The weather was damp and miserable as Stephens and Andy drove out of London. Andy was in a foul mood as he leaned against his door watching the droplets of rain sliding down the window. He was annoyed that Archie hadn’t made the effort to come himself, especially since Andy thought he was more or less responsible for his kidnapping in the first place.
“Master Archie was beside himself with joy to hear you had returned.” Stephens said, trying to lighten the mood. “He’s looking forward to seeing you.”
Andy snorted sarcastically.
“Well the least he could have done was come here to pick me up and apologise himself.”
“Oh I think you’ll get an apology all right,” Stephens replied. “I also believe you’ll find Master Archie has undergone somewhat of a transformation of character over the past two days.”
“He shouldn’t have left me alone in that dodgy part of town!” Andy snapped back.
“He knows that,” Stephens replied gently. “To be fair Master Andy, he had a terrible choice to make. You were lost in the midst of time and there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted to stay and wait for you but the clock is ticking to rescue his brother, so there was no other option but to carry on. There was nothing else could he do.”
Andy knew Stephens was right, but he was still angry. He sat leaning on the door and watched two more droplets race down to the bottom of the window. He bet to himself the one on the right would win. It stopped and the left one streaked on to victory.
“Typical!” he thought.
The trip carried on in relative silence until they stopped for petrol and a meal. Stephens was good company during the meal, telling Andy stories about his childhood and his escapades with Archie as younger men. Despite his best efforts to sulk his bad mood slipped away.
It was after dark when they arrived home. Andy found his stomach turning to a knot as they pulled up outside Archie’s cottage.
Stephens had barely switched off the Riley’s engine when Archie came bounding out and made straight for Andy’s door. Andy got out of the car a little awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. The spiteful things he’d been rehearsing in his head seemed to be ducking for cover.
“Hi Archie,” he said rather lamely as Archie grabbed him in a massive bear hug.
Andy felt uncomfortable because he was not used to being hugged, especially by a man. Archie finally let him go, then looked him in the eye.
“Andy, I am truly sorry for leaving you in the car and for what has happened to you.”
“I know you are. Stephens told me. You shouldn’t have left me in the car; but I’m back now, so I guess what’s done is done.”
“Do you still want to come with me to rescue Ed?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Excellent! The preparations are complete so all we have to do is travel down to Croydon tomorrow and we’re for the off at 6.00am the next day. I’ve got your flying suit waiting for you in the house. Want to see it?”
“Yeah, let’s have a look.”
“Good man!” said Archie, patting Andy on the back as they walked into the cottage.
Stephens went to the back of the car and got some bags out of the trunk. As he was slamming the lid he got the uneasy feeling he was being watched. He stood still and listened, peering into the shadows. Nothing moved, but the feeling of unease would not go away.
“I think Master Archie and I will best be sleeping with our guns tonight. I’ll call the house and get them to let the dogs out,” he said to himself loudly enough so that anyone near would hear.
Casting one final gaze around him Stephens turned and trudged in through the door. A pair of eyes in the bushes nearby watched him go in. The watcher shivered in the cold as he heard Stephens lock the front door.
“This is a waste of time and too dangerous.” he thought to himself.
He’d heard that a senior sect member knew Archie’s father through business dealings. Perhaps an approach to the old man would get more information than freezing in some bushes on a cold night.
He wrapped his black robe around him to make himself comfortable and strained to hear anything coming from the cottage. His concentration was broken a few minutes later by the noise of dogs barking and someone walking down the shingle drive from the manor house.