Chapter 14

The Familiar Vagrant

‘Hello Malcolm, good to see you again,’ said Friday cheerily, as she arrived at the precise GPS coordinates in the woods where her rocket said it would be. Ian and Melanie were with her; Melanie, because she went everywhere with Friday, and Ian, because Mr  Davies insisted that they needed a chaperone.

Malcolm was standing in front of a small caravan that was tucked underneath the broad branches of an oak tree. There was a picnic chair and card table set up outside. It looked almost homey.

‘What are you doing here?’ demanded Malcolm.

‘We’re here for the rocket,’ said Friday.

‘Why did you fire it at me?’ asked Malcolm.

‘Fire it at you?’ said Friday. ‘We didn’t fire it at you. We fired it up in the air and the wind carried it here.’

‘You expect me to believe that?’ accused Malcolm.

‘Well, I would expect you to because it’s the truth,’ said Friday. ‘But I don’t really mind if you don’t, as long as you give the rocket back.’ She held out her hand and smiled at Malcolm. But he was still looking suspicious.

‘There’s a tiny camera in this thing, isn’t there?’ said Malcolm.

‘Yes,’ said Friday happily. ‘We got some tremendous pictures of the landscape. Would you like to see the video?’

‘No, I wouldn’t,’ growled Malcolm. ‘I don’t want you spying on me.’

‘We weren’t,’ said Friday.

‘I know Highcrest Academy wants to get rid of me,’ said Malcolm.

‘They do?’ said Friday.

‘They wrote me a letter,’ said Malcolm.

‘But you don’t have a letterbox,’ said Melanie, looking about to see if there was a letterbox she had missed.

‘It was hand-delivered by the Vice Principal,’ said Malcolm.

‘Are you sure?’ asked Melanie. ‘Our Headmaster is a wonderful man, but being on top of things is not a strength of his. If he did know you were here, he’d probably pretend he didn’t so that he wouldn’t have to do anything.’

‘Just get out of here,’ demanded Malcolm.

‘Okay,’ said Friday. For the first time since she’d met Malcolm at the police station, Friday became conscious of his menacing size. ‘Can I have my rocket back, please?’

Malcolm glared. ‘No.’

‘But you owe me a favour,’ said Friday. ‘I got you off those bracelet charges.’

‘Do I?’ said Malcolm. ‘I never understood why you helped me in the first place. Maybe you had your own reasons. Now get off my land.’

‘Your land?’ said Friday.

‘Yes, my grandfather left me this land,’ said Malcolm. ‘I own it, and you’re trespassing.’

Ian grabbed Friday’s arm. ‘Come on, let’s go. We don’t want trouble.’

Friday looked at Malcolm. He looked upset. It couldn’t be easy getting let out of jail. And having a rocket unexpectedly plummet out of the sky would be alarming.

‘All right,’ said Friday. ‘Sorry that we upset you. Maybe we’ll bump into each other again sometime and we can explain things properly.’

‘Just leave me alone,’ yelled Malcolm.

‘Nice to meet you,’ said Melanie with a wave as the three students left the clearing. ‘What a lovely man.’

‘Are you kidding me?’ said Ian. ‘He looked like he was about to explode.’

‘Yes,’ agreed Melanie. ‘But if you looked past that he had lovely soft eyes.’

‘Come on, let’s get moving,’ said Ian, hastening his stride. ‘I’ll feel better once we’re back on school grounds.’

‘Wait up,’ said Friday. ‘Some of us have shorter legs than you.’

Ian turned his head to say something sarcastic. ‘Some of us have …’

‘Watch out for the hole,’ warned Melanie.

‘Wha … aagghhh!’ said Ian, as he stepped backwards into a hole and fell over.

The girls hurried to him.

‘Are you all right?’ asked Friday.

‘Urgh,’ groaned Ian.

‘For a very athletic boy he gets surprisingly clumsy when he is around you,’ Melanie observed.

‘Another hole,’ said Friday, bending down to observe the neat way the hole had been cut into the ground with a sharp spade.

‘Perhaps Malcolm dug it?’ suggested Melanie. ‘Maybe he’s planning to plant potatoes.’

‘Ian looks concussed,’ said Friday. ‘We’re going to have to help him get back to the school.’

Friday and Melanie pulled Ian to his feet. He was very groggy. They each took one of his arms around their shoulders and began slowly walking him towards the main road.

‘He’s very heavy,’ observed Melanie.

‘Yes,’ agreed Friday. ‘And being tall, he’s got an awkwardly high centre of gravity.’

‘It’s a shame you couldn’t have fallen in love with someone smaller,’ said Melanie. ‘Like Christopher.’

‘I’m not attracted to Christopher!’ said Friday.

‘I didn’t say you were,’ said Melanie. ‘I just meant he was shorter. Although it is interesting that your mind leapt to that conclusion.’