"I won"t let you down. Thank you, Mr Langdon." Adam was pleased to be trusted alongside Seamus.
A short time later, after Adam had seen to the horses, he went to his caravan and hurriedly cleaned himself up. He then made himself a sandwich, but he was so excited he couldn"t eat it. He put the sandwich aside, collected his torch and went off to find Seamus.
Seamus had already been briefed by the boss-man and he showed Adam the ropes. "Every half-hour, you check all the locks. You look for anything suspicious, like a flap of tarpaulin turned back, or a light on somewhere, or some little thing that doesn"t seem right. You check everything, however insignificant it might seem, but if you do find anything untoward, don"t take any chances, just call me and I"ll be there in a jiffy. Have you got that?"
"Yes, I"ve got that." Every word was emblazoned on Adam"s mind.
Some hour and a half later, he and Seamus had done the rounds three times, and the only misdemeanour they could find was that one of the workers had left a bucket across the walkway. In the gloom, Seamus accidentally knocked it over, startling both himself and Adam. Other than that, everything appeared to be normal.
"I"d best go and tell the women not to worry." Seamus thought the clatter of the bucket might have made them nervous. "I"ll not be a minute," he told Adam. "You just hang on here." He left him by the caterpillar ride.
Adam did as he was instructed. Keeping his eyes and ears open, he waited for Seamus to come back. Everything was quiet. There seemed nothing untoward.
He almost jumped out of his skin when Seamus came up behind him. "It"s all right. Young Amy is safely locked in the caravan, listening to her music. Apparently, the grandmother"s in her bedroom having a nap.
Seamus was relaxed. "Look, Adam, I"ll go round and check the rides. You have another walk round the stalls. We"ll meet up at the candyfloss stall. Oh, and we should swap torches. Yours looks a bit low on battery, I reckon. I"d much rather it died on me than you."
Adam thanked him. "It"s all right, Seamus." He gave the torch a shake. "I"m used to this one. It"s never let me down yet."
Seamus took him at his word, and each went his way.
Halfway round the site, Seamus thought he heard a noise. Standing still and quiet as a mouse, he listened a while. "d.a.m.ned cats!"
Taking out his cigarette packet, he plucked one out and pressed it to his lips, then he struck a match and lit the cigarette. Relaxing, he sat on the steps of the carousel and took a few puffs, blowing the smoke out in perfect circles.
Leaning back, he thought of his girlfriend at home and enjoyed the cigarette all the more. Adam"s a good boy, he thought, his mind now back on his responsibilities. Not many young boys actually listen to what you say ... at least not some o" these chaps we often hire through the summer. Think they know it all ... lazy little sods!
On the other side of the fairground, Adam was investigating the very same noise that Seamus thought he had heard.
When a cat ran out from under the tarpaulin, Adam breathed a sigh of relief. But the relief was ended when suddenly he was spun round and before he could shout for Seamus, his mouth was taped and a sack was thrown over his head. Propelled forward, he had no idea what was happening, or who the men were that held him in such a lock-hold he thought his arms would break.
Terrified, he felt himself being dragged over rough ground, and then he was lifted and thrown into what he imagined must be a vehicle of sorts. He could hear an engine running, but he couldn"t see or even cry out.
Behind him, Seamus heard the vehicle take off at speed. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, only to see the back end of a vehicle, partly hidden by flying dirt, and thick smoke rising from the exhaust. Just a fleeting glance, then all he could see were the lights as the vehicle sped away along the top lane. "Adam!" He screamed his name as he ran back to the stalls. "Adam, answer me, dammit!"
When it became obvious that Adam was nowhere to be found, he ran towards the Langdons" caravan, only to be greeted by a frantic Amy.
Having heard the speeding vehicle and then Adam"s name being called out, she was already running down the caravan steps. "What is it?" she screamed at Seamus. "What"s happened? Where"s Adam?"
Seamus wasn"t altogether certain exactly what had happened. "I sent Adam to check the stalls while I checked the rides. I heard a sound and ran round to the stalls, and there was this vehicle racing off a van, I think, but I can"t be sure."
Amy was fearful. "Where"s Adam?"
Seamus threw out his hands in despair. "I can"t find him. I"ve searched high and low and I can"t locate him. I checked the horses, but he"s not there either."
"So, where is he, Seamus?" Amy was beside herself. "Where could he have gone? And who did the vehicle belong to?" She had a really bad feeling. "I"m frightened, Seamus. What if he"s lying hurt somewhere? We"ve got to search. We"ve got to find him."
"I"ve searched every nook and cranny, and he"s nowhere on site," Seamus told her again. He took hold of her by the shoulders. "Listen, Amy, it"s no good us looking again. You"d best call your grandmother."
"No!" Amy was adamant. "Leave her be. She doesn"t care about Adam."
Inside her bedroom, Grandmother Langdon listened to the conversation for a while, and then she turned over, a devious little smile on her crinkled old face.
