Chapter One
Every child has been there. And every adult, of course, when they were a child. You spend weeks looking forward to the long summer holiday, counting down the days, longing for six weeks of doing just what you want, with no homework and no teachers. Just lying in bed, playing football with your mates and staying up way past your bedtime.
And then, two weeks after they’ve started, you’re bored and lonely because all your friends have gone to exciting places with their families, and you’re left to spend the time with only your little sister for company.
This was exactly where Jack was.
He was lying on his bed, cleaning his nails with a penknife. Actually, it wasn’t just a penknife, it was his penknife. A Christmas present from last year, he had kept it with him all the time, except at school; for some strange reason, the headmaster didn’t think it was a good idea for twelve year old boys to carry what was to Jack a perfectly useful tool that could be used for all sorts of things. He’d tried to argue, but failed. Never mind.
It was the second week of the summer holidays, and Jack was feeling bored. His friends were all away with their families, and his only source of companionship was his sister Jess. She was eighteen months younger than him, and whilst he needed some form of mental or physical stimulation, she was happy watching TV all day if she could get away with it.
Jack had spent the morning in his bedroom reading, and now it was lunchtime his stomach needed filling and his legs needed some exercise. He went downstairs to find Jess, who he knew would be in the living room watching Cartoon Network or something similar.
“Fancy going for a picnic?” he asked as he walked in the room.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll just finish watching this.” ‘This’ was SpongeBob SquarePants , a programme she watched regularly and that Jack felt he had grown too old for, despite the fact that his dad would sit and watch it with Jess every Saturday morning. Jack couldn’t understand why, but he didn’t say anything. He just felt a little more grown-up than his sister. And his dad.
“I’ll be in the kitchen making a sandwich to take. Come through when you’re ready.”
“OK.”
His mum was in the kitchen, making a cup of tea. “Hi, Jack. It must be time for lunch.”
“It is, yes. I was going to make a sandwich and take Jess into the woods for a picnic.”
“Good idea. It’s a lovely day out there, a bit of fresh air would do you both good. Don’t go too far, though. I don’t want to have to send out a search party.”
“No, Mum.”
‘Woods’ was maybe too grand a name for what was a collection of trees at the end of their road, about three or four deep, the other side of which was a wire fence and a field where a few horses were kept. Jack had never worked out who owned them, but he didn’t really have any interest in horses, so his investigations had been very brief.
“Who owns those horses, Mum?” he’d asked when they’d moved in two years ago. “I don’t know, Jack,” was the reply. And that was it. He’d never bothered to find out, and as they seemed to be well looked after, it didn’t enter his head to enquire further.
Anyway, the idea that they may get lost was, in Jack’s mind, a ridiculous one, but his mum always said the same thing, and he was just young enough not to get annoyed with her about it.
While his mum drank her tea and found two packets of crisps, two apples and filled a water bottle, he made two raspberry jam sandwiches. Jess came through from the living room, yawning as she did so.
“You see,” said Mum, “a bit of fresh air is what you both need. Enjoy yourselves, and don’t get lost.” Despite the fact that she had already said it, Jack knew that she wouldn’t be able to rest all afternoon if she didn’t also say it to Jess. Mum was strange like that.
They weren’t going far, and Jack didn’t want to be carrying a back pack around with him, so he found a Tesco’s plastic bag and put their food in that, then they both said “Bye” to Mum, went out the back door and down the side of the house to the front.
The two of them lived in a house in a village with their mum, dad, two cats and a fish tank. Dating back over a thousand years, there were some very old houses there, but the one they lived in was only about twenty years old, in the middle of an estate that was had one main road and a few some side roads that branched off from there. Pretty much like any new estate, really.
The ‘woods’ were at the end of the road, not much more than a hundred metres from their house. Although it was only a few trees deep, it stretched for a few hundred metres in both directions, with a path running alongside high garden fences that connected all the cul-de-sacs on this side of the main road. At the end of the road they turned right and walked about fifty yards along the path to their favourite spot, where there was a fallen tree they could sit on. It also had the added advantage of being out of sight of any of the houses in the area, and had some seclusion from walkers on the path.
