Time to Migrate

What you have to do, you do.

TIME TO MIGRATE

The gardens sloped down from the houses to a small river that edged the bottoms. Trees lined both sides of the river, and gave welcome shade in the summer to those who wished to go boating or just sit and read. Some fishermen were to be seen at weekends, sitting on their small stools with their rods trailing into the water. Although these fishermen might be associates or friends, when fishing, a word never passed between them. They were there to enjoy the silence and to indulge themselves in a peaceful pastime. The houses were, in the majority, owned by water sports enthusiasts, but there was one exception and that was the pub-restaurant that went by the name of The Grapevine. The name was very old and had never been changed, even though it had changed owner. There had been many different owners over the years, the local populace had lost count of them. Rumours abounded, of course, but there was no definite reason behind so many changes of owner.

Martin Mason, a retired army man, had found the restaurant when he was on the lookout for a business to run, and provide a good investment till he retired completely from his work life. He still had to maintain his two children, Danna his daughter, and Luke his son, who were both still at school. Martin and Wendy, his wife, couldn’t just get up and go wherever their fancies took them, however much they might want to. Every morning, Martin went shopping at the market for the fresh fruit and vegetables that he was going to use in that day’s meals. He would then go to a butcher, who specialized in the kinds of meats he needed, and to a fishmonger, too, for shellfish and white fish. His wife saw to the financial side of the business, which meant cashing up at the end of every day and making sure that everyone who worked there did their job well.

On that particular day, Martin drove up to the pub car park from the road. A large flight of steps led up to the entrance, with a stone vase containing plants on each step. Above the heavy glass and wood doors was a sign with The Grapevine written. Inside the building there were two floors: just out of sight below the staircase there was a beer and wine cellar, then the main floor with two bars, two dining-rooms, and a kitchen. The Grapevine was a thriving business, even though it was located outside city limits. The food was better than could be imagined by even the most fastidious of palates, as a result it was popular with smart people and those in business, who would go for lunch and dinner on a regular basis.

The large country house owned by a well-known criminal defence lawyer was in total darkness, a sign to any stranger lurking around that nobody was at home. The lack of jobs, and those that were available were too poorly paid to be considered interesting enough to take on, had resulted in small gangs starting up to relieve those who were better-off from some of their wealth.

Adam was a young man, who had learnt early on in life that certain crimes pay, especially those where wads of money can be found without any sweat. He had met up with some friends with a similar outlook on life, and they had done a few small jobs.

The large house was considered to be easy pickings, so, on the night in question, when they had been informed that the lawyer would be out of the country, they drove up in a small, stolen car. Armed with torches and guns, the group soon managed to get inside the house.

They were creeping about on the ground floor when a voice said, “What on earth do you think you’re doing? I’m calling the police.” All the downstairs lights had been turned on and the young delinquents were dazzled by the glare from an enormous chandelier. The lawyer had arrived back earlier than expected, and was confronting the burglars in person. Also, he wasn’t alone. The lawyer was accompanied by his wife and another couple. There was a mad rush for the front door and the lawyer, who was armed as well as the boys, shot up into the air to frighten them off. Adam, who wasn’t all that good a shot, automatically pressed the trigger on his own weapon and aimed it at the lawyer, who received a bullet in his chest. The front door was opened and everyone ran outside the house. The lawyer’s wife ran to where her husband was lying in a rapidly growing pool of blood. The other man was on his mobile calling the police.

The gang ran out to the car. Adam was the last one to jump in. The car flew along the road till the house was out of sight. There was an unpleasant silence inside the car, and in that atmosphere they travelled on until they came to a crossroads. Damian, who was driving, stopped the car and turning to Adam, said, “This is where we part company. Joe and Kilroy agree with me, you’re a danger to us. You’ll only bring us bad luck.”

Adam turned and stared at his other mates, and seeing the look on their faces telling him more eloquently than spoken words that he could expect no help from them, said, “I didn’t mean to kill him, only to frighten him off.”

“But you did kill him, so out you get, and good luck. You’re going to need it. So long, Adam,” was the last thing Adam would hear Damian say.

The night air was cold and damp and Adam, who was very slim, felt the cold badly. He was out in the countryside without knowing what to do or where to go, so he began walking following the direction the car had taken. For a short while he tried running to keep warm, but too much alcohol and cigarettes taken since before he was a teenager, had done enough damage to make him breathless after a few minutes. He hunched himself up in his coat and walked as fast as he could. A sign advertising The Grapevine came into sight, and at once he thought of hot food and a cosy place where he could make himself comfortable for the rest of the night.

