The Christmas of Adventure

©2015 June E.

Philip, Dinah, Jack and Lucy-Ann are excited at the prospect of spending their first Christmas together, but by Christmas Eve all their plans lie in ruins. Things get even worse when a severe snowstorm brings the country to a standstill and leaves Bill snowbound, hundreds of miles away. Forced to fend for themselves in Bill's remote moorland cottage, rumours abound of a strange and terrifying creature lurking in the woods nearby... and with a ruthless thief on the loose, striking at night and stealing birds from the local Sanctuary, the scene is set for a frightening and perilous adventure. Can they stop the thief before it's too late? Or will Kiki be the robber's next victim?

Chapter 26: 'Oh Bill, what if we're too late!'

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As the chiming of the church clock faded away, Dinah and Philip took action.

'Bill, wake up!' hissed Philip, roughly tapping the sleeping Bill's shoulder.

'What... what is it? Is it my turn to stand watch again already?' asked a bewildered Bill. 'I don't feel as if I have been asleep for very long.'

'You haven't,' said Dinah. 'But you can't sleep now – we have an emergency.'

Bill sat up with a jolt.

'Have you seen the intruder – has he come back?' he asked urgently, already wide awake and half out of his sleeping bag.

Dinah quickly explained about finding the fingerprint on the fence, and showed him the fingerprint cards.

'They're the same, Bill,' she said. 'And I think the Midnight Man is after Kiki – why else would he try to get into our cottage. We've got to hurry! We've got to get back to the cottage before he comes for her... he could be there now!'

Bill saw the urgency of the situation immediately; he pulled on his coat and snatched up his car keys from where they were lying on the desk. Then he turned to Harry who was fast asleep in the corner of the room, his voluminous sleeping bag pulled up to his ears. Bill woke him with one good shake, and whispered something in his ear. Harry sat up and nodded, yawning drowsily. He gave his face a vigorous rub with both hands to force himself to wake up. By this time, Bill was already at the door.

'Come on you two, let's go. I'll leave Harry in charge here. And it will be kinder to leave Jack and Lucy-Ann to sleep. If we wait for them it will only slow us down.'

Without more ado, Bill, Dinah and Philip ran out of the office and headed for the car. It was snowing more heavily now, and the pathway was already covered in a thick, even layer of fresh snow.

'Oh blow, the windscreen is covered in snow!' exclaimed Dinah when she reached the car, no longer bothering to keep quiet.

'Let's just use our hands to scrape it off,' said Philip. 'You take the windscreen at the front and I'll do the rear window.'

Whilst the children were clearing the glass, Bill started up the engine. Then Dinah dived into the back seat and Philip scrambled into the front. Clumps of snow still clung to their gloves and their fingers were numb and frozen. Bill thrust forward the gear stick and the car lurched violently; the engine roared and the car sped off.

'Goodness,' thought Dinah, steadying herself by holding on to the seat. 'Bill really is alarmed. I've never known him to drive like this before.'

The journey back to the cottage was a difficult one. Great fat snowflakes tumbled and cascaded down out of the black night sky. Much as Bill wanted to hurry, it was simply impossible to drive at top speed. The car headlights shone into the blizzard, illuminating millions and millions of white flakes; in turn, the flakes reflected the light back into the car. It was a beautiful and dazzling spectacle but it made driving difficult, and Bill strained his eyes trying to see which way to go. That night they had no time to be awed by nature's beauty – the only thought in their minds was the desire to get to Kiki urgently and keep her safe.

It felt like an age before they came to the dark, winding, tree-lined lane that led to Oak Tree Cottage. There were no street lights, and the only illumination came from the headlights of Bill's car. The two strong beams picked out the white walls of the cottage whilst they were still some way off. The dark shapes of the door and windows contrasted sharply with the dazzling whiteness of the cottage walls. But then another dark shape appeared just by the cottage door; a stooped, dark, bulky shape. A moment later, and it was gone.

'Did you see that?' said Dinah, alarmed. 'There's someone in the cottage garden.'

'Yes, I saw something,' said Bill, his face grim and his mouth set in a firm line.

'Perhaps Fred is taking Maisie for a walk,' suggested Philip, trying to sound calm, though his agitated expression belied his true feelings.

