We Were Only Strawberry Picking (8 page)

‘Er – yikes,’ he whimpered as he ducked, grabbed his torch and began to run towards the glowing light. He had now caught up with the other meerkats, but as they turned the corner of the tunnel they were thrown backwards, almost as if they had been hit with some sort of elastic and fell to the ground – down came the net as they screamed even louder, Lyndi Lou’s scream being the highest pitch they had ever heard.

Nora had descended and had now joined the other animals, as she said, ‘Enoch, go and put the lights back on in the tunnel.’

‘But can’t I stay here, after all I was the one that led them to you?’

‘ENOCH!’ she hooted.

‘Yes, yes, Nora, the lights … the lights … I’m going!’

‘Now little ones, I think we’ve heard enough screams to last a lifetime; it’s pointless screaming anymore, no one’s going to hear you except us.’ Indeed, the meerkats were silent. Visibility was still quite poor in the tunnel, especially under that net, but they could just about make out Nora who was now standing in front of them and looking really angry. They now realised she was a bat, but they still had no idea what her companions were who remained in the background.

Enoch had eagerly just returned. He did not want to miss his moment of glory having been the one that had enabled the meerkats to be captured, ultimately.

‘Honestly, Enoch, they’re not bears,’ chortled Alfonso.

‘I can see that now. Well, what are they?’

‘You have got to be kidding … have you never seen meerkats before? Why do you think the fields are called Meerville Strawberry Fields? It’s because we’re in meerkat territory – I thought you knew that!’

‘Obviously, I’ve forgotten, but I still maintain I heard a bear in that tunnel and I’m not changing my mind!’ Enoch said adamantly.

‘I demand that you let us out of here,’ protested Henratty.

‘At last they speak …’ said Alfonso.

‘Now which one of you was shining that torch in my face? Ah, it was you,’ as Nora pointed to Jack.

‘And yes it was me … so what and what’s photophobia?’

‘I see you’re not as bright as I thought, because if you knew what photophobia was you would have stopped shining that torch in my eyes,’ as Jasper, Enoch and Alfonso started laughing.

‘Shut up, you three!’ barked Nora, as she began to release the meerkats from the net.

‘Now get up and come with me. I suggest you don’t run as there’s no way out of here anyway and you would just be wasting your time,’ instructed Nora to the meerkats. At which point, all the meerkats just looked at each other horrified at the possibility of never getting out of this awful place. They dusted themselves off once more and followed her back to the tram.

‘Get in and be quiet, especially you
torch boy
!’

‘By the way, I do have a name you know – you can call me Jack!’

‘INSOLENT JACK! Now, shut up, before I shut you up!’ retorted Nora, as Henratty nudged Jack and gave him that look which he knew meant to zip it or else!

There was one thing and one thing only that was going through their minds as Nora started up the tram and headed back towards camp.
Would they ever get out of this dark place alive?
Jack was already scheming as he glanced over at Henratty who was weaving a plan too, as she gazed at him.

They travelled in silence along the dimly lit tunnel. Fifteen minutes had now gone by. The tram then made a right turn as it stopped next to some old wooden doors, which suddenly sprung open.

‘Now get out everybody and follow me,’ commanded Nora.

At last there was proper lighting as the meerkats could now see who had, indeed, accompanied them in the tram. They could clearly see Enoch the mole and Jasper the hedgehog but were mortified to see Alfonso the rattlesnake as he began to hiss as if he wanted to attack them.
How could all these creatures live in one place and not have killed each other yet! It was truly amazing,
noted Henratty.

‘Alfonso, will you please stop hissing … now is not the time,’ demanded Nora, as he recoiled back down in his seat and slithered out of the tram, followed by Jasper then Enoch who was muttering to himself, as usual.

Despite the imminent danger, there was no way Jack could keep quiet and just had to say something: ‘I demand you show us the way out of here. We mean you no harm and it was a pure accident that we ended up down here.’

‘A pure accident?’
Nora taunted. ‘Surely you can all read … did you not see the sign about trespassing and what happens to trespassers: they are prosecuted and I am your prosecutor!’ Lyndi Lou started to weep.

‘Oh, look what you’ve done to my sister, you evil thing,’ barked Henratty forgetting where she was for a second. ‘Look I’m sorry, that came out all wrong; we just want to get out of here, so please let us go.’

‘Maybe later but as I said there is no way out of this mine so you can forget that idea,’ replied Nora. ‘For now, you are all staying here.’

‘Er – look here bat, we’re not scared of you and be warned that the rest of Meerville Town have been alerted, it is only a matter of time before they come down here,’ refuted Jack.

Nora was inches away from Jack’s face as she glared at him.

‘And how so, when I know you did not call for help before entering the mineshaft – a very foolish move, Jack, wouldn’t you say?’ as she poked him in the head as if to say,
What were you thinking?

‘Will you, please, all get out of the tram and follow me,’ Nora reiterated and reluctantly they descended. Nora’s intimidation had worked … they were scared that was for sure but Jack was the most determined not to show it, although he was a little scared inside.

As they walked past the giant wooden doors, they noticed there was another hedgehog who had opened the door as she shook her head acknowledging their arrival. It was Nancy of course, Jasper’s sister, who was wearing her apron as per usual; she was never seen without it. They entered what seemed a much wider tunnel with alcoves leading off from it on either side, like dormitories. There were six in total, three on each side, from what they could make out.

