Chief-Inspector Jenks put down the newspaper he had been absorbed in for the past 10 minutes, & sighed heavily. He didn't like the article he had just read; no, he didn't like the sound of the escaped youth at all. After another second's hesitation, shaking his head, he picked up the telephone & dialed a Peterswood number, & asked for Master Frederick Trotteville. He had to admit that this was the sort of thing that Frederick, & the rest of the Find-Outers & Buster, was best at, although he also knew that, as incorrigible as Fatty was, he would take the policeman's call as permission to do whatever he had to in order to solve the case, & would probably get into very real danger.
Miles away, a tall, blonde, twenty year old was frowning as he read the same article that Chief-Inspector Jenks had just put down. He finished the article, & gave a low whistle. Just then his brother & his cousin bounded in, laughing.
"Hey Ju", cried Dick excitedly, "guess what? We bumped into Jo in the town. She's going to stay for a couple of weeks with her uncle at the fair in Peterswood. She asked why don't we come along as well, not to stay at the fair, of course, but somewhere in the vicinity".
"Oh yes", cried Anne who had just walked in from the kitchen where she was helping the cook, Joan. "That's a marvelous idea. We can visit Fatty, & Buster, &the rest of them. It's been at least 2 years since we've seen them".
"Shut up you two", said George, her blue eyes fixed on Julian's thoughtful, serious expression. "What's up, Ju? Why do you look like that?"
Julian looked at them & forced himself to smile for the sake of Anne who he still thought of as his baby sister even though she was now sixteen. "It's nothing much", he said. "I've just been reading today's paper & there's an interesting article about a youth who escaped from a Home yesterday. The other boys at the Home say he's a bit disturbed, & over the years has become increasingly obsessed with getting revenge on the kids who helped put him in there & his parents in jail. So the police have issued a warning that he's dangerous".
"Who is it?", asked Dick, shrewdly realizing that this had to be connected to them in some way.
"Edgar Stick", replied Julian quietly.
Twenty year old Larry, & nineteen year old Pip ducked into the little shed at the bottom of Fatty's garden. They took one look at Fatty's grinning, shining face & both smiled, knowing that something big must be up to get Fatty excited enough to want to meet in this old meeting place. Daisy entered the shed next, wrinkling her nose at the slightly musty smell. She also glanced at Fatty & smiled. Before she could say anything though, they heard the sound of a motorcycle revving it's engine on the road. All three boys frowned, while Daisy, noting their frowns, smiled again. "Bets is here", she said unnecessarily, as sixteen year old Bets squeezed in. Taking in Bets appearance, the scowls on all three boys' faces deepened, but for different reasons.
Pip still thought of Bets as his baby sister, & baby sisters should be kept in line & not go riding on a friend's dangerous motorcycle, & definitely should not be wearing shorts that were that short, & a top that tight. He made up his mind to ask Daisy to talk to Bets about her dressing, like a big sister would.
Larry had spent most of his life thinking & treating Bets like a little sister, so to now find himself admiring those long legs & sexy curves, like he would any other girl, was very discomforting for him, to say the least.
Fatty fondly remembered when Bets was a little girl who hero-worshipped him. She would have been the first person to arrive for a meeting then, & Fatty could do no wrong in her eyes. He guiltily & secretly admired Bets' appearance & her spunky personality, but on a level he wouldn't acknowledge, he realized that with this smart, sexy young lady, he needed to earn her hero-worship now.
Bets, oblivious to the frowns around her, grinned around. "Hi! Ern gave me a lift but he's rushing off somewhere so he couldn't come in. Why are we meeting here? Is this a Find-Outer meeting?" She said all this without pausing for air, & while settling herself on an upturned box.
Fatty dragged his thoughts away from Bets' low-cut top & back to the Chief-Inspector's call.
"Ok, I received a call this morning from our old friend, Chief-Inspector Jenks", he began. Ignoring the ooohs & aaahs from his friends, he continued. "He wants us to keep an eye out for that youth that escaped from the Home yesterday. Apparently he has distant relations in Peterswood, & spent some time here as a kid when his parents were away, so he might be headed this way. He's apparently very disturbed, is obsessed with getting revenge on the group of kids that helped put his parents into prison, & is likely to be armed & dangerous. His family from Peterswood is none other than our . . . er . . . good friend, Mr Goon. Apparently spending some time in his childhood with a great policeman like Goon did nothing to benefit him. Oh, & the group of kids that helped put him & his parents away are our really good friends, Julian, Dick, Anne, George, & Timmy of course".
This long but concise explanation was met with shocked silence at first. Then everyone starting speaking at once.
"Does Julian & company know about this?"
"What did his parents do?"
"Does Mr Goon know? Should we warn him?"
"Is this guy related to Ern as well? Is he in danger too?" This from Bets who had developed a very close friendship with Ern Goon. He was always nice to her, even as children.
Fatty's eyes narrowed as he regarded Bets, a suspicion starting to form in his mind. Then he shook his head & shouted for calm before his mother came in to see what they were doing.
