Chapter 12

Once back inside the house Alex led them to a small sitting room and then said that he was going to make them a nice soothing pot of tea. He left them and closed the door firmly behind himself.

Sue went and sat on a wide comfy chair and stared down at her hands, Levi placed his head on her knee in support. She had never seen Jack this angry before and was unsure how to react. Jack was too fraught to sit and so began pacing the floor running his hands through his hair until it stuck out in spikes. Finally, he stopped in front of her chair causing her to look up.

"Do you remember how you felt when I set myself up as a target for the sniper?" he said, struggling to keep calm. Sue was surprised, she had expected him to shout, to reprimand her and had been preparing herself to defend her actions; the question had thrown her. She thought back to what had been one of the worst times of her life, especially when the sniper had demonstrated his proficiency by shooting the coffee mug from Jack's hand right in front of her. Sue nodded.

"Well that's how I felt when I realised that something was wrong," explained Jack. Sue flushed she hadn't considered that she might have seriously worried Jack, though knowing how he had reacted to other occasions when she had found herself in trouble should have given her a clue. She was about to apologise when Jack's next words stopped her.

"What were you thinking?" he demanded. "What part of 'not going it alone' did you not understand?" Sue straightened her spine even further, ready for battle. He was not going to treat her like a naughty child!

"I wasn't alone, I had Levi," she replied defiantly.

"No you didn't, Levi was upstairs in your room!"

"Which is how you knew something was wrong and came looking for me, "countered Sue. "If Levi had been with me then you may never have found us."

Jack blanched, "I know." He said, his voice barely a whisper. Although Sue couldn't hear how he said the words his facial expression filled in the gaps, immediately she felt contrite. "I'm sorry," she said and signed then grabbed his hand pulling him down to her level. "I didn't really think. Levi heard something in the cupboard and I went to look, I was going to get him to do his 'snarly face' but when I unbolted the door Millie was there so I let her in."

Jack groaned, "The bolts were to keep people out, they were to remain bolted."

"I know," answered Sue "but that isn't why I went back into the tunnel. This is why." From her jeans pocket she pulled out a piece of gold jewellery and handed it to Jack. "Millie was carrying this, I wanted to see where she found it," She said. Jack turned the piece over in his hand. It was a locket with a thin gold chain threaded through the loop. Fumbling slightly with the tiny clasp he opened it and was disappointed when no picture was revealed.

"Look closely," instructed Sue. "Do you see the initials?" Jack held it towards the light coming through the window and saw the letters F and L intertwining on the inside.

"This isn't a clue," he said, reluctantly. "Millie could have found it anywhere. You know that she likes to wander."

"I know, I thought that too then I realised that it is too clean. It really rained yesterday, surely it would be dirty or muddy or something," she explained, desperate to validate her actions.

"Or maybe they dropped it this morning and are even now, as we speak, looking for it." Countered Jack. Sue looked crestfallen.

"How did you come to get stuck in the new tunnel?" asked Jack changing the subject slightly and looking round for something more comfortable to sit on than the floor. Sue squished over in her chair making room for him to sit down which he did much to Sue's relief, perhaps he wasn't quite so cross with her now. She explained that she and the two dogs had gone into the tunnel, Sue using the flashlight on her phone to light the way. "I don't know how Millie can do it in the dark," she shuddered remembering the total sensory deprivation that she had experienced. Continuing with her story she explained how they had gone part of the way down when Levi had suddenly stopped, refusing to go any further. He had jumped up onto Sue in the same way that he did when there was a knock at the door and Sue had toppled back managing to knock the mechanism that opened the secret entrance. Curiosity taking over, Sue had gone through it only for something to fly into her face. "I bat I think," she shuddered. "Which was good," she added positively "because it told me that there was another way out." However, the shock had sent her backwards causing her to hit her head on the wall, bounce sideways and inadvertently push the door shut. Luckily Levi was still on the outside.

"I spent ages trying to find out how to open the door again but no luck," she continued. "So I set off up the tunnel hoping to find the other exit but I hadn't gone far before my phone battery died and I was stuck there in the dark." Jack took both of her hands in his knowing what being in the total dark would mean to her. "It seemed like ages, but it probably wasn't, before you came. I was scared though. I was so relieved that Levi had been on the other side of the entrance when the door closed otherwise who knows when we would have been found." Sue gave a little tremble as the reality of the situation began to sink in and Jack wrapped her in his arms relieved that the worst hadn't happened. They sat like that for a while, relishing the closeness until the door swung open and Ana's head popped around, "Knock, Knock," she said "I've brought the tea trolley if you're interested?"

"You're back!" exclaimed Sue, sitting upright but still holding onto Jack's hand. "Any luck?"

"Later," replied Ana "When Alex and the others are ready. There is lots to discuss."

Ana wheeled the trolley in and produced tea, coffee, scones, saffron cake, small sandwiches and Cornish fairings.

"I'm famished!" exclaimed Sue "I hadn't realised that we had missed lunch!" Both she and Jack helped themselves and contentedly chewed away until there was very little left apart from crumbs. Jack had just swallowed the last morsel of scone when Jason, Will and Alex came in and made themselves comfortable whilst Ana took the tea trolley back to the kitchen. Sue could feel herself becoming impatient, she wanted to know what had been found out and now that she had been fed the drama of the morning had eased away and she was once more ready for action.