Читать книгу The Song of Mawu - Jeff Edwards - Страница 13

7

That evening Toby and Suzie Brown drove up the roadway that had once been a narrow, pot-holed lane leading to the farm belonging to the Brown family.

Now, newly erected streetlights showed the road to have been sealed and widened to two lanes, with other feeder roads branching off it at regular intervals. They were part of the new subdivision that Toby’s contractor was now undertaking. To the left and right of the roadway could be seen brand new homes, along with the skeletal outline of others still under construction.

They came to an ancient section of dry stone wall with a freshly painted gate. The gate was open and after turning in they drove past Toby’s former family home and around the back to where a large barn stood. Switching off the truck’s motor, Toby sat staring at the building. Memories came flooding back and it was Suzie’s gentle hand on his arm that brought him back to the present. ‘Come on love,’ she whispered, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

Toby gave his wife a weak smile and opened his door. The barn was where his mother’s murdered body had been found and it was an emotional return for him. The death of his mother was why he had decided to sell his farm buildings and to spend his compensation money creating a sub-division on what had formerly been the family’s apple orchard. Now the sub-divided blocks of land were selling quickly and adding to Toby’s already impressive wealth. Not that any of The Fund’s directors had need of money. Jade Green and her legacy had seen to that.

Suzie Brown noted that the others were already here as they emerged from the well-lit interior of the barn and helped Toby to unload the bulkier equipment that he carried on the back of his truck.

Toby pushed a new wheelbarrow inside and passed Mark Scott on his way out. ‘When she’s gone you’ll be left with a large hole in the floor.’

‘Don’t worry Toby, I’ve already considered that. Workmen will be arriving in a couple of days time to replace the cobbles with a new concrete floor. After that, no one will ever know that she’d been here.’

Mark and Ellen Scott were close friends and former work colleagues of Brian’s. Mark was still employed by Grant and Sons, Solicitors. His firm still did much of the legal work for The Fund.

When Toby realised that he could no longer endure living where his mother had been murdered, the Scott’s had jumped at the chance to purchase the picturesque farm-house and barn.

The equipment was quickly unloaded and moved into the barn which had been lit by temporary flood lights on tripods, their glow concentrating on the centre of the cobbled floor, where a rectangle of white had been spray painted.

‘I came out here after Brian called,’ explained Mark, ‘and worked out where she is from the subsistence. If we start at the outer edges we’ll be able to ease up to her and do as little damage as possible.’

***

For the next few hours the men dug into the earth floor and piled the dirt into the numerous wheel barrows which the women then pushed outside and deposited on a heap beside the barn wall.

‘Don’t load the barrows up with too much or the girls will never be able to move them,’ said Toby as he stripped to the waist.

‘Yes. You don’t want us developing muscles, do you,’ replied Suzie cheekily, as she gave her husband’s torso an appraising glance. He’s still a stud, she thought.

Slowly the men dug a trench down both the longest sides of the rectangle and then extended them slowly toward the centre.

Ali’s shovel struck something that caused a hollow thud, ‘I’ve just hit her.’

‘Go easy,’ said Brian, ‘clear some more of the dirt away.’

Gently Ali used his shovel to clear dirt from the area where he had struck metal, until a bright silver piece of steel appeared. ‘Looks like the rear bumper bar,’ he said.

Now that their object was finally in sight they were better able to gauge where to dig and the work went quicker, although there was still a great deal of work to be done.

The hidden car’s boot and back tyres were slowly revealed before the group broke for a well earned drink.

‘She looks very undignified with her bum stuck up in the air like that,’ commented Mark, as he took a sip from his mug of hot coffee.

‘Well that’s the only way we could get her in there in the time we had available,’ replied Brian. ‘Dig a hole with a sloping side and drive her in.’

‘She looks in pretty good shape for having been ‘planted’ all this time,’ said Toby, ‘I wonder if she’ll work?’

‘She’s a Roller,’ said Suzie confidently, ‘of course she’ll work.’

‘The battery might be a bit ‘iffy,’ said Ali, ‘but that can be fixed. How much fuel was in her?’

‘At least half a tank, if I remember rightly.’

‘Well let’s get back to it. There’s still a lot of dirt to be removed.’

‘Is there any easier way?’ asked Justine as she flexed her tired arms.

‘We could use my old tractor if it’s still working.’

‘It sure is Toby. I took a nephew for a ride on it about a month ago.’

‘Well if we can loosen more of the dirt around her, I might be able to get a chain around the rear axel and we can see if she’ll let us drag her out.’

‘Let’s try that and see how we go.’

***

Two more hours of digging brought almost the entire cabin of the car to light.

‘I think we’re just about there. Let’s try the tractor,’ said Toby.

Mark went out and unlocked a nearby shed. He fired up the old diesel motor and backed the old tractor out, driving it slowly across the yard before turning it around and reversing it into the barn.

‘I hope the neighbours don’t complain about all the noise we’re making,’ said Mark.

The comment came as a small shock to Toby who now realised that there were indeed neighbours nearby, unlike when he had lived here and the closest farm had been a half mile away.

Toby expertly linked a thick chain around the exposed axel and hooked it up to the rear of the tractor. He then climbed onto the high seat and started the motor as the others watched on anxiously.

