Chapter 6

Snoozy looked around nervously as he got out of his car.

He had no idea if Clyde was about or where he could be or even what he looked like now – they had both been teenagers last time they met, but he was sure he would know him if he saw him again. And he was sure Clyde would recognize him too, because he hadn't changed a great deal over the last fifteen years...

He walked up to Penelope's gate and hit the buzzer.

Snoozy heard a sound on the other end of it and pushed the gate, but the gate wouldn't move.

He hit the buzzer again and again.

"Stop doing that!" Penelope said through the speaker, "Is that you, Snoozy?"

"Yes!"

He pushed the gate again just as the lock snapped back, then he walked up the path towards the front door.

As he reached the porch Penelope opened the door.

She saw the wary look in Snoozy's eyes and frowned.

"What is wrong with you?" She exclaimed, "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"No." He said quietly, "But you could say I was looking out for one...here's Sylvester's pills."

And he took the bottle from his pocket and handed it to her.

"I'd better go."

He turned to leave.

"Snoozy!"

He turned back, nervously taking a glance behind her down the hallway, but seeing no sign of Clyde.

Penelope was staring at him.

"What are you talking about, ghosts? I know some of the trees by the pathway need to be cut back a little bit, I know it's a bit shady too - but didn't think it was that spooky!"

Snoozy felt awkward as he looked back at her. She was looking right into his eyes in the same kind of direct way that Sylvester had when he'd asked him what was going on- and it was hard to keep on lying about everything when he was being looked at in that way...

"I'd better go" He said again.

"Don't go, Snoozy!"

He glanced past Penelope and saw Sylvester standing in the hallway. His shirt was open and he looked tired as he leaned against the wall.

"You should be lying down!" Penelope told him, "Do you want to go to bed? I'll help you up the stairs-"

"No, I'm okay."

Sylvester looked back at Snoozy.

"Don't just stand on the doorstep, come in!"

Penelope stepped back and opened the door wider.

Snoozy hesitated, then he crossed the threshold feeling as if he had just stepped into danger.

As Penelope closed the door he looked around again.

"Where's Clyde?"

"Clyde?" Sylvester repeated.

"Where is he?" Snoozy said again.

"He went home." Penelope told him.

Then she stepped closer to him and looked at him curiously.

"You know him?"

And Snoozy nodded, knowing it was too late to hold back from the truth any longer.

"I used to know him a long time ago. We used to hang together. Clyde was younger than me- fifteen, sixteen- but he was crazy! He was a dangerous kid and he's even more dangerous now he's grown up!"

Sylvester still felt slightly unsteady and as he looked at Snoozy and thought about everything he had just said he wondered why he had bothered to get up just yet - because he was feeling confused all over again, this time because of what Snoozy had just said...

"Okay...explain again because I've not exactly been at my best today, Snoozy. You used to know Clyde. You say he was a bad kid. I admit he's obnoxious and I don't care much for his attitude around Penelope, but why would you think he's dangerous?"

Snoozy held back on Clyde's boasts about a double murder because he was sure they didn't need to know that too in case it led to more trouble – so he just gave them the basic facts:

"Clyde McDonald is a drug dealer, a big dealer. That's what I've heard but I don't know anything else. Me and him fell out when we were kids and he told me he'd kill me if I ever said anything bad about him."

And he looked at Sylvester.

"I'm sorry, I was too scared to say anything!"

Sylvester gave a sigh; suddenly a lot of things made sense and one look at Snoozy's scared expression explained it all.

"You could have told me." He said to him, "If you felt you couldn't come to me you could have told Sparks! I'm damned sure he's not scared of anyone!"

"I couldn't tell you. I couldn't tell Sparks either, I didn't want to be the one to cause trouble. I'm sorry, Sylvester."

Snoozy looked like a scared kid instead of a grown man all of a sudden.

Sylvester briefly put his hand on his shoulder and spoke to him kindly.

"It's okay. What matters is you've spoken out now. I'm glad you told me that."

Penelope was standing there feeling stunned as the conversation unfolded.

"Clyde?" She exclaimed, "He's a drug dealer? He can't be..."

But Sylvester was still talking to Snoozy.

"Have you got proof? Because hearing a rumor on the street doesn't mean it's true."

Penelope stared at them both in disbelief.

