“Good thinking Tony. Who taught you that?” Roy asked as he handed Alicia a pen and a pocket note pad.
Tony momentarily hesitated then answered softly, glancing up at Nadia as he spoke. “Someone showed me once.”
Nadia returned a smile.
“Got it,” Alicia sat up waving the note pad in her hand.
The notebook was passed around.
On it were these pictures.
“Looks like hieroglyphics,” Roy said. “Well not all of them.” Roy tapped his finger at the page, “this one and these ones are but…,” he paused baffled. “But those others aren’t. Well none that I have ever seen before.”
“What does it say,” asked Joel.
“Can’t tell exactly,” Roy replied. “I don’t remember the translation of all the symbols.”
Joel thought for a while then shook his head as if to remove any doubt before he shot out, “I got an idea,” and made for the door. His footsteps slapped the ground and the white souls of his sneakers flashed to the beat as he ran.
“Did you translate it?” Roy called out surprised.
Joel opened the door; his silhouette framed against the light pouring in; turned and answered, “NO! But we have to hurry.” His reply echoed down the warehouse to the confused team mates.
Tony shrugged and started for the door.
Joel’s shadow vanished into the light.
Joel shielded his face and waited for his eyes to adjust to the bright morning sun. He did a quick scan of the car park and spotted a silver sedan reverse then drive out the car park.
“Hurry up guys,” he yelled and sprinted for the team car.
He hurled himself inside and scared Dave clear out of the driver’s seat; who had been quietly playing with his phone.
“Joel, you scared the hairs off my ass,” Dave said and sat back up in his seat. “FOLLOW THAT CAR!” Joel ordered, leaning forward with a finger pointed out the windscreen.
“You’re the boss,” Dave said and started up the car.
“OOHH. That was so cool,” Joel gloated. “I always wanted to say that…follow that car.”
The rest of the team charged in.
Dave did as he was told and followed the silver sedan.
“Where are you taking us Joel,” the other four began to ask.
“I didn’t tell you guys back there because you probably would have talked me out of it. But it makes perfect sense, when Roy said he couldn’t see the logical translation it gave me an idea. It’s just like in soccer or any other field sport, as a defender you can’t always see or know where the ball is, so all you have to do in those circumstances is watch your opponent and see where he is running to. Then you just get there first and BAM, you have the ball.”
“You’ve gone mad,” Alicia said, smacking her head. “I think the lack of sleep has driven you into a psychotic episode.”
“NO! .NO! Here it is, the clue’s answer is the ball and Richard Bursik is the opponent. All we have to do is follow Mr. Bursik and we have the next checkpoint,” Joel beamed.
The rest of the group now stunned twice over; one for the simple logic behind it and two, Joel came up with it.
“That’s beautiful in its simplicity,” Roy said, “A bit like Sherlock Holmes.”
Roy being the curious creature he is, he took the notepad home that night and spent most of it searching and studying the symbols that were roughly jotted down on a single page in the pad. An act that would later save them all and change their lives forever.
Chapter 10
The silver sedan turned left at a T- junction and then pulled over and stopped.
The team’s Four-wheel drive crept slowly up to the T-junction.
Joel ordered Dave to stop and there they watched Richard jump out of his car and run across the street towards a fancy looking two story house. The house had stain glass windows on the second floor. The front door was solid mahogany with two black ringed knockers on either side. The entrance was flanked by two bay windows, curtains drawn. A balcony overlooked the drive way which had two cars parked on it. On the balcony stood a man neatly dressed in a black suit pacing back and forth.
“That can’t be right,” Tony questioned.
They all suddenly fell quite and confused as they saw Richard duck down behind the first car in the driveway. There he waited and when the man on the balcony was facing the other way he made a dash for the bay window. He fumbled in his pockets and then each hand came out holding a black box joined together by a wire. One hand went to his ear the other pressed up against the glass window.
“He’s eavesdropping,” Nadia whispered.
