Author's Note: Well, I hope that this chapter satisfies! :) I apoligise for taking so long to update …
Thanks to my reviewers for the last chapter, Devlinn Reiko-sama, Wacky Walnut, nikki-browneyes, Ginger Ninja, Cap'n Phoenix, whiterose01, killhill2003, JenCarpeDiem, Annabel, Fiona12690, KD Almasy, Lilo Hawkins, and andrewjameswilliams.
Chapter 5
"Now, as you boys know, Parker cannot be around all of the time," Penny began, smiling sweetly. Virgil – realising where this was headed – groaned silently. "So … when Parker is called away, I would like some of you boys to help me out around the estate. For the next few months."
"What?" Gordon exclaimed. John looked irritated. As much as the boys loved Penny, none of them found the prospect of being blackmailed into taking care of her entire estate to be particularly attractive!
Penny smiled. "Or I could just tell your father about your exploits …"
Scott elbowed Alan sharply as his youngest brother made a move to protest. "No, Penny," he said, forcing a smile. "It's fine. We'll do it. All of us," he finished firmly, glaring meaningfully at his brothers until they all nodded.
Penny smiled, a genuine smile. "Excellent."
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room. "So, Penny," Gordon said at last, "what are you doing out here?"
"Your father asked me to visit you," Penny told him. "To 'check up on you, and make sure that no one had been killed' were his exact words, as I recall."
"Right." Gordon nodded. The silence returned.
John coughed slightly. "I'll just go … clear up the kitchen table," he offered quietly. Virgil got to his feet as well.
"I'll give you a hand with that, Johnny." He preceded his brother out of the door. Scott also rose from his seat.
"Yeah, I've got to … check the laundry …" he stammered.
Gordon sat biting his lip for a second, then got to his feet quickly. "Hey, Scott," he called. "You want a hand?"
"OK," Scott replied. Gordon nodded, and smiled briefly at Penny before leaving quickly. Alan was left sitting on the lounge on his own.
He looked nervously around the room once, then cleared his throat a few times. "I should … go … help," he mumbled.
Penny laughed. "Very well."
Alan was out the door in a heartbeat, following his brothers down to the kitchen and laundry, leaving a rather amused Penny and Parker alone in the room.
Alan arrived in the kitchen to find that it had become a virtual Control Centre. Scott sat at the head of the table, and Virgil sat two seats down on the left. John leant against the counter, while Gordon paced intermittently.
"So," Scott began as Alan entered the room, "you guys are all going to do this, OK? All of you. Either that, or Dad finds out what we've been up to, and we're grounded for the remainder of our natural lives, and probably for a fair bit of the next life as well."
Virgil nodded. "I'll do it."
"Good," Scott replied. "John? Gordo? Alan?" One by one, each of his youngest brothers nodded. "OK … Oh, and we know that Dad will be back tomorrow – try to make sure that you have your stories straight, OK?"
Gordon grinned, and turned to Alan. "Wow, Alan," he said, melodramatically. "Mr Scott 'I-never-lie-to-my-elders' Tracy is telling us to 'get our stories straight'." He shook his head, obviously taking great delight in this. He placed a hand melodramatically on his head and closed his eyes. Alan laughed. "One of the pillars of my world has fallen," he cried dramatically, faking sobs.
"Oh shut up," Scott growled, slapping him over the back of the head. "It's old."
"Yes, you are," Alan retorted, deliberately mis-hearing. Virgil laughed.
Scott turned on his brother, glaring. Virgil raised his hands defensively. "Hey, it's true," he laughed. "You are getting on a bit."
"I'm 20!" Scott yelled. "That is not 'getting on a bit'!"
"Well, you know, Scott," John said, joining in, "for some birds, 20 is very old."
Scott tried his breathing exercises. I am not angry. I do not want to shove some sort of blunt implement through each of their brains. The anger is my friend. I can make it go away! "John …" he said quietly, with forced calm, "may I ask, what part of me, exactly, looks like a budgerigar?"
Gordon got to his feet and walked over to Scott, frowning as if in concentration. "You know," he concluded after a few seconds, "you're turning a lovely shade of red."
Virgil nodded in agreement. "Just wait, I'll get the bird-watcher's book and well cross-reference."
Scott snapped. "Right!" he yelled. "That is it!"
His brothers, sensing that they had awoken the sleeping tiger – instantly fled the kitchen, Scott hot on their tails. "You little brats!" he was yelling. "When I catch you …"
Alan slammed and locked the laundry door, then moved quickly out of the way as his brothers prepared their ambush.
"All right," Virgil whispered, as Scott hammered on the door. "Alan, get the car. Gordo and John – you're with me. Quick strike, then run." Alan nodded, and left the room quickly. He ran towards the garage. He had swiped Scott's keys, while his brother had been talking that morning, as a 'just-in-case'. Now he was very glad that he had. Scott's car was a lot quicker than Virgil's.
Meanwhile, Scott had found the spare laundry key. As he was about to put the key in the lock, he paused. The laundry was quiet … or was it. He froze. Was that … muffled laughter!!
So, they want to ambush me, do they? he thought, grinning. Two can play at that game … He stayed quiet, listening, and was rewarded a few seconds later by the sound of a car engine – his car engine – starting. His hand flew to his pocket, but he found it empty; Alan must have taken his keys.
