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Running Scared

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Chapter 5

Previously...

After finishing our snack, I looked at Claire. She was staring out of the window. I had no idea what she was thinking about, but she looked a bit worried. She was so pretty; I could see why Daddy fell for her as she had brains as well as beauty. I hoped that we would all get on. Would Daddy marry her once we had all gotten out of this mess? I kind of hoped so I. I was desperate to be part of a whole family again.

And now, the story continues...

Claire turned away from the window and saw that I had been staring at her. She smiled.

‘We had better talk, hadn’t we girls?’

I looked at the others and they both nodded.

‘OK,’ I said.

We went into the lounge which was large and had a comfy looking settee and several chairs scattered about.

I sat with Suzie on the settee while the other two sat on the chairs facing us.

‘Jen and Suzie, I suppose its best that I let you know what has been going on as far as I know it. Your father and I have been seeing each other for quite a while and it’s now no secret that we are very attached...’

‘That’s a laugh,’ piped up Steph, ‘You’re joined at the hip, stuck to each other like glue and you’re all over each other like a rash, the last time he came here, I was nearly sick...’

‘Be quiet Stephanie,’ replied Claire, looking a bit red in the face for some reason, ‘as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, your father and I are close. I will never replace your mum and I would never want to, but your father has tried to move on and that’s where I come in...’

‘And me,’ said you know who.

I couldn’t help but smile and Suzie giggled. Life would be interesting around these two!

A withering glance at Steph, shut her up and the kid made a zip motion across her mouth.

‘We didn’t want our meeting with you to be like this, but circumstances have forced this on us. Phillip contacted me a few days ago about concerns that he had been having about work. He felt that he was in some danger due to the job that he was on at present. He couldn’t give me any details as the job that he does is somewhat secret and covered under the Official Secrets Act, but what he did say was that he had uncovered something that had security implications that reached the very top of government and that he was concerned that certain people were working against the country. He wanted to tell me that he might be in some danger and that danger might involve you girls. The people that are involved would stop at nothing to get at Phillip he felt that they might try to get at him through you. If you were captured, it would be a lever to persuade your father to give himself up to them.

‘As I say, we don’t know too much regarding what this is all about but it must be something very big to make these people want to do all this. What I do know that it appears that there is a leak in an important and secret department that has resulted in people getting killed. Phillip was getting too close to the ring leaders of all this and they want him silenced.

‘I don’t know anything more but I helped Phillip to write you that letter you read in the cottage Jen and we agreed that you should both be put into safety should anything did go wrong. We agreed he would text me with a single word, should that situation arise, to let me know that he had had to take emergency measures. A high priority was to make sure that you children would not be found by what I like to call the enemy. To do this, we would try to make sure that you were in a safe place, somewhere where ‘they’ would not find you.

‘When I received the text from Phillip, I knew that the erm, crap had hit the fan and something was up. The word he texted me was Rainbows, the name of the cottage. I knew about the cottage and I also knew that the intention was to get you there if the need arose and then I would pick you up when the coast was clear. The fact that he did get you to the cottage and had managed to get away from his pursuers tells us that he is very good at his job. Unfortunately, Steph broke her leg and I didn’t feel comfortable enough to leave her.’

‘I would have managed,’ said Steph.

‘No you wouldn’t. You think that you can do all sorts of things, but you can’t with a gammy leg.

‘Whatever that is,’ I said.

She smiled.

‘Yes, as you say, whatever that is. Anyway, I had a second text from him using a burner phone, it was brief and he said that he was safe and would contact me as soon as possible. I didn’t reply, as that was agreed, but I did know that he wanted you to be with me and Steph as soon as possible and that is why I phoned you. I suppose that I could have asked someone to pick you up, but one thing that I have learned is that in these situations you trust no-one. So I had to rely on you Jen and you, of course, Suzie to get to me without being caught. The fact that you were on that train and nearly got caught makes me feel very guilty about all this.’

‘You had no choice and anyway it worked out in the end,’ I said.

‘Yes, thank goodness. Anyway, we now need to decide what to do.’

We were silent for a few seconds and then I had a thought.

‘Do these people know about you?’

