Chapter Six
Curvy came to the school the next day. Buggy tried to avoid talking to her because she had been right to question his decision in starting his business in such a hurry. She helped the very distressed Fiata with the students. Buggy watched Curvy as she worked. She had changed since Christ came into her life. She was still strong, efficient and a little pushy, but the things she did were kind, loving and good. He had to admit that she was a godsend at this moment. At lunchtime, as the students went home and Curvy saw them off at the gate, Buggy drove up to her. She was talking to a parent.
“Why did you get involved in the school, Curvy? I thought you were against it?” the parent asked.
“I was but I realized they might need my help this week and I had nothing to do.”
“I’m beginning to think this school is a bad idea. We thought that Buggy would know whether our children would be safe or not. He was right about the petrol.” The parent suddenly went quiet and dimmed his lights when he saw Buggy behind Curvy.
Curvy patiently saw the children off and then turned around and looked at Buggy with a smile.
“So Buggy, what is going on?”
There she goes again, accusing me. And yet I know she’s concerned.
“Why would you think that I know?”
“I don’t. I’m just asking.” Curvy paused. “Do you know?”
“I think I do. Curvy, seeing you’re here helping, now I can go into the human world. I think that is where Latty is. Please will you help Fiata for the next few days?”
“Yes.” Curvy looked serious. “I hope you find her.”
Buggy knew she wanted to say something but restrained herself.
“Just tell Mannie that I’ve gone to buy stock for my shop. I will buy some anyway. Don’t tell him I’m looking for Latty. In fact, he mustn’t know that her disappearance has caused such a stir.”
Curvy nodded her mirrors and dimmed her lights.
***
Buggy took leave from work for three days and closed up his room. As it started getting dark, he drove out of Motoland with a heavy radiator. His first place to check would be Mannie’s workshop but he would have to do it carefully without being seen.
Because it was night, the workshop was closed. Buggy peeped with his mirror through the windows but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He decided to wait until morning in a secluded spot behind the workshop. He began to wonder how he could search around the workshop without looking suspicious.
“Please God,” he prayed. “I know I was greedy and stupid to let Mannie manipulate me and then put the children in danger. Deep inside, I knew something was wrong but all I could think about was my shop and getting money to do up my garage. Help me to find Latty and to stop this madness.”
Immediately, Buggy felt a burden lift off his bumpers. He felt peace inside which he hadn’t felt for a long time.
“Thank You, God. I know you forgave me 2,000 odd years ago when Jesus died. I don’t have to feel guilty but I am kind of scared.”
Hey, Buggy had saved Motoland before. God had helped him twice before. This time seemed scarier than the other two, but he had to just trust. That’s all he had to hold onto.
He was going to destroy Mannie’s plans no matter what. How? That hadn’t come to him yet.
He dozed off on the grass but woke up early before the sun came out.
Peering through the window to check if all was clear, he noticed Mannie behind a desk, working with papers. There was no way he was going to go in unnoticed.
He waited for the man to leave. Maybe he was mistaken. Maybe he only needed to come back into the human world to attend to his business here. The man may be innocent. Yet, his instincts told him otherwise.
“I’m going out at lunchtime,” he heard Mannie tell one of his workers after several long hours of watching him and hiding away when he heard movement outside.
Buggy decided to go look for stock for his shop and then come back to the workshop at lunch to watch where Mannie went. It was not so easy to find stock. Eventually, Buggy found a street with several stationery wholesalers.
How was he going to drive into the shops and buy stock? He hadn’t thought of that. Maybe Mannie could get it for him. No, he wasn’t going to get any help from the evil man. While Buggy was peering into the one shop window, he felt a tap on his boot lid. Next minute, Evity came up to his front.
“I thought it was you, Buggy. I recognize your gray stripe and sun roof.”
“Evity! What are you doing here?”
“I’m buying stationery for my new semester in college.”
“Oh, won’t you get me some price lists. I want to buy stock for my new stationery shop in Motoland.” Buggy went quiet as someone walked past them. “Get in. We can talk more privately with you inside me.” Evity climbed in.
“I’ll be glad to help you, Buggy.” Soon Buggy was telling Evity what to buy for him and she and the shop assistant were loading his boot with boxes of stationery. He wasn’t so excited about his shop anymore, but needed a cover so Mannie wouldn’t wonder why he’d gone back to the human world.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Evity asked as she settled in the driver’s seat.
“You’re a great help. I have to tell you what’s happening in Motoland.” Buggy explained how Mannie had set up a school so that he could steal the children to sell in the human world. He said how he thought that Latty was possibly sold already.
“You can go into Mannie’s workshop for me and inquire if he has any cars for sale. He can’t know that I know about him yet.”
“Oh, Buggy, I can’t believe this is happening. When my uncle first took me to Motoland, I had to make a vow of secrecy for the protection of Motoland. It’s the rule of Motoland—no car must speak to any humans outside of Motoland. That is the only way we know how to protect Motoland. There are only ten humans who know of the magic city and who have made their vow of secrecy. They are scattered all over the world. My uncle and I are the only ones in South Africa who know about it.”