'In the middle of the night?' said Dinah, in an exasperated tone. 'Really, Philip, is that the best idea you...'

Bill cut her short.

'Quiet!' he barked. 'This is no time for squabbling.'

Dinah immediately fell silent and contented herself with throwing Philip a furious glare.

As the car continued down the lane no one spoke and an eerie quietness descended; the only sounds were the low hum of the engine, the swish of the windscreen wipers and the gentle scrunch of tyres on the snow. Dinah kept a vigilant watch for any further sign of the hunched figure, but nothing seemed to be moving apart from the silently falling snowflakes. All at once the cottage loomed up out of the blizzard and Bill applied the brakes a little too suddenly; the tyres struggled to grip the slippery ground and the car skidded, lurching forwards violently and nearly hitting the garden gate.

Dinah's sudden scream tore through the silence.

'Are you hurt?' asked Bill urgently.

'No – there's someone standing in the lane behind us!' she shrieked.

From the rear window of the car she could see a tall, dark figure standing in the middle of the lane. The car's brake lights were casting a red glow upon the figure making it look devilish and sinister. It had a fur hood pulled low over its head so the face was in deep shadow; the only features that could be seen were a pair of eyes, staring at them with malignant fury. Then in a flash, the figure was gone.

'The Midnight Man!' gasped Philip in horror.

'He's darted off between the trees!' yelled Dinah, trembling. 'Oh Bill, what if we're too late! What if he's already got Kiki!'

Bill wrenched on the handbrake and threw open the car door.

'Stay close to me!' he commanded, jumping out of the car.

Together, they made a frantic run for the front door of the cottage. The wood around the lock was splintered and the door was ajar.

'He's smashed his way in!' cried Philip, horror-struck.

'Oh Kiki! Kiki!' screamed Dinah, panic-stricken.

Bursting into the cottage they made directly for the sitting room, for this was where Kiki usually sat, cosy and snug. But the once neat and pretty room was in a terrible state: chairs had been overturned, pictures were askew, and plant pots had been knocked over, their contents spilt out onto the carpet.

'There's been quite a battle in this room,' said Bill, surveying the chaotic scene. 'If he did try to capture Kiki, she certainly put up a good fight.'

'Kiki! Kiki!' yelled a frantic Dinah, rushing from room to room. But she met no friendly answering squawk – there was no sign of Kiki anywhere.

'Bill!' said Philip suddenly, standing near Kiki's overturned bowl of sunflower seeds.

He stood solemnly and pointed at the floor, where a single white feather was lying on the rug. Philip felt his anger rise up.

'If he's hurt dear Kiki, why, I'll... I'll...' he said, clenching his fists, his eyes wild with fury.

'Steady on, old chap,' said Bill, putting his hand on Philip's shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. 'It won't help if we jump to conclusions. Come on, let's keep searching. Kiki might just be hiding somewhere, too frightened to come out.'

After searching the kitchen and all the bedrooms, Dinah's spirits were plummeting lower and lower.

'It's as if Kiki has vanished off the face of the earth,' she said to herself.

Then she remembered that she hadn't yet checked the conservatory. She went into the kitchen and then through the conservatory door. All was quiet inside. She clicked the light switch and the room flooded with light, the darkness outside making the windows looking like gaping black holes in a toothless mouth. To Dinah's relief, the room was exactly as they had left it earlier that day.

Filled with a hopeless sadness, Dinah sat down on the floor at the foot of the Christmas tree. A tear trickled down her cheek, wetting the wrapping paper on an as yet unopened Christmas present. Then, a faint rustle caught her ear. She looked around the room quickly and eagerly. No, she was alone in the room. Once again she hung her head and let the tears flow. But then the sound came again – something was rustling, and it seemed to be coming from the branches of the Christmas tree above her. Dinah jumped up and stared at the tree. The pretty decorations and sparkling tinsel had no appeal for her that night – she just wanted Kiki back. But hang on a minute – what was that, high in the top branches? The tinsel was moving! And then to Dinah's utter delight, a white feathered head suddenly peeped out with a decidedly comical air, little strands of silver tinsel dangling from it like some kind of peculiar Christmas decoration!

'Kiki!' yelled Dinah in glee. 'Oh Kiki, you're safe!'

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