"Hello? I AM here!"

Sylvester turned and looked at her

"Sorry Penelope, I'm just trying to make sense of all this – what does Clyde do for a living? What has he told you?"

She thought about it.

"He imports fine antique furniture from around the world. He uses my shipping company to bring it in..."

Her eyes grew wider.

"Oh no...You don't think he's using my company to..."

"I don't know." Sylvester replied, "Maybe he's not doing anything wrong, maybe it's just a rumor with no truth in it."

Snoozy looked hurt by those words.

"I know these things! Why don't you believe me?"

"I'm not saying I don't believe you," Sylvester told him, "But it's a serious accusation to make – we need proof."

Penelope thought about it.

"He's got a shipment coming in the day after tomorrow. We could get customs to turn the whole lot over and-"

"No!"

Penelope looked confused.

"No?"

Sylvester saw her clueless expression and gave a sigh.

"Penelope, if Pitstop Shipping gets caught up in this mess the cops won't believe you didn't know anything about it, Clyde was your boyfriend!"

She drew in a shocked breath.

"I could go to jail?"

Sylvester thought about his own experience of fifteen years behind bars and shook his head.

"No. You won't go to jail, not ever! I'll make sure of that. Just believe me, prison isn't something you ever want to experience. We keep the cops out of it. We'll go to the company tomorrow and I'll take a look at the shipping records. How long have you been letting Clyde arrange his imports through your fleet?"

Penelope thought about it and the more she thought about it the more worried she became.

"Six years!"

"That's a lot of records to go through. I can't do it today because I need to rest and I need to get back on my meds. We'll definitely do this in the morning."

Snoozy had been standing silent as they figured out their plan. As he spoke up he felt his insides twist with fear at the thought of taking on Clyde.

"What do we do then?"

Sylvester didn't need to think about his answer.

"If you're right and he is using the company to bring drugs into the country, we tell Sparks."

"What can your friend do?" Penelope wondered.

Sylvester just smiled.

"He can do a lot to keep you out of this messy business." He promised her, then he leaned a little harder against the wall as tiredness swept over him once more.

"I think I should go upstairs and lie down now."

"I'll help you."

Snoozy there before Penelope could say a word, and she watched as he put his arm around Sylvester and helped him up the stairway.

She was still thinking about what Snoozy had said about Clyde... it seemed unbelievable that he could have a secret life that she knew nothing about – or maybe Melanie was right and she did only try and see the good in people she cared about...

She thought about Melanie but decided against calling her; she was still angry about the mix up over the drinks.

Then Penelope went up the stairs, with only one thought heavy on her mind right now – she wanted to make sure that Sylvester was okay.

Long after Snoozy had gone home Penelope was still thinking about all he had said about Clyde. She turned it over in her mind and tried to think back to any little clue she could recall that would have suggested he was less than honest in his business dealings - but found none, because Clyde had always kept her in the dark about such things and now she was really starting to see that and the more she thought about it, the more she understood that Melanie had been right about so much...but the memory of what her mistake had done to Sylvester was still sharp in her mind and she decided yet again not to call her.

"Sylvester?"

She spoke his name softly and he gave a sigh and turned his head slightly but carried on sleeping.

Penelope smiled as she looked down at him, laying there on her bed with his shirt off while the cooling evening breeze came in through the window.

His firm tattooed body seemed to clash so much with his gentle personality and his softly spoken voice and as she thought about all the reasons why she loved him she wanted to climb onto that bed and take him in her arms and love him all over again – but Sylvester needed to rest and he was sleeping deeply and she knew he needed this sleep, so she leaned over him, gently kissed his cheek and then stepped away from the bed, leaving him to rest once more.

Penelope walked over to the bedroom window, half smiling as she thought about Sylvester laying there on her four poster bed looking like a sleeping prince.

But then she thought about that seizure he had suffered and her smile faded:

She didn't know what to believe about Clyde at this moment in time, but she did know for sure he had been wrong when he had said she would tire of taking care of him - she loved Sylvester; she wanted to be with him no matter what - and his seizures were a part of him and she couldn't change that, she didn't want to change anything about him – she loved him, it was as simple as that, she loved him and nothing could ever get in the way of that fact...

Penelope's gaze was on the darkened garden.