Claire looked thoughtful for a moment.

‘I don’t know, but we have to assume that they know an awful lot about Philip and you girls and it is just possible that they might be aware of me and Steph too.’

‘Are the police after us?’ asked Suzie, with a scared voice.

‘I don't know honey,’ replied Claire, ‘but we have to assume the worst and assume that everyone is against us. That means that we can’t stay here. I do know that Phillip kept his personal life under wraps and he was careful that he never mentioned me or Stephanie to anyone else at work. That might give us time.’

‘The accident involving Daddy and those people that were after us was in the news. We still don't know if he’s been hurt,’ said Suzie, choking slightly.

‘I’m sure that he’s OK honey,’ said Claire soothingly.

‘Where can we go?’ I asked whilst giving Suzie’s hand a comforting squeeze.

‘I have a few ideas, but I need to make a phone call first and look some things up. I might be a while.’

With that, she left the room, leaving us girls to wonder what she had in mind.

‘I don't like all this cloak and dagger stuff,’ remarked Stephanie.

‘What’s cloak and dagger stuff Stephanie,’ asked Suzie, ‘is it dress-up?’

‘No,’ she replied laughing, ‘It’s about secret phone calls and hiding things, stuff like that. Mum’s doing that a lot lately and don’t call me Stephanie, I prefer Steph. Mum calls me Stephanie when I’ve done something wrong.’

‘Do you often do something wrong” I asked.

‘Mum thinks so, but I don’t agree.’

We all laughed. I could see that things would be interesting around Steph!

‘So,’ Steph asked me, changing the subject suddenly, ‘when did you find out that you were a girl and not a yucky boy?’

‘I don’t know really. It wasn’t as if I just woke up one day and decided that I was a girl, I suppose it kind of crept up on me. As far as I remember, I’ve always felt like this.’

‘She’s more girly than me,’ said Suzie, ‘and that’s saying something.’

‘Come on Suze, you’re more girlie than the girliest girl I know.’

‘Not,’

‘Am.’

‘Not.’

‘Am…’

‘Oy, you two, button it. You are both girlie, let’s leave it at that. I hope that it’s not catching. I like being a girl, but I’m not over fussed about sugar and spice and all things nice!’

‘Are you a tomboy then?’ asked Suzie.

‘Do I look like a tomboy? Of course not, it’s just that I don’t want to look like a Barbie Girl. Anyway Jennifer, do you like boys or girls or both?’

I felt myself go red in the face.

‘I…I don’t know.’

‘Boys are yuk,’ said Suzie firmly.

I must admit to thinking about it occasionally. I was young, but I had started recently to think about these things. I had even had the occasional weak, floppy erection, but there was no way I was going to mention that to these two or anyone else for that matter! Time enough to think about that embarrassing subject later…much later.

We moved on to other less embarrassing things, as we talked about what music, games and importantly, what clothes we liked to wear...

Claire was gone for ages and we finally decided to play a board game, nothing technical, just snakes and ladders. Believe it or not, we really got into it and I swear that the others were trying to out-cheat each other, whilst I, of course, played the game with a straight bat as Daddy used to say.

Just then, Claire came back.

‘What’s happening Mum?’ asked Steph.

‘I can’t get a reply; I’ll try a bit later.’

‘Who were you calling then?’ asked Steph.

‘Never mind, I’ll tell you later. Now girls, I need to arrange a few things. Make yourselves useful and go and do the washing up, oh and tidy up the kitchen while you’re at it.’

‘I can’t do anything, my leg is in plaster,’ said Steph smugly.

‘Your arm isn’t in plaster young lady, you can sit down and do the drying up.’

‘Not fair.’

‘Who said it was?’

Claire went back upstairs leaving a grumbling Steph, Suzie and I to do the menial chores.

The TV was on in the kitchen and after a few minutes, the news was on. After a while, I heard something over the constant ‘not fair’ moaning coming from the ever whinging Steph.