They had found this spot when they had first moved in, and so far no one else seemed to have discovered it.
Jack sat astride the trunk, while Jess sat sideways, like on a chair. It was a warm summer’s day, and the shade from the trees was very welcome. What wasn’t so welcome was the amount of insects, flies, wasps and other pests that were flying around. Jack wondered if jam sandwiches had been such a good idea, but it was too late now. He wasn’t going to go back and get something else.
Jack passed one of the sandwiches to Jess, and carefully unwrapped his own, so that he could eat it without the rest of the sandwich being exposed to any passing wasps. He took a big bite, got his penknife out of his pocket and started to make a hole in the tree trunk between his legs.
“What are you doing?” asked Jess, spraying crumbs over Jack’s trouser legs.
“Just playing. You know, we’ve got another four weeks holiday, and nothing to do. Everyone else has gone away, and we’re doing nothing.”
“Well, if we could go anywhere, where would you like to go?” she asked, taking another bite.
“Somewhere more interesting than here, that’s for sure.”
“Disney World?”
“Yeah, maybe. I’d rather go exploring than a large funfair, but I suppose it would be fun for a bit.”
“I’d love to go. Emily went last year, and she got the autographs of all the characters, and all the princesses.”
“Really? Their autographs? A cartoon character signed his name. How does that work?”
“Well, I don’t know. But she had them all in a special autograph book she’d bought there. I’d love one of those.”
Jack really wanted to tell her that cartoon characters can’t really write, but he also didn’t want to upset her, so he resisted and changed the subject back to where he would like to go on holiday.
“Anyway, I quite fancy a canal boat. But I don’t think we’ll be doing that this year, somehow.”
The hole in the trunk was getting bigger. Unfortunately, the blade was getting blunter at the same time, but as he didn’t intend on using it to skin any rabbits that afternoon, he wasn’t too bothered. He’d sharpen it later when they got back home.
“A canal boat? Not for me, thanks.” Jess had finished her sandwich. “Can I have some crisps?”
“Sure, cheese and onion or plain?” Jack didn’t mind what he had, so he was happy for her to choose.
“Cheese and onion, please.” He passed her the packet, and opened his own.
“I think it’d be fun,” he managed to say through a mouthful of crisps. “Exploring the tow path, working the locks.”
“Going to the toilet in a bucket, showering in a dribble of water. No thank you. At least with camping there are proper facilities, and real flush toilets. Just think what it would be like after Dad’s been to the loo in the morning.”
“True. I hadn’t thought of that. Well, anything would be better than just being at home for the next four weeks. We’ll have to think of something to do.”
He folded up the penknife, put it back in his pocket, and stood up and looked into the field. He had no idea how big it was, but he guessed it was probably at least two acres. There were three horses in there, and nothing else but grass. It was surrounded by trees, and as far as Jack could tell there was just one way in and out, through a gate to the right of where they were now.
“I wonder where that gate leads to,” he said, as much to himself as to Jess.
She came and stood next to him. “What gate?”
“That one over there,” he replied, pointing. “It seems to be the only way in and out. Except climbing over the fence, of course.” The fence only consisted of upright poles with wire running horizontally at the top, middle and bottom. It was designed to keep horses in, not people out, but they had been told when they’d first moved in that they weren’t to go in the field, and so they never had.
“True. But we’re not allowed in the field.”
“No, but we could try and walk around the outside. Come on, let’s go for a walk.”
Without waiting for her to agree, he went back to the path and started walking in the direction of the gate. Or what he hoped was the direction.
“Wait for me!” Jess grabbed the carrier bag and followed him out of the trees. “Where are you going?”
“I said, I want to see where that gate leads to.”
“All right, but do you have to walk so fast?” She had to run just to try and keep up with him.
“It’s not my fault you’ve only got short legs. You’ll just have to try a bit harder.” Jack liked his sister, but when he had made his mind up to go somewhere or do something, he had no patience for her complaining. “Assuming you want to come, of course.”
“Of course I want to come. Just slow down a little, can’t you?”