Nora led them to the third dormitory on the right. The plaque on the door said “Master Cooper” and as the door swung open, they were greeted by all the other inhabitants they had not seen yet. They noticed a fire place straight ahead at the back of the dormitory that was being stoked by a rather hunched over creature who immediately turned around upon hearing them enter. It was Cooper the rat who said, ‘Ah, Nora! At last … so these are our little bears?’ as the other inhabitants all burst out laughing.

‘Okay, guys, so I made a mistake, bears – meerkats, what’s the difference?’ Enoch cowered.

‘What was that about?’ whispered Oscar.

‘I think they were having a joke at Enoch’s expense as he told them we were bears after Jack growled at him with his foghorn.’
If only that were true, how different the scenario would be right now,
thought Henratty.

To the right, near the fireplace there was a large bed in a small alcove. More or less in the centre of the room was a large wooden table with seating for ten. Some of the seats were already occupied by Enoch, Jasper and Alfonso. They also noted directly in front of the two seats nearest to them was a snail (or rather the shell of a snail), as well as the cutest looking worm they had ever seen. These two species were much larger than the average size one would expect, but what they were was undeniable.

Nora decided to rest her poor weary legs and sat down at the head of the table with Nancy sat to the right of her next to Cooper.

‘Now little ones,’ said Nora referring to the meerkats, ‘I’m going to ask you a couple of questions so I suggest that you pay particular attention and give me the right answers.’

‘You’ve got to be joking, this feels like we are being interrogated but we’ve not done anything wrong!’

‘Can you ever keep quiet boy or will I have to make you keep quiet,’ as Nora turned and looked at Alfonso subliminally insinuating that Alfonso could perhaps wrap himself around Jack to keep him quiet. Alfonso began to hiss as he raised his head up off the table. His shadow illuminated the walls of the dormitory and even though it was well lit, it was still quite a dark place, but in comparison to those unlit tunnels it was indeed bright. Alfonso then began to weave in and out of the crockery on the table heading towards Jack. The meerkats were now huddled together and shaking a little, except for Jack, as Alfonso began to raise the back of his tail off the table, but once again he had forgotten he could not rattle, as he dropped his tail, turned and slithered back to his seat.

‘Now do you understand about keeping quiet?’ Jack had got the message as he nodded his head without making a sound, but he only obeyed because he knew somehow these inhabitants were their ticket out of here. Besides Alfonso was a snake and he could take him out any time but he would have to contend with the other inhabitants as he knew he was outnumbered.

‘So let’s begin: Why were you in the prohibited strawberry fields, when the sign clearly stated, “
Danger and no trespassing”
?’

‘It was my idea, the strawberries looked much bigger and juicier there and I thought what harm would there be to pick a few – no one noticed the first time,’ admitted Henratty.

‘Yes, I heard you and one other marching around the field. You both had a lucky escape that day, but then you came back with your tubby friend and his little brother,’ as she glared at Jack suspiciously.

‘Yes, only because we needed more strawberries for Mama Katie, Jack and Oscar’s mother, so she could make her special strawberry tart and I promised I would show them the special place where we found the extra delicious strawberries in return for Mama Katie’s recipe – it’s really good,’ Henratty answered exuberantly.

‘Um – I see! Was there any other reason for you all being in that field?’ Nora further demanded.

‘What other reason could we possibly have, we were only interested in the strawberries … isn’t that why … how you all ended up in this tunnel or were you all looking for something else?’ enquired Henratty.

Enoch was the first to speak: ‘Well, I got completely lost and did not see the sign in the dark. As you’ve probably gathered my memory is not the greatest and I’m constantly forgetting things.’

‘Yeah, we’ve noticed,’ declared Jack.

‘I was grabbed by some kind of bird of prey who lost its grip and dropped me in the field and on landing, I rolled down a hole in the strawberry fields and ended up in the mineshaft, be it a little wounded but Nora nursed me back to health. All I have is a tiny scar from the claw of that creature,’ uttered Poppy.

‘And Jasper and I were captured by a family looking for pet hedgehogs. Luckily we managed to escape when he fell asleep in his truck, after pulling over at the side of the strawberry fields, and again we tumbled down the mineshaft and what a blessing in disguise that was. This is our home and we would like to keep it that way,’ pronounced Nancy.

The meerkats then turned to Alfonso naturally expecting him to explain how he had ended up in the mine, but he merely gave them a stone-faced stare. From Alfonso’s frosty reception, the meerkats immediately knew that he would be the one to watch closely, as he had definitely made them feel much more uneasy than the other inhabitants.

At that point, Escargot popped out of his shell, still half asleep which made the meerkats jump back in astonishment.

‘It’s only Escargot the snail,’ said Poppy sweetly.

‘What’s all the commotion now, I never seem to be able to sleep of late. And who do we have here?’ as he turned his weary face towards the meerkats.

‘These are the little creatures that I heard in the strawberry fields the other day. As I suspected, it was only a matter of time before they ended up down here and here they are,’ announced Nora.

‘Bonjour mes petits amis,’
said Escargot.

‘What’s he saying?’ asked Jack.

‘He said,
“Hello my little friends”,
’ explained Lyndi Lou.

‘Why can’t he just speak normally – it’ll be much easier?’ insisted Jack.