As he stood there, calmly planning his revenge, Scott felt some of his anger dissipate as he remembered some of the pranks that he had pulled. I guess this is payback … he thought. But … he added, squaring his jaw, that doesn't mean that I just give in to it.
Quietly, he snuck out of the kitchen and left the house through a side door. I'll give them an ambush …
Penny sat in the lounge room. "The boys have been a bit quiet, 'aven't they, Milady?" Parker asked, slightly worried.
Penny smiled. "It's all right, Parker. I think they're too busy getting revenge on each other to bother us."
Virgil waited impatiently. Gordon was bouncing up and down on his heels. John groaned quietly, "Where is he?"
"Looking for me?" came a voice from behind them. They whirled around … to find a tape player sitting just outside the door behind them. Too late, John swung around to the laundry door … to be hit in the face with a blast of water instantly followed by a full sack of flour that rained down over all three boys, sticking to their skin.
"SCOTT!" Virgil yelled. "Get him!" he ordered, firing a canister of laundry soapsuds at Scott, who lunged backwards as he was caught in the chest by the suds. Gordon was too busy kneeling on the ground coughing from the vast amount of flour in the air to bother attempting to hit Scott. John, however, disregarded this, and strode quickly towards his elder brother, hefting a water pistol with something – that was most definitely not water – inside.
Scott took the only sensible option. He ran.
Alan waited in the garage, the car engine humming slightly. Upon hearing a shout of "SCOTT!", he presumed that this meant that the attack had been successful. Tapping his fingers absently on the window, he released the handbrake and slipped the car into Drive, gliding out of the garage.
The sight that greeted him both shocked and amused him. Scott – who was, quite literally, foaming – was fleeing a John who looked to be a look – paler than usual. Both boys shouted when they saw the car; neither shout was intelligible, but Alan understood the gist of them:
You stop that car right now.
Well, Alan thought, that's not very likely. He accelerated, pulling hard to the right, then straightened, before banking right sharply. This maneuver had brought him within two metres of the house, and he was inside in a flash, slamming the door after him, and leaning back against it with a sigh of relief. He disregarded the yells of Scott and John – who both sounded rather panicky, for some reason – and closed his eyes. He was safe.
Alan opened his eyes, and froze. Oh God. I am dead.
Scott knocked hard on the door. "Alan, get out of there!" he yelled. John, beside him, was equally irritated at their youngest brother.
"That idiot …" he muttered. "Couldn't he remember not to go in this door? Is it that hard?!" He finished the sentence with another bang on the door.
At this juncture, Virgil and Gordon – who was now able to breathe again – appeared round the corner, weapons in hand. "Ah-ha!" Gordo yelled, and before John could find the words to stop him, Gordon fired. Both Scott and John were covered in soapsuds by the missile. Gordon froze immediately after he fired, and gazed at the stains on the wall.
"Is that … oh no … is …" he stammered.
Virgil stared wide-eyed. "Please tell me that you did not just fire soap suds at my mural," he said, anger very plain in his voice.
"I, uh … help me out, here, Scott," he begged.
Scott shook his head. "You didn't just get the mural, kid," he reminded him. He and John stepped away from the door. "Either of you guys got a key to this door?" he asked. Neither Virgil nor Gordon showed any signs of having heard him. Virgil was advancing on Gordon in predator fashion, and Gordon was backing away very quickly. "Virgil!" Scott called.
Virgil started. "What? Oh, yeah, sure." He pulled a key ring out of his pocket and – without taking his eyes off Gordon – threw it at Scott. "The one with the duct tape around the handle," he told him.
Scott nodded. "Thanks." He unlocked the door, and then reached inside and pulled Alan out, before slamming the door again. Holding him firmly by the scruff of his neck, he shook him slightly.
"Alan …" John growled. "Never ever go in there again."
"I didn't mean to," Alan said petulantly.
"That is Dad's study," Scott said. "Do you know how important the things in there are to his business? If you went in there and took any junk in there …"
"Sorry," Alan said quickly, shaking loose. "And by the way … you guys might wanna look over there. I think Virgil's about to strangle Gordon."
John grinned. "That's OK. Look at what Gordon did to the mural."
Alan turned his head to look. He grimaced. "That's bad. But … I really think that you might wanna look … cos Gordo's turning blue."
John and Scott turned around quickly, only to see that Virgil had Gordon by the arm and was talking to him in very low, threatening tones. Gordon looked very scared, to be sure, but he certainly wasn't blue. They turned back round to find …
Alan bolted for the car. John – without thinking – fired quickly at him. Scott yelled "NO!" as his car was drenched in lukewarm orange marmalade.
"JOHN!" Scott yelled. John backed away quickly. "I'm going to kill you! Look what you've done! I can't believe you …"
"BOYS!"
Scott froze, eyes wide. No … not today. It's not possible … aw hell.
Oh man … Virgil thought. Earth, why aren't you splitting and letting me sink down into oblivion? Please? Please?
John simply frowned in resignation. They were gone.
Gordon quickly pulled free from Virgil and took a few steps backward. He plastered on a fake grin, but it quickly feel as he started chewing his lip, apprehension showing clearly on his features.
Alan stared at the ground, lost for words.
Standing only ten metres away was their father, Jefferson Tracy. Standing beside him and looking – if it was possible – even angrier was his mother, Josephine Tracy.
Author's Note: The boys are in big trouble now! Hopefully next chapter will be up soon … :) Review, please.
