A/N: Again thanks to everyone who's been sticking with the story! I love your comments. :)
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Chapter 12: Don't Let Klaus Get Away
'Pop goes the weasel,' said Kiki, her head bobbing up and down excitedly.
'Hush, Kiki,' said Jack, tapping her on the beak. 'You mustn't give us away.'
'Is he armed?' whispered Philip, pointing at Klaus.
'Not sure,' replied Jack. 'He was last time I saw him. But he dropped his revolver and I kicked it into a bush because I couldn't pick it up with my hands bound on my back. I made a run for it after that, so I can't say if he's found the weapon or not.'
'Bother,' said Philip. 'I wish we knew.'
'Well, at least he hasn't seen us yet,' Jack pointed out. 'He walked straight past us. Let's follow him, Tufty, see where he goes.'
Philip didn't want to, but they couldn't let Klaus get away! So he nodded and carefully got to his feet. He wished he had his shoes to put on, but he had left them on the rocks with his discarded shirt before swimming to the boat.
The overgrown slope made for an uncomfortable walking underground if one was to walk on it in bare feet – spiky stones and thorny boughs littered the way. Several times Philip almost gave them away after stepping onto something prickly. Every time he had to bite his lip to not yelp or let out a few distasteful words in anger.
As cautiously as they could the two boys climbed along the rocky shore, carefully keeping an eye on Klaus, who was further up above their heads, but making sure that the man didn't see them. But then Klaus suddenly stopped and took a look around. Jack who had been out of cover quickly crouched down, but he caught a glimpse of Klaus' angry eyes staring back at him before he could hide.
'Blow!' he hissed, feeling very cross with himself. 'I think he saw me.'
Philip clutched his arm. 'He has – and now he's bolting, see?'
Jack grinned. 'I suppose that means he's unarmed. Quickly, Tufty, let's go after him! We might catch him.'
'Gracious – guess that means we'll be running again,' mumbled Philip, but Jack was already on his way clambering up the rocks – and Philip certainly wasn't going to let him go on his own. He darted after his friend as fast as he could. They were soon sweating again in the hot summer sun, climbing upwards and upwards until they reached the woods. They couldn't see the Austrian anymore, but the growth was so thick at this point that they could see where the man had passed his way through – he had left a very clear path for them!
They tore after him. It was a painful undertaking, for the way Klaus had chosen was spiked with stinging nettles. Philip tried his best not to to tread on any, but his feet soon hurt from their stings. Jack, who hadn't got a shirt on, wasn't faring much better. He had run right into a very tall nettle and now his tummy was stinging all over.
After a while the growth thinned out a little and the two of them stopped, wondering what direction Klaus had taken from here.
'Which way do you reckon?' said Philip in a low voice. He was hopping from foot to foot, for his feet were still smarting from the nettles and all the spiky boughs and stones he had tread on.
'Don't know,' whispered back Jack, who was still panting. 'Could be anywhere.'
They were about to give up on trying to find Klaus, when suddenly a big figure leapt from a nearby bush and crashed into Jack, who in turn crashed into Philip, who gave a short yell and fell. Jack toppled on top of him and Klaus bolted away once more.
'Get off me, you're heavy,' complained Philip, trying to push his friend off.
Jack scrambled to his feet awkwardly. 'Are you alright?'
'No, I think I sprained my ankle,' grumbled Philip, trying to get up as well. He managed, but he could only limp. Every time he put weight on his left foot, pain shot through his ankle. It was clear that he was in no shape to keep running.
'Send for the doctor,' announced Kiki, fluttering above their heads. Once again she had found the right thing to say at the right moment. But neither of the boys felt very much like laughing at her.
'I'll go on alone,' said Jack.
He pushed off Kiki who had just settled down on his shoulder. She screeched angrily, and flew to Philip's shoulder, where she perched down and pitied herself. 'Poor Polly. Poor, dear old Polly. Send for the doctor.'
