We didn’t have much time to prepare since Silke returned no more than three minutes later, giving us the thumbs up. I shook my head - as simple as that! We were really, actually going! We didn’t have time to prepare anything. We would just have to figure this out as we went along.
‘Listen up everyone,’ I began, ‘we have no idea what we are heading into tonight. You are responsible for your own supplies. Just remember that it’s September so it can get pretty cold at night. Bring your warmest coat. Make sure you are wearing jeans. Bring extra socks, and need I say it, underwear! If you have any sweets, chocolate or biscuits stashed away then get them out. Try to keep your backpack small. Remember we will need to do some travelling on foot when we get to Switzerland.’
‘Whoo-hoo!’ chirped Aretha and Tara, hugging each other and dancing around in circles. I actually think they were more excited than the rest of us. I suppose that sometimes being the youngest is fun! ‘Nice to see you’re enjoying this, girls,’ I scolded.
‘Sorry,’ replied Tara, reprimanded.
Silke took Aretha and I home to collect our things. I felt a bit guilty sneaking into our house and secretly preparing my bag. But then I remembered that it was my dad that I was trying to help. Mum would be pretty angry when we got back…When we got back; that made me nervous. I began to wonder if I should have left Aretha out of this. But I knew I couldn’t; she was one of us. She had a right to be with us. Together, she and Tara could be really useful, and we needed all hands on board for this one!
I packed my compass and tore the maps of France and Switzerland out of Dad’s European road atlas. I was sure he’d forgive me if we rescued him. I found a triple pack of tic-tac in my locker. After several minutes of rummaging, I found my striped wool hat and gloves. I felt a bit silly packing them but considering what we were doing, they might come in handy. Stuffing extra socks and underwear in my bag, I raced downstairs. Silke and Aretha were already in the kitchen checking out the biscuit situation. The biscuit situation was always good in our house, so we had to choose. We decided to go for some muesli bars – for energy! Chocolate digestives – everyone likes them, and six giant chocolate bars – as a last resort! Although Aretha - a real salt addict, wanted to take some crisps, I discouraged her. ‘Aretha, can you imagine if we fail at the first hurdle because of your noisy crisp packets! It’s already going to be difficult enough trying to sneak six of us on board that plane.’ She got the point and decided to eat two packets of crisps there and then just to keep her salt levels up.
‘You guys ready?’ I shouted, standing by the open front door. The adrenaline was racing through my veins now and I wanted to get going. Finally, the two girls rushed down the hall. Although it didn’t matter what Silke was bringing since she was leaving us as soon as we landed, she had still packed a rucksack. I raised my eyebrow, questioning her.
‘You never know, you might need me!’ she smiled back.
I had to admit that that made me feel less nervous. ‘OK, let’s go’, I said, as macho as I could. The girls looked at each other and grinned. They thought I was funny; that really made me feel cool - not!
Arriving at Cam’s house ten minutes later, Silke kept the engine running, while I ran indoors to scare up the others. Cam and Tara were waiting in the hall with their bags packed. Tara’s lazy smile told me that she had won the race to pack her bags! Cam looked miserable again; surely not just because Tara had beaten him in some silly race?
‘What’s up Cam?’ I asked, nervously.
‘Charlie just called. She might be a non-starter,’ he replied glumly.
‘What?’ I asked - my heart pounding. I really couldn’t imagine doing this without Charlie.
‘She said her Mum was going to call here. So I guess we’re scuppered.’ I was silent for a minute, really trying to think of how we could make this happen. Then it came to me! Racing out of the house, I dragged Silke out of the car. I explained my plan to her on the way back inside. As soon as we reached the hall, the phone rang. Cam reached for it. ‘No!’ I shouted, and then smiled in Silke’s direction. Taking her cue, Silke walked to the phone and lifted it to her ear.
‘Oh Hello, Mrs Patterson. Yes. This is Silke. Yes - lucky me; I am looking after the whole ‘gang’ this veekend. Meg and Marguerite have gone for a health veekend. Oh, absolutely no problem if Charlie stays - the girls vill be pleased. Yes I absolutely promise that I vill take good care of them all! Bye, Mrs Patterson.’ She hung up and turned to face us. She looked really serious now and we all felt nervous.
‘That’s it, I come vith you! I am responsible for all of you now and if I think it’s too dangerous then ve call it off!’ She was quite scary now. I was beginning to wonder if we should have left her out of it… Too late now!
Charlie’s mum dropped her off and Silke ran out to the car to speak to her. The rest of us stayed behind the blinds - spying. Renny, who was balancing on the back of the couch on his belly, almost gave us away. He wobbled and stayed suspended mid-fall for a few seconds, his head nearly touching the blinds. Luckily, Cam was able to grab his legs to steady him.
‘Idiot!’ hissed Cam.
After that, Renny decided to lie perfectly still until after Mrs Patterson’s car had disappeared down the drive. Charlie raced in, flinging her backpack on the floor.
‘Phew, for a terrible half-hour I thought I was going to miss this,’ she said and a light shone behind her eyes. ‘Thanks Silke,’ she said throwing her arms around her.
‘OK, everyone in the car,’ ordered Silke. We didn’t dare to argue. She might pull the whole operation if we did.
On the way to the airfield, we did some check listing; not that we could go back and get anything we’d forgotten. It was still comforting though, going through everything. Maps? Check! Compass? Check! Torches? Check! Food? Check! Socks and underwear? Check! Toothpaste? No answer. We all looked at each other. Finally Aretha piped up, ‘Well you didn’t mention it Iago.’
‘Don’t worry, there is usually some in the little bathroom on thee plane,’ Silke said into her rear-view mirror.
‘Phew,’ said Charlie. ‘I couldn’t stand my own breath after a weekend of no brushing, never mind any of yours.’ We all laughed and suddenly all of us, including Cam, were excited about our adventure.
Whatever Renny called us - we were on a mission!