We Were Only Strawberry Picking (11 page)

‘Are you going into battle mode again?’ asked Oscar.

‘Of course I am – this is definitely war this time …’

‘Reporting for duty, Sir,’ Oscar said enthusiastically having complete faith in his brother. Jack was trying to make sure the two younger meerkats were not too frightened and if Oscar saw this as a
pretend
military procedure it would make him focus on the task at hand and not be consumed by the possibility that none of them were getting out of here.

The door abruptly swung open again; this time it was just Alfonso.

‘Come with me – Nora would like to see you, Jack, and you alone.’ he ordered.
Was Jack’s plan working? He had predicted that his outspoken words would cause a reaction and indeed they had, as now he alone was being summoned to seek counsel with Nora “The Great Bat”.

Jack was taken to the first dormitory on the other side of the base camp by Alfonso who insisted that Jack walked in front of him. It was clear that Alfonso did not trust him at all, but now was not the time for him to attack Alfonso; Jack had to think of the safety of Oscar and the other meerkats. He was now standing outside a dormitory, where the plaque above the wooden door said “Ms Nora”. Alfonso opened the door and gave a nod for Jack to enter which he did promptly as the door slammed behind him. The first thing he noticed was that this dormitory was a lot smaller in comparison to the others he had seen.

Nora and Cooper were sitting around a wooden table with one spare seat which he assumed must be for him. There was a short pause and then Nora spoke.

‘Please make yourself comfortable and help yourself to some strawberry juice and freshly baked scones made by our very own Nancy,
homemade
mind you!’

So Jack had touched a nerve, as she mentioned the word “homemade”, which had been the subject of his confrontation with Alfonso, when he insinuated that the bread could not have been homemade and somehow came from above ground, which Alfonso ferociously refuted.

‘Well, Jack, you sure do have an imaginative mind, if there was a way out of here don’t you think we would have left here many years ago? Look around you, would anyone in their right mind want to live down here for all eternity?’ construed Cooper.

‘Maybe – who knows – whatever makes one happy.’

‘A Smart Alec too!’

‘What do you know about diamonds, as you seem to think we were sitting on a fortune down here?’ asked Nora, as Cooper began to laugh.

Jack began to think that perhaps he was just fantasising and, after all, Nora was right,
who would want to stay down here really, especially if there was a way out?
But then he thought maybe the other inhabitants down here did realise there was a way out but just did not want to go, especially after what they had been through. Now he really was confused.

‘Look Batty…’

‘Only Enoch calls me Batty and he has good reason to, but I insist you call me Nora.’

‘All right, Nora, maybe I’m wrong about the diamonds … I just said that on a whim to see if it would provoke a reaction. All we want to do is get out of here and we promise you we won’t mention this place! We can just say we fell down the mine and eventually found our way out. All they will do is close the strawberry fields completely or ensure that the prohibited area above the mineshaft is well and truly fenced off so no one can ever again get in the position we were in. I’m sure once they know what happened to us, no one would dare to venture here anyway, scared of the same thing happening to them,’ concocted Jack.

‘So no more talk of diamonds then. The last thing we want is for Meerville Strawberry Fields to be the centre of attention and also that would mean Nancy, Jasper, Alfonso, Enoch, Poppy, Escargot and ourselves ending up homeless or even worse dead! Is that what you all want on your conscience? Also have you thought of the consequences for the inhabitants of Meerville? It would be like a circus up there what with all the media attention you would invoke with your wild story of diamonds,’ insisted Nora.

‘Does that mean you are now going to let us go, if we promise not to say anything?’ Nora began to hoot as she let out this high pitched squawk and flapped her wings.

‘Listen, no one’s going anywhere, as I said to you there is no way out, so the best thing you can advise your little friends is that they better get used to their new home. Now, the choice is yours, we can either all live as one happy family or we can keep you locked up for as long as we decide to, until you all conform,’ said Nora as she stared at Jack. Jack could not believe what the old bat was saying.

Nora then summoned Alfonso back into the dormitory, but little did she know that he had been eavesdropping on her conversation with Jack, something she would not be pleased with if she ever caught him in the act. Alfonso decided to wait a few seconds as he composed himself and then entered the dormitory. A suspicious glare from Nora did not go unnoticed as Alfonso slid into the room. Nora never missed a trick and deep down she always knew he would listen in on her conversations but she trusted him implicitly.

‘Alfonso, take this rude little meerkat back to the dormitory and tell Nancy that our intruders are not to have any food for tonight, as punishment for his rebellious behaviour.’

‘Mark my words, Batty, we will get out of here. I’m not scared of you and your cronies, especially that snake, and I will find a way out of here, you’ll see!’ Clearly Cooper had been angered by what he had just said and for the second time he was no longer in a stooped position.

‘You sure do have a mouth on you, Jack. One day you will learn to keep your opinions to yourself, as all it does is get you in trouble. When will you ever learn?’ On that note Jack was led away by Alfonso back to the dormitory.

Jack had arrived back in the dormitory as Henratty and the others breathed a sigh of relief, happy to see that he was still in one piece.

‘What happened – are you all right?’

