Not as pink as she seems - Part one
Lady Penelope Creighton Ward was sat in her huge country mansion in very deep thought when her butler Parker walked in.
"Excuse me, Milady but there is a lady from the Ashwood care home in New York on the phone. They say it's about someone called Zoë," he informed her as he handed the phone to Lady Penelope.
"Thank you, Parker," she answered as Parker bowed and left the room. When Penelope was sure he was gone, she picked up the phone that had been on hold.
"Hello, Lady Penelope Creighton Ward speaking."
"I'm very sorry to bother you but…well… you may be the only one who can help," said the female voice with a very slight American accent.
"I can try; what seems to be the problem?" Penelope inquired.
"It's Zoë, your daughter, she's run away and we've tried all her usual places and can't find her anywhere we think she may be trying to find you as she was caught looking through her file. We also know that she has a gig with her band in Manchester tonight," the female voice answered quickly.
"Okay, I'll do a bit of a call around, and see what I can find out," she paused, and after a bit of thought she added, "Could you send me a picture of what she looks like now?"
"Errrrr, yeah," said the person on the end as she sent the picture via email.
"Okay, I'll give you a call if I find anything," Lady Penelope answered.
"Thank you again, bye," and with that she hung up.
Lady Penelope sat in silence for a few minutes when Parker walked in.
"Excuse me, Milady but this just came through for you," Parker said as he handed Lady Penelope a piece of paper with a very attractive young woman on it. She had light brown hair with lots of blond streaks, ice blue eyes, a fair complexion, and the same smile as Lady Penelope. Lady Penelope smiled she was suddenly drawn from her thoughts by Parker;
"Is everything all right, Milady?" he asked worriedly.
"Can I tell you something Parker?" She asked him.
"Anything, Milady," Parker answered in a truly professional manner.
" Well you, know the person on the phone? Well, she was from the Ashwood care home, and she was saying about someone called Zoë." She paused, took a deep breath and then continued, "She's my daughter," she broke of at the look on Parker's face. Parker closed his mouth so she carried on, "and now she's run away from her foster parents to find me."
"Forgive me for being rude but why does she have foster parents?" Parker questioned.
"Because I never told my Mother and Father I was pregnant, so I had to put her up for adoption and now she's run away," the realisation suddenly hit her, "I've got to find her, Parker get Jeff Tracy on the phone."
"Certainly, Milady," Parker said as he dialled The Tracys' phone number on Tracy Island.
Tracy Island
Jeff Tracy was sat in his study as usual when the phone rang.
"Hello?" he said into the receiver
"Hello, Jeff could you do me a favour?" asked the unmistakable tone of a very worried Lady Penelope.
"Anything for you," Jeff answered warmly
"Could you send two of your boys out to Manchester to find Zoë Hardwich? I've been told that she is in great danger from, well, I'm not quite sure but could you get them to find her please?" Lady Penelope muttered.
"I'll see what I can do," Jeff paused and then added as an after thought, "Where do you want me to bring her if we find her?"
"Err, could you take her back to Tracy Island with you?" she asked sweetly.
"Okay, I'm sure I could work that out, how old is she?" Jeff asked
"17 I think, so maybe Virgil and-" Penelope broke off, not knowing who to choose.
"Scott," Jeff finished her sentence for her,
"Yes, to keep Virgil in check and to make sure nothing goes wrong," Lady Penelope agreed humorously.
There was a few seconds silence before Jeff spoke up again. "Can you send me a picture of her?" he asked
"Yes, it's on its way," Penelope said pressing the send button on her computer.
"Right, I'll go and get Scott and Virgil and fill them in so they can start looking for her, I'll call you later."
"Thank you, bye," and she hung up.
Jeff sighed, he reluctantly got up and went through into the dinning and kitchen area, to find Alan eating as usual, Onaha was cooking and Gordon was sat on the sofa reading.
"Has anyone seen Scott and Virgil?" Jeff asked
"Yeah, Virgil's in the pool and Scott is working on Thunderbird one. Why?" Gordon answered looking up from his book.
"I just need them to do something for me," Jeff paused and then added, "Alan when you've finished stuffing your face can you go and get Scott; tell him I want him in my office in five minutes,"
"Yes dad," Alan answered with a mouthful of food; he got up swallowed and then left the kitchen.
"VIRGIL!!!!" Jeff shouted towards the direction of the pool once Alan had gone.
"Yes dad?" Virgil shouted back as he climbed out of the pool, shaking the drops of water off his well toned muscular body.
"I want you up in my office in five minutes I need you to do something for me." Jeff ordered.
"Okay!" Virgil yelled back, grabbing a towel and then heading into his room to get changed, into dry clothes.
Five minutes later
"Okay, I need you two to do a job for Lady Penelope," Jeff informed Scott and Virgil as they rolled their eyes.
"What does it involve?" Virgil asked suspiciously.
"Well all you've got to do is find this girl," he showed a picture of Zoë to Scott and Virgil and their mouths dropped open, "Her name is Zoë Hardwich, and according to lady Penelope she is in real danger and needs to be brought here. Do you think you can do that without messing it up, or going soft?" Jeff asked
"Yes dad," Virgil answered immediately.
"Do we know where she is at the moment?" Scott asked.
"Lady Penelope seems to think that she is in Manchester, England," Jeff replied.
"Scott?" Jeff confronted he eldest son as he turned to leave. Virgil left the office. "A word please." Scott marched back to his Father's desk. "Make sure you and Virgil don't mess this up. If you value Lady Penelope as a friend, don't let me down," Jeff said sternly which didn't surprise Scott.
