Hope

It was early morning on Tracy Island as Tin Tin made her way into the orchid garden. Last night had been hard on everybody's nerves. By common consent the other girls had taken the children and gathered in the Round House for mutual comfort and support, but she had decided to remain with the Tracy family. She had known them since she was small and loved them all, and it distressed her to see them under so much strain.

Jeff had sat at his desk, leaning his folded arms on its surface while he stared at nothing. Scott paced up and down like a caged lion. Virgil sat at his piano, not playing but occasionally stroking one of the keys as if the touch brought him comfort. Alan had sat with his arm round his grandmother, though who was deriving most benefit from the gesture, it was hard to say. Gordon simply stared at John's portrait, willing it to come to life and give some news of his brother. No-one had wanted any supper, and eventually Jeff had ordered them all to bed, though Tin Tin was sure nobody had managed to sleep.

Now in the early morning, Tin Tin had come into the garden to try and compose herself, ready for another day. She would need to find some inner calm and strength in order to help those she considered her family through the day ahead.

She always felt most at peace here, surrounded by the orchids that her father had grown. His ashes had been scattered here, and this was where she came if she wanted to feel close to him. She arranged herself in the lotus position and began to slow her breathing and empty her mind, as her father had taught her, so long ago. Gradually she began to relax, as the turmoil in her mind stilled. She thought of her father, who had always been a tower of quiet strength during difficult times.

"Oh father," she thought, "I wish you were with us now."

Then a voice in her mind spoke. "I am here, my child."

"Father?" Tin Tin's tranquillity was nearly shattered. She concentrated on maintaining her slow breathing, and keeping her mind open. "Father, is that you?"

"Yes, my daughter I am here. I have always been here for you, though you have not needed me before."

"Father, there is terrible news. Poor John…" Tin Tin did not know how to continue.

"I know, my child. My evil brother has taken him. He needs our help."

"But how can we help him? We do not even know where he is."

"I can take you there. We must go on a journey of the mind. With my help, you can do it."

A thought struck Tin Tin, causing her to recoil. "You mean to go into the mind of your brother, my uncle, the man who killed you? No! I cannot! Do not ask that of me!" Her composure crumbling, she was suddenly aware of the sounds and smells of the garden around her once more.

"No, I would not ask that of you. There is another we can use. Do not fear, my child. I will protect you, as I have been protecting you from my brother ever since I died. Come with me. I will be your guide, and your shield." Tin Tin could see her father in her mind; not old and grey as he had been in his last years, but young, strong and upright, as she remembered him from her childhood.

"I will protect you too, little one." A woman was standing beside her father, a woman with European features and brown curly hair. A woman Tin Tin had only ever seen in photographs. The woman who had died when she was born.

"Mother?"

The woman smiled. "Yes, my darling. You have grown into a beautiful young woman. I, too, have been watching you, and we will not let any harm come to you."

"To you, or to our grandson that you are bearing." Another woman had appeared beside her mother. This one Tin Tin recognised from photographs that Alan had shown her. This was the boys' mother, Lucille. The woman smiled. "Didn't you realise you were expecting a child? Can't you feel him?"

Tin Tin turned inwards, searching. Yes, deep in her mind, a little spark of life. She touched it gently and it responded with feelings of love and contentment.

The image of Kyrano stretched out his hand. "Come my child. We have a long journey ahead of us, but we will keep you safe."

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Tin Tin opened her eyes to realise she was sitting on a bench beside a battered old table in a dimly lit, stuffy room with stone walls. A jug and some glasses stood on the table. One glass was empty, the other two had dead flies floating on the surface of some pale liquid.

Looking down at herself she could see a cream blouse and pale blue slacks, and the hand she held up in front of her face was brown, with long slim fingers, like her own. This must be the girl who had taken John from the hotel in Paris, she supposed. She pulled open the thick, wooden door and the heat from outside hit her like a wave. The courtyard in front of her was now in shadow, but had obviously trapped the heat of the sun during the day. To her left a flight of steps led up past an upper storey to a walkway around the top of the walls.

She climbed the steps as quietly as she could, hoping the view from the top would give some clues as to her surroundings. At the top she looked over the wall at desert. Miles of desert, stretching in all directions. In the west, the setting sun was just touching the top of a line of hills, but there were no other landmarks. She looked around at the structure where she stood. Some old military building, she presumed; square in shape, with a tower at each corner, though now apparently derelict. The tower nearest her had a flagpole broken off at twice her height. She turned to look into the courtyard below and caught her breath at the sight of John lying staked out in the centre of the square.

She ran down the stairs and over to him. His eyes were nearly swollen shut, his lips cracked and dry, and his normally fair skin reddened and blistered.

He turned his head at the sound of her approach. " Phin Li! You got away!" his voice was little more than a harsh whisper. "Quick, untie me, before he finds us."

Tin Tin was already fumbling with the knots, but John's earlier struggles had pulled them tight.

Suddenly there came a voice. "What are you doing? Get away from him!" To John's dismay, Phin Li had gone rigid at the first sound of her father's voice, and now stood and backed away. The Hood looked at her. "Go back inside and wait until I give you further instructions." The girl turned and walked away as the Hood bent and tightened the ropes once more. John bit back a cry as the ropes cut into the blistered skin of his wrists.

The Hood straightened up and looked at his captive. "So, my young friend, how do you feel after a day in the sun? Are you ready to talk yet?"

"I'd rather die first," John managed to croak out.

"Maybe you would, my brave young man. Maybe I am doing this the wrong way. Perhaps tomorrow I should bring Phin Li out here to lie beside you. You may not talk to save your own skin, but it might be different if you are watching her suffer as well. We will see if that will change your mind in the morning." With that he turned on his heel and left John alone in the growing twilight.

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Tin Tin found herself back in the orchid garden, gasping for breath. The sound of the Hood's voice had snapped her back into her own body with a jolt. She thought back over what she had seen. She had certainly found John and now knew what peril he was in, but how could that help them to rescue him?

She took deep breaths, wondering how long she had been in her trance. Not long, she thought, looking at the long shadows that the early morning sun was still casting in the garden.

The sun…

She scrambled to her feet and ran towards the house. "Mr Tracy! I think I know how to find John!"

The family gathered around to hear her story. It was a measure of how desperate they were that no-one questioned its validity.

Jeff touched a few keys on the computer. "If we use the terminator line of the setting sun to give us the longitude, that puts the location somewhere in the western Sahara. Brains! Do we have maps detailed enough to show any structures in that area?"

Up on Thunderbird 5 Brains was bringing up maps on his screens. "Allowing for s-some slight delay in the t-time factor I c-calculate there are three p-possible sites." He transferred the co-ordinates down to Jeff's screen.

Tin Tin looked closer. "Not that one," she said, pointing. "There's a road running next to it, and I didn't see any roads at all"

"So that leaves two possibilities," said Scott, frowning.

"Yes," put in Virgil, "but I bet only one of them will have a broken flagpole."

"OK boys," said Jeff, sounding decisive for the first time since John had gone missing. "Here's what we're going to do."

Final instalment next week