And They Danced

Chapter Fifty-Two - A Car under a Pile of Tree

Though the weather was fine, the ground was still very wet after that recent rain so we decided to go up the road then along the track at the back of the house. This had the added advantage that it would let us look out over our valley for any signs of activity.

The little group slowly made its way up the slope. It was quite a short climb but steep in places and I was pleased to see that Sam was pushing Rosie's pram without being asked. Once we reached the top, we turned left into a small wood. Most of the children ran around, playing some sort of noisy game but Gregory was chatting with me. He had just asked why the ground went up and down instead of just being all flat and I was struggling to give a sensible answer.

I was on the point of asking Brian for help when I was disturbed by a shout from James. "Jess just found a car! It's under a pile of tree."

"Come away," Mary said quite sharply. "That means you, too, Rebecca," she added as one of the twins started edging towards the pile. "All of you, come and stand with me for a minute!"

"There are sometimes frightening things in cars," Denise explained calmly to the Tiddlers.

"I'm not 'fraid of frightened things," James told us. "I just 'pow' them!"

"You are still staying with me," Mary told him firmly.

I called to Peter and the two of us went to investigate the pile. There was a car hidden underneath it and it was immediately obvious that it had arrived recently. Somebody had deliberately hidden it under freshly cut branches. I looked at it for a few seconds then made a decision.

"OK, we're going straight back," I said, checking the pistol that I always wore at my waist when I was out of the House, "Jason and Peter to the front; Daniel and me to the rear." I was very pleased with the way in which Neel and Emily-Jane immediately moved to help Denise to keep the Tiddlers together. As we walked back down the hill, the Tiddlers were very quiet, picking up on the way the rest of us were behaving.

As soon as we got back, I called Jason, Daniel and Peter together.

"So, dat's like the end of Christmas," Jason commented with a sigh.

"Well, not quite the end, even if it feels like it," I said. "But I think we need someone up on the roof; full-time look-out until dark."

"I'm on it," Jason said, heading for the stairs.

"We can share it out a bit," I shouted after him. "One of us will be up in half an hour."

When I came back downstairs after my turn on the roof, I found Deeksha sitting on a sofa with her feet curled up under her. I went over to join her. "I'm sorry there were no presents for you," I said.

She smiled across at Neel who was squeezed into an armchair with Emily-Jane. Together, they were looking at a book that he had been given for Christmas. "I couldn't imagine a better present than that!" she assured me.

I laughed. "There is something that I thought you might like to see," I told her. "Did you know that we had been down to Compton?"

She shook her head.

"We hoped we might find you there... and left you a note, telling you where to find us."

Deeksha nodded.

"When we were there, we helped Neel to make a memory box.

"A what?"

"We got a box together for each of the Tiddlers with photos and precious things to help them to remember where they come from. We helped Neel to make one too. Should I go and get it?"

Deeksha's face lit up.

Half an hour later, I looked on as Deeksha, Neel and Emily-Jane sat side-by-side on the sofa, working their way through the box's contents with obvious delight.