Feeling lighter-hearted, Adam walked on until he saw the welcoming lights of The Grapevine. There were several expensive cars parked outside, and it was easy for Adam to cross the car park and enter the restaurant through the kitchen door. What Adam didn’t know, was how attentive Dylan, the chef, was. As soon as Adam showed up, he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and taken down to the cellar. At the same time Dylan called for Martin. The cooks took no notice of the event and continued with preparing the dinners. Martin caught up with Dylan as he was dragging Adam downstairs.

“We can call the police tomorrow, and tell them we have a burglar for them. I’d better go and get him some food. He looks starving,” said Dylan, and he left Martin and Adam alone.

“What were you doing in my kitchen?” asked Martin.

“I was looking for somewhere to spend the night. I’m frozen and tired, and above all, hungry,” Adam told Martin.

“Why are you out on such a night without a car or any mode of transport?” Martin asked, more curious than ever.

Adam cleared his throat, and understood that the imposing man before him was used to giving orders. “I went with some friends to burgle a large house some way from here. A famous lawyer lives there. We were under the impression that he was away. The whole plan went wrong when he and three other people came out of a room and caught us snooping around - when he was supposed to be on holiday. He caught us, and in the affray I shot him. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to kill him. I’m not very good with a gun.”

“Where’s the gun now?” Martin asked, holding out his hand.

Adam put his hand in a pocket and took out the gun and placed it in Martin’s outstretched hand. “Thank you. I’ll put it where you won’t get tempted to use it again.”

A sound on the stairs made them fall into silence. Dylan entered with a tray covered with plates full of hot food, bread, and a glass of beer.

“I’ll make up a bed for you down here. I have an office I use once in a while for private reasons, so don’t be afraid, no one knows about this. Eat up, and I’ll be down presently. I have customers to attend to.” Martin said to the grateful boy, who had already got stuck into eating the warming meal.

Half an hour later, when Martin returned, he saw that Adam had eaten up every last bit of the food. He pushed back what appeared to be a cupboard, but in reality was the entrance to a small office. It was stark. The only furniture was a small desk with a chair, and a fold-up bed with a full set of bedding. Martin pulled open the bed and made it up for the boy to sleep on. Adam noticed that there were bars at the window. Martin followed his gaze.

“The bars are there so that no one can get in. You can see out but they can’t see in. This is the safest place you can be. If you wish to leave, you can, but under the circumstances I don’t think you’ll want to. Do you know the man you’ve just killed?”

Adam had sat down on the bed, and said, “No, I don’t. Who is he?”

“He was the defence lawyer for the biggest criminals around here. His name was Thomas Garland. Someone is going to be very upset when they discover he’s not going to be around to look after their interests in court. Your name must be kept a secret. Can you rely on your friends keeping this quiet?”

“I’m not sure. After all, they pushed me out of the car near the crossroads.”

“The problem is, if they’re found by the police and admit they were in the house at the time and give your name. Both the police and the crooks will be after you now. I’ll do what I can, but I haven’t worked out a full plan yet. Meanwhile, stay here and enjoy the food and the rest. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, and thanks for everything. I don’t understand why you are doing this for me.”

“Let’s just say, there won’t be many tears shed over the lawyer’s death.”

Martin locked the cellar door, and went upstairs to see how things were going in the kitchen and how many customers were left before he would be able to close up for the night.

The police arrived at Thomas Garland’s house as soon as they were able to. An ambulance was already standing outside the front door when the police got there. Garland was lying on the floor being attended to by a paramedic.

“How is he?” asked the superintendent.

“It’s more blood than serious damage. He’s not fit to be spoken to yet,” the paramedic said.

“I need to ask him some questions. It’s vital that he tell me what he can about the attack,” the superintendent answered.

“You can try, but I don’t promise you will get anything much out of him,” the paramedic told the superintendent.

“Mr Garland, can you tell me what happened?” That was the superintendent’s first question.

There was no corresponding answer from Mr Garland. The superintendent tried a few more times to get Mr Garland to respond, but he was foiled every time by the still form with eyes shut, and no sign that he had heard anything at all.

“Very well,” said the superintendent. “We’ll have to take down anything his wife and friends can tell us.”

One of the inspectors went up to the superintendent, and said, “It seems that it’s a case of a foiled burglary. The burglars were surprised by Garland, his wife, and friends, and there was a shoot out and Garland got hurt. They don’t know anything about the boys. They had never seen them before. End of story.”

