Spring Fever - Chapter 14
In The Thick Of It
At the end of the lane, you can walk three ways. Left leads to the chicken factory. Follow that road to the right and you reach the river. Walk straight forward along the footpath, is the quick route to the river. Turn right, and you go past Proctor’s Farm and Mark’s house at the end of the airfield.
Stephanie stood and thought about how to get to the barn.
‘I think I’ll walk forward, along the footpath, just in case there is any traffic and then I won’t be spotted,’ Stephanie thought, after all, she was investigating a mystery.
She walked along through a field of growing wheat and looked around, thinking about whose land she was walking through.
‘This field belongs to the Proctors down to the river. Then I will walk left towards the barn,’ Stephanie planned out loud to herself. ‘Then I’ll be on Barry’s land.’
The path crossed over some small concrete bridges as she walked from field to field over the water filled dykes. Amongst grass and bushes, birds were flitting about, their chirps and trills filled the air around her. There were also a few hares and rabbits running in the fields, they were tricky to see when they sat still, a rabbit looked just like a brown rock from a distance.
Stephanie climbed up the embankment and finally reached the river. A long stretch of river ran from left to right as far as the eye could see. It moved ever so slowly; you could tell it was moving by watching the twigs on the surface. Ahead of her was an iron bridge. It seemed to just go to a water treatment place and maybe another farm. Teenagers often jumped off the bridge in the Summer, and a few empty cans lay around in memory of hot summer days and fooling around.
Stephanie followed the path left, along towards a small clump of trees. The small woodland blocked you from walking further along the river, you had to follow the path behind the trees and then it led back to the river on the other side.
As she started to walk around the trees, she stopped. Stephanie could see movement on the other side. In the Summer, you wouldn’t be able to see to the other side, but early Spring meant the branches were bare. She quietly carried on walking as near as she dared. Men were talking and walking about. There were about five men in front of the barn, and another three by the river. Stephanie couldn’t hear what they were saying. She quickly turned round, walked back to the river, and rang Lisa.
‘Lisa, it’s me,’ Stephanie whispered, ‘I’m near the barn and there are some men there.’
‘What are they doing?’ Lisa whispered back.
‘I don’t know yet, I’m going to go closer,’