what did it look like?
Fizz glanced over his shoulder as he ran and saw the men coming after them. They were both much bigger than either Fizz or Kevin and had longer legs and they were easily catching them up. Fizz put on an extra burst of speed, but he knew the race would soon be over. They’d be caught and marched straight back to Mrs Stinkthrottle.
Fizz couldn’t face the thought of going back there, but his heart was pounding, his lungs were bursting and his legs were aching. Up ahead was a corner and he told himself if he could only reach that and get round it first, then maybe he’d escape for good. Maybe there’d be somewhere to hide, to duck in and dodge the men. Maybe they’d lose them and the men would just give up and go back empty-handed.
He ran.
And the corner came and he was just about to turn it when he felt a hand grab his collar, and he closed his eyes and wished he was home with his mum and dad and the rest of the circus, wished that this day had just been a bad dream. But he felt the collar of his shirt tug at his neck as a second hand grabbed his arm and he knew that this wasn’t any sort of dream, except perhaps the uncomfortable and unpleasant sort known as a nightmare. He was captured. His escape attempt had failed at the last corner.
When a story stops, just at the most exciting bit and you have to wait (for any length of time) before you find out what happens, it’s called a ‘cliff-hanger’. Back in the old days, not just before the internet, but before people had televisions at home even, kids used to go to the cinema on a Saturday morning and they’d watch ‘serial adventures’. These would always stop at the most exciting moment, usually when the hero was dangling by his fingertips off a cliff and there was no chance of escape or rescue, and all the kids would be sure to spend their penny (or however much the cinema cost back then) the following week, just to find out what happens. And thus was born ‘the cliff-hanger’. (It was catchier than the ‘tied-to-the-train-tracks-just-as-the-3.47-to-Dodge-City-is-due-to-come-round-the-corner-er’ which was the other name they tried.)
Which is a long way of saying, do read Chapter Ten to find out what happens to Fizz and Kevin. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Chapter Ten
in which an escape is scuppered and in which some home truths come to light
Even as Kevin and Fizz wriggled and argued and pleaded with their captors they found themselves being marched back to the Stinkthrottles’ house. As far as Frank and Tommy (the two builders who’d caught them) were concerned, there was a poor little old lady up the way shouting that she’d been robbed, and here were two lads, with torn and grubby clothes, and muck all over their hands and faces, running away. It was pretty obvious what was going on. (I don’t think you can blame the builders.)
‘But we didn’t do anything,’ Fizz shouted, desperately trying to get free from the hand that gripped his shirt. ‘She’s mad! You’ve got to believe us! You’ve got to help us!’
‘He’s right,’ Kevin added. ‘She locked us up. She’s bonkers! Don’t take us back!’
When Mrs Stinkthrottle saw the two men coming down the street with the boys, she clapped her hands and did a wrinkled little dance in delight.
‘Oh, thank you!’ she said. ‘Thank you, you two lovely young men.’
‘That’s alright, Mrs,’ Frank said. ‘Maybe you can tell us what’s going on. What have these lads taken? Do you know these boys? Do you want us to call the cops?’
(Frank was pulling his mobile phone out of his trouser pocket.)
‘They’re my grandsons!’ she lied, leaning back on the gate to look through her glasses at the builder. ‘My grandsons. And they’re rotten and lazy, but I don’t think we need involve the police, not yet.’
Kevin wriggled and shouted, ‘That’s not true. We don’t know this old woman. She’s mad.’
‘Now, now,’ said
Fizz glanced over his shoulder as he ran and saw the men coming after them. They were both much bigger than either Fizz or Kevin and had longer legs and they were easily catching them up. Fizz put on an extra burst of speed, but he knew the race would soon be over. They’d be caught and marched straight back to Mrs Stinkthrottle.
Fizz couldn’t face the thought of going back there, but his heart was pounding, his lungs were bursting and his legs were aching. Up ahead was a corner and he told himself if he could only reach that and get round it first, then maybe he’d escape for good. Maybe there’d be somewhere to hide, to duck in and dodge the men. Maybe they’d lose them and the men would just give up and go back empty-handed.
He ran.
And the corner came and he was just about to turn it when he felt a hand grab his collar, and he closed his eyes and wished he was home with his mum and dad and the rest of the circus, wished that this day had just been a bad dream. But he felt the collar of his shirt tug at his neck as a second hand grabbed his arm and he knew that this wasn’t any sort of dream, except perhaps the uncomfortable and unpleasant sort known as a nightmare. He was captured. His escape attempt had failed at the last corner.
When a story stops, just at the most exciting bit and you have to wait (for any length of time) before you find out what happens, it’s called a ‘cliff-hanger’. Back in the old days, not just before the internet, but before people had televisions at home even, kids used to go to the cinema on a Saturday morning and they’d watch ‘serial adventures’. These would always stop at the most exciting moment, usually when the hero was dangling by his fingertips off a cliff and there was no chance of escape or rescue, and all the kids would be sure to spend their penny (or however much the cinema cost back then) the following week, just to find out what happens. And thus was born ‘the cliff-hanger’. (It was catchier than the ‘tied-to-the-train-tracks-just-as-the-3.47-to-Dodge-City-is-due-to-come-round-the-corner-er’ which was the other name they tried.)
Which is a long way of saying, do read Chapter Ten to find out what happens to Fizz and Kevin. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Chapter Ten
in which an escape is scuppered and in which some home truths come to light
Even as Kevin and Fizz wriggled and argued and pleaded with their captors they found themselves being marched back to the Stinkthrottles’ house. As far as Frank and Tommy (the two builders who’d caught them) were concerned, there was a poor little old lady up the way shouting that she’d been robbed, and here were two lads, with torn and grubby clothes, and muck all over their hands and faces, running away. It was pretty obvious what was going on. (I don’t think you can blame the builders.)
‘But we didn’t do anything,’ Fizz shouted, desperately trying to get free from the hand that gripped his shirt. ‘She’s mad! You’ve got to believe us! You’ve got to help us!’
‘He’s right,’ Kevin added. ‘She locked us up. She’s bonkers! Don’t take us back!’
When Mrs Stinkthrottle saw the two men coming down the street with the boys, she clapped her hands and did a wrinkled little dance in delight.
‘Oh, thank you!’ she said. ‘Thank you, you two lovely young men.’
‘That’s alright, Mrs,’ Frank said. ‘Maybe you can tell us what’s going on. What have these lads taken? Do you know these boys? Do you want us to call the cops?’
(Frank was pulling his mobile phone out of his trouser pocket.)
‘They’re my grandsons!’ she lied, leaning back on the gate to look through her glasses at the builder. ‘My grandsons. And they’re rotten and lazy, but I don’t think we need involve the police, not yet.’
Kevin wriggled and shouted, ‘That’s not true. We don’t know this old woman. She’s mad.’
‘Now, now,’ said
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