Jack shook his head at her. Then he said to Philip, 'you wait here, while I go after him.'
'What else would I do?' mumbled poor Philip grumpily, watching his friend dart away. He tried to walk another step, but his ankle hurt too badly. It was beginning to swell up too. So Philip sat down on the ground and waited. He had no strength left to try and hobble after Jack. Sooner or later one of the police officers would find him, he figured, and they'll help him get to their cars or the helicopter.
Meanwhile Jack noticed with satisfaction that he was gaining ground on Klaus – he was a good deal faster than the older, heavier man. It helped too that he could squeeze past some rather narrow gaps in the growth more easily than the villain ahead of him.
But what would he do if he caught up? He didn't really know. Klaus wasn't armed, but would Jack be able to wrestle him down? And keep him down until the police came to his aid? Or would he just have to try to tire the older man out and hope that help would come before Jack was too tired out himself to keep up the chase?
However, when he was close enough to throw himself at the man he didn't think about it any longer. He leapt forward and crashed into Klaus the way the villain had crashed into the boys before and they both fell full-length onto the forest ground.
Now Klaus had the advantage on his side; he was strong and heavy-set, and he had soon buried Jack underneath him. After dealing out a few blows at his opponent Klaus managed to get up again and would have fled if not Jack had managed to catch a hold of his leg and pull him off his feet again.
'Du verfluchter –' He didn't get further. Suddenly the place was swarming with policemen all around them.
'Give it up now!' shouted one of them. 'It's over!'
But Klaus fought on – he was furious! He launched himself at Jack once more, blind with rage, and landed a few fists in his stomach and a nasty punch on his nose. He didn't stop until the policemen came at him. It needed two of them to pull him away from poor Jack, who was on his back underneath Klaus, feeling quite dazed after the blow into his face.
He needed a moment until he was able to sit up. He was hurting all over and his nose was bleeding, blood running down over his mouth and dropping from his lips, staining the fabric of his shorts.
He swayed a little, holding his bleeding nose, and then, with the assistance of a young police officer, Jack finally stood. He blinked until his vision cleared, then took a look around. Klaus was handcuffed by the policemen; he was still snarling unpleasantries in his own language but he wasn't struggling anymore. A few yards away Jack could see Philip limping towards him. He too was being assisted by an officer. Kiki was still perched on his shoulder, talking quietly to herself.
'Polly, put the kettle on. Don't sniff. How many times do I have to tell you …' On and on she went, and Jack couldn't help having to grin at her.
Then a man came forward, tall and burly – reminding Jack of Bill. He introduced himself as Bill's colleague and friend Michael Turtle and told Jack that he was the one in charge. He guided him and Philip towards the place where the police had parked their vehicles and helped them both climb into the back of one of the cars. Klaus was roughly being shoved into another one.
After everyone had boarded their cars the officers drove off, heading towards the village. Feeling very tired suddenly, Jack leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes to relax as the car rocked gently across the hills. When they arrived at the village some minutes later, both Philip and Jack were fast asleep.
Dinah and Lucy-Ann were sitting on the steps to the police station's entrance, waiting impatiently for the officers to return. When they saw the cars from afar they leapt to their feet and waved excitedly until the vehicles came to hold right in front of the station.
Mike got out of the car, grinning at them. 'Everything went well,' he assured them at once. 'We came in just at the right moment and managed to catch all the bad guys. You two got us just in time.'
'Where are the boys?' asked Lucy-Ann excitedly. She was anxious, having worried about her brother and Philip all the time.
Mike laughed heartily. 'They fell asleep on the way here, poor lads. They've had quite a trying morning! – Ah, here they come!'
And there they did come, climbing out of the car looking so battered that the girls had to cover their mouths with their hands to keep themselves from gasping. There was something comical about it too, Dinah thought, looking at the two: Jack, who wasn't wearing a shirt, a stain of dried blood on his torn shorts and a trail under his nose, too, his torso covered in scratches and bruises and showing the begins of a nasty sunburn – and then Philip who wasn't wearing shoes; he had Jack's shirt on, his hair was standing on end and he was favoring his left foot. His ankle looked swollen up to double size.
