Adventure 2016

Chapter 10: The King Under the Fort.

Neither James nor Jenny felt like searching for the King under the fort right then. They would check to see if Elf was back from the vet's on their way home. Notail perked up on way and climbed its way up James' arm to sit on his shoulder.

There were lights on at the big house. Jenny rang the doorbell. Elf answered, red eyed. They went up to her room in the roof. Jenny told Elf about what they'd seen at the abandoned ice rink. She hesitated when she got to the part about the poison dart, but decided to be honest about it.

"So they did poison Claudia," Elf said. "Those grey assassins. And you think that it was King Pigeon in the room?"

"I couldn't see," James said.

"Neither could I," Jenny said. "But it must have been him. And he's planning to set fire to the pier on Saturday."

She got to Notail's part. Elf couldn't believe what the squirrel had done.

"You mean this little squirrel took on all those pigeons?" Elf asked, giving Notail a rub of its neck. She was sitting on her bed, and the little squirrel was lounging on her pillow.

"It was amazing," James said. "I saw two arrows fly. Or darts, I guess. One at the Empress and one at King Pigeon. The Empress dodged, she was fast. I don't know if the other one hit the King."

Notail shook its head sadly in answer. Elf gave it another rub.

"So brave," she said. "And what happened to your hand?"

James' left hand was a mess. It was covered in scratches with three deep cuts. He was dabbing them with some toilet roll.

"Pigeon damage," he said. "It's not too bad. A couple of plasters and it'll be fine." He flexed his fingers and blood seeped from a gouge on the back of his hand.

"We need some help," Elf said. "It sounds like the poison in Claudia is bad. I want to speak to someone about it, and who else is there that can help?"

James and Jenny could only think of one person. Plus there was the problem of the plan to burn the pier down on Saturday.

"Can't we go to the police?" Elf asked.

"What would we say?" James said. "No one would believe us. We need some real evidence. Any adult would think we were wasting their time with a kid's story."

"Then that decides it," Elf said. "We'll go and find the King Under the Fort tonight."

James and Jenny looked at each other. Elf needed their support. So did Claudia. They agreed to wait until bedtime and then sneak out and up to the fort. Jenny would pick up Elf, and they'd rendezvous with James at the top of Balfour road at 11pm. There were risks involved, especially when leaving home and returning. But the risk to Claudia seemed much more immediate compared to a possible risk in the future.

"What about Notail?" Jenny asked.

Nobody answered, as the squirrel had fallen fast asleep on Elf's pillow.

***

James was the first to arrive. He stood half in the driveway to Varndean School, near the top of Balfour road. Sneaking out had been easy, his parents were both watching something in the front room, and he just quietly walked out of the back door.

He shuffled from foot to foot to keep warm. He checked the time. Twenty past eleven. Either Jenny or Elf was having trouble leaving. He guessed Jenny because he hadn't see Elf's parents. Hadn't seen them at all.

Every time someone approached he moved back into the driveway. So far no one had paid him any attention. He would give them ten more minutes and then go home. He wasn't in the mood for searching the hill fort at night on his own.