A/N All characters belong to HiT Entertainment
"AWWW MAMMM! It's not fair! Everyone is going to the party tonight. Can't I go by myself?" raged Norman. "No, my precious" responded Dilys, "I'm really sorry. I know you wanted to see your friends but I'm not feeling well enough to go and it's too late for you to head up to Mandy's by yourself". Dilys sneezed and reached for another tissue. "You could just drop me up there and come home" wheedled Norman "I'm sure Mandy's parents would let me stay over and then you could have a nice quiet night". "No Norman, I am not going anywhere and nor are you. New Year or no New Year, I don't feel up to driving and you are not going wandering the lanes alone in the dark. I'm going to call Mike and Helen to let them know and then I'm going to have a lie down. You can do something quiet like read a book, I have a headache coming on and don't want to hear a peep out of you". Dilys went through to the sitting room; Norman could hear her muffled voice through the door sending their apologies to the Floods.
It's not fair, thought Norman to himself. Everyone else is going to get to stay up until midnight and I'm stuck here with a book. This is so boring. Norman looked at the clock which showed 8.30pm. He tiptoed across the landing and spotted his mother having a nap on the sofa. Making up his mind that he wasn't going to be left out Norman crept down the stairs that led to the shop and quietly pushed open the fire exit. Pausing only to make sure that the fire door clicked closed quietly rather than slamming Norman took off down the road. The cold winter air hit him in a blast and Norman regretted not grabbing his winter coat but he wasn't going to be put off now. He pulled his jacket a bit closer round him and decided to short cut across the fields. The Flood's house stood a little way outside Pontypandy and Norman knew he could get there a faster if he took the direct route rather than the winding lane.
Dilys dozed on the sofa until a sore throat and raging thirst woke her. She checked her watch, nearly 10.30pm, I must have been asleep for a couple of hours, shame I don't feel any better for it. As she went to get a drink she saw that Norman's bedroom light was on. Bless him, he must be trying to stay awake to see in the New Year. It's bad luck to end the year on an argument. I'll go and see if I can make it up to him somehow, maybe make us some hot chocolates with his favourite marshmallows. Dilys pushed open the bedroom door but Norman's room was empty. "Norman! Norman!" she called out. There was no response. Dilys began to panic, "My precious poppet is missing, I'd better call Fireman Sam" she exclaimed out loud.
At the fire station Station Officer Steele was in his office making the most the peace and quiet and reading a book he had been given for Christmas. Elvis wasn't on duty, he was playing in his band at the Flood's New Year party. Penny and Sam were sat around the table with the Scrabble board between them, Radar snoozing in a dog basket in the corner. They were also glad of some quiet because for the last week, once he had stopped singing Christmas carols, Elvis had been taking every opportunity possible to practice a new song he had written for the party. "CWM, 10 points but double word score makes 20" announced Sam placing a few tiles on the board. "I'm regretting agreeing to play bi-lingual" huffed Penny, "my Welsh is a lot rustier than yours". "Not the exciting New Year you had planned, eh?". "Oh, I'm not bothered about being on duty. I like seeing the fireworks but I'm not bothered about parties, that's much more Elvis' thing so I'm glad he got the night off this year. I wonder if it will stay this quiet all evening". "I doubt it" mused Sam, "I wouldn't be surprised if you at least get to see the aftermath of some fireworks, I know Mike is planning on setting some off. I've asked Elvis to keep an eye on things but Mike and fireworks is a bad combination". With that the unmistakable sound of the fax machine could be heard from the office below. The pair looked at each other. "It's only 10.30" exclaimed Penny, "that's far too early for Mike to have set fire to anything yet".
Station Officer Steele's voice reverberated over the tannoy. "Norman Price is missing and hasn't been seen for 2 hours". Penny and Sam rolled their eyes at each other and were half way to the pole before Station officer Steele had even set off the fire bell. The slid down and jumped into Venus. Sam held the passenger door open to allow Radar to jump in and flop on his feet. Sam shut the door and activated the siren then Penny drove them to the Cut Price Store. In other towns a missing child would have fallen under the remit of the police but with no police presence in Pontypandy the fire service was used to stepping up. Being New Year the police in Newtown were likely to be overstretched dealing with revellers anyway so there was no point in trying to pass the call across.