Outside, Amy ran past Seamus. "I"ll find him," she said. "He must be here somewhere."
Going after her, Seamus held her back. Looking down on her tearful face, he told her what he suspected. "I don"t know who was driving that vehicle, but whoever it was, I think they took him."
"No! Why would you say that?" Then Amy remembered what Adam had told her. "He said his father was a controlling man. He ran away. He said he couldn"t go back. Oh, Seamus, maybe Adam"s father took him?"
"But why s.n.a.t.c.h him like that? Why not come here himself, in daylight? Why did he not speak to your grandfather, like any other man would do? Amy, fetch Grandmother Langdon. Maybe she can get hold of Jack. Maybe he"ll know what to do."
Fearful for Adam"s safety, Amy relented, and ran into the caravan bedroom where she shook the older woman. "Grandmother! Get up, quick!"
Opening one eye, the older woman cursed. "What d"you want?"
Impatient, Amy shook her again. "We need Granddad. Adam"s gone missing."
"What? You mean he"s run off? I knew he would. I said all along he was trouble, but n.o.body would listen."
"No! He hasn"t run off. There was a van. Seamus thinks someone"s taken Adam. We need Granddad. Where is he, Grandmother? Can we call him?"
"No, we can"t, and even if we could, he wouldn"t thank you for it. He"s doing an important deal just now. You know he won"t like to be interrupted."
"He"ll want to know about Adam and the van. Please, Grandmother, give me the number and I"ll call him."
"I can"t! I don"t have a number. And if I did, I would not give it to you. I knew all along that boy was trouble. Good riddance to him. I won"t be shedding any tears at his going. Now get out and leave me be!"
When the door suddenly opened to admit Jack Langdon, Maggie was shocked. Drawing the covers over her, she demanded, "What"s brought you home so early? You said you"d be gone for most of the evening doing a deal or something ... buying a filly thoroughbred, so I was led to believe."
"Really? And who told you ... about the filly?"
"Well, I don"t know. You must have done."
"No, I didn"t. There wasn"t time."
"Well then, I suppose Bob must have told me ... We had a few words before he came to find you."
Jack was suspicious. "We"ll continue this conversation when I get back."
"Where are you going?"
His face set with anger as he stared down on her. "You get back to sleep. You and me ... we"ll talk later."
Hurrying outside, he shouted for Seamus. "Fetch the Land Rover. Be quick! And think hard ... which way did they go?"
When Amy came running down the steps, he told her, "Go back. Lock all the doors and windows and keep an eye on your grandmother."
"I"m coming with you two. I"m coming to find Adam."
"Do as you"re told, Amy!"
Amy"s answer was to fling the caravan door shut and run across to climb into the back seat of the Land Rover. "I"m coming with you, Granddad."
"Well, if I"m right, there"ll be no time for arguing. So keep quiet, sit still, and hold onto your hat!"
When he put his foot down hard on the accelerator, the capable Land Rover responded at speed. As they fled along the lanes, Amy clung on with both hands. She had no idea where they were going. She had a feeling that her grandfather knew something, and from the way he spoke to Grandmother Langdon, maybe she knew more than she was saying. It was a bad situation with undercurrents she did not understand, and Adam was right in the middle of it.
She could hear the two men talking in the front. "They wouldn"t have gone along the main route," Grandfather Langdon was saying. "Not from the way you described how the lights were bouncing up and down as they sped off. I reckon they went along the top lane?"
"That"s right. I could see the lights clearly bobbing up and down, which means they were on a rough surface. Besides, if they"d been along the bottom lane, the spinney would have blacked out the lights, but I could clearly see the lights travelling on."
"Right! So, that"s the way we"ll go along the top lane and let"s hope to G.o.d we"re right."
After a rough and frightening journey, Adam was yanked out of the van. Blindfolded, and completely unaware of why this was happening, he could feel himself being dragged along rough terrain. He heard the voices of his attackers, but he was not able to recognise them.
Suddenly his abductors came to a halt and he was dropped to the ground. All was quiet and for a moment he thought they"d gone, but then came the vicious kicking, and a harsh warning. "Somebody doesn"t like you! So don"t come back. You won"t get a second chance."
Time and again, Adam felt the impact of their boots against his battered body. Then he was rolling away, faster and faster before the darkness swept over his mind, and took away the pain.
Jack Langdon senior had grown up in the countryside. What he didn"t know about tracking was not worth knowing. Amy"s grandfather was his only grandson, and it had given the old man the greatest pleasure to teach him everything he knew.
It was this knowledge that Jack drew on now.
While he walked in front, following every dip and scar in the road, Seamus crawled on behind in the Land Rover. Amy watched her grandfather and she knew if anyone could find Adam, it would be he.
The abductors" van had left behind a trail of clues: the peculiar swerves, and the deep tyre tracks were still fresh and telling a story.