As she looked down at the shady trees that seemed to collect shadow as dusk fell, she thought about what Snoozy had said and wondered if the garden was getting a little spooky. She didn't see it that way in the day time but when evening came she knew he certainly had a point... the whole pathway that led up to the front gate was in shade, and at night it certainly didn't look very inviting at all.

Her gaze wandered across the garden:

Shrubs and bushes, roses, trees, then the lawn where there stood a water feature with a stone fish spouting water into the air. Beyond the garden there was a gate that led to the long, dark yard that went around to the garage.

She gave a sigh and decided she would have to get some of the shrubbery and the trees cut back soon, because although she didn't find the place spooky in daylight, it was certainly beginning to look creepy at night...

Then she frowned as a creeping chill ran over her flesh and she looked harder into the gloom:

Did something move down there?

Penelope was still looking into the shadows.

And he stepped out, just for a moment.

She caught her breath, staring into the garden half covered by dusk... someone... she was sure she saw someone, a shape in the shadows, a man?

From the bedroom window it was impossible to tell who it was.

Her heart beat a little faster as she took a deep breath and reminded herself the gate was locked, the walls around the house were high - apart from one side where the hedges grew, but they were thorny and no one would be able to get through that...

The only way in was through the gate.

She had good security.

The house had always been safe ever since she had come to live here again, when she was older, after her parent's deaths.

She had a panic button in the bedroom that could summon the police if anyone tried to break in.

When she had first moved back here she had considered getting security staff, but then she had changed her mind because she was sure the tighter she made security, the more of a prison her own home would become. Her parents wouldn't have wanted her to live like that...

Penelope glanced back at Sylvester, who was sleeping deeply.

She guessed the only person who could still gain access to this place without buzzing the gate was Clyde, because he still had a key, purely because in the heat of the moment she had forgotten to ask for it back.

Perhaps he wanted to talk to her...

She walked quietly from the bedroom, taking one last glance back at Sylvester, feeling as if walking away from him to face this alone was like turning her back on her only safety...

Then she closed the door behind her and went quietly down the stairs, heart pounding as she tried to push away a sense of creeping dread that she couldn't explain:

It was Clyde, it had to be.

It couldn't be anyone else.

It was Clyde and she was going to talk to him and ask him to leave...

She kept reminding herself of that fact all the way up to the front door - because it didn't matter if it was dark, it didn't matter that the shadows in the gloomy garden suddenly seemed so sinister, because the bogeyman only existed in her imagination, he wasn't real...

As she reached the front door and began unlocking it, her heart was still pounding.

Penelope tried to stay firmly in the real world instead of the one where her nightmares took her back to:

There were no monsters; only bad dreams.

And that had all been a very long time ago...

She stepped out onto the porch, giving a shiver in her thin dress even though the night air was still warm. She hadn't even thought about getting ready for bed yet because Sylvester had been sprawled out all over her bed and in such a deep sleep she had just let him sleep on, knowing he needed the rest.

It was almost eight thirty now and evening was creeping slowly towards nightfall and all she could see as she looked up the path were shadows lining the way up to the old iron gate.

She drew in a breath and took a step forward then another, each one became easier but at the same time those steps reminded her of the distance between herself and the house and she was sure she would lose her nerve if she looked back.

The heels of her strappy summer shoes hit the ground softly as she slowly walked down the shady path.

A rustle from the trees made her stop in the middle of the path.

She caught her breath again and shivered as she looked around and saw nothing but shadow.

"Who's there?" She called out, just about finding her voice before fear threatened to choke it off, "Clyde, if that's you this isn't funny! Come out, let me see you!"

As she took in a breath her chest felt tight as if the air around her was running out and she knew she was on the brink of panic; this had been a stupid thing to do, to come out here alone in the dark...but Sylvester was sleeping, he had been unwell and it just didn't seem right to wake him up just because she was scared...of what? Clyde coming back for another stupid quarrel?

She heard a sound, the sound of footsteps as a person stepped aside.

He was standing on the pathway now, blocking the view of the gate beyond that led to the street outside.

She couldn't see his face or much of his body at all because it was covered by a long black cape and the hood came down so far his face was in shadow just like the trees at dusk seemed to carry shades of the night beneath their heavy boughs.