“There’s more to this than meets the eye,” the superintendent said. “The lawyer is not just any old village or small town lawyer, he’s important. I want a person to stay here until this is all cleared up. He’s not to make a move. Were any of the perpetrators injured?”

“The witnesses say, the only person who was shot at was the lawyer. Sir, I don’t think Mr Garland will be making any moves, as he’s going to hospital now.”

“Then send someone into the hospital to keep him under surveillance. Anyone who pays him a visit must be scrutinised for guns or any other weapon. Two men on duty should be enough to cover the situation.” With those words the superintendent left the house with the inspector, and made arrangements for the other three occupants to go to the police station the next morning.

Martin got home later than was normal, and saw that his wife and children were all fast asleep. Wendy, his wife, had got used to being afraid for him when he was in the army. The times he had gone out on manoeuvres, she was almost always shaking with nerves. Although he was very tired and still hadn’t worked out how to deal with the Adam situation, Martin found it difficult to get to sleep. He spent a great deal of the night lying in bed with his head full of thoughts that didn’t get him anywhere near solving the problem Adam had presented him with.

Back at the pub, there was another one not having any joy in getting to sleep. Adam hadn’t thought about the consequences when he had broken into the kitchen of The Grapevine. His head was going round in circles, not so much about the shooting but the attitude of his mates, which had upset him more than he wanted to let on to Martin and Dylan. He was furious with them for abandoning him in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, he had seen the sign of The Grapevine. Adam knew he had been lucky in falling in with Martin and Dylan, the whole scenario could have resulted in his getting himself killed. Adam got out of bed and began wandering around. The desk drawers were empty and from the look of the tiny office, it wasn’t used very often. He wondered where Martin had put his gun. He wanted to get out, that was uppermost in his mind. Everything that could be moved he moved and found nothing, only a light dust. He would have to wait till morning before making a dash for it.

At five-thirty a.m. Dylan opened the kitchen door and entered. His first job was always to make sure that all the electrical appliances were in working order before dressing in his cooking whites. Then he remembered the boy in the cellar and prepared coffee, cereal, and toast for the unexpected guest.

Adam heard Dylan coming down the stairs and was waiting for him. As Dylan opened the cellar door and entered Adam hit him over the head with the office chair. The tray fell to the floor but Adam managed to grab the toast and drink what was left of the coffee before running off into the early morning light.

Outside the pub at that time of the morning the car park was occupied only by Dylan’s car. Therefore, he ran through the kitchen, which was still unoccupied, and down to the river, where he ran along the river edge till he found what he wanted, which was a small motor dinghy. Adam jumped in and saw the keys were still in the lock and five minutes later he was moving steadily down river. He had got away.

“Where’s he gone?” Martin asked Dylan, who was sitting on a kitchen chair with an ice pack on his head and feeling very sorry for himself.

“Boss, we should have handed him in to the police last night instead of helping him,” Dylan said resentfully.

“There’s something we’ve forgotten about - the gun. I spent a lot of time last night trying to work out how to get rid of it. We don’t want to be done for aiding and abetting a criminal.”

“And what conclusion did you come to?” Dylan asked.

“We are going to make a little trip up north. It’s high up there, and I know the perfect spot where to throw it away. Don’t worry about the cooking today, I’ve already told my wife that it’s necessary for you to accompany me on a food buying trip. She’ll organise the food. She’s done it other times.”

“How do you know about this place where we are going to drop the gun?” Dylan asked.

“When I was in the army we used to go training up there. It’ll be tough for you, maybe, but I’m sure you’ll soon get into mountain climbing again.”

Martin and Dylan got into the car used for shopping for the restaurant, and started it up. The car had been filled with petrol by Martin before setting out from home that morning. Dylan had also been in the army, and had learnt all about cooking in the Catering Corps. He and Martin were that rare pair who trusted each other’s decisions. If Martin had said, Jump! Dylan would have jumped. Wendy knew nothing of Martin’s plan, nor anything about Adam spending the night in the cellar. Martin thought it better for her to remain in ignorance.

Damian, Joe, and Kilroy were having breakfast in a cheap café the morning after their unsuccessful burglary attempt when a police car roared up outside. The trio suspected the police were there for them. The waitress indicated the three, when asked who the car parked outside belonged to.

The police walked over to their table. “Is that car outside yours?” asked one of the policemen.

The three stared at each other.

