THE Bugatti Veyron carrying Zoë drove gracefully through the Norfolk countryside heading along a typical twisty road heading towards the village of Hackley located near the coast in the top left corner of the county. It was here where the British side of the Tracy family had lived for over two-hundred years. At least that was how it was until Zoë left to join Daniel and the others on Tracy Island a few years earlier. As Daniel had said, she didn't like coming back as it brought back bad memories of her late husband Robert Tracy, but every year on the anniversary of his death, a special garden party was held by the people of the village to commemorate the man who had saved the village from extinction. The owner of an oil company had wanted to demolish part of the village including the ancient church because he believed there was untouched natural resources under the ground. Robert had famously stopped this by buying out the company and leaving the former owner almost bankrupt. Because of this, he and the Tracy family were very well respected by the people of Hackley which was the reason why this party took place every year. Even though she didn't have to, Zoë felt it was her duty to be there.
"Are the preparations ready, Wendy?" Zoë asked the woman sitting in the back of the car with her.
"Yes, Mrs Tracy," Wendy Moore replied. "All the tents have been put up and delivery lorries have been bringing in the food and drink over the last couple of days. I've gone through the list of invitations that were sent out and everyone on it has confirmed that they will be attending."
"Excellent," Zoë said. "We always do get a good turnout at this event. I trust you'll be there?"
"Actually this year I will be," said Wendy. "My friend Julie is babysitting the kids tonight."
"Oh, yes, how are they doing?" Zoë asked.
"Hmm," Wendy said hesitantly. "Shannon and Molly are still a right pair of rascals, always chasing each other, and the cat around the house. They're in Year 6 now would you believe. And they still haven't learned how to tell the time despite the fact they wear those watches your son sent them for Christmas."
"Where we live now, everyone wears one," Zoë said. "Time is always a very important thing and you should tell them that."
"Oh, they wear them," Wendy said. "They just don't look at them."
How very odd, Zoë thought. "What about your son?"
Again, Wendy hesitated before answering. "I'd…rather not talk about him," she said. "He's become a right pain in my arse lately. He thinks that now that he's fifteen he can do and say whatever he likes. Seriously, he swore at the mayor the other day!"
Zoë was shocked. "That's horrible!" she exclaimed. "I do hope that you made him apologise?"
"If only he had," Wendy said. "Instead he just swore at me and stormed off." She looked at her shoes sadly. "Thank God he's off at the Air Cadets now. Between you and me, Mrs Tracy – I no longer have a son."
Zoë was silent. She didn't know what to say. She could remember Wendy's three children ever since they'd been born, and to her they were cheeky and a little bit troublesome at times, but they certainly weren't bad children. She really couldn't believe that the Jack she remembered had turned so bad. As she looked out of the car window at a field of sheep, she couldn't help but wonder if there was something she could do.
DT-1 was now flying at cruising altitude over the Atlantic Ocean. Now that the plane was in autopilot-mode, Heidi decided to make contact with Daniel. "DT-1 to Tracy Island, come in please."
Daniel was alone in the lounge at his desk when the call came through. "Yes, Heidi. Go ahead."
"Your mother has safely been transferred to the car as planned," Heidi said. "She's on her way to your old residence as we speak."
"Glad to hear," said Daniel. "How was she by the way?"
"Good question," said Heidi. "On the outside she seemed to be her usual self. But, I got the feeling that deep down there was something troubling her."
Daniel gave a small sigh as he sat back in his chair. "I thought as much," he said. "My mother doesn't really like going back there. It brings back bad memories for her."
"Oh…" said Heidi. "I see. Anyways, I'll be back on the island within an hour."
"Thanks, Heidi," said Daniel. "Over and out."
Heidi signed off and Daniel sat back in his chair and thought about Zoë. He knew the reason why she did not like going there and he did not blame her at all. He and Kerry had the same thoughts. The last time either of them had been there had not been for a happy occasion. It had been the day that their father was laid to rest in the churchyard. Every year, Zoë went back to attend the special party the village laid on. But Daniel and Kerry had never wanted to.