"F.A.B, dad," he said simply, "you can count on us."
"I know I can," Jeff said warmly, "and don't tell anyone else what I've just said." Scott nodded sincerely and left the room.
Scott and Virgil entered the Thunderbird One silo ten minutes later, fully dressed in their International Rescue attire. Jeff had insisted they take Thunderbird One, as they'd be quick to get back if there was an emergency. They boarded quickly.
"Anti-detection shield activated," muttered Virgil, "main thrusters ready for action."
"Thunderbird one is ready for take off," Scott confirmed.
"F.A.B, boys, and good luck!" Jeff said via video. Scott fired up Thunderbird One's engine and within seconds they were coming out of the swimming pool and in to the air. They flew through masses of white clouds and soon Tracy Island was out of sight.
"Manchester, England, ETA: fifty minutes," Virgil stated.
Manchester
"Right let's ask anyone if they have seen her," Virgil said to Scott, "Scott are you going to help or not?"
"Yeah, but I think we should try there first," Scott answered sarcastically pointing at a massive poster of Zoë and her band 'The Daylights', stuck on the side of Manchester Arena.
"Oh right, okay then," Virgil muttered feeling rather stupid. Well, he wasn't part blonde for nothing.
"Lighten up bro, come on," Scott said laughing as he started towards the entrance to the arena.
Scott walked in through the double doors and was met with a wave of noise. He took a few minutes to get used to the noise, then he walked up to the information desk, the young woman looked up from her paper work, taking in Scott who was wearing a pair of Levi jeans and a bright orange top with white stripes on it, she turned her attention to Virgil who was also wearing a pair of jeans but his top was blue and had 'I love to surf' on the back.
She quickly brought her attention back to Scott, who was drumming his fingers on the desk.
"Can I help you?" she asked politely.
"Umm, yeah I think you can, is Zoë Hardwich playing tonight?" Scott questioned her.
"Yes she will be finishing in about," she paused and looked at the clock on the wall, "Ten minutes."
"Okay, thank you, oh one more thing is there a back entrance?" Scott asked.
"Yes, but you can only go through it if you have a security pass, and they are only given to the performers and there assistance," she answered quickly.
"Okay, thanks again," Scott turned and walked back outside with a very confused Virgil following him.
"What was the point in that?" asked once they were out of earshot.
"We can get Zoë when she comes out of the back entrance, duh. I just need to ask Lady Penelope where it is," Scott answered off handed, as he turned into a back alley where there was no-one to over hear them, he took out the phone his dad had given him before they left and dialed Lady Penelope's number.
"Hello this is Lady Pen-"
"Parker shut up, you idiot, it's me, I've got to be quick can you ask Penny to find out where the back entrance is to Manchester Arena?" Scott said hurriedly.
"Wait one moment Mr. Tracy, I'll go and find out," Parker answered sounding quite amused, he put the phone on hold which made Scott hold the phone away from his ear, he couldn't stand classical music.
Finally the plummy toned voice of Lady Penelope came through the receiver,
"Scott? Are you there?" she asked.
"Yeah, do you know where the back entrance is?" Scott returned
"Umm, it seems you have to go in the multi-story car park and its right at the back with stage door on it, but you can't get in that way its always got two bouncers guarding it and they don't let anyone in without a security pass," she added worriedly.
"Okay, thanks I'll call you when we get back," and he hung up. "Right little bro, lets move," Scott teased, he didn't see the glare that Virgil gave him.
They followed Lady Penelope's directions and after going in about four different car parks they finally found what they were looking for,
"Right I'll go and ask when the concert is due to finish." Scott said pompously.
"No, you asked that woman before, I'll ask," Virgil corrected.
"Fine, just don't mess it up," Scott warned.
"God, don't you trust me or something?" Virgil questioned as he walked away towards the security guards.
He was about two metres away when the door opened and out came a group of young people, all dressed in black and silver.
Virgil spotted Zoë immediately. She was wearing a top that showed half her midriff, which meant that you could see her black and white belly button ring and a pair of trousers that had a maze pattern on them. She also had a silver electric guitar over her shoulder. She looked at Virgil and whispered something to the girl next to her who also had half her midriff showing, but her trousers were mainly silver with a little black down the middle. She was carrying a set of drum sticks. She chuckled and muttered to the girl next to her who wore a very low cut top. Her trousers were the same except she had some tassels coming off the bottom of them and a flower in her hair. She was also carrying a black bass guitar.
Virgil looked at the last two members of the band. One was wearing a top that had a leather tie up at the top and she also had her midriff showing. Her trousers were nearly the same as the others, but there was the same sort of leather tie at the top and bottom of her trousers. She was carrying a silver guitar the same as Zoë. The last member of the band was the only one with blonde hair and she wore black and silver checked trousers and her top was black with a silver outline and silver spots and big floaty sleeves. In Virgil's opinion was carrying the best guitar; a silver and white acoustic guitar.
Virgil stood still for a minute then remembered what he was meant to be doing and beckoned Scott follow him.
Once Scott had joined him they walked towards the group, who had started walking again.
"Be nice," Scott whispered.
"Okay," Virgil whispered back. They stopped abruptly when they saw the group looking at them strangely.
"Err, hi, are you Zoë Hardwich?" Virgil asked awkwardly.
"Why who's askin'?" Zoë inquired rudely trying not to blush as she thought that both men were highly attractive, and she cold tell her bandmates felt the same.
"My name is Scott, and this is Virgil," offered Scott, "We're here to pick you up for Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward."
"Oh now she wants to know me," Zoë laughed at the puzzled looks on Scott and Virgil's faces, "You don't know who I am, do you?"