Police are looking for a man believed to be involved in an accident yesterday on the bypass at Nettlesham. There were two cars involved, a Range Rover and a Jaguar. The Range Rover had two occupants, one man died at the scene and the other later died in hospital. The driver of the Jaguar left the scene before the emergency services arrived. We now know the name of the missing driver; it is Phillip Marshal aged 34, six feet tall with dark blond hair. The police are anxious to find him as he might be injured and also, he left the scene of the accident without reporting it. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Mr Marshal, please contact the police. And now, Chester Zoo has a new giraffe calf…’

‘MUM!’ shouted Steph.

Claire hurried into the room.

‘I saw it upstairs,’ she said, ‘now we know that the police are definitely after Phillip. We don’t know what the police have been told, but we have to assume that Phillip is considered a wanted man, not only by the police, but by others, possibly in the government who want to silence him. I wish I knew a bit more about what they are frightened of, Phillip wouldn’t tell me anything other than there are moles in the departments he was investigating. He probably shouldn’t have told me even that, official secrets and all that.’

‘Daddy just said that he was a civil servant and we kind to thought that he had an office job,’ I said, ‘it was only when all this nasty stuff hit the fan that he decided to tell us a bit more and we realised that he hadn’t been telling the truth before that.’

‘He didn’t have a choice,’ said Claire,’ it’s a very serious thing when you sign the Official Secrets Act, you can go to prison if you divulge anything you shouldn’t, even to family. Look I’m going to try to make that phone call again.’

She left the room hurriedly leaving us to wonder who she was actually trying to contact.

Claire didn’t come back in and we just sat around for a while, getting a bit bored. Snakes and ladders were getting a bit old hat and we were more than a little worried about what might happen to us, or rather Steph and I was worried. Suzie didn’t seem that worried though, almost as if it was water over a ducks back. She was like that sometimes, not bothered and then very bothered in the space of a few minutes.

Eventually, we watched a silly movie about a boy who turned into Spiderman after being bitten by a radioactive spider. I ask you, who thinks up these things?

I must have dropped off, because I was shaken awake by Suzie.

‘Whaaa?’

‘Wake up silly,’

Claire was in the room and the TV had been switched off. She looked worried, so did Steph.

‘Right, I have been able to get things sorted out. Jen and Suzie, your clothes are more or less packed and I have packed some things for Steph and me to take. I want you all to collect your stuff and put it in the back of the people carrier. It’s a good job we have a big enough car for what we need. Now don't ask any questions about where we are going, it’s a surprise and we all like surprises don't we?’

‘It depends on what it is,’ grumbled Steph.

‘Don’t start Stephanie; just do as you are told for once. We haven’t got time to muck about.’

I wanted to ask questions but I didn’t. I think I knew why Claire didn’t tell us where we were going. What we didn’t know, we couldn’t tell if any of us were caught. Not a very nice thought that. It wasn’t about trust, it was about security.

Very soon after that, we left the house and were on our way. Getting Steph into the car with her broken leg was fun, but we soon all settled in. I think that she liked all the fuss and the fact that she had a feeble excuse not to help with loading the car. We were told as we moved off that it was a long drive and that we might not get to wherever we were going before dark.

‘We’ll stop at some services for a break and something to eat, but I don't want to stop for too long,’ said Claire as we moved off.

‘Enough of the break references please!’ said Steph in a pained voice.

‘Oh don’t be such a wimp Stephanie,’ replied her sympathetic mother.

‘Hmmph.’

It might have been me, but once we left the side roads and got onto the motorway, I seemed to see police everywhere, in cars, vans and there was even a convoy of six police motorbikes rushing past as we hit the motorway. I also saw several helicopters overhead, or, I suppose it could have been the same one crisscrossing the motorway. It couldn’t have anything to do with us could it?

Nah.

Motorway driving, as far as I am concerned, is boring and I soon reached for my air pods and started to listen to some music on my phone. Steph was doing the same, but Suzie just looked out of the window and watched the world go by. As Claire drove, she had Radio 2 on, listening for traffic reports and possibly other information more personal to us.

We were heading for the West Country and that was about as far as I knew. I wondered where we were going more than once, but Claire was tight-lipped and wouldn’t give the game away.

After about an hour and a half, we pulled into the services and got out to stretch our legs or in Steph case, leg.

