Chapter 15: JACK AND DAVID MAKE THE OTHERS LAUGH
‘Crikey Jack, do you know what time it is?’ asked Lou as the kettle whistled on the hob back at the cottage.
‘Quarter past four in the morning,’ said Jack, matter of factly, having glanced at the clock on the wall. He was too excited about their adventure to be bothered about the time.
‘That bobbie’s right – what will our parents say, or more to the point, your parents?’ said Lou.
‘I don’t care,’ said Jack, ‘we ought to be proud of what we’ve done tonight. A gang of criminals specialising in drugs has been arrested thanks to us and in particular, you, Lou.’
‘I couldn’t have done it without you,’ said Lou, as she made them both a hot chocolate. ‘Here, have one of these posh ginger nuts – they go well with hot choccy.’
‘I wonder what poor old Mrs Owen will make of it all,’ said Jack, as Lou got the wood burner going. ‘It will come as a heck of a shock that her own flesh and blood was mixed up in a criminal gang.’
‘I think she’ll take it better than you might think,’ said Lou. ‘She’s a wily old bird. I got the impression that she knew her great nephew wasn’t exactly a model citizen. He was no use to her; he didn’t help her or keep her company. All he did was use her house for his own ends to store stolen goods and grow drugs. At least she won’t be plagued by a bunch of amateur ghosts any more.’
Jack chuckled. ‘At first I thought they were terribly frightening, but on reflection, I just think they were terrible.’
‘I know, but faced with that kind of weird behaviour after nightfall when you’re in your 90s and living alone in a remote house on the moors, you can understand why Mrs Owen believed in them,’ said Lou, giving their mugs of hot chocolate a good stir. Thanks to us she’ll be able to sleep peacefully in her bed from now on.’
‘I can’t wait to tell the others tomorrow,’ said Jack. ‘I hope they’re not too cheesed off that they weren’t involved in the night’s events.’
‘Tomorrow? Later today you mean,’ grinned Lou. ‘Emily will be relieved most likely and David will probably be a bit fed up. But on this occasion it was a job for the two of us.’
Jack yawned, although he did his best to stifle it.
‘You better go in a bit Jack, when you’ve finished your drink. You’ll be in ever such trouble if your parents get up and find you’re not in your bed – and they won’t be pleased with me, either. I think they’ve already got me down as a trouble-maker!’
~~~~~
Seven hours later, Jack, David and Emily sat on Lou’s balcony sipping a frothy latte. Jack, bleary-eyed, was grateful for a strong infusion of caffeine.
‘So run that by me again,’ said Lou, grinning at Jack. ‘Having got back to the caravan at nearly 5am and presumably desperate for a sleep, you ended up going straight out again with the dogs for a walk!’
They all hooted with laughter. Poor Jack had been caught by his dad fully dressed at five o’clock that morning as he opened the caravan door.
Jack had been aching to crawl into bed but kept his cool and pretended he had got up for an early morning stroll on the beach with the dogs. Having told that fib, had no choice but to go ahead with it.
‘So there I was,’ said Jack, ‘having had no sleep all night, going out walking the dogs as dawn broke. Barney kept insisting I throw sticks for him, he was bursting with energy.’
‘I was woken by two police officers at 9.30am,’ said Lou, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, ‘wanting a full account of all that happened. They’ve told me there’s a job for me at the nick if I want one when I’m older. I’m not sure I do, mind you.’
The mood turned more serious as Lou and Jack recounted their night-time escapades.
‘I found out from the police earlier that the whole gang is now in custody and will be facing a court appearance sometime today,’ said Lou. ‘They’re likely to go to prison for drug dealing and a range of other petty crimes, including the theft of that war memorial plaque and the postbox. The plaque was torn from the cenotaph at Criccieth. The police say local people will be thrilled to see it put back where it belongs.
‘They’ve been round to see Mrs Owen already and she’s bearing up and relieved it’s over. She wants us to go and see her soon so she can thank us for what we’ve done,’ added Lou. ‘As for her great nephew Idwal, he was found fast asleep in the cellar by police. He’d quit screaming and shouting and had curled up for a nap on the floor, apparently.’
‘He’d given up the ghost,’ said David, in an unintentionally hilarious, monotone voice.
The others screamed with laughter and David grinned too. It wasn’t often he caused such amusement. He felt miffed that he had missed out on much of this particular adventure but no doubt he, Jack, Emily and Lou would have plenty more together in the years ahead.
Of course they will!
THE LOU ELLIOTT MYSTERY ADVENTURE SERIES
By George Chedzoy:
1: SMUGGLERS AT WHISTLING SANDS
2: THE MISSING TREASURE
3: SOMETHING STRANGE IN THE CELLAR
4: Coming later in 2013
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