Buggy’s lights lit up. “Duke is your uncle?”
“Yes.”
“He helped me get into Motoland for the first time. I feel so bad for putting Motoland in danger. We have to do something.”
Evity ran her hands along Buggy’s seat, her eyes thoughtful.
“We’re going to sort this out, little car. I’m not going to let anyone harm the wonderful cars in Motoland anymore.”
At lunch time, Buggy drove behind the workshop and waited for Evity to go in. Evity came out with a gleam in her eyes.
“There is definitely something up but it’s not here,” she said as she settled into Buggy again.
“Did you see him?”
“Well, to be honest, I don’t really know what he looks like. I’ve never met him. They gave me the name of a house where there is a good secondhand car for sale. It’s quite close to here. You can take me close but I don’t think we should go together.”
***
Evity and Buggy drove to the house and Buggy parked around the corner. He had described Latty in detail to Evity. The young woman, nervous but determined, walked to the gate and buzzed the bell.
“My name is Evity Long. I’ve come about a car for sale.” She spoke into the intercom. The passenger gate swung open and she walked in. A smartly dressed man with dark, greased-back hair and black, darting eyes came out to meet her. He took her hand and shook it, a little too quickly for Evity’s liking.
“Mannie Pulator, pleased to meet you. Please come in.”
Evity felt a shiver go down her spine at the thought of entering his house but she knew she had to look as casual and ignorant as possible.
“So, where did you hear I was selling?” Mannie asked, piercing her with his eyes.
“At Mannie’s Mechanics.”
“I’ve never seen you before.”
Evity knew he was checking if he could trust her. “I’m a student at the university. I don’t own a c
ar. I need one for fetching books and buying food. I saw your mechanic’s shop and asked them where I could get a good secondhand car. So what do you have for sale?” She hadn’t lied, she did need a car.
“Well, at the moment I only have one for viewing. We will have more coming in soon.”
Evity swallowed a lump in her throat. “May I see what you have?”
“Come.” He led her to his garage. To Evity’s dismay, the car parked in the garage was not Latty. It was a white four by four.
“I fixed up this beauty and re-sprayed it for one of my customers who virtually gave it to me. He sold it at such a good price.”
Evity looked down, trying to hide disappointment and puzzlement. “I was hoping more for a ladies’ car—something small, zippy, and more fuel-efficient. I’ve heard your prices are good.”
“Sure, I can understand that,” he said but looked at her critically. “I’m afraid that’s all.”
Evity knew if she was too persistent, she would look suspicious. “Thanks for your time,” she said politely, shaking his hand. As she found her way back to the front to walk away, Mr. Pulator called to her.
“Just wait!” He ran towards her and grabbed her arm. She spun round to face him.
“I forgot about this small car that came in yesterday. It’s still at the workshop being serviced. If you come over tomorrow, I’ll have it here for viewing.”
Evity danced inside. “Great, I’ll be here.” She walked away, her heart pounding and her mouth dry. She knew he had tested her to see if she didn’t seem to suspect anything of him. She had passed the test. The small car had to be Latty. Now they had to find money to buy her back.
After a tense drive home, Evity parked Buggy in her front yard, unpacked the stationery into her dining room and pampered him. She said it was to help relieve their stress and come up with plans to rescue Latty. She washed and waxed him on the outside until he gleamed. Then she polished his dash and buttons and vacuumed his upholstery and floor carpets.
“Wow, it’s been absolute ages since I had this royal treatment,” he said as the young woman collapsed with exhaustion on his back seat.
“Looks like you’ve neglected yourself lately,” she said in a motherly way.
“You’re right about that. I never seemed to meet Mr. Pulator’s demands.”
“How are we going to pay for Latty?” Evity’s voice came out shaky and sad. They still hadn’t come up with a plan.
Buggy closed his boot with a slam. “I’m not paying that crook any money. We’re going to rescue her!”
Evity bolted upright. “How are we going to do that? This man is dangerous!”
“We will find a way. If God can rescue me from Conor and Bigwheel, He can help us rescue Latty from Mannie Pulator.”
“But if he finds Latty missing, he will know that he’s been found out. Then he will take revenge on Motoland.”
Suddenly Buggy didn’t care. He was going to sort everything out with God’s help. “God answers prayer. That’s all I know. The other night I read about how God helped Gideon win many battles with only a few men.”
Evity squealed and jumped up, making Buggy’s whole body shake. “I know who can help us!”
She ran inside to fetch her cell phone.
“But…” She didn’t hear him.
Chapter Seven
“I told him I would come a day late because I had a lecture. He wasn’t too happy. At least tonight we can steal back Latty.” Evity said to Duke who sat on Buggy’s passenger seat.
“Well, we’d better be going. We don’t have any time to waste.” Her uncle’s deep and comforting voice gave Evity all the courage she needed to face the evil man.
“It’s only midnight. He may still be awake.” Buggy said.
“We need to see where we can get in and plan.” Her uncle put his arm on her leg. “Rather early than late.”