As he sat there thinking about memories that he didn't want to be thinking about, he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him from behind. He could also feel a chin resting on his left shoulder with their face rubbing alongside his own. "Hello, Beth," he said.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked.
"Your watch gave you away," Daniel said.
Beth giggled and hugged her father tightly. "Damn you," she said to her watch.
"Plus the others are over there by the door," Daniel added.
Laura, Adrienne, Katie and Wizzy had been hiding outside the door to the lounge. They then appeared.
"You always seem to know when we're hiding, don't you, Dad," said Laura.
"A father's instinct," Daniel said.
"You know, Dad," Wizzy piped up. "Jo has the same make of watch as Beth does."
"True, Wizzy, true," said Daniel. "But would you like know how I can tell the difference? You do? Well…Beth has skinny arms whereas Jo doesn't."
Everyone laughed.
"Who were you talking to over the radio?" asked Katie.
"Just Heidi calling to say she'd dropped Mum off safely," Daniel said.
The girls' faces fell slightly.
"How was she?" asked Adrienne.
"You can probably guess, Adie," Daniel said. "The same as whenever she goes to attend my father's memorial party."
"I don't see why she has to do it," Beth said. "It's not like anyone forces her to do it."
"She forces herself to do it," Daniel said. "She feels she'd be dishonoring my father's legacy if she did not attend."
There was a few moments silence. Katie was the one who broke it. "Dad, I know how that place makes you, Kerry and Grandma feel…but I do hope to see your old house and village one day."
"I know we've seen photos but we would one day like to visit there," agreed Laura. "And she the grave that Grandpa is in."
Daniel said nothing for a moment. "One day I'll take you there," he said. "As you never met him, I feel that maybe you should see it. I will have to go back at some point to pay my respects." A thought then suddenly struck him. "Have you ever seen a photo of him even?"
The girls looked at each other. Then they all shook their heads. So he opened a draw and took out an old photo frame. Beth was the first to see if for she was standing behind Daniel. She gave a small gasp. Daniel held it still long enough for Beth to take it in before he then passed it over to the others who were the other side of the desk. Katie, Adrienne, Wizzy and Laura all looked at the photograph inside it. They too gasped. The old photo showed five people - a man, a woman, two girls and a boy. The woman was Zoë. the eldest girl in the photo was Kerry and the boy was Daniel. They knew instantly though that the younger girl was Daniel and Kerry's deceased sister Amber whilst the very handsome man in the photo was Robert Tracy himself.
Laura looked at Daniel and then back at the photo. "Oh, my God!" she exclaimed. "You look so much like him!"
The others looked at Daniel and then back at the photograph. They knew instantly that Laura was right.
"Dad, you have to go back and visit his grave," said Adrienne after a moment of silence.
"He is your father after all," agreed Beth. "Just because you've got a stone in our private area dedicated to him doesn't mean that he's actually there."
"Same with Mum, and Amber," agreed Wizzy.
Daniel sighed heavily. "You know the real reason why I haven't been there for so long," he said.
"Yes, because of International Rescue," said Katie. "But, Dad, with all due respect - that's not really an excuse, is it?"
Daniel looked at Katie. Then at Adrienne. Then at Wizzy. Then at Laura. And then finally at Beth. he then sighed sadly. "You're right," he said. "I have been away for too long. We'll go tomorrow after the party is over. I'd rather not see anyone at the village. They'll want to know of the reason for my absence, and I can't really reveal my secret to them."
The girls nodded. That they did understand was the right thing for Daniel to do. They smiled.