'Gracious,' said Lucy-Ann. 'You two look awful.'
'Awful indeed,' said Isabel's voice.
They hadn't noticed the arrival of another car, neither had they seen Isabel get out of it. She stood grinning at the boys, then she went over and patted them each on the back. 'But you've done a very good job at helping me to catch the baddies. You all have! I managed to gather all the information I needed. I got the coordinates for their flight in Austria and Interpol is already in contact with the Austrian forces. Thanks you lot, the case wasn't the success I wanted it to be, but we all did well enough.' Her grin became even wider as she asked, 'any of you interested in joining the police forces?'
Jack let out a groan. All he could think of being interested in right now was a shower and the biggest meal imaginable. And then he wanted to go home. After all, he still had an argument with Aunt Allie to face.
'Well?' asked Isabel, looking at him, but Jack merely groaned again and shook his head.
Isabel chuckled. 'None of you? Dinah? Philip?'
'No thanks,' said Philip and limped forward towards the door of the police station. 'I've already made other plans.' Everybody laughed.
Mike made sure that the boys were supplied with a change of clothes, borrowing them some uniform trousers and shirts from the police station, and a pair of shoes for Philip. It turned out though that he couldn't put on the left shoe for his swollen ankle was in the way.
Afterwards Mike drove Jack, Philip, Dinah and Lucy-Ann to the next bigger town and took them to a hospital where the boys could be looked at by a doctor. Jack was out of the examination room after five minutes. He had taken a few nasty punches from Klaus, but they had merely left him with scrapes and bruises. Philip was a little worse off with his twisted ankle. But after a salve was applied and a bandage was wrapped around his foot he could limp out of the examination room as well.
'Now for some food,' said Mike and invited them to follow him to the hospital's cafeteria. They couldn't walk very fast for they had to stop and wait quite a few times for Philip who hobbled rather unsteadily after them. He didn't at all enjoy his inability to move properly – he feared that if the others reached the cafeteria before him it would be marauded before he even got a chance to grab a bite!
They were almost there when a familiar figure rounded the corner – Isabel!
'May I come with you?' she asked, and everyone agreed, of course.
'Open your book on page six,' Kiki told her at once, raising her crest and making Isabel laugh heartily.
'She seems awfully nice suddenly,' thought Lucy-Ann.
Isabel joined them as they tucked into some enormous ham-and-cheese sandwiches. The girls, who already had a meal, felt full after one but the boys, Mike and Isabel devoured three sandwiches each. After that Isabel had something to say.
'I came to tell you that Tilda and Rory would like to invite you to stay at their cottage for a night,' she told them. 'You must all be too tired to travel back home today. Tomorrow Rory will take you to the station and you can catch a train from there.'
'And I'll be on the train with you,' added Mike. 'I'll wrap the case up this afternoon, find myself a room at the local inn, and meet you at the station tomorrow. I promised Bill to get you all home safely.'
'Can you take us to Tilda and Rory's cottage, Isabel?' asked Lucy-Ann.
Isabel nodded. 'Yes, but I shall leave just after I've dropped you off. I'll have to get back home as well'
'What a pity, what a pity,' squawked Kiki, and everyone laughed.
'Yes, it is a pity,' agreed Isabel. She pulled a little white card from her pocket. 'Here, it's got my telephone number at the office on it. Call me if you change your mind about joining the force. Although …' she considered for a moment, looking at Jack, 'you would have to learn how to follow orders before we'd let you join.'
Her words were rather amusing to everyone but Jack himself. They uncomfortably reminded him of the argument he still had to face as soon as they arrived home. It occupied his mind for the rest of the day – how was he going to make Aunt Allie understand?
