Chapter 14: The exciting day

Fatty began to feel tired after watching his brother draw for twenty minutes. He soon dozed off, but Frank hardly even noticed! He was too busy drawing and only found out much later when he realised that he had not heard Fatty make any noise for quite a while. Mrs. Trotteville walked in as Frank reached for his pencil sharpener.

"Has your brother come round yet?"

Frank set the wastepaper basket aside as he replied dutifully, "He did mother, but he's sleeping now. He's fine, save a few aches here and there."

Mrs. Trotteville sighed in relief. Things were finally looking up! "That's wonderful. Could you wake your brother up for me, please? I loathe saying this, but his medicine needs to be taken on time. He can sleep again later. I would do it myself, but I have yet another meeting to rush to. Do be a dear and help mother."

With that done, the good lady placed the package of pills on Fatty's dresser and handed the cup of water to a stunned Frank. She kissed both her darling boys goodbye, and left the room hurriedly. Frank made a face as his mother walked out. Why was he always left with the undesirable jobs?

Sighing, the boy set his sketch aside as he shook Fatty's shoulders. "Wake up. You've got to take your medicine."

Fatty refused to budge.

Frank persisted. "C'mon, Fred, wake up! You can always sleep again after you're done."

Fatty groaned, and turned away.

Frank sighed, and pulled his triplet up into a sitting position. He patted Fatty's cheeks forcefully and sat back, waiting for the explosion that was sure to come. Frederick and medicine did not mix, especially if rest was previously denied.

As expected, Fatty flared to life from the deep abyss of sleep. "I've only slept not too long ago! Did you have to wake me up just now? Medicine again? EUGH! "

He reluctantly took the medicine. But as usual, a minute later he was sick again, and Frank had to run for a departing Mrs Trotteville.

His mother, of course, was less than pleased. ("Franklin dear, mother's going to be very late already! It would be rude if I didn't show up on time, don't you agree?") Frank noted with wry amusement that she had not bothered to change her clothing, and had forgotten her purse. Her usual coat was currently in the wash, and the hat was nowhere in sight.

Frank went to fetch the in-house nurse. Rachel, who was with Zac, came too. When they were all gathered beside Fred, Frank took his time to explain the current situation.

"What's the point of Fred taking medicine after medicine if he throws it all up in a minute? There isn't enough time for his body to absorb the proper nutrients, or whatever it is called. I propose we just let Fred rest, and hope his body heals on its own."

Mrs. Trotteville was silent as she slowly processed all this. Zac digested the information too. Rachel stared wide-eyed at the green lump huddled on Fatty's bed. She hadn't known it was as bad as this!

"Do you feel really very awful Frederick?" Mrs Trotteville probably meant to sooth, but her voice came out strained. "If your temperature goes higher than forty degrees, you would have to be sent to the hospital. We can't do anything if the medicine gets regurgitated every time. You'll only get worse."

Zac took his horrified brother's temperature. Much to everyone's dismay, it was higher, although only by a little bit. Frank intervened on Fred's behalf. He would have hated to go to a hospital too!

"Mother, couldn't we just try to cool him down a little? If his temperature goes down then we won't have to send Fred to any hospital. It'll worry a lot of people if we do."

His mother agreed instantly; she wasn't too fond of sending her son to a hospital too. Such a lot of hassle, she sighed, and all because of a tainted scone, too. Let this be a lesson to any glutton, Mrs Trotteville thought mentally. Never eat a scone unless you have offered the rest all around.

Fatty was given an ice pack and cool water to drink, while Rachel fussed over him, aiming the fan directly at his shivering face. The windows were opened, and his face, wiped with a damp towel every few minutes. The temperature of the heater was also lowered.

After half an hour of fussing, Mrs Trotteville took Fatty's temperature again. It was just below forty. Thank goodness! Rachel gave her brother a hug and her sweetest smile. Hopefully, Fatty's temperature would not go up again.

Fatty, by now, was feeling all washed out. "I'm terribly dizzy," moaned he, "Could you all leave me alone please? I don't feel too good."

The poor manhandled boy shut his tired eyes and tried desperately to forget his body aches and fall asleep. Mr Trotteville, who had taken leave from work, ruffled Fatty's hair fondly and went out with Zac to discuss something. Randall brought a friend home to play with. Frans sat at his desk to do a bit of studying. Frank began on a new picture.

Fatty was having a hard time trying to sleep. He tossed and turned and moaned and groaned but just could not doze off! In the end, he was sick again. Frank asked if he was all right but he did not answer. Poor Fatty was having a very hard time indeed.