Jack slowed down, but not for Jess’s benefit. He had come to the end of the field, and was looking for the best point to re-enter the woods so he could walk up to where the gate was. It wasn’t going to be hard, as all they had to do was follow the fence. The field was on their left, and to their right the trees stretched away for about a hundred metres.
“Jack, I really don’t understand why you’re so keen to see what’s the other side of that gate. It’s only going to be a track leading to someone’s house, or stables or something. It’s not going to be anything exciting.”
“Maybe. I just fancy having a look, that’s all. Come on, you might get to feed your apple to one of the horses.”
The afternoon was getting warmer, so the shade of the trees was welcome. However, the shade also attracted what seemed to be even more flies and bugs than had been at their lunch spot. They were both being bothered by little flies buzzing around their faces.
“Oh, go away!” said Jess through gritted teeth, trying her best not to let anything fly into her mouth.
She put her hand over her mouth, so she could complain once again. “You know, we have been up here before.”
“Yes, but we were just walking, and not paying any attention. I probably walked straight across the track without even realising it. Now I have a mission.” It wasn’t much of a mission, but he thought it sounded good.
It was as good as it was going to get, with all his friends being away. Yes, he liked his sister, and she wasn’t as annoying as some of his friends’ younger brothers and sisters, but she wasn’t a match for his friends. If Lewis, Ben and Adam hadn’t all been on holiday at the same time, he’d be at the park playing football right now, or at Lewis’s house, in his huge back garden. Lewis’s parents loved fruit trees, so the boys would spend their time playing with any plums, apples or cherries that fell to the ground, throwing them against any hard surface that wouldn’t break: they’d all got into trouble when they’d managed to put a hole in a fence panel last autumn with the aid of a particularly large and rather hard Bramley apple.
But for now, he just had Jess for company.
He got to the track, and immediately realised he’d been here before, but obviously he’d never taken any notice of it until now. It was basically a mud road, with two ruts where the wheels of what Jack assumed would be a Land Rover had made frequent trips. To the left was the gate, a typical wooden five-bar variety wide enough for vehicles to get through. To the right, the track ran for around thirty metres, then curved to the left and was lost in the trees.
Jess stood on the gate, and tried to get the horses’ attention. She called out to them, “Here boy, over here, come on,” and made kissing and clicking noises with her mouth.
“What are you doing, Jess?”
“What does it look like? I’m trying to get one of them to come over, so I can give him my apple.”
“Oh, right. Well, why don’t you get the apple out so he can see it? I’m not sure horses understand English.”
“OK.” Obediently she got one of the apples out of the bag, and held it up for them to see. “Come on, I’ve got a lovely juicy apple here. Come on, there’s a good boy.”
It had the desired effect, and all three horses came walking over, slowly at first, then sped up a little as they seemed to realise they had competition.
“Now you’ve done it,” said Jack, “three horses, two apples. Someone’s not going to be happy.”
“Never mind. I’ll come back tomorrow with three. There you are, good boy. Did you like that?”
The next few minutes were spent with Jess patting the horses and talking to them like they were small children or dogs, and Jack outwardly appearing uninterested and above that kind of thing, but inwardly feeling that he might have liked to learn to ride if they could have afforded it. Maybe when he was older he’d have some lessons.
“Come on, Jess. Let’s see where this road leads.”
Jess said her goodbyes and promised to return the next day with apples for all, and hurried to catch him up.
“Don’t go so fast, it’s getting too warm to run.” It wasn’t just the heat; the humidity was also getting worse.
“Well, don’t lag behind, then. Come on, I just want to see what’s round the bend.” He had a mission now, and he wasn’t going to rest until he’d completed it. That’s what he was telling himself, anyway. It made it all seem worthwhile, and not that he was just out for a walk because he had nothing better to do. That would just seem sad. Of course, there was a chance that Jess would think he was sad if he told her he was on a mission, so he kept it to himself.
He followed the track round to the left, where it turned again to the right, in an s-bend type of way, then carried on straight for fifty or so yards, and led into a stable yard, beyond which was a large house and even larger gardens. The whole place appeared to be surrounded by a tall wall, at least three metres high.
“Oh, it’s this place,” said Jack. Jess was a little too far back to hear him clearly.
“Sorry, what was that?” she said as she drew level with him.