“A car with that number plate was reported stolen yesterday, and the same car was also seen at the scene of a crime last night. Can you explain any of this?”

Damian said, “All right we took the car, but we didn’t kill anyone.”

The policemen smiled, “Who said anything about killing anyone? We are all going for a nice little chat down at the station. There’s some explaining to be done.”

The stolen car was taken away by a tow-truck and the policemen, with the three failed delinquents, got into the police car.

Adam drove the dinghy till the petrol ran out. He found himself in a coastal area with fishing boats. He asked if passengers were taken on any of the vessels, when he was asked, “How much are you willing to pay?” He showed them some money he had stolen from a shop some days before he and his mates had contemplated going to the lawyer’s house.

As Martin and Dylan were driving up to Yorkshire to get rid of Adam’s gun, Adam was eating in a scruffy port café minutes before boarding the ship that would get him out of the country.

Martin and Dylan drove on higher and higher, till they saw the light covering of snow on the Yorkshire moors. “Let’s stop here, I need a walk,” Martin said to Dylan.

“Does it bring back memories?”

“Yes, it does rather,” Martin said as he got out of the car and began walking up a steep pathway. Dylan, who had met Martin years ago in the army, saw how the once dark hair now had quite a lot of white in it. Martin was still handsome but he had aged since leaving the army. “Civilian life doesn’t suit everyone, that’s for sure,” thought Dylan.

“That’s it,” said Martin, as he walked back to the car and got in. “I just wanted to make sure we were on the right track. I’ve seen the spot I’ve been looking for. It’ll soon be over.”

“What will soon be over?” asked Dylan.

“We have in our possession an incriminating weapon. I haven’t heard anything more about the lawyer being shot and injured, so we have to think the worst - that he’s most probably dead. Adam’s not here to plead his case, so we would be the prime suspects if the gun had been found in or near the pub. Once the gun has been got rid of, we’ll be able to breathe more easily.”

The car climbed up and up till it seemed they could touch the sky. The two ex-army men got out and climbed up to the edge of the rocks. Martin took out the gun, and with all his strength he flung the gun out and down the mountainside. They heard the muffled sound as it hit the rocks and break into small pieces.

“Hey, you can drive back, Dylan, I’m tired, and I fancy having a sleep on the back seat.”

“Very well, I’ll try to make it a smooth journey,” Dylan said, happy to be in the driving seat.

The police had to wait for some days before Thomas Garland felt fit enough to do a witness recognition. The trio was lined up against a wall together with other young men of similar age, height, and colouring. Mr Garland was looking through the mirror and staring hard at those who were in the line up.

“Do you recognise anyone here? We are hoping you remember one or more of these faces,” said the inspector.

The lawyer stood very still, and then, “There are three whose faces I remember here. That one on the left and those two over there,” he said, pointing out Damian, Joe, and Kilroy.

“You three stay here, the others can go,” the inspector said. Then, to Mr Garland, “Thank you, Sir, for coming along.”

“It’s as much as I can do,” Mr Garland said.

“They say there was another boy with them who shot at you. Do you remember this other boy?”

“No, I don’t. I only remember the three I’ve just pointed out to you. I saw their faces clearly enough as they ran out of the front door to the car.”

The boys were taken before the Magistrate, who declared they must stand trial, accusing them of burglary with armed aggression. During the court case, the police stated that there was no evidence that a fourth boy existed, and that they had probably thought up a fictitious boy hoping they would be believed, and get let off. The witnesses, indeed everybody, assumed that Adam had never existed, except in the minds of the accused.

Martin and Dylan cleaned up the pub, especially the cellar, eliminating anything that could show Adam had been there. They didn’t feel sorry for the guilty three as they had behaved dishonourably towards Adam.

One night, when all was quiet, The Grapevine caught fire. The insurance company’s origin and cause expert said it must have been faulty wiring.

Wendy was tired of pub life, it was too demanding, and suggested going to Australia. So after doing all the paper work, the Mason family flew away to begin a new life in Australia.

Dylan thought that leaving the country was a good idea, and he and his brother went to Spain and opened a pub/disco on the Costa del Sol.

Damian, Joe, and Kilroy did their time in prison. As soon as they were out, they were back on benefits.

Adam and his subsequent mysterious disappearance remained a topic of conversation that came up once in a while. They never knew any more about him.

As for the lawyer, he retired to his holiday home in Bermuda, far away from the freezing weather, and delinquent clients.

So, all the ‘birds’ had flown south!