Dilys was already outside the shop waiting for them when Sam and Penny arrived. She stepped out in to the road, waving as Penny approached and Penny had to swerve to avoid hitting the distraught shop owner. Sam, Penny and Radar got out of Venus and ran over to Dilys; Dilys launched straight in. "That poor boy. He was so upset when I said he couldn't go to the party he must have run away". Sam and Penny looked at each other. "Calm down Dilys" said Sam, "we will find him but I just need to get a few details from you first, it might help us to direct the search in the right direction. When did you last see Norman?". "About 8.30." "And which party was Norman hoping to go to?". "The Flood's, you know how close he and Mandy are". "Have you tried calling the Flood house to see if he has headed there?". "No" Dilys blushed, "I didn't think of that".
Sam and Penny followed Dilys into the shop. Dilys dialled a few numbers but was unable to get through. "There is no answer from the house" she said "they must all be listening to the band and can't hear. I can't even get their mobiles to connect, the network must be overloaded what with it being New Year and all". Sam took charge. "Ok, we will need to treat this as a full-scale missing person search. Penny, I want you to drive up to the Flood's house. With any luck Norman will be there but if he isn't you can start organising Elvis and the reserve firefighters into teams, I think you will find most of the reservists there. In the meantime Radar and I are going to go for a little night time walk and see if we can follow his trail. Dilys, I need a piece of Norman's clothing so that Radar can get the scent". Penny drove off in Venus while Dilys headed upstairs to Norman's room. She soon returned with a set of Norman's pyjamas from the washing basket. Radar sniffed the clothing then started snuffling around the fire exit door. "It looks like Radar is on to something. You wait here Dilys in case he returns, we will call you as soon as we find him".
A short while later Penny arrived at the Flood's. Mike was outside getting the fireworks ready but stopped when he saw the blue flashing lights. "Is everything ok Penny?" he called out "I know only Elvis got the night off tonight so I guess this isn't a social call". "No Mike. Is Norman here?". "No, he isn't. Dilys phoned earlier to say they weren't going to make it". "He's run off. We had hoped he had just come up here but it looks like we will need to set up some search parties. Can you gather up Elvis and any of the reservists that are here and we can start to get organised. I'll just radio Sam and let him know".
Penny: Penny to Sam, Over
Sam: Go ahead Penny
Penny: I'm at the Flood's house but there is no sign of Norman. I'll start organising some teams and brief everyone.
Sam: Good idea. Radar is still following the trail and we are heading your way over the fields. If he isn't there though this must be an old lead, you know how often Norman goes up to see Mandy.
Penny: Do you want me to come and pick you up?
Sam: No, I'm not far away now. I'll be with you soon. Out
Penny and Mike went into the house and broke the bad news that the party was over. Elvis put down his guitar and climbed into his uniform which Penny had grabbed when the call first came in to the fire station. Penny started to pair up the reservists and other volunteers from the party guests. She was quite thankful that half of Pontypandy seemed to to be at the party and they didn't have to try and call people out of their beds to join the search.
Meanwhile Norman was not having a good time. He had planned to run to Mandy's and sneak in to join the party. If anyone questioned why he had arrived he planned to say that his Mam had changed her mind and let him come. His plan hadn't quite worked out though. He had taken his usual short cut across the fields but in the dark he had caught his foot in a rabbit hole. The fall had twisted his ankle badly and his foot was wedged in the hole. Poor Norman was completely stuck and unable to move. Every time he tried to free his foot a shooting pain ran up his leg bringing tears to his eyes. To begin with he tried calling for help until his voice cracked from the effort. He sat on the ground trying not to move while he watched the hours go by, marked by the luminescent hands on his watch ticking closer to midnight. Poor Norman was stiff with cold and wondering if he would ever be found, he was so cold he had even stopped shivering. What if his Mam didn't realise he was gone until morning? What if he froze to death? Norman had given up all hope and couldn't believe his ears when he heard barking and running footsteps. A wet tongue licked the back of Norman's ears and Norman threw his arms around the dog in delight. "Radar!" he shouted out with joy.