“I just said it’s this place, the big house you can see from the main road. You know, the one with the big iron gates at the front.”
“Oh, right. OK, now we know. Let’s go. I don’t like it here, someone might see us.”
“We’re not doing anything wrong. These woods are public, I think. There’s no fence anywhere to mark it as their land, so it must be OK.” As he was speaking, a boy about his age appeared from behind the wall, making Jack jump.
“Hello, can I help you?” asked the boy politely.
“Oh, hello, no it’s fine, we were just passing by, we weren’t looking in, honestly, we were just out for a walk, we won’t hang around, see you, bye,” said Jack in an embarrassed and flustered rush, and started walking back the way they had come.
“No problem. There’s no need to go. My name’s Freddie. What’s yours?”
Jack stopped walking away, and turned around to speak with Freddie. “I’m Jack, and this is my sister Jess. We live over in Augusta Close.”
“Oh, OK. I’m not sure where that is, to be honest. I’m only here during the holidays. I go to boarding school, you see.”
“Really? That must be great. All that freedom, no parents nagging you, no little sisters annoying you.”
“Oi!,” said Jess.
“Sorry, Jess. Forgot you were there for a minute,” said Jack, not meaning it for one minute.
“Actually, it is good, but I do miss home while I’m there. Then, when I get back here, it’s really rather boring. I don’t even have an annoying little sister to keep me company.”
“Will you two stop saying that, please? I am standing here, you know.”
“Sorry. But it does get very boring on my own. Do you want to come in for a drink? I’m sure Mummy won’t mind.”
“OK. Thanks,” said Jack. As soon as Freddie turned to lead them to the house, he turned to his sister and mouthed ‘Mummy?’ with a look that said ‘he’s my age, for Heaven’s sake. Mummy?’ Jess smiled, and followed them both to the kitchen door.
“Come in. Let me see what we’ve got.” Jack couldn’t believe his eyes. The kitchen looked like it was the same size as the whole downstairs of Jack and Jess’s house. But even more amazing was the fact that there were two fridges. What he assumed was the regular food fridge, a large American looking thing with a water dispenser in the door, and next to it another one, with a glass door like you’d see in a petrol station or large corner shop. He could see bottles of wine and beer, and also lots of cans of fizzy drink. He hoped there would be a cloudy lemonade, but he’d settle for a Coke if not.
“So, what do you do for fun when you’re at home?” he asked as he opened his can of Coke. Jess had taken a Tango.
“Well, the stable girls are here early in the morning, and in the evening, so I normally talk to them, but otherwise I play video games, watch TV and go for walks in the woods.”
“Do you ride?” asked Jess. Jack knew she’d love to have a go on one of the horses. It was something she would often ask Mum about, but unfortunately for Jess, they couldn’t afford the lessons, let alone a horse.
“Sometimes. I’m not really that keen on horses, to be honest.”
“Oh. OK.” The disappointment in her voice made Jack feel sorry for her. Not that he would admit it if asked. He didn’t want her to think he’d gone soft.
“Maybe Jess could meet the stable girls sometime,” he said, hoping that might help her feel a little better.
“Sure. If you want to come by at five o’clock tomorrow morning, I’ll introduce you.” Jack couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. Somehow, he couldn’t see Jess being up that early. “Anyway, what about you two? What do you do when you’re not a school?” Freddie asked.
“Well, when my friends aren’t all away at the same time, I usually get together with them, play football, play video games, stuff like that. But at the moment, I’ve only got Jess here to keep me company. She can’t play football, so there’s not much we can do.”
“Yes, I can. You just don’t like to think I might be better than you,” said Jess indignantly.
“Well, we don’t really play football at school. It’s all rugby I’m afraid. And cricket, of course. But I don’t play either of them, except in games lessons. Mummy would like me to play tennis, but I’m no good at that either.”
“Ah well,” said Jack, trying to sound positive, “at least you have the horses.”
“No. As I said, I don’t really like horses. Dirty, sweaty things covered in flies.”
At that moment an Old English Sheep Dog came walking into the kitchen from the hall. “Now Jess, on the other hand.”
