18: Thievery is my Only Alibi

Alright, fellows, we’re getting this boring, mundane story moving along. Hopefully.

“It could be dangerous,” Ji-Ji said sceptically. “We don’t know what we’re getting into, and neither do you. Why, anyway?”

“Don’t be such a party-cruncher. It’ll be fun. C’mon, Ji-Ji! Flo P wants to, don’t you, Flo P?” Saraha flashed a grin in her friend’s direction.

“Err, sure. It’s better than rotting in this hellhole. What do you say, Lo?” Flo P turned to Logan.

Even though she was just asking his opinion of something, Logan felt his heart flutter, but he subdued it. If he let that get to his head, he would start blushing, and when he started, he would never stop. “I – uh – If you want to,” Logan stuttered.

Casper looked at Ji-Ji, and smirked. “Everyone says yes. You’re not scared, are you?” She bristled, ready to defend herself.

“Oh, please,” Saraha said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t be lecherous.”

“Lechers are banned from this camp,” Flo P informed Casper. “So if you want to be lascivious, please leave.”

Logan giggled impishly in the background.

Next thing Logan knew, his stomach was doing flip-flops. He wished he had a toilet to run to, and he felt jittery all over. “G – guys,” he whispered, his voice shaking.

Instead of Saraha, who usually mentally and verbally abused him, Flo P turned to him. “You’re not frightened, are you? Honestly, this isn’t that scary,” she said, eyeing him.

“N – No,” he replied, and swallowed his plea to go back to camp.

Life seemed surreal, now that Logan thought of it. Back at home, Flo P stuck up for him, cared, dismissed his cowardliness, and told others not to bully him over it. But in a few short months, that had all changed. They had become hardened warriors, and left Logan behind. Thinking this, Logan was sad. After all, the only courage he showed was sporadic and came from unknown places. He supposed even the most lily-livered person showed these symptoms once in a while.

“Go!” cried Ji-Ji, positioned by the bush. She silently jumped up, her curtain of black hair swinging behind her, and ran for the big red barn that was McGregor’s. Saraha and Flo P followed close behind, Logan spluttering to keep up in the background.

It was never his idea in the first place, to go steal food and supplies from McGregor. Actually, it was Saraha’s, and at first, no one had taken her seriously. But she’d persuaded them all eventually. Logan had only agreed because it would make Flo P happy, but he was seriously contemplating on withdrawing his vote. Now that he looked the cobra between the eyes, the benefits were totally dwarfed by the risks.

“Logan, what are you doing? Stand watch by the door!” Ji-Ji hissed.

Logan started abruptly, realising that he was staring off into the distance. “Yes!” he squeaked, and jumping in front of the big red doors. He peered around, but the farm seemed still and silent. A large farmhouse, shabby and peeling, stood off to the right, and various farming equipment, broken or in use, littered the yard. All around stretched either woods or, in most cases, farmland.

There was one thing the Quad Squad underestimated, however: McGregor, as neurotic as he seemed, was not stupid. In fact, he was quite cunning. He’d grown up on this land and fought against his belligerent younger brother for it, and won. He knew when something was amiss.

Meanwhile, Saraha, Flo P, and Ji-Ji were stuffing apples, carrots, rope, canvas sheets, and anything else of use into old sacks. McGregor’s farm was like a goldmine.

BAM! The massive door, which Logan had been guarding, closed with such a force that the beams of the ceiling vibrated. A light dust fell down on the four, and somewhere high above, a pigeon squawked indignantly.

“What the hell was that?” Ji-Ji said slowly and quietly.

From outside the door, a maniacal shriek sounded. “I WILL NOT HAVE THEIVES ON MY PROPERTY! HOSTAGES! STOWAWAYS! STEALING WITHOUT RIGHT! ON THE RUN FROM THE GOVERNMENT NO LESS! WE’LL SET THIS STRAIGHT… THOUGHT I WOULDN’T RECOGNIZE YOU, EH? WELL, THAT’S ABOUT TO CHANGE!”

There was the sound of a tractor starting up, and then a great tide pushed against the barn door, and then all was eerily still.

Saraha, Ji-Ji, and Flo P ran up to Logan, who was standing rigidly by the door. “What did you do?” Flo P cried, half-sobbing. “How did he find us? Logan, you were supposed to keep watch!”

Logan opened and closed his mouth, like a fish out of water. “I – I didn’t mean to – I – ”

Saraha calmly sniffed. “Well, it’s obvious who can’t be trusted.”

For some reason, this stung Logan like a million bees. He couldn’t be trusted? Was she serious? If it wasn’t for him, they’d never have gotten their behinds out of hometown and the Walrus Document would have been seized. If any of them, he was fighting for this cause hardest of all.

“He’s walking to the house. D’you reckon he’s going to call the police?” Flo P whispered, looking through a crack in the wooden planks of the wall.

“Of course.” For once, Ji-Ji had lost her calm composure. Her hair looked a bit frazzled, not like its normal, shiny leaf of black.

“Shart,” said Saraha. “We’ll get handed in. Great. Okay. Fine then.” She muttered to herself, and began to pace about. Flo P was still staring through the wall, while Ji-Ji was running her hands through her hair, obviously deep in thought.

But Logan stood in the centre of the room, totally still. Was it his fault? Of course. He could blame no one else.

It the door to the farmhouse slamming shut that knocked them out of their stupors. When they heard the sound of muttering, they knew that McGregor was right next to the door of the barn, and this terrified the four. What was he going to do, guard them until the police came? Or would he decide to kill them, and set the barn ablaze?

“You will get your comeuppance,” McGregor said in his grainy voice. “You brats have stolen and ruined everything, and I – ”

“Shut up, old man,” said a voice, and Ji-Ji let out a happy little squeak.

“What are you doing here, Skylark boy?” McGregor coughed, surprised.

A loud ring, like a metal pan being hit against a head, resounded throughout the farm, and soon the tractor started up. The weight on the door was released, and soon Flo P and Logan were able to force it open. While they stood blinking in the sunlight (the barn had been very dark and musty), Ji-Ji ran over to the tractor, and flung her arms around the boy that stepped out of it.

“Casper! Oh my god, how did you know we were in trouble?”

“I have my sources,” he said calmly. “But we need to get out of here, NOW. You can’t stay in Thorn Valley anymore.”

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE QUAD SQUAD NEXT WEDNESDAY IN “SPUR ON THE HORSE”?