‘Keep digging as much dirt as you can away from the sides while I try to drag it out,’ he called, as he put the tractor into gear and eased slowly on the accelerator. The chain went taut with the tractor’s rear wheels beginning to spin but car remained stuck fast.

Toby set the tractor to maintain a constant pressure while the others shovelled more dirt away. Suddenly, dirt still sticking to the rear wheels of the captive car dropped off as the wheel itself turned slightly. ‘It’s moving!’ yelled Brian, as he and the other men jumped out of the hole in case the trapped car moved in the wrong direction.

Increasing the pressure slightly, Toby felt as the interred car move ever so slightly.

The tractor’s rear wheels shuddered as it strained to gain purchase on the dirt floor and after Toby pushed slightly on the accellorator he felt it jump forward slightly.

More dirt fell away from the sides of the trapped vehicle and its almost imperceptible progress increased with a sudden jolt, followed by exclamations of joy as its rear wheels were suddenly dragged clear of the hole. Seconds later the rest of the magnificent old vehicle was pulled clear of its grave.

There were whoops of joy as the Rolls Royce emerged and still more when Brian climbed inside and turned the ignition key. True to her origins the grand old lady’s motor kicked into life on the third attempt and idled quietly.

Other than the dirt still sticking to her silver sides, the only visible damage was a pattern of scratches and burn marks gained in her fight with terrorists. While in her boot and rear passenger compartment Jade Green’s legacy lay stored just as Brian and his friends had left them.

‘Where’s she off to now?’ asked Ellen Scott.

‘I’m afraid that’s something we can’t tell even you,’ said Lana, ‘but I bet you’ll be relieved to know that you don’t have the worry of having to look after her any more.’

‘Oh I don’t know,’ said Mark, ‘being the keeper of the greatest secret in the last fifty years has added a lot of spice to our lives. Now we’ll have to settle down and become a pair of boring old country yokels.’

‘Better a boring old country yokel than the object of The Crown’s wrath,’ said Brian.

‘We shall see. We shall see,’ replied Ellen.

***

With dawn approaching, the directors of The Fund drove away from Mark and Ellen’s farmhouse in a short convoy. They made sure that the Rolls Royce, now driven by Lana, was in the centre of the line of cars.

They didn’t have to travel far as it was only a short drive from Mark and Ellen’s home to the compound of The Fund where they found the front gate securely locked.

Acting upon instructions from Brian Reynolds, Teddy Strang had taken steps to make sure that no one was present to observe the arrival of the Rolls Royce. He had ordered the entire security staff to take the night off, explaining that he would be carrying out an automated security check on the property in their absence.

Brian pulled up to the gate and produced a key, allowing the convoy to enter before relocking the gate once they were all inside.

The convoy wound its way up the hill and past Ali and Nori’s new house, before dropping down the far side to where Toby and Suzie’s house lay in the glen beyond.

Here, Toby’s new barn had been constructed with its rear wall abutting the excavated side of the hillock.

Lana reversed the Rolls Royce into the empty barn and switched off the motor.

‘From under the foor of one barn and into another,’ said Nori, ‘the poor thing hasn’t seen the light of day in years. What will become of it when we’re finished?’

Brian smiled, ‘I think she’s done enough to earn a quiet retirement. What if we clean her up and place her on display as a reminder of Jade Green?’

‘Where?’ asked Nori.

‘How about in the front foyer of our new headquarters?’

‘Wonderful!’ said Nori, ‘But I don’t know about clean and polished. She’s been gallant and deserves to display her battle scars.’

‘You’re right. The scars should remain but the dirt goes.’

‘Having her suddenly reappear will certainly put the cat among the pigeons in certain quarters,’ laughed Toby.

‘Yes it will. Won’t it,’ agreed Brian with a wicked grin.

‘You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?’ said Lana.

‘Of course I am. Now let’s get to work.’

***

Once again the wheelbarrows were unloaded from Toby’s truck and lined up at the back of the Rolls Royce.

First, the contents of the passenger compartment were unloaded and then the boot was cleared.

With their wheelbarrows now fully laden, Toby stepped toward the shelving that covered the rear wall of the garage. Pushing aside a rusty paint tin, he placed his security card over the pad on the wall behind. With a slight click, the shelf moved and Toby was able to push the entire set of shelves and a portion of the barn’s rear wall into the hillside beyond.

Reaching into the darkness, Toby found a switch and turned it on, revealing a long tunnel that disappeared into the hillside and ran below Brian and Lana’a house..

Brian picked up the handles of the first wheelbarrow in line and pushed into the tunnel while the others followed suit. Toby was the last in line and he made sure the shelving was closed over the entrance again. He then picked up his wheelbarrow and hurried to catch up to his companions.

He grinned as, from the front of the column, came Brian’s voice echoing off the walls singing ‘Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s off to work we go.’

***

Eliza was on hand at the far end of the tunnel when her fellow directors emerged from a door secreted on the second lowest level of the hidden basements.

She led them down a corridor to a room where she was still in the process of setting up her computer equipment. ‘Stack them against the wall over there,’ she pointed. ‘I’ll start work on them as soon as I’m set up. The sooner I start the sooner I can finish and get back out to Namola.’

‘No need to rush Eliza. We still have a lot of things to do,’ said Brian.

Eliza fixed him with a withering glare, ‘Out in Namola people are dying because I’m not there to help. Of course I have to rush.’