-

After a scrumptious tea, the Find-Outers set off for the open space where the fight had taken place.

"The men went this way," Larry stated, hurrying along the road. Larry always lead the team when Fatty was out of commission. The rest of the Find Outers clattered noisily after him.

At last, Larry stopped a fork in the road. He turned around and frowned. Everyone had trailed obediently after him. Everyone except Pip, that is.

"Hurry up, Pip," Larry ordered impatiently. "What a time you are taking!" Pip looked up from the sandy path where he was tying his laces.

"Coming!" he hollered, and raced after his friends.

"Right," said Larry importantly, when everyone was paying attention to him. "The road stops here. Where do we go next?"

"Fatty would have known if he was here," whimpered Bets, not quite sure of this place.

"Shut up Bets, Fatty's not here," muttered Pip. He glanced over his shoulder to see something, but Larry did not know what.

"Let's take this path," Daisy cut in. "It seems more likely than the other." The Find Outers instantly understood why Daisy chose it. Someone had dropped a handkerchief halfway, and although buried in the dirt, it was still visible.

"Good work, Daisy," praised Larry, pleased. "These men are not as smart as I thought. They were overjoyed that they had gotten rid of Fatty, perhaps, that they neglected to watch out about other detectives like us. Well, if they think we are a pushover, they have another thought coming!"

The four walked cautiously to the hanky, careful not to tread too heavily and leave footprints. Bets was still quite frightened, and latched onto Daisy's sleeve tightly. The little girl had never felt safe when Fatty was not around.

After a while, Bets spotted a little house in the distance. The children went to it and found that it was locked.

"Looks like no one's home," remarked Pip, after ringing the doorbell for the umpteenth time. "I'm sure there must be some valuable stuff in there."

"But we're not even sure that this house is connected to the mystery," Daisy pointed out. "What makes you think so?"

"Daisy's right, Pip." Larry reprimanded. "Don't make wild assumptions you can't back up. Hey, what's this?" he exclaimed a moment later, pointing to door. It had a tiny crack at the bottom, and the crack was stuffed full with something.

"It's a thin pile of papers!" Pip gasped, and immediately pulled them out. Larry was about to say 'Use your gloves', but stopped short with a groan. Everyone bent forwards, examining the papers with interest. There had been a thin stack halfway under the door, as if waiting to be collected by someone.

"We'll take it home," Larry decided. But before anyone could take a further look, a loud, hollow cough was heard. The children froze in terror.

"Run!" hissed Larry, and they fled. How they ran! Nothing could make them go faster. When all of them were hot and tired from running, they stopped and collapsed into a heap on the grass, panting like mad dogs on a summer day. Pip stuffed the papers up his jersey, and hoped nothing had fallen out on his mad dash.

"I think we're safe here," Daisy breathed, straining her ears for any sign of noise.

"That was close," Larry agreed. "I hope nobody saw us, or we'll be in big trouble."

"I think we'd better go home," suggested Pip. "It's getting late, and I need to be back in time for supper."

Everyone stood up to go back. Unfortunately, a few mis-turns later made them realise that they were going in circles. The children gazed dismally around at the unfamiliar surroundings, and it seemed that the trees were mocking their predicament. Bets started to cry.

"I want to go home!" the girl wailed. She had enough excitement today to last her a lifetime!

This was when Pip came forwards, grinning for all he was worth. "I don't see anything to be pleased about," grumbled Larry sourly. "We are hopelessly lost."

"Aha! But we aren't!" said Pip mischievously, hopping up and down in excitement. "You see, I marked the path we took as we came along. All we have to do is to follow my trail, and we would be home in no time!"

Larry gaped at Pip, unable to comprehend what his senses had just fed him. Pip beamed back, and started bouncing on the balls of his feet. Daisy cheered in the background, and Bets dried her tears.

"Good for you, Pip old fellow!" raved Larry, when he had recovered. "I suppose that's why you were always lagging behind? A good job done, old buddy! We owe you one!"

The Find Outers turned back, and began following the trail of pebbles, leaves and twigs. Every few minutes the trail would stop, as Pip ran out of materials, but it would start up again a few seconds later. At last, everyone reached the fork in the road.

"Whew! What a day!" Larry exhaled. "We had better go now, or we'll get into a dreadful row at home. See you all at Pip's playroom tomorrow!"

Right, I know Fatty's illness is rather exaggerated. But rest assured, he will get better! Oh! We just want to tell you that we might be starting on a Harry Potter story soon, when we're coping well with Clemenceau high and MOR. If we do, we'd really like to have some support from you faithful reviewers!

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