Jack had decided he was not going to tell them what Nora had conveyed about not getting out of the mine. He was even more convinced now there was a way out and that there were definitely diamonds down here, but how could he prove this. He must find a way out tonight and tonight only, otherwise they were doomed. Therefore, reluctantly he decided he would take Henratty with him – two heads were better than one and they could look out for each other. Oscar could take responsibility and look after Lyndi Lou, which Jack knew he would be happy to do and would take this command seriously.

There was no time to spare and he was determined not only to find a way out but prove, once and for all, that there were indeed diamonds in this disused
mine and he was adamant that Nora and Cooper, the bat and the rat, knew they were down here. But Nora was also correct when she advised that if the media found out, Meerville Town would be like a circus –
Could Jack honestly risk inflicting this on his hometown?
He needed to believe he could get everyone out of here safely and hoped the MightyKats would answer his prayer.

He had gone into a trance-like state whilst contemplating how he was going to get everyone out of here. It wasn’t until Henratty clicked her fingers in front of his face, did he snap out of his trance.

‘Henratty, we have to get out of here as soon as possible, and I need you to come with me tonight to see if we can find a way out of this mine,’ Jack blurted out.

‘But what about Lyndi Lou and Oscar – we cannot leave them?’ insisted Henratty.

‘You have to trust me on this occasion, I am being deadly serious. The safest place at the moment is for them to stay here, they would only slow us down and we would probably end up getting caught. Also we need them to stay here just in case Alfonso does a spot check when we are out, at least then when he looks in our dormitory, everything will appear as normal. He will think there are four bodies altogether in those beds and we can use our pillows as decoys,’ informed Jack.

‘But we want to go with you,’ pleaded Oscar.

‘You know your big brother would never let you down nor leave you here. I need you to be brave and strong and look after Lyndi Lou. Can you do that for me? We will definitely come back for you both, that’s a promise.’ As Oscar gazed deeply into Jack’s eyes, he actually knew his brother was being sincere but there was definitely something Jack was not telling him, Oscar knew his brother all too well, but now was not the time to question him. He paused for a brief moment, thinking carefully about his brother’s every word but in the end he always did whatever his brother asked of him.

‘I think I can do it … I will pray to the MightyKats to protect all of us and get us out of here safely,’ vowed Oscar.

‘That’s the spirit!’ said Jack.

‘And as for you, Lyndi Lou,’ said Henratty, ‘I need you also to be very brave and stay with Oscar. Do you understand?’ Lyndi Lou looked frightened and nodded her head as she hugged her big sister.

‘Right, Jack, that settles things. I’m ready when you are – we’ll definitely go tonight then.’

While Lyndi Lou and Oscar were in the corner of the dormitory talking and keeping themselves amused, Henratty decided she would speak to Jack in private.

‘Is there something you have not told me following your meeting with Nora and Cooper? I can tell that something has definitely alarmed you?’ Jack thought,
deny, deny!
He knew Henratty was tough but he did not want to upset her.

‘Don’t be so silly, do I look like I’m scared of any of them? You know if I had had my own way, I would have pinned that snake down to the ground a long time ago. We can all see that he seems the most ferocious and the one to watch. I think the rest of them are harmless really, but that snake has a glint in his eyes; he’s thirsting for blood and
our blood
. I just want to get out of here, more so for the sake of Oscar and Lyndi Lou; they look so fragile.’

‘I agree, but you would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you, Jack?’ questioned Henratty.

‘Absolutely, Meerkats’ Honour! We need to decide about the order of events for tonight: I noticed last night whilst you were all asleep that Alfonso does two spot checks at night, so after his final check, I suggest we give it a good fifteen to twenty minutes before I attempt to remove the key from the keyhole with my little device and then we’ll set off. We can use the torch to search the tunnels.’

‘But have you forgotten – the battery died?’ recalled Henratty.

‘Of course, I haven’t. I forgot to mention that I found some spare batteries in the inside pocket of my army jacket,’ informed Jack. Henratty could not believe their luck and jumped up and gave Jack a hug. He did not know what to do as she had never ever shown him such affection, but I guess she had good cause to be excited and grateful. Jack had promised that with his trusted torch he would get them all out of here and that is exactly what he was going to do.

‘I suggest that we follow the tram tracks in the opposite direction to where we were picked up, therefore, we should turn left when we leave the main entrance of the dormitories. Something tells me these tram tracks are the means of a way out of here. There is just one rule we must obey, though,’ conveyed Jack.

‘And what might that be?’

‘We cannot make a sound – that Nora was no fool and she had the most astounding hearing, I think she would hear a pin drop on the other side of the tunnel no matter how far away she was. I think we should hold hands along the tunnel, then if you need to show me something or get my attention just squeeze my hand tightly, Henratty, and I’ll do the same, but let’s hope we don’t have to do that,’ suggested Jack.

‘Okay, I’ve got you loud and clear,’ answered Henratty reassuringly.

‘Secondly, if we do get caught and one of us was able to escape, I suggest whoever it was ran for their life and tried to find a way out. We must not fail, Oscar and Lyndi Lou are depending on us to not let them down,’ reminded Jack.

‘I agree. So, we’ll wait until tonight. I strongly advise that we get some sleep to ensure we are fully alert later because we can’t afford to make any mistakes,’ stated Henratty.