“You have a dog called Jess?” Jess said excitedly. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“I thought I’d leave it as a surprise.”
“Hello, Jess. Ooh, aren’t you beautiful.”
The boys left the two Jesses to get to know each other, and went back outside.
The house was surrounded by garden, with a lawn on one side that looked large enough for a football pitch. Jack wished he could bring his friends here for a game, but he wasn’t convinced Freddie’s parents would appreciate it. He knew his wouldn’t like it if they ruined someone else’s grass. It did look very well-kept.
“Wow, it must take ages to mow your lawn.”
“Probably. We have a gardener that does it. And a ride-on mower. And before you ask, no we can’t ride on it. Not since I tried to cut the grass last year and managed to knock the greenhouse down. Apparently I was lucky not to be cut to shreds.”
“Really? Wow, sounds like fun.”
They were walking around the house, and came back to the back door. Jess and Jess were outside now, getting to know each other.
“Can we take her for a walk?”
“She had one earlier. I don’t want to go out again. Maybe later, or you could come back tomorrow. Come on, let’s go to the stables. I’ll show you around.”
They went back to the stable yard, with Jess the dog following. Not that she would have had a choice in the matter. Jack knew that his sister would have dragged her with them if necessary.
There was one L-shaped building, with a total of four separate stables. “Those three are all used, but this one is empty at the moment, so I use it for a den.” Freddie opened the stable door and led the way inside.
It was empty. Just four bare walls and a bare floor.
“Why is it empty?” asked Jack. “There isn’t even any straw on the floor.”
“No, that’s how we keep them when they’re not in use. As much as anything, it means there won’t be any rats living in here.”
“Fair enough, but it’s not much of a den, is it? Even a chair would make a bit of an improvement.”
“I just sit on the floor,” said Freddie, sounding a little hurt.
“Well, I like it,” said Jess. “So does Jess, by the looks of it.”
“Yes, she does like it out here. We often come and have lunch together.”
“Can we come and have ours tomorrow?” asked Jess excitedly.
“Sure. I’ll be here, on my own as usual.”
Jack hadn’t thought to ask if there was anyone else around. He just assumed Freddie’s mum would be in the house somewhere. “Do your parents work, then?”
“Daddy does. He lives in London during the week, then comes home Friday nights. Mummy is always off somewhere with her friends. I never get asked if I want to go with her, and I doubt I’d want to anyway, even if I was asked.”
“No, I don’t suppose you would. So it would be OK if we came back?”
“Of course. I get a bit bored on my own.”
“We’ll bring a couple of chairs, if that’s OK. I don’t fancy sitting on a stone floor.”
“Don’t worry, we have chairs. I’ll bring some round now if you want.”
“Yes please,” Jack and Jess replied together.
“Come on, then. You can give me a hand.”
The three of them and the dog went outside and Freddie led the way to another building in the stable yard, which turned out to be a storeroom. It had all sorts of things that Jack’s dad kept in their shed, like spades, forks, other garden tools that Jack had seen his mum and dad using but didn’t really understand why or what they were trying to achieve, and a corner where there were all kinds of garden chairs stacked up, propped up, hanging from nails on the wall and generally anywhere there was space.
“Wow, that’s a lot of chairs,” said Jack, not quite knowing what else to say.
“Yes, I guess it is. Mummy and Daddy like to have garden parties in the summer. I tend to stay in my bedroom and watch TV when they do. I used to come out to the stables, but I did that for the first one they had this year, and found two people in there kissing, so I stay away now.”
“I can’t say I blame you. That would put me off, that’s for sure.”
Jack had had a similar thing happen to him last Christmas. On Boxing Day they’d had quite a few guests round for drinks and left-overs. He’d been bored, so had gone up to his bedroom, where he found his Aunty Carol with his Uncle Mike. The problem was that Aunty Carol was married to Uncle Alan, and Uncle Mike was married to Aunty Linda.
He’d not said anything to anyone, not even Jess. But since then both Aunty Carol and Uncle Mike always gave him extra pocket money whenever they saw him, so he was happy to keep quiet about the whole thing. After all, it was really none of his business.