Evity started the engine and took a deep breath. Her heart had never raced like this before. She drove up to the house and parked around the corner from the front gate again.
For an hour, Duke walked around the property, making sure no one was watching. He climbed onto Buggy’s roof outside the far wall to peer inside. Evity passed him a rope ladder which he swung over the wall and Buggy hooked the other end in his door. Duke climbed over and jumped onto the grass on the inside of the wall. Evity followed, controlling her legs from shaking. Eventually she was over the wall onto the grass with a few bruises but at least no one had seen her. Evity whispered into the garage through a whole at the bottom. “Latty, is that you? It’s Evity Long, the messenger from Motoland.”
Not a single sound.
“You keep talking, Evity,” Duke said. “She may be very frightened. I’m going to look around.”
He walked stealthily to the back, behind the house. Minutes later, he came back.
“There’s a large tool shed in the back corner of the garden. Latty’s in there, I’m sure of it.”
Evity crept to the back with him, looking around constantly in case Mr. Pulator came out and saw them. They came to a large wooden structure with a double door. She tugged on it and was pleased that it was only latched. Duke unlatched it and they peered inside the dark, dusty room. Latty’s blue body sparkled in the moonlight.
“Latty,” he said softly.
Latty never spoke. Evity came up to her and ran her fingers along her driver’s side door. “Latty, I’m Evity, Buggy’s friend. My uncle Duke, Buggy, and I have come to rescue you.”
Latty’s lights gave a simple flash, so slight that Evity wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it.
“I’m scared but very happy to see you.” She spoke, her voice clear and sweet.
“Please don’t be scared, Latty. We will get you back to Motoland. We need to hurry though. You need to get yourself into a neutral gear so we can move you out of here quietly.”
Latty promptly obeyed. “Thank you so much!” she whispered.
They pushed the small zippy car up the yard, down the side of the house and towards the main gate. Thankfully, she was so light that she didn’t make much noise.
“How on earth are we going to open this thing?” Evity stared at the large solid metal gate. This man lived in Fort Knox. Shouting came from behind her and a light came on from the kitchen.
“He’s awake.” Duke paused for a moment and Evity prayed under her breath.
Next moment, a woman burst out of the front door with some keys.
“That’s the last time I trust a mechanic to be a good man,” she shouted as she ran to the garage. She opened the garage and climbed into the four by four. “And, that’s the last time I lend you my car.” She revved the engine. Next minute, the electrical main gate slid open. Duke and Evity pushed Latty out. Screaming behind them came the four by four.
“What on earth?” said the woman as she drove away. The gate closed behind them. Duke peeped in. He didn’t think Mannie had even seen them.
“Wow, that was so lucky,” Evity said.
“Buggy!” Latty cried, her lights shining, and she drove up to him immediately.
“Come on, we have to get to Motoland straight away.” Buggy patted her briefly on the bonnet. “Follow me. Are you coming, Evity?”
“No, Buggy, I have to prepare for the new semester.”
“Evity, Duke, how can I thank you?”
“Go, Buggy, it’s not safe.” Evity pleaded with him. Buggy understood and started his engine. Her uncle smiled and waved them goodbye.
***
Good thing Latty was still efficient. To keep up with Buggy with her small wheels was a challenge but they made it to the entrance to Motoland without Mannie seeing them. As they passed through the mist, Latty slowed down. She was near home and was probably exhausted. Buggy took her to her parent’s home on Beach Road. She hooted at the gate, her lights bright again.
“Latty.” Her Dad shouted as he drove out, probably recognizing her hoot. “Are you okay? Where have you been?”
Latty looked
at him wide-lighted.
In a moment, her mother drove up to her, touching her with her mirrors, her wiper blades going furiously.
Latty couldn’t speak except for, “I’m so hungry.”
“Oh, deary, just come inside and have some supper and a good sleep,” her Mom said. “You can tell us in the morning.”
Latty’s Dad peered at Buggy. He obviously wanted an explanation.
“I will hold a meeting at the school, eight o’ clock sharp, with all the parents. Don’t bring the children,” said Buggy. “Then I will explain what has been going on. Go home to your daughter.”
The father frowned but nodded his mirrors and drove inside. An exhausted Buggy drove to the police station. He explained the story and police were ordered to stand guard around the school and the entrances to Motoland. Buggy asked Fiata and Curvy to invite all the parents to the meeting.
***
Eight o’ clock came and Buggy hadn’t sleep a single bit. His wipers worked furiously to keep him awake because he had to face up to telling the parents what had happened in the school. Many cars gathered in the garden and driveway outside the school. Five police cars parked outside the fence and gate. Buggy drove in front of the school door. His radiator felt heavy with dread while his pistons fired rapidly. He tooted loudly. “May I have your attention please?” The cars stopped chattering and looked at him. He stared at all the lights and froze for a moment. How was he going to do this? They’d believed in him for so long. He may lose friends. Then he saw Curvy’s lights and radiator grill. She smiled at him. She knew all his faults yet she accepted him anyway.
“We have to call a state of emergency in Motoland. It’s …” Buggy stopped. He prayed in his heart.