As the Bugatti Veyron reached the top of a hill, the old village of Hackley came into view. It hadn't changed in appearance for over a century. Its old-fashioned houses, some with thatched roofs were still there. So was the old market in the town square, the big park with a playground for children, the local pub 'The Fisherman' stood on the southern entrance whilst the big Elizabethan church occupied the very centre of the village. Farms were located all around the edge of the village, and on the top of one of the hills on the North-Eastern side was an old windmill. Its white paint was almost pristine as the sun shone down on it. This was the village's pride and joy – the main attraction for it was one of the very few working windmills left in the county. It was in fact Robert Tracy who funded and led the team that worked for two years to restore it to its former glory. Now people came from far and wide to visit the windmill and see how it worked. In addition to being a working museum, the windmill also made flour for the village bakery and Mickey Murphy – the owner of the bakery had a big business in selling his products as people knew it was made with flour ground at the windmill.
The windmill was only open to the public at weekends and during school holidays, but that didn't stop Molly and Shannon Moore from going up to the farm where it was located and playing in the fields around it. They knew the farmer Philip Merrick – or 'Windy Miller' as he nicknamed by everyone – very well indeed and he was always happy for them to come and play around his farm and the windmill.
"…eighteen…nineteen…twenty! Ready or not, here I come!" Molly called as she removed her hands from her eyes and began searching for her twin sister. She looked first checked around the tree to make sure Shannon wasn't trying trick her before searching around a large wooden hay cart. Shannon wasn't around either and the rest of the field was just grass meaning there was only one place she could be hiding – the windmill.
Molly searched all around the circular brick base of the windmill and around the frame where the fan-tail that turned it whenever the wind changed was located. There was still no sign of Shannon leading Molly to guess that she had be inside the windmill so she headed up the steps along the frame and through the door into the big white top of the building. She searched the bottom floor before climbing up through a trapdoor in the floor leading to the next level. It was in here where the windmill's primary gears that connected the sails to the flour grinder were located.
No sooner had Molly closed the trapdoor when a pair of arms grabbed her from behind.
"Got you!" Shannon laughed.
Molly squealed as she tried to pull herself out of her sister's grasp. "Oi, that's what I'm supposed to say!" she giggled.
The twin sisters spun around the room a couple of times before they both toppled over onto the floor next to the window laughing their heads off. Their laughter then stopped abruptly when they suddenly felt the windmill beginning to move. The wind had changed so the fan-tail was turning the top of the windmill so that it would be facing the correct way. Once it had stopped, the sails caught the wind and started turning again.
Shannon and Molly looked at each other and then giggled once more. They had never been inside the windmill when it had been turned before.
"That was fun!" said Molly.
Their attention was then drawn to a strange squeaking noise coming from the gears. They weren't sure where it was coming from but it wasn't a noise they'd ever heard the windmill make before.
"That doesn't sound right," Shannon remarked.
"I heard Windy saying to his wife earlier that there's some kind of problem with the windmill," Molly said.
Then they heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs outside. A quick glance out the window revealed who it was. It wasn't Windy Miller, but Ben Hodges – the village's resident Scrooge if ever there were one. Hodges was never happy unless he ruined someone's day, especially if it was children. He hated them with a passion and he'd taken a particular dislike to the Moore twins which was why they very hastily concealed themselves behind two of the wooden support beams as the trapdoor in the floor began to open.
Hodges didn't come right inside the room however. Instead he stopped halfway through the trapdoor and stared up at the gears which were still making the strange noise. "Climb up and oil the gears!" he grumbled. "How would I know where to put the damn oil? Really, the more I think about it, Philip Merrick is nothing but a slave-driver! I have more important things to do. I'll wait for the engineer to arrive." And with that he went back down the steps and closed the trapdoor before heading back out of the windmill.
Molly and Shannon came out from their hiding places and breathed a sigh of relief. They had been scared that Hodges was going to discover them.
"I think we should go home," Shannon said. "I feel so uneasy with that creep around."
Molly agreed and together they made a hasty exit from the windmill before running off down the hill towards the village. Hodges hadn't seen them inside the mill but he did spot them running down the hill, which made his face turn even uglier than it already was.
The windmill's sails continued to turn and inside the gears continued to squeak. But there was now a little plume of smoke coming from where within the gears and there was nobody there to see it.
