The call came in a little after mid-day. All he could do was confirm the men had his permission, pray the officer on the other end of the phone believed him, and then hope for the best. At least he wasn't being informed they were already in the stockade. And at least it wasn't Reynolds; he wouldn't have been able to con him. There was no point trying to go after them…yet. He kept to his regular routine because he didn't want to alert anyone at the mansion that there might be trouble…yet.
He finished up the paperwork on his desk and went upstairs to change. Part of his routine now, when there was no mission to plan, was to go out to the gardener's cottage and indulge in a little woodworking. Under Alf's tutelage he'd developed into a fairly good carpenter and odd-jobsman and now that the repairs were done he was honing his carving skills on the exposed beams. He usually allowed himself an hour's work out there at the end of the day. Garrison spotted the taillights of the staff car disappearing into the large carriage house when he was making his way up the path to the back of the house. He waited on the back steps.
Chief parked the car and got out. He spent a little time wiping down the windscreen and making a cursory check of the tires. He rested his hand on the long hood and considered checking the oil but decided to leave that for the morning. The young man moved outside and closed the large door and then turned for the house. He only hesitate a moment when he saw the Warden waiting for him on the top step.
Garrison watched the group's scout to walk up to his level. "You guys had my permission to go into the village, not all the way to London," he stated in a normal tone of voice.
Chief lifted a shoulder and eyebrow up and then let them both drop and rolled the toothpick to the other side of his mouth for his answer. About that time the backdoor opened and they spotted the back of Goniff's head as he leaned out the door.
The little man gave a low whistle and called out as he was turning. "Hurry up mate, he ain't here…" and then he stammered to a stop when he saw their commander.
"Oh yes, he is." Garrison said as he slapped the last of the wood shavings off his pants and led Chief past the pickpocket and into the house. "And he wants to see all of you in his office." And he left them to collect the others and went on upstairs.
g
He could hear them outside the door arguing about who would open up and go in first. "Get in here," he called out and wasn't surprised to see the first smiling face was Actor's. The next one in the door was Goniff, after an encouraging shove from behind, and then… Chief. He waited…
"Where's Casino?" He asked as the group spread out along the far wall of his office.
"Oh," Chief drawled. "He'll be along."
"When?"
The same shoulder and eyebrow went up and then came down again.
"Actually," Actor started. "We assumed he would already be here."
"And just how would he get here?" Garrison's imagination turned to grand theft, auto as he switched his attention on Goniff who was already digging at the carpet with the toe of his right foot.
"Well, it's like this, see…" the little Brit started off but before he could get any further Chief shushed the group with a raised hand.
It sounded like an angry hornet was bearing down on them. Garrison pushed up to his feet and went over and opened the French doors. The sound got louder, the pitch rose higher. He stepped outside and stood waiting, his arms crossed on his chest.
g
Casino made a tight turn in front the garage and kicked gravel up against the door as he fishtailed. He continued across the lawn at a more sedate speed. Coming to a stop at the bottom of the steps he pushed the goggles up onto his forehead and grinned up at the Warden.
"Well, what d'ya think?" he shouted over the sound of the engine.
Garrison walked across the stone patio and down the steps. When he got close enough to be heard he said. "What I think is going to depend a lot on where, and how, you got that thing."
Casino shot an accusing look at the little knot of men standing in the doorway. "I won it. They were s'posed to tell you when they got here."
"Where'd you win it?"
"At the Doves!"
"So why were you all up in London?"
"That's where the guy had it stashed…" Casino only spent a moment wondering how the Warden found out about the trip into the city. "You don't think I'd a just trusted him to bring it back down here and hand it over do ya?"
Craig sighed and shook his head. No, Casino wouldn't trust anyone to do that; he'd do just what he did. He'd go and collect on the bet and if the guy tried to weasel out of it, or pull the wool over his eyes, he take it out of his hide… And he'd convince his friends to go with him to back him up….which is exactly what they did.
"So?" The group's explosives expert persisted. "What d'ya think of her?"
Garrison checked the condition of Casino's knuckles first. Apparently the bike was given up without a fight. They'd gone to the Doves, as they said they would. They'd gotten into a game of poker…it had to be poker Casino never won at darts…and there was no brawl, something of a first. They traveled up to London and back to collect and managed to get themselves back before curfew; almost. He made a circuit of the man and the machine and decided it was best to pick his battles.
He reached out and ran a finger along the rear fender. "I think it's a miracle you made it all the way back here. Looks like this thing is mostly rust."
Casino grinned. "Nuthin' a wire brush and some elbow grease won't fix."
The others had been slowly edging their way across the terrace and down the steps. Goniff hung a little behind Actor just in case the conversation between Casino and the Warden took a bad turn. "Hey," he ventured. "What 'appened to the sidecar?"
"Aw, I left it over at Mrs. Reid's place."
Actor drew up to his full height. "You don't mean to say you actually put innocent children in that thing?"
Casino's shoulders hunched up as his grip tightened and he turned his head to give the con man a side ways look. "I wouldn't do nuthin' to hurt one a them kids, and you know it!"
"But you said you was gonna give me a ride." Goniff complained to deflect a fight between the other two.
"Jeeze! I told you up there; you can ride on the back behind me." Casino swung his leg over the fuel tank and dismounted then he leaned the machine towards the Warden and raised his eyebrows as an offer.
Goniff gave the motorcycle a critical look and shook his head. He watched the Lieutenant mount up and cautioned, "Watch yerself, mate."
Casino turned on him. "Will you knock it off, already! This thing's a classic!" He turned back to find the Warden already carefully making his way back towards the drive and had to take several hurried steps to catch up to him. "This advances the spark," he said as he tapped the control. "That changes the gear…" he pointed. "And…."
"I know." Garrison gunned the engine and cut a tight circle sending up a rooster tail of gravel. He came to a stop in front of the owner of the little Triumph. "Mine," he told the open mouthed safe cracker. "Was a 1923 Indian, Chief…. Red." Then he gunned it again and the front wheel lifted off the ground as he headed down the drive towards the guarded gate.