“He’s a peeping tom,” Alicia snapped.
Richard stood like that for a about a minute before he quickly returned the black box to his pocket. He walked against the wall back towards the driveway, always watching the man on the balcony. From a crouched position he ran down the driveway and ducked down behind the first car again. There he pulled out yet another device from his pocket, reached in under the back of the car, took another quick check at the man on the balcony and jogged back to his own car straightening his jacket on the way. He hopped in and drove away.
Dave continued to follow.
“What is going on? Who is he?” Joel questioned. “It looked like he put a tracking device on that car.”
“I told you something was fishy about all this,” Tony said, arms crossed.
Tony thought to himself, he needed to find out who lived in that house. He took a mental note of the house number and then the street name. Not living to far he estimated he’ll take a little twenty minute bike ride later that evening.
They followed Richard with relative ease getting lucky with traffic lights and the lack of cars on the road. They were lead into the city and then down a dead-end side street. Dave slowed down and parked behind a small fruit and Vegetable truck as to not raise any suspicion. Stepping out to see past the truck Joel saw Richard drive down a ramp and into an underground car park.
“Alright he’s gone into the car park. We’ll wait a few minutes then go down.”
They waited then followed.
As they turned down the ramp they were blocked by a huge silver roller door.
“You sure this is right?” Alicia asked.
Roy finally pieced the true meaning of the hieroglyphics, “The building above the car park is the Citi Centre Arcade. The hieroglyphics spelt out C.I.T.I C A.”
Tony rolled his eyes, “Ok Roy, I think we’re past that bit now.”
“Nadia could you give me the disk. Please, Nadia you still got the disk right,” Joel said with a slight sense of panic.
“Of course,” Nadia replied and placed the disk into Joel’s palm.
“My boss’s got a similar disk on his keying. It’s an electronic security key he uses to get into his car park.” Joel leaned half his body out the window and stretched out towards a little box sitting on the end of a pole beside the driver side window. “All you do is swipe,” Joel strained to reach and ran the disk over the face of the box. A little green light flashed, “and open sesame seeds.”
The big metal door came alive, it rattled and groaned as it started to roll up.
“Two in a row,” Joel cheered. “I’m on fire.”
The door momentarily stopped at the top then like a giant monster swallowed the car and closed its mouth down behind it.
The team drove deep into the belly of the beast searching for Richard. Alicia alerted the others as she spotted Richard standing by the lifts. The car park was at about half full so Dave didn’t have to much trouble finding a car parking space. The group hopped out and casually strolled up to Richard.
“How did you get here so quick?” Richard said, surprised.
Tony laughed, “Almost seems like we put a tracking device on your car.”
Nadia clenched her teeth and elbowed Tony in the ribs.
Richard narrowed his eyes at Tony.
“So what do we win?” Joel quickly cut in.
&
nbsp; Richard relaxed slightly, “you still haven’t completed the task.”
The group became confused, did they miss something?
Roy studied the hieroglyphics again. “There is a number on here. The number seven I think, it’s written right on the edge of the page.”
“Number seven exactly,” Richard smiled and rocked on his heels.
They all scattered and looked for a number seven.
Joel checked the lifts but there were only four floors. The others checked for number plates containing a seven, but there weren’t any. Finally Alicia spotted out tiny yellow numbers sitting on the floor of each car park space.
“Seventh car park space!” Alicia yelled, gathering the team to a small white Nissan resting over a little number Seven.
The car park suddenly filled with the sound of grinding metal. All five stopped and turned towards the roller door. A Silver Four-wheel drive coasted down the ramp.
“Team Jerks, Team Jerks,” Alicia cried.
This sprung them into action and they swarmed the car. They desperately searched the little white car inside and out, bonnet and boot.
Nothing.
The silver Four-wheel drive parked and newly named team Jerk hopped out and started to run over to the white Nissan.