We all needed to use the loo and I could see that Claire was worried about that. Stephanie’s leg was a problem, she couldn’t go fast on crutches and we would obviously draw attention to ourselves. We couldn’t just sneak in and out.

In the end, I went in with Steph, as they, whoever they were, would be looking for a boy and a girl and not two girls, one with a leg in plaster. Claire would go in after a few minutes with Suzie. We would meet up, back at the car. Claire and Suzie would get a takeaway and we would eat in the car. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best that we could come up with.

I was a bit concerned as there appeared to be quite a police presence at the services. There were several police cars dotted around and in the service area; there were policemen and women seemingly looking at everyone with beady searching eyes. A few family groups were being questioned. I noted that the groups included a boy and a girl about our ages. Anything to do with us? Well, I don’t believe in coincidences. The sooner we were out of there the better. I didn’t want to ride our luck. However, despite my worries, everything went swimmingly well and we weren’t accosted by suspicious policepersons.

The only other thing had concerned me was that it was the first time that I had used the women’s toilet. Surprisingly, it was a lot cleaner and less smelly than the men’s loo and that was a bonus as far as I was concerned. I didn’t have to worry about standing up to wee as I had always sat down in a cubicle and it was second nature to me as I tended to sprinkle when I tinkle! Anyway, I would never use horrid urinals in public toilets as a matter of principal. Steph used the disabled one and I didn’t ask how she managed to go. After all, it wasn’t the sort of question you ask, However, I did hear a few unladylike remarks and exclamations coming from behind the door and she did look a bit flustered when she came out and I had to suppress a giggle!

‘What are you laughing at?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Hmm.’

I noticed that a lot of women and some girls were using the mirrors to freshen themselves up and I followed Steph’s lead and tried to do the same with the meagre resources that I had in my shoulder bag (borrowed from Steph who had a least seven at her disposal at home). We finally finished titivating ourselves using the huge mirror and left the toilets, braving the suspicious police presence as we made our way out of the services. Luckily it was quite busy and I don’t think that we drew attention to ourselves as we quickly made our way back to the car. Shortly afterwards, Claire and Suzie arrived and we were tucking into some healthy burgers and fries, washed down with milkshakes and cokes.

We discussed why the police were there in such large numbers and the consensus was that they were looking for us, that is Suze and me. So it wasn’t just me being paranoid – they were out to get us!

After we had finished feeding our faces, we were on our way again. Suzie did ask how much further several times, but all Claire said was that we were about half way and we would be there soon enough.

It was all very mysterious and not in a good way.

We passed a few places where the traffic went into a single file, causing snarl-ups and some very cross drivers. At one point we ground to a halt for several minutes and then the traffic crawled along for what seemed to be several miles. Before I saw it, I sort of suspected that there was something up as police cars and bikes were hurrying along in the other direction and then a few minutes later, on the hard shoulder going our way. They must have doubled back using the roundabout a couple of miles down the road.

Sure enough, up ahead, there was a sort of roadblock, where cars were stopped and a number of policemen were peering into windows to see who was in there.

‘Act normally girls,’ said Claire, her voice quivering slightly as we moved nearer and nearer to the front.

I wondered in passing why we hadn’t heard anything about the holdup on the radio traffic reports. Also, the satnav didn’t flag up delays. Were there delays on other roads? Was there some sort of news blackout going on and why didn’t the satnav tell us of a delay? All these unanswered questions went out of my head as we got ever nearer to the roadblock.

A few cars had been pulled out of the queue and were surrounded by the men and women in blue.

We crept forward. I held Suzie’s hand. She seemed a bit out of it, almost bored. Steph looked scared though and I could see that if we weren’t careful, we would draw attention to ourselves.

As we drew ever nearer, I got more and more frightened. What if they realised who we were? It was as bad as on the train, if not worse.

There were only a few cars and a lorry in front of us now. I wondered if we could make a run for it and if we did, how far would we get? Totally illogical thought, as we would have been caught before we had gone even a few yards.

I had to do something, anything. I was convinced that the game was up and we would get hauled off to jail or something worse. Looking at Steph, I could see the fear in her face. Claire was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her hands looked white. Suzie looked out of the rear window and waving at some kid behind. What was she like? Nuts if you ask me.