Amy had wanted to walk with him, but Jack told her to stay inside, and so she hung her head out the window and watched her grandfather"s every move. When suddenly he stopped to call out, "Here! They pulled in here!" both she and Seamus jumped out and ran to see.
The evidence of a vehicle having swerved towards the edge of the steep bank was clear. The ground was stirred up by the heavy-booted footprints from at least two people, and between the footprints the track of flattened dirt suggested that something heavy had been dragged along the ground.
Jack drew their attention to where the flattened ground carried on right to the recently broken edge. "Here!" Jack knew straightaway, and his fears were very real. "Go back and lock yourself in the Land Rover," he instructed Amy. "If anyone comes near you, press the horn, and we"ll be right there."
When she opened her mouth to argue, he told her firmly, "Amy! Do as I say. We don"t know what we might find down there." He had an idea, and it was not pleasant. If Adam had been thrown down there, Jack knew his chances of survival were very slim indeed.
For a painfully long time, Amy sat in the car, frantic and increasingly impatient. She wanted to go after them, but the lane was dark, and she was nervous. Granddad had looked really worried.
All she could think of was Adam. "Please, let him be all right," she whispered, over and over again. There was no comfort, no rea.s.surance, and now Seamus and her grandfather had been gone for so long, she began to worry about them too.
She was curled up, eyes closed, when a gentle tap came on the window. It was Seamus, and he looked fraught.
Quickly, Amy unlocked the door, and Seamus jumped in and started the engine.
"Seamus! Did you find Adam? Is he all right? Where"s Grandfather?" The questions came thick and fast.
"Yes, we found him." Putting the engine into gear, Seamus sent it hurtling forward, keeping a sharp eye on the road ahead. "He"s bad, Amy. I"m sorry, but Adam"s real bad. He"s alive, though, thank G.o.d. Your grandfather"s watching over him."
"Did Adam tell you who took him?" Amy could not hold back the tears.
Reluctant to tell her that Adam was in no fit state to speak, Seamus avoided the question. "We"ve to find a telephone quickly. There"s one in the next village. Hold on, Amy!" he warned her again, as he sent the Land Rover surging forward. "Hold on tight!"
Amy remained silent. There were no more questions. Just a desperate prayer, that they had found Adam in time, and that he would recover.
PART SIX.
Home is Where the Heart Is.
1960.
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
"I"M NERVOUS ABOUT meeting up with Jim and Liz." Sally linked her arm through Mick"s. "And I"ve got my fingers crossed that Adam will let you explain."
Mick rea.s.sured her: "Stop worrying, sweetheart. Miss Martin told him everything, and for now, I"m just delighted that at least, he"s agreed to see us."
Sally relaxed. "You"re right. If he didn"t want to know us, he would have said no straight off."
Mick was also nervous, though he was determined not to let his nerves get the better of him. This first meeting with Adam was too important. "I can never thank Miss Martin enough," he said now. "If it hadn"t been for her, and the others, I would never have known about Adam."
He glanced at Sally. "As for you " he squeezed her hand "you"re amazing. That day when Miss Martin came to see me, you could have packed your bags there and then. Instead, you took the time to listen to what I had to say, and once you understood, you supported me all the way." Leaning down, he kissed her on the cheek. "I loved you from the first day I saw you. Truth is, my life would be empty without you."
Sally smiled up at him. "I"m sorry I couldn"t give you children." Her smile brightened. "But you now have a son ... we have a son, and I so hope he"ll accept us, because from what we"ve been told, he"s had a bad time of it."
"Yes, he has, but if we"re given the chance to make it up to him, we"ll turn all that around, won"t we?"
"Yes, G.o.d willing." She gave a private little smile, "Oh, Mick ... just imagine ... a son, to love and care for. We"ll help him forget the bad times, and look forward with him to a better future. Oh, Mick! With us, he"ll have so much love."
Mick was filled with emotion by Sally"s enthusiasm. "You do realise that if he accepts us-"
"Yes ... what?"
He gave a happy smile. "There might come a day when we"ll be granddad and grandma. What do you think to that?"
Her smile said it all. "Babies ... oh, how wonderful!" She clung to him. "First, though, we need to be thankful for Adam. Like you say, if he accepts us, all the lovely things will follow. And I for one won"t mind having grey hair, with a bouncing grandchild in my arms."
Falling silent, they walked on, growing more excited, more nervous. This was a major day in both their lives. Miss Martin would be waiting for them at a cafe near to the hospital, where Adam was recovering, along with Adam"s foster parents, Liz and Jim. Also, they would finally meet Phil. According to Miss Martin, it was that dear man who had kept Adam under his wing, and never once faltered in his loyalty to the boy.
Deep in thought, Mick remained anxious. Meeting up with all these fine people was a daunting prospect. Suppose they took against him and Sally? Suppose they were able to persuade Adam against accepting them?