightly as he sensed she may not have heard – he did after all have the best hearing. Suddenly, there was that clinking sound again, it seemed to be getting louder and louder and the sound was certainly coming from further up the tunnel but whatever it was, was coming their way. Luckily, he had felt along the walls and realised they had reached a junction where they could either stay on the same tunnel or turn left into another tunnel. Jack instantly turned left, tugging Henratty along with him. Immediately he pressed his body and Henratty's body with his right arm against the wall. Because the sound was so close it seemed like they only had seconds to spare, and indeed, as they craned their necks to the right, they were surprised to see Nancy walking past holding a lantern and pushing what appeared to be an old-fashioned wheelbarrow, which contained some bread, strawberries, eggs and a few other items that were not so visible:

Nancy had just got back from her regular weekly trip to Meerville Town Centre to stock up on their supplies. Her brother, Jasper, sometimes accompanied her depending on what they needed, but most of the time she went alone. It was only ever Nancy and Jasper who went outside to stock up on food, as being hedgehogs they could run for miles and Meerville Town Centre was six miles away, which meant they had to give themselves at least four hours to get there and back, undetected. They were in meerkat territory, and if a hedgehog was seen in this vicinity, it could cause serious problems for Picklesby, their hometown – every species in Arkvale was governed by strict laws regarding when they should and should not enter each others territory.

There was always fresh bread and eggs left outside the shops, and as Nora had advised wisely, it was always best to only ever take two loaves of bread at any given time; to take any more would arouse suspicion and this principle applied to whatever they took. However, they were allowed to take any food thrown out or left near the shop bins as usually they had gone past their “sell by date” but they were usually only just out of date and still edible. Obtaining fruits was more difficult and time consuming; strawberries were never a problem, after all they lived under a strawberry field and as long as they were in season they knew they had ample supply. Collecting other fruits, however, involved a much higher risk, as although they were left outside the shops these were usually picked up for disposal within the hour. Therefore, this task was done jointly by Nancy and Jasper and considering they had been doing this task for over two years now, so far they had managed to get away with things having only nearly got caught once and from this incident they had learnt that timing and speed were crucial to not getting caught!

So Jack was right, their food source was, indeed, above ground, which meant there was also definitely a way out and they knew it had to be in the direction Nancy was coming from. They waited a few more minutes and then continued along the tunnel they were initially on. As they turned the bend, Jack decided he would use his torch as they were slowly running out of time and they needed to get back to that dormitory fast. They quickened their pace and knew as long as they could hear the wheelbarrow clanging, their movements would be distorted and Nora would be unable to detect them. But, unbeknown to Jack, she only used her echolocation
when necessary
, otherwise she would not get any peace or more importantly any sleep. Having exceptional hearing also had its drawbacks and Nora certainly needed to sleep just like anybody else.

* * *

After walking for another ten minutes, they suddenly came to a dead end, but how could this be? Jack then let go of Henratty's hand and started to feel the wall, and as he tapped on it, he knew that this was a false wall; it sounded hollow. He continued to feel around when his hand got caught on something sticking out of the wall. He switched the torch on for a few seconds and noticed a lever which he pulled on. Immediately the wall began to open up in a sliding motion and there before them was the mineshaft lift.
Very clever
– it had been hidden to appear as if it was part of the tunnel. He quickly pulled the lever once more to close the lift, and then grabbed Henratty's hand as they began to make their way back to their dormitory.

By the time they got back to the tunnel junction, Nancy had just entered base camp where Jasper greeted her.

‘Any problems, Nancy?'

‘None at all! In fact, it gets easier every time I do this. So, Jasper, tell me what I've missed,' as she handed him the wheelbarrow and they made their way to the dormitory marked “Stock Room” on the left.

Jack and Henratty were back at the main entrance of the dormitories. The door was not as ajar as it had been before, which meant visibility into the hallway leading to their dormitory was massively reduced, but they had to risk it before the next possible spot check.

As they entered the hallway, they could hear voices coming from the end dormitory along with the sound of bottles, tins and bags being moved around. Jack decided to sprint to their dormitory, quickly followed by Henratty. He slowly opened the dormitory door, leaving the key in the door without locking it as they slipped inside where they found Oscar and Lyndi Lou asleep. Henratty quickly whispered to them to get up, as they were now ready for the second phase of their plan and that was to get out of this mine, having found the mineshaft lift. They quickly assembled all four pillows to make it look like they were asleep, and one by one Jack signalled for them to tiptoe out of the dormitory. He then quickly left a teasing note under the covers which he knew would infuriate Alfonso even more, but he felt he deserved it.