Team Westshade’s search turned frantic. But before all hope was lost and Captain Jerk stuck his smug face into the car, Joel out of pure luck glanced down at the speedometer and found something odd.
“Tony how old is this car?” Joel asked.
“Four years old.”
“Take a look at the speedo.”
Tony stretched his head over the steering wheel, “99.94 ks. Doesn’t sound right.”
“That’s it!” Joel said and ran up to Richard just as the other team reached the car and whispered “99.94.”
Richard stood, paused then a smile stretched across his face, “congratulations, you’re the first team to reach the check point.”
The rest of the team caught up and stood by Joel who started to do a little dance; a jig mixed with a lame break-dance move and then finished off in a moonwalk.
“Stop it your embarrassing us,” Alicia snapped.
”He’s a name for our team Roy, how about Joel and his Minions?”
“Um, no I don’t think so, “Roy said as polite as he could.
“Three from three,” Joel repeatedly sung as he began to Indian dance around Alicia
“Yeah and what do you want a medal?” Alicia replied with arms crossed and then sent Joel to the ground with a well timed flick of her foot.
Joel simply shot back to his feet and asked Richard what they had won.
“As the first team you have each won a one hundred dollar shopping voucher at Westfield Mall.”
“I’m gonna use mine to buy a medal with Intellectual legend engraved on it,” Joel said, his hands toying with an invisible medal around he’s neck.
“Maybe you should buy a shaver and get rid of that disgusting thing over your lip,” Alicia shot back wiping the smile off Joel’s face.
Tony sighed, “You two will make a perfect couple some day.”
“Could we just get the clue before the other team passes us,” Roy demanded
“Ok. The clue is 99.94,” Richard said.
“And?” Roy waited.
“No that’s it. 99.94.”
A knowing smile returned to Joel’s face.
“Oh no,” Tony sighed again. “Don’t tell me you know what it is.”
Joel’s smile nearly reached ear to ear.
“We’re never gonna hear the end of this,” Tony buried his head into his hands.
“I had a fair idea what it was as soon as I saw the speedo.”
“Well what are we waiting for then, let's go,” Alicia said and lead the group back towards the car.
All but one followed.
“No!” Joel yelled, with arms crossed and his feet firmly planted on the ground.
“What? What do you mean NO?” Alicia said angrily as she marched back up to Joel.
“Not until you acknowledge my brilliance.”
“You got to be kidding,” Alicia threw her head back. “You’re acting like a three year old.”
No matter how much they moaned and whinged Joel was not going to move without hearing a compliment from Alicia. The other three now turned their attention to Alicia, encouraging her to just say it. She finally gave in. “Ok. Joel you are so incredible and smart and I’m so glad you’re on our team.”
“Oh Alicia you really mean that,” Joel beamed.
“Course not you idiot,” her rage spilled out and she leapt at Joel, arms flailing.
Alicia was dragged back by Tony and Nadia before impact.
Joel began to giggle; satisfied with the stir he sprinted towards their car, the rest followed, Alicia suggesting ways on how she was going to remove every hair on Joel’s body as she jogged. Just as the group hopped into the car Tony veered off towards Team Jerks silver Four-wheel drive. Tony eyed the perfect opportunity to exploit a devious thought swelling up in his mind, he couldn’t resist.
“Start it up Dave and wait a sec,” Tony said and banged on the roof then snuck up towards the silver Four-wheel drive. The door was unlocked and the driver was over by the elevator talking to Richard and Team Jerk were still concentrating on the Nissan.
“What are you doing?” Nadia whispered loudly with her head poking out the window.
Tony ducked down and pressed I finger to his lips, “SSSSHHHH! Just boosting our lead,” He whispered back.
They watched Tony open the driver’s door and reach in. The bonnet popped opened. Tony came around, lifted the bonnet, dug his hands into the engine bay and when they reappeared they were holding a handful of car leads. Tony quietly shut the bonnet and ran back to the car. On the way he dropped the car leads into a small bin bolted to a support column. Nadia swung the car door open and Tony threw himself inside.