She breathed in sharply and as the words came out they were almost choked away by the fear that made her throat go tight as if his hands were already about her throat.

"No..." She stared at darkened figure, who took another step closer and then just stood there...

"No!" She said again, "The Hooded Claw?"

Penelope turned and broke into a run.

The open door was getting closer and closer and she ran and ran, keeping her eyes fixed on it.

"HELP!" She screamed, "Help me, somebody!"

As she ran he ran, he ran fast, she could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck and she raced in through the open door, tripping on the rug as her shoe caught the carpet.

Penelope fell to the floor with a thump and opened her mouth to scream again, but he was on her now, his knee heavy against the middle of her body, choking off all air as he leaned closer, laughing in a low voice as he lowered a strip of tape and firmly sealed her mouth with it.

He cuffed her hands in front of her and then wrapped a roll of tape around her ankles, binding them together.

She tried to make a muffled cry but all she could do was look up at the hooded figure in terror as she fought to breathe through her nose while her heart hammered in her chest and she shook with fear.

"It's been a long time, Penelope!" He said in a low, hissing voice as he stood over her.

Despite her fear, Penelope frowned as it dawned on her that something was not adding up:

This was not the Hooded Claw from her nightmares, not the figment of her imagination. And he was definitely not Sylvester gone crazy again, she had recognized Sylvester on that night he had attacked her so long ago...but this man was a total stranger...

"I'm the real one." He whispered, "The real Hooded Claw!"

Penelope gave a muffled cry as he grabbed hold of her bound ankles and dragged her out of the house, down the porch steps and up the darkened pathway.

"I killed your parents." He said in a low voice, "And now I've come back for you..."

She was out of the gate, the world was in darkness and all she could see was the sky above her sliding away as she was dragged roughly onwards.

Suddenly he dropped her ankles and grabbed her by the shoulders instead, lifting her painfully and making her scream against her gag.

She was being thrown into the back of a waiting car.

The moon was out by now and as she looked at the car all she saw was dark, scratched paintwork...she had never seen this vehicle before...

Then the door slammed shut and the hooded figure jumped into the driver's seat, turned on the engine and auto locked the doors.

The car took off into the night with a squeal of rubber on tarmac; Penelope was gone...

Sylvester Sneekly had been sleeping deeply and as he awoke he was sure he heard the sound of a car taking off at great speed.

He sat up and felt no dizziness and that came as a relief.

"Penelope?" He said aloud, still feeling groggy from sleep.

The room was silent.

He turned on the light, blinked as his eyes got used to the brightness and looked around the bedroom.

"Penelope?" He said again.

There was still no answer so he got up and put on his shirt and then his shoes and walked out of the bedroom.

He turned on the hallway light and then held on carefully to the rail as he went down the stairs; he seemed to be feeling much better now but he wouldn't be back on his meds until the morning and he wasn't about to take any chances because if he had a seizure now he would fall and probably kill himself because these stairs were steep...

When he reached the bottom he turned on another light, looking around the empty downstairs hallway.

"Where are you?" He wondered aloud, then as he looked towards the front door his eyes widened as he got a bad feeling that crept through his insides and pulled them tight:

The front door was wide open...

Sylvester looked around the hallway hoping to find a note, anything that would tell him there was a logical explanation for this.

Then he guessed maybe she had needed something and had gone out while he was sleeping.

He went back through the house and out to the garage, feeling sure if Penelope had gone to town for something she would have taken the car at this time of night – but her pink car was parked in the garage where she had left it...

He left the garage and walked around the side of the house, calling her name again.

Then he reached the shaded pathway and as he did so he stopped and stared:

The gate was open...

"Penelope!" He called out, hurrying down the pathway.

But as the gate opened with a creak and he looked out he could see clearly up and down both sides of the street and there was no sign of her...

He went back up the path and into the house once more, deciding to search the place from top to bottom before he jumped to any conclusions- this was a big house and there could be many rational explanations why he couldn't find her, and he had to eliminate those possibilities first before he made the very last move he ever wanted to make –to call the cops and tell them she was missing - because with his past history he would immediately become their number one suspect...

The car came to a halt.

It stopped so fast Penelope was bumped about on the back seat, but she was bound and gagged so tightly she could do nothing but manage weak muffled cries that no one but her captor could hear.