"I tried calling Julian but his cellphone is off, & I didn't want to leave a message about this with George's mother when I tried Kirrin Cottage, said Fatty, trying to answer all their questions. "I'll try again later. Mr & Mrs Stick were a really bad sort & were involved in everything from petty stealing to kidnapping. The Chief-Inspector said he had called Goon & informed him but thinks that Goon doesn't really believe this kid could be dangerous." Fatty paused & glanced at Bets. "I don't think Ern is related to this guy & shouldn't be in any danger but we should let him know just in case." Bets nodded, already pulling out her cellphone to text Ern.
"So what should we do, Fatty?", asked Larry.
Fatty thought for a minute before answering. "I think we should take turns to watch Goon's house to see if this boy turns up. While some of us are watching the house, the others should be wandering around the fair down at the river. There will be so many people there that it would be easy for this youth to blend in there without drawing attention to himself." He stopped & picked up a sheaf of papers that he had left on a shelf, & starting handing the copies out. "These are copies of this kid's picture, and a few notes on him that the Chief-Inspector emailed through this morning."
"Are we going to watch Goon's house at night as well?", asked Pip. "The fair closes at 10pm so we can hang around there until that time. But do we have to spend the whole night in front of Goon's house?"
"I think we should. If someone wanted to arrive unnoticed, they would do it at night, right?", replied Fatty. I think the girls should do Fair duty & us three boys rotate Goon's House watch as the girls can't really do night duty."
"Excuse me?", demanded Bets, "Why can't we do night duty? Although you guys refuse to notice, I am not 8 years old anymore. Daisy & I are perfectly capable of staying up at night, thank you. In fact, we are probably more suitable than you guys are, as our kickboxing training makes us lethal weapons who can defend ourselves, while you guys will probably have to just call for help if anything dangerous happens!"
"Hear! Hear!", cheered Daisy, laughing at the thunderstruck looks on the boys' faces.
Before the boys could respond though, they heard the cook calling Fatty.
"Yes Jane", shouted Fatty, hurriedly squeezing out of the shed.
"Oh, there's a call for you, sir, said Jane breathlessly, "a Julian Barnard".
Fatty rushed inside at once & snatched up the receiver. "Julian?", he almost shouted into the phone.
"Hi Fatty!", replied Julian. "I can't talk long. My cellphone battery is dying. Just wanted to let you guys know that we're coming over there today on the 07:00 train. Can you meet us?"
Before Fatty could respond, the line went dead. Julian's dying battery had obviously just died. Fatty went back to the others & repeated the conversation.
"I don't think Julian knows that Edgar Stick may be headed here. That bit of information wasn't in the paper this morning", concluded Fatty, thoughtfully. "So who's coming with me to meet the train at 7:00?" All of them immediately emphatically confirmed they would be there.
"We can go for supper at the new restaurant right opposite the train station", said Daisy.
"Good idea", said Fatty. "We can catch up on the last two years, & on the Stick situation."
It was about 7:30 when they seated themselves at the new restaurant opposite the train station. They had met their five friends with much screams, hugs, exclamations, handshakes, laughter, & barking. Supper continued to be a raucous, hilarious event where everyone related school or college stories, & exchanged news about the last two years.
There was a serious period near the beginning of the meal when Fatty shared the news about Stick possibly heading to Peterswood. He was right, Julian didn't know about that, or he definitely wouldn't have come here. As it was, he considered leaving the next day, but then George, in her forthright way, declared that she was not running from Edgar Stick & she would stay & help the Find-Outers catch him. She was surprisingly backed up by Anne, who had an inkling that Julian wanted to leave because he wanted to protect her. As much as she still adored both her brothers, she did get a bit frustrated with them still molly-coddling her & treating her like she was still the quiet, timid 10 year old little girl that she used to be.
Larry asked about the Five's experience with the Sticks, & was answered by George's humourous narrative about Ma & Pa Stick, Stinker, Julian stealing food from the larder, imaginary cows & horses in a dungeon, & shutting Edgar up in the dungeon. Dick also remembered to tell the Find-Outers that their friend Jo, whom the Find-Outers had met a few years back, was on holiday with her uncle at the Fair. She would help with keeping an eye out at the Fair. All the find-outers smiled, pleased. They remembered Jo to be cheeky & funny, but intelligent & loyal, & most useful in a sticky situation.
They were almost done with supper when Pip asked Fatty if they were going on watch duty that night.
"I suggest we skip tonight", said Julian before Fatty could answer. "The Home is pretty far away. I doubt Edgar could have gotten here so quickly. And we're all tired & too full to really do anything useful now anyway."
"I agree", said Fatty. "Lets meet at the coffee shop opposite the dairy tomorrow morning at about 10:00, & decide on our way forward".
They all agreed to his suggestion & then went home. Larry & Fatty gave the visitors a lift to the guesthouse they were staying at, while Pip took Daisy & Bets home.