Sam had been jogging along behind Radar while the dog kept a steady course towards the Flood's house. Radar was much faster than Sam who was having to watch his footing in the rough fields. He kept his touch pointing steadily at the ground to light the way. Sam was only 2 fields from the Flood's and was mentally dividing up the town into search areas when he heard Radar barking up ahead. He swept his torch over the areas and picked out the unmistakable red-haired figure of Norman sat on the ground with his arms around the rescue dog. Sam sprinted up to Norman and made a quick assessment of the situation before calling Penny over the radio.
Sam: Sam to Penny. I've found him. Over
Penny: Thank goodness. I'll stand down the volunteers. Is he ok?
Sam: His foot is stuck in a rabbit hole but I should be able to free him. It looks like he has a nasty sprain but I don't think his ankle is broken. He came out without a coat too so get Nurse Flood to prepare for hypothermia.
Penny: Do you need assistance?
Sam: No, it will be quicker if I carry him to you. We are practically in sight of the house. Can you call Dilys and let her know, I expect Nurse Flood will want to keep him under observation with her tonight.
Penny: OK Sam. See you soon. Out.
Sam knelt beside Norman and carefully scooped out soil from around his ankle to make the rabbit hole wider. Norman kept his arms around Radar, the warmth of the dog was comforting and helped to bring some life back to his freezing fingers. He knew Sam was trying to be a gentle as possible but he still whimpered every time the firefighter nudged his foot. At last Sam was able to manouver Norman's foot out of the hole. As soon as the boy was free Sam scooped him up and set off over the last few fields.
Sam arrived at house and carried Norman inside. He set Norman down on the sofa and stepped back so that Nurse Flood could take over. The nurse checked Norman's temperature and turned to Sam. "It looks like you found him just in time. His core temperature has taken a dip but thankfully it's not so low that he needs to go to hospital. We can warm him up here with blankets and hot water bottles. I'll also get that ankle strapped up".
Just when Norman thought the worst of his ordeal was over Mandy arrived on the scene. "Norman Price!" she yelled at him, hands on hips and eyes flashing "you have ruined our party. Have you seen what the time is. It's quarter past midnight. We missed New Year because you decided to run off and lose yourself in the dark. We didn't get to hear Elvis' new song and we didn't get so set off the fireworks". Penny and Sam smiled at each other, it looked like Mandy was even better at telling off Norman than Dilys was. Norman hung his head, waiting for the tirade to stop.
Mandy paused for breath and Mike stepped in before she could start berating Norman again. "Look pet, New Year might have passed us by but we can still go out and let off the fireworks. We are only a little late with them". Sam turned to Penny "There you go. It looks like you will get to see the fireworks after all. Staying here to supervise is what any responsible firefighter would do". "I like your thinking Sam", Penny responded, "Dilys knows Norman is safe so it won't hurt to stay a few minutes longer before heading back to the fire station". On the sofa Norman perked up "Fireworks! Brilliant! I thought I had missed all the party fun". "Oh no you don't Norman" said Nurse Flood sternly, "you need to warm up more. And anyway, someone needs to stay in the house with Radar, it' s not fair to have a dog outside when there are fireworks going off". "Aww, that's not fair. The windows don't even look in the right direction, I won't be able to see anything".
Sam and Penny watched the fireworks with the rest of the party guests then collected Radar and headed back to town in Venus. Penny turned to Sam "I hope this isn't a sign of things to come for the whole year. I would be quite happy if I never got called out to another emergency involving Norman Price". "Never? I would be happy if we made it to Easter but I expect both of us will be disappointed on that front, that boy is nothing but trouble". "I suppose this is just another normal New Year in Pontypandy" sighed Penny. "Normal?" countered Sam, "Don't you mean another 'Norman' New Year?"