He got out of the car.

Penelope scanned the interior of the vehicle but saw nothing she could use to grab and try and loosen her bonds, there was nothing in here at all. This car looked like a wreck; the leather seats were ripped and everything looked old.

Was this a stolen car?

She wasn't sure why she had wondered that because suddenly she had no more time to think as the passenger door opened up and she found herself looking up at him.

She screamed into her gag again:

It was him, The Hooded Claw...

He was different to her nightmares and she knew this was not Sylvester masquerading as her nightmare man because he was asleep upstairs and she had seen this man in the garden from the bedroom window, while Sylvester had been in the same room fast asleep...

He reached for her and grabbed her by her hair, her back was flat on the passenger seat and she struggled but it made no difference, because this man was strong.

He pulled her by her hair until her head and shoulders were hanging out of the open passenger door.

Then she gave a muffled cry of alarm as he unrolled some string.

"I'm not going to kill you with this." He told her, I'm going to do something else."

She screamed against her gag again.

"Shut up bitch!" The hooded man yelled, then he took in a breath and composed himself.

"Shut up or I'll hurt you! Listen to me; I'm going to tell you exactly what happens next..."

Penelope struggled to breathe as she half lay hanging out of the car, looking up at him:

Even now she saw no face beneath his hood, only darkened shadow...

"I am going to tie this string to the open window of your door." He said, looping it around the window and tying it on, "The other end will tie to the locked handle of the front passenger door..."

And he finished tying it off, so the door was held open.

Then he laughed darkly.

"Then I'm going to give this car a little push down this steep slope and you will roll all the way to the bottom where the car will go off the road and narrowly pass through that gap far down below, between two trees. The force of this impact will break the string, slamming the door against your neck - and chop off your pretty head!"

Penelope's eyes grew wide as she gave a muffled scream and struggled in vain.

He was at the back of the car now, he was pushing it and the vehicle was moving forward slowly.

As it moved she saw the upside down view of the dark, steep hill and the trees beyond it.

The car began to roll, slowly at first and then gaining speed as it hit a bump and her head was slammed against the open door. Her long hair was trailing in the dirt a fraction from the moving wheels and the car was rolling downwards and she was screaming into the gag.

Then loud music split the air for a second, someone yelled her name and ran down the slope, grabbing the door on the driver's side and pulling it open.

He dived in and slammed on the brakes and the car came to a sharp halt.

Penelope was staring up the darkened sky, barely breathing as she wondered what was going to happen next. All she knew was she had been about to die, she still expected to die...

Then the driver got out and hurried around to the passenger side.

He ripped the tape from her mouth and pushed the catch free, unlocking the cuffs that held her wrists.

She dragged in a deep breath and stared in shock at her rescuer.

"Clyde?"

He helped her to sit up and then he quickly unwrapped the tape from her ankles. As he did that he glanced around but saw no one.

"I came over to the house to talk to you. I saw this guy dragging you into his car so I followed. Oh God Penelope, you could have been killed!"

She gave a sob and felt instantly safe once more as Clyde put his arms around her and gave her a brief hug.

"Come on," He said, "Lets get out of here. I think I scared him off, let's just get in Chuggaboom and get you back home."

He tried to help her from the car but Penelope managed to stand and as she looked at him she knew she was grateful, of course she was- but although she appreciated his help, it changed nothing; she was in love with Sylvester now...

"Thank you," She said to him, "But I'm okay. I can walk."

All the same he still insisted on keeping his arm around her as she got into Chuggaboom.

Clyde kept the music off as he started the engine and they drove away from the hill, turning onto the road that would lead back to Penelope's house.

She gave a sigh and leaned back against the seat as she closed her eyes.

And Clyde gave a sly smile as he kicked his hooded disguise further under the driver's seat, ensuring it was properly out of sight...

As they drove she ached all over and she wanted nothing more to be home and safe once more.

She looked at Clyde and blinked away tears.

"You saw him?"

Clyde nodded.

"Sure I did. I mean, I was parked at a distance but I saw a guy grab hold of you."

"You saw the Hooded Claw?"

Clyde glanced away from the road.

"The what?"

"The Hooded Claw. He was wearing a black cape with a hood and I couldn't see his face..."