Freddie told them which chairs they couldn’t take, as they were ‘for best’, and the three of them chose a chair each and carried them over to the stable.
“It’s still a bit bare, isn’t it,” said Jack, thinking about what they could do to liven the place up. “I know what the problem is: it’s too big. I like a den to be small and enclosed, so you can hide from people. I know we can hide in here, but what if we built something as well?
“Like what? I’m not sure Daddy would like it, to be honest.”
“How often does your dad come here? Would he even notice?”
“Probably not. Mummy was the one who wanted a house with stables, but I’m not sure why. She doesn’t really ride very often, she just leaves them in the field all day. Anyway, what do you think we could build?”
“I don’t know. Do you have any wood lying around that wouldn’t be missed?”
“I don’t think so, no. Why?”
Jack’s idea, which he told the other two, was to build a wooden frame and somehow make it into a proper den. Or what he thought was proper, anyway. As he’d probably be doing all the work, then he felt it would be built to his design. Freddie wouldn’t be able to design anything anyway, by the looks of him.
“So it will be easy to take down, or carry out of here?”
“Yes, of course,” said Jack, without really knowing if it would be. He didn’t even know how he was going to build it, so how easy it would be to move was anyone’s guess.
The dog seemed to have had enough excitement for the afternoon, and was now lying down against a wall, sleeping. Jess had been trying to get her to play some more, but by now had given up. So she was able to offer a suggestion for which Jack would have gladly kissed her if she had not been his sister. “We’ve got a pile of wood behind the garage that Dad keeps in case of need. Maybe we could bring some of that.”
“Good idea, Jess. We’ll have a look tonight, and bring some round tomorrow. If you’re around tomorrow, that is.” He looked at Freddie, hoping he’d say yes.
“Sure. Any time you like. Breakfast is at eight, so after then would be good. I’m sure Mummy won’t mind.”
“So, I’m curious,” said Jack. Something had been bugging him since they’d got there. “Are you left alone all day, while your mum is out wherever?”
“No, I’m not alone all day,” said Freddie, “the housekeeper is here. She must have been upstairs earlier when we were in the kitchen. You’ll probably meet her tomorrow.”
“You have a housekeeper? Gosh, that sounds posh,” said Jess.
“Well, Mummy calls her a housekeeper. Daddy says she is an au pair, but Mummy doesn’t seem to like that title. Basically she does all the housework and the cooking.”
“Well, it still sounds posh. I wish we had a housekeeper. And a dog. You’re so lucky.”
“Not really. I’d rather have friends and not be on my own all the time when I’m at home. I think you’re lucky.” Freddie sounded a little sad.
“Well, we’ll be your friends, and then I can play with Jess every day.”
“Really? You want to come every day?
Jack wasn’t so sure he wanted to be here every day. “We’ll see. Certainly tomorrow, though. With wood.”
“Great. Do you want to come back to the house and get another drink?”
Jack checked his watch. “No, I think we should be getting back. We’ll see you again tomorrow.”
“Will we be able to take Jess for a walk?” said Jess.
“Absolutely. We’ll wait for you. Any time after nine will be great. And don’t worry about bringing lunch, I’ll get Anna to make something we can eat in here.”
They said their goodbyes, including the dog, and the two of them walked back home, chatting away about what they would like to do with the stable, and how they were going to enjoy the holiday now. At least until their friends came back, anyway.
“Hi, Mum,” Jack called out as they walked through the back door into the kitchen.
“Hello, you two,” she called back from the dining room. “Have a nice time?”
“Great. We met a boy who lives in that big house with the wall and gate and stables and stuff,” said Jess all in one breath. “They’ve got a dog called Jess, and she really liked me.”
“Well, that sounds like fun. I hope you didn’t make a nuisance of yourselves, and were polite.”
No, Mum, we swore and farted all afternoon was what he wanted to say, but he knew he’d be in trouble for being sarcastic, so he just said, “We didn’t meet his parents, he was just there with the housekeeper. We’re going back again tomorrow, though.”
“OK, well so long as it’s all right with his mother I’m sure I don’t mind.”
Jack thought about asking if he could take some wood, but decided he’d wait and see what was there first, and then ask.