Two cars in front now and I thought that I could see the whites of a policeman’s eyes. He didn’t look happy.

What could I do? There must be something.

I did the only thing that seemed logical.

I started singing Ten Green Bottles.

The others looked at me as if I was mad and Claire started to say shut up when she cottoned on and started singing with me. The others finally got in on the act and soon we were all singing, one off-key, but I name no names.

Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
There'll be nine green bottles hanging on the wall.

Nine green bottles hanging on the wall,
Nine green bottles hanging on the wall,
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
There'll be eight green bottles hanging on the wall...

One car in front; he was waved through.

And then it was our turn and we pulled up beside the man in blue.

We didn’t stop singing.

The policeman looked into the car, smiled, shook his head and waved us on.

We had made it!

‘What was that all about?’ asked Suzie.

I looked at her.

‘Didn’t you realise that they might have been looking for us?’

‘No, yes, well, I sort of worried a bit because of what happened before on the train and that, but surely we aren’t important enough to block a motorway.’

‘Don’t call me Shirley, anyway you did sing with us.’

‘I know, only because you all did. I hate that song; they used to sing it at school. It’s so boring and anyway, who sang off key?’

I do wonder what planet she’s on sometimes.

We carried on our journey and my heart gradually stopped thumping in my chest. The road was fairly clear because the roadblock behind had lessened the traffic and we were able to make good progress. We didn’t talk about the roadblock or anything else of interest for that matter. Claire was quiet and I could tell by her eyes reflected in the rearview mirror that she was worried. She had the radio on and there was still no news about us or the roadblock. Maybe no news was good news? Or perhaps there was some sort of sinister news blackout.

I think that my paranoia now had knobs on!

Steph kept on asking where we were going and when would we get there, but Claire just kept saying that we would get there soon enough and stop asking stupid questions.

And so the journey went on and on and on and before I knew it, I was asleep.

There was a slight bump in the road and I woke up. The others were still asleep, apart from Claire of course.

Claire signalled and we went through some rather imposing gates and down a long gravel drive. In the distance, I could see the sea, glinting in the late afternoon sunshine. We seemed to go a long way along the drive and it twisted and turned a bit. My parents once took me to a large country estate run by The National Trust, with gardens, lakes and a huge mansion and this was very similar. I noted in passing that there seemed to be a fair number of molehills dotted about on the lawn. I wondered if Claire had brought us here, as she was a member of the National Trust and maybe wanted to break the journey or something.

We turned a corner and there suddenly in front of us was a large mansion. It looked like something out of Pride and Prejudice and I wondered if Darcy lived there. To the left was a large lake with ducks and swans and a fountain that shot water high up into the air.

The car stopped outside the imposing double doors.

‘Eh what?’ said Steph,

Suzie yawned and stretched and then looked out of the window.

‘Where are we?’ she asked.

‘Oh bum... Mum, not here,’ exclaimed Stephanie.

‘Yes here, we’ll be safe.’

‘But she’s so strict and she shouts at me when I do something wrong and she makes me tidy up after me and...’

‘Be quiet, Stephanie.’

‘Oh Mum!’

The double doors of the mansion suddenly opened and a lady came out accompanied by a dog. A Labradoodle, I think. To the right of the mansion were several large trees. In those trees were some birds. The birds took flight and disappeared over the lake and into the far distance. The lake appeared to have lost its swans and ducks too.

Very strange.

The lady was bizarrely carrying a doubled barrelled shotgun. She looked like she was anything between fifty and a hundred years, but she was very sprightly, whatever her age. She looked like she had just got back from the Queens Garden Party, only I don’t think that you are allowed to have shotguns at functions like that. Behind her, was a man that looked a bit like what I think a butler looked like. He seemed harassed for some reason.

The lady strode over to the car and pulled the passenger car door open.

‘You’re here then? What kept yer?’ Anyway, welcome ter Penmarris.’

‘Hello Auntie Dotty,’ said Stephanie in a world-weary voice.

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Please leave comments and let me know if you want this to continue. Oh, and if you can, please do the kudo-thingie...thanks! ~Sue