“You can’t do that,” Roy said, astounded.
“Just did it,” Tony casually replied. “Doesn’t say you can’t in the rule book. In fact there is no rule book.”
The dark interior of the car filled with light as they exited the car park.
After a short five minute drive the Four-wheel drive drove up a wide driveway and stopped in front of an arched iron gate, Adelaide Oval.
They all exited the car.
“99.94, the batting average of the great Sir Donald Bradman,” Joel explained, pointing at a big moss green statue of Donald Bradman frozen in full swing. He then pointed a thumb back over his shoulder towards the oval. “Home of the Don.”
The five students entered the ground through an open arched doorway beside the huge gates. They stood for a moment and took in the sights and smell of the neatly manicured oval. The stadium lay flat compared to other stadiums. The stands on the east and west were low and close to the playing area. Empty tan coloured seats encircled the entire ground.
“Where do we start?” Alicia asked.
Joel shrugged, “we split up I guess. Nadia and Tony go left and we go right. We’ll meet up on the other side.”
All agreed.
The two groups weaved in and out through the seats as they circled the ground searching for any sign of a clue. They met up on the other side half way up the main grandstand clueless. The only thing that came close to a clue were a bunch of shiny silver stickers stuck randomly on a row of seats in the grandstand five rows down from the top. They decided the best approach was to take a break before looking once more so they returned to the car and ate their packed lunches.
All refreshed and relaxed they went back in. The sun was dropping out of the sky fast and they only had an hour left before they had to call it a day. No sooner did they step out of the car a silver Four-wheel drive came to a roaring stop right beside them.
Gillian, a.k.a. Captain Jerk jumped out eyes blazing with anger. He confronted Tony. “So the only way you losers can win is to play dirty and sabotage our car.??
?
“Don’t know what you are talking about,” Tony said, trying his best to hide a smile.
“You don’t know, ha,” Gillian said then pointed down at Tony’s hips. “Then what’s that. Looks like grease to me.”
Tony looked down at his pants and just to the side of his left pocket was a black smudge, BUSTED. He must of absent mindedly run his hands down the side of his pants to wipe the engine grime off. He thought fast and tried the first excuse that raced into his mind. “I was eating charcoal chicken and….” His was failing. “And it was very charcoaly, and my hands were dirty and I wiped.” He failed.
“You want to play dirty, well let's play dirty,” sneered Captain Jerk, he stormed off into the stadium, his team mates followed at his heals.
The team couldn’t hold back and broke into laughter at Tony’s pathetic attempt at lying.
After settling down they also re-entered the ground but still couldn’t find anything new. Just as the sun slid behind the grandstand Dave came in and told them the day was up. Tony’s disappointment quickly turned to anticipation; he had a short bike ride that evening; he needed to find out who lived in that house.
Chapter 11
Tony turned his bike into Adam Street. The whole fifteen minutes he took to ride there he ran through some excuses on how to get up to the house to spot this mysterious person that lived there. As he demonstrated early that day he wasn’t the greatest liar so he wanted to go prepared. Some of them were, my ball went over the fence, I was looking for Nigel’s house sorry wrong house, are you my real dad ECT. Nothing seemed right; the only thing he could agree on was that he really should have waited at least an hour and a half after diner before riding his bike. A hot gas bubble twisted its way up to his mouth and he released the demon with a boiling burp. He took a deep clean breath and with absolutely no excuse to back him up he marched up towards the house.
This time there was no one on the balcony and only one car in the driveway. The left window a black square, the other, the one Richard eavesdropped on was bordered by a thin yellow light sneaking past the edges of the thick curtain.
He walked his bike up to the house, still wearing his helmet for a partial disguise and maybe for protection, he knocked on the heavy brown wooden door. He flinched as the knock echoed on the other side like thunder down a limestone valley.
The door flew open.