Jack was just about to leave the dormitory when luckily he heard Jasper coming down the hallway, but, miraculously, Nancy shouted at Jasper, to come back quickly, as Jasper sprinted to the stock room.

Jack was perspiring heavily, his hands were clammy and he was shaking a little. He opened the door swiftly and with nerves of steel, he quickly locked the door and sprinted for the main entrance. He did not care if he made a sound as Nancy and Jasper were making more of a racket in the stock room. Nancy had accidentally dropped a big jar of pickles that had gone everywhere and the whole room was splattered with vinegar so she needed help wiping up the mess before it ruined all the groceries.

‘Oh, Nancy, how many times have I told you to leave this to me?'

‘I know Jasper, but you know I always try and do things for myself.'

‘Well, try to remember that your brother does not mind helping you, so next time ask!' ordered Jasper.

‘You're the boss and yes you're right, I'll ask next time. It will certainly save me or rather us all this grief,' as they began to laugh at Nancy's stupidity. Before they knew it, most of the other inhabitants were now standing in the stock room with them. As they looked around, Nora had just walked in followed by Cooper.

‘Are you two all right? We thought that maybe you had got into a spot of bother with our little guests?'

‘Oh, sorry, Nora! I spilt a big jar of pickles and it has made a bit of a mess but we'll clear it up – nothing to do with our guests at all, they're locked up safely and are certainly not going anywhere.' On that note Alfonso thought as he was up, he might as well check on the meerkats,
only
because he wanted to tease Jack a little more.

As Alfonso opened the meerkats' dormitory door, with more visibility as the main dormitory lights were fully on, he instantly noticed there was something strange about the two beds. He moved in quickly and pulled back the covers of Henratty's and Lyndi Lou's bed only to find the two pillows. With even more haste, he flicked back Jack's and Oscar's covers but this time there were not just two pillows but Jack's note, which read:

Goodbye, Alfonso! You little hissy sissy. Let's see how you are going to explain this one to Nora. This time it will be you that's “rattling” with fear when she takes your head off … The next time you threaten me or my friends, I will not only hit you right between the eyes but I will ensure you can never rattle again, Mr Snake! Well, let's say Nora will make sure of that!

Alfonso's eyes widened in fury and his whole body was now raging with so much anger.

He quickly glided back to the stock room.

‘Nora, everyone, OUR PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED!' wailed Alfonso. He was shaking a little in fear of what Nora would do to him.

‘What do you mean, they've escaped? Did you not check the dormitory when I told you to?'

‘Of course I did,' rebuffed Alfonso. However, from the look on everyone else's faces, it left much speculation, especially as Escargot had mentioned earlier how Alfonso would just sleep on lookouts!

‘I swear to you, Nora, I checked that dormitory and they were all there and I locked up afterwards. Besides, the key was still locked in the door, so maybe someone can explain how they got out, or just maybe someone let them out?' This accusation caused even more outrage with the other inhabitants who all gasped in horror.

‘How could you say that?' refuted Enoch.

‘Maybe it was you, Enoch,' suggested Alfonso.

‘I have to disagree,' retorted Poppy, ‘Enoch has been with me the whole time, and I think everyone can account for their whereabouts except for you, Alfonso.' Nora then interrupted the somewhat heated debate.

‘Look, this is not the time for in-house squabbling, we need to find those meerkats and find them fast! If they get out of here we are doomed … do you hear me DOOMED… Alfonso and Jasper, please check the dormitory once more to see if they escaped directly from there. Could they have dug their way out, so check under the beds, but I doubt that very much. Now, Enoch and Nancy I suggest you start searching the tunnel in the direction we trapped them in the first place, whilst Cooper and I will go and get the tram and head towards the mineshaft lift just in case they have worked out where it was. Nancy, could they have heard you and Jasper discussing the lift at any stage?' asked Nora anxiously.

‘Absolutely not, this is one thing we can guarantee; we have never mentioned the mineshaft lift at any time. It's the one code of conduct we have obeyed … one hundred percent!'

‘Right that settles it, we all know what we have to do. My echolocation should be able to pick them up in no time, as one thing in our favour is that they still don't know where the mineshaft lift is located, but little did Nora know that was not the case. She then clapped her hands continuously …

‘Now let's get going – time is of the essence – WE MUST NOT FAIL!' grumbled Nora.

Whilst Jasper double checked the meerkats' dormitory, Alfonso had automatically made a head start for the mineshaft.