Clyde stared at her and shook his head and then looked back at the road once more.

"This Hooded Claw stuff has really screwed with your head, Penelope...I saw a guy in a ski mask with a gun."

Penelope looked at him sharply.

"He didn't have a gun, Clyde! I know what I saw; I was the one who got abducted! And he didn't have a ski mask! He was wearing a cape with a hood and I couldn't see his face!"

Clyde was still watching the road, resisting the urge to smile as he felt sure his plan was beginning to work...

"You've been seeing a guy in hood since your parents were murdered, Penelope. We both know that's not what happened here tonight. He was some random chancer- a pervert or even a kidnapper- he's probably been watching you for quite some time."

"I know what I saw." She said quietly, feeling as if her mind was threatening to fall to pieces inside her head, "I saw him clearly. He had a hooded cape!"

"Well you might not want to tell anyone that or people will start thinking you're going crazy all over again." He said quietly, "Because I saw him too and he was a guy in a ski mask , a stranger trying to abduct you - I don't know why, maybe he wanted to kill you, maybe he was a pervert or maybe he'd found out how much money you're worth. But what ever it was, there is no Hooded Claw, Penelope. Stop that crazy talk."

Then they drove in silence for a few moments before he spoke again:

"I know you've been through a lot but we should go to the police about this. Because I think we both know who the most likely suspect is!"

She felt bruised and sore from her ordeal but her pain vanished as anger took over and she glared hard at him.

"You're saying it was Sylvester? No, Clyde - it wasn't him and I can prove it too! I saw the man who grabbed me while I was looking out of the bedroom window! I saw him down there in the shadows and all the while Sylvester was in the same room, he was on my bed, sleeping because he was getting over his seizure! So keep him out of this!"

They pulled up outside the house and Penelope got out of the car.

Clyde got out too, following down the pathway to the open front door.

"Penelope!"

Sylvester came out of the hallway and joined her on the porch; he took one look at her scratches and the dirt in her hair and put his arms around her tightly as he glared at Clyde.

"What have you done?"

Penelope looked up at Sylvester and explained at once.

"He's done nothing! He came over to apologize to me and he saw some guy drag me off in a car. He saved me. And before you even suggest it, we can't go to the cops."

Sylvester stared at her.

"I was just about to call them because I couldn't find you! What the hell happened tonight?"

Penelope looked at Clyde, then back at Sylvester and tears filled her eyes:

If she breathed one word of this to the cops, Sylvester would be their number one suspect simply because of his past...

"Some guy tried to abduct me. Clyde scared him off. If I tell the cops they might try and put you in the frame, Sylvester!"

Then Penelope looked back at Clyde.

"You'd better go. Thanks for helping me tonight."

Clyde noticed the way she had her arms wrapped around Sylvester.

"Okay." He said quietly, "Take care of yourself, Penelope."

Then he turned and walked back towards the gate, and with his back turned Penelope did not see the smile on his face:

His plan was starting to work: It wouldn't take long to turrn Penelope would be a nervous wreck, because she would soon be having another visit from The Hooded Claw...

Sylvester closed the front door and put the locks on, then he held Penelope tightly in his arms as she sobbed.

"I'm so sorry!" He said as he stroked her hair, "I should have been there for you. I feel so useless! I could have protected you if I hadn't been so tired because of that stupid seizure!"

Hearing him speak so harshly about things he had no power to change made her forget her own situation for a moment.

She pulled back a little and looked into his eyes.

"That's not your fault! You didn't know this was going to happen!"

Sylvester gave her another hug, then he gently kissed her.

"From now on," He told her, "If you see or hear anything suspicious, you don't investigate it by yourself! You'll do nothing except call the cops, can you promise me that?"

Penelope nodded.

Sylvester put his arm around her waist and they made their way towards the stairs.

"I'm going to run you a hot shower and then we're going to bed." He told her, "And I'll hold you close to me all night long. And don't worry about prowlers hanging around any more- you're safe now and I'm going to make sure you stay that way."

"Thanks." She said quietly as they climbed the stairs together.

Sylvester's closeness helped to reassure her, but as much as she loved him she knew she couldn't tell him the truth about the man who had abducted her, not after what had happened all those years ago when he had been sick:

The Hooded Claw was a name Sylvester never needed to hear again...