The Bugatti Veyron had passed through Hackley and was now heading up the long driveway towards the old Tracy Mansion located on the north-western side of the village. Zoë could see that the preparations were almost completed as the car pulled up outside the steps leading to the front doors. Another smartly-dressed man with white hair was waiting for them. This was Brackett, the Tracy family's loyal butler.
"Good afternoon, m'lady," Brackett said as Zoë stepped out of the car. "It's good to have you back."
"Hello, Brackett," Zoë replied. "Good to see you as well. You're looking a lot better than when I last saw you. How's the arm?"
"Much better thank you, ma'am," said Brackett as he led Zoë into the house. During the last garden party, Brackett's arm had been in a sling after he'd accidentally fallen down the grand staircase in the main reception hall. "I trust you had a pleasant flight?" Brackett went on as they walked up the stairs and along a long corridor to Zoë's old bedroom.
"Oh, I don't remember much about it," Zoë laughed. "I was asleep."
Brackett chuckled as they reached the bedroom. "Here we are," he said. "All cleaned up and ready for you, m'lady."
Zoë stepped into the room. It was exactly as it had always been. A large king-size bed with a frame and curtains over it. The lime green walls were pristine like they'd just been redone. The mauve carpet was smooth and flat and all the woodwork including the bedposts, the two wardrobes and the dressing table were all varnished.
"My goodness, Brackett," Zoë exclaimed. "It looks lovely. Thank you."
Brackett smiled and nodded. He then stepped aside to allow the two men who'd been in the car to bring Zoë's suitcase and other bags into the bedroom. They both nodded to Zoë and then headed back out.
"Will that be all, m'lady?" Brackett asked.
"Yes, thank you, Brackett," Zoë answered. "I need to make a private call and then I'm going to have an hour's nap. Wake me at five o'clock please."
"Certainly, m'lady," said Brackett. "I'll bring you some tea and biscuits." He gave a bow and then closed the door.
Zoë took off her jacket and placed it neatly on the bed before sitting down at the dressing table. She opened her handbag and took out a small silver box. It was one of her jewellery boxes but it was also a hologram-radio which she would use to talk to Daniel and Kerry.
It was a heart-warming sight to see both her children appear in hologram form from the projector in the box. "Hey, darlings," she said. "Thought I'd call and let you know that I'm here safe and sound. No problems at all."
"Good to hear, Mum," said Daniel. "How you feeling?"
"Oh, I think you probably know, Daniel," Zoë said with a wink.
"Rather you than me, Mum," Kerry said. "I don't think I could ever go back there."
"I'm going to come later if I can once the party's over," said Daniel. "It'll just be brief as the girls want to see Grandpa's grave.
"You really must," said Zoë. "I know Wendy's girls would be happy to see you."
"Have you seen them?" Daniel asked.
"Not yet, but I hope to tomorrow," said Zoë. "Wendy said that she's going to bring them round to see me. Maybe you could talk to them?"
"I'd like that," said Daniel. "Yes, sure. It's been ages since I've seen them."
"Let's just hope you don't get called out," Kerry said. Just then Kerry felt her watch beep. "Oh, sorry, Mum, I've got to go," she said. "Kaylee's calling me. It must be urgent. Good luck with tonight."
"Thanks, love," said Zoë. "I guess I'd better leave you," she said. "It sounds like you might have a mission coming up."
"I kind of hope we do actually," Daniel said. "We haven't had one for a few days now. The girls are getting restless. Talk to you later. Love you."
"Bye, son," said Zoë. "Love you too."
Once Daniel had signed off, Zoë closed the box. She took off her shoes and then climbed onto the bed. She rested her head back on the pillow and was soon sound asleep.
But as the day went on, nobody in the village seemed to noticed the very thin trail of smoke that was emerging from the windmill. The sails continued to turn and the gears continued to groan. Nobody could have known of the danger that was threatening their most prized landmark.