combine harvester. Around the sides were
smaller metal machines which Tony imaged could be attached to the tractor for
cutting grass and ploughing fields.
He stepped in further,
walking round the side of the harvester.
He jumped when Sam
called out, “Hello, anyone here? We’re friendly, don’t worry!”
There was no response.
The rounded the back
of the harvester and were faced with the rear wall of the barn. Tony could just
make out various tools – spades, hoes, axes – hanging from hooks on the wall.
He thought about replacing his screwdriver with some a little more wieldy , but decided to wait until they found the
farmers and ask them, rather than simply stealing.
He turned back to Sam,
who had followed him round. “Looks like there’s no-one h –”
He stopped,
mid-sentence, as a grating noise came from below the harvester.
He stepped back,
turned and grabbed an axe from the wall, then faced the source of the noise.
“Hello?” he called,
his voice shaking despite his best efforts to control it.
He crouched down and
squinted under the large metal machine. There was a two foot gap under this end
and he could see a hatch of some sort, which must lead down to a cellar.
He held the axe in
both hands and waited, as the hatch opened a little further.
A pale hand emerged
and thrust a stick out to keep the hatch open, and then the face of a young man
was looking out at him, fear etched on his face.
“Have they gone?” he
asked.
Twenty-three
“Has who gone?” Tony
asked, crouching down to address the young man face to face. Even as he did so,
they heard a shout from outside. Tony jerked and fell back onto his bottom and
the man yelped. His face disappeared from the open trap-door and it slammed
after him. Sam could hear a bolt being thrown.
“What?” asked Tony. He looked from the hatch to where the shout had come
from and back again. Sam could tell he was torn between the two and felt
something akin to pride that he so obviously wanted to do something. She liked
Tony, but she had been slightly ashamed of him on a number of occasions
already. She had thought at first that he was strong, but then she started to
wonder if she’d been mistaken. Something seemed to have changed in him, though.
He had a sense of agency that had been missing, and she was pleased to see it.
She stepped back from
where she had been half-crouching behind him.
“I’ll go,” she said.
“You try and get him to come out again. Something’s happened here and I think
we need to know what it was.”
Tony had climbed back
to his feet and was wiping the dust from his trousers, and rubbing his bottom
where he had fallen onto it. It was a comical vision, watching him massage his
own behind, but Sam didn’t smile. Tony nodded and she quickly stepped around
him, around the side of the harvester and headed for the door.
The brightness of the
light stung her eyes, forcing her to blink and squint. She looked around and
saw that the others, Andy, Sandra, Charlotte, Debbie and Ryan were still
standing in the middle of the courtyard. Ryan was still holding onto the
handles of little Heidi’s pushchair. Of Dan and Darren there was no sign, but
all the others were looking towards the open door of the farmhouse.
She rushed over to
them. “What’s happened?”
Andy, the chef from
the pub, glanced at her only quickly before fixing his eyes back on the
doorway. “Dan and Daz went in to see if anyone was in there. Maybe someone was
hurt, I think Dan said. There was nothing, and then one of them just shouted.”
“It wasn’t a shout, it
was a scream!” Charlotte was upset, and Sam noticed that Sandra seemed to be
holding her back. “Alan went in to see what was going on. I told him not to.”
“A
scream? Was it
one of them or someone else? Did they say something or was it just a scream?”
“It sounded like Dan,”
volunteered Sandra. “He cried out, that was all. Then Alan ran in.”
“Should we go
smaller metal machines which Tony imaged could be attached to the tractor for
cutting grass and ploughing fields.
He stepped in further,
walking round the side of the harvester.
He jumped when Sam
called out, “Hello, anyone here? We’re friendly, don’t worry!”
There was no response.
The rounded the back
of the harvester and were faced with the rear wall of the barn. Tony could just
make out various tools – spades, hoes, axes – hanging from hooks on the wall.
He thought about replacing his screwdriver with some a little more wieldy , but decided to wait until they found the
farmers and ask them, rather than simply stealing.
He turned back to Sam,
who had followed him round. “Looks like there’s no-one h –”
He stopped,
mid-sentence, as a grating noise came from below the harvester.
He stepped back,
turned and grabbed an axe from the wall, then faced the source of the noise.
“Hello?” he called,
his voice shaking despite his best efforts to control it.
He crouched down and
squinted under the large metal machine. There was a two foot gap under this end
and he could see a hatch of some sort, which must lead down to a cellar.
He held the axe in
both hands and waited, as the hatch opened a little further.
A pale hand emerged
and thrust a stick out to keep the hatch open, and then the face of a young man
was looking out at him, fear etched on his face.
“Have they gone?” he
asked.
Twenty-three
“Has who gone?” Tony
asked, crouching down to address the young man face to face. Even as he did so,
they heard a shout from outside. Tony jerked and fell back onto his bottom and
the man yelped. His face disappeared from the open trap-door and it slammed
after him. Sam could hear a bolt being thrown.
“What?” asked Tony. He looked from the hatch to where the shout had come
from and back again. Sam could tell he was torn between the two and felt
something akin to pride that he so obviously wanted to do something. She liked
Tony, but she had been slightly ashamed of him on a number of occasions
already. She had thought at first that he was strong, but then she started to
wonder if she’d been mistaken. Something seemed to have changed in him, though.
He had a sense of agency that had been missing, and she was pleased to see it.
She stepped back from
where she had been half-crouching behind him.
“I’ll go,” she said.
“You try and get him to come out again. Something’s happened here and I think
we need to know what it was.”
Tony had climbed back
to his feet and was wiping the dust from his trousers, and rubbing his bottom
where he had fallen onto it. It was a comical vision, watching him massage his
own behind, but Sam didn’t smile. Tony nodded and she quickly stepped around
him, around the side of the harvester and headed for the door.
The brightness of the
light stung her eyes, forcing her to blink and squint. She looked around and
saw that the others, Andy, Sandra, Charlotte, Debbie and Ryan were still
standing in the middle of the courtyard. Ryan was still holding onto the
handles of little Heidi’s pushchair. Of Dan and Darren there was no sign, but
all the others were looking towards the open door of the farmhouse.
She rushed over to
them. “What’s happened?”
Andy, the chef from
the pub, glanced at her only quickly before fixing his eyes back on the
doorway. “Dan and Daz went in to see if anyone was in there. Maybe someone was
hurt, I think Dan said. There was nothing, and then one of them just shouted.”
“It wasn’t a shout, it
was a scream!” Charlotte was upset, and Sam noticed that Sandra seemed to be
holding her back. “Alan went in to see what was going on. I told him not to.”
“A
scream? Was it
one of them or someone else? Did they say something or was it just a scream?”
“It sounded like Dan,”
volunteered Sandra. “He cried out, that was all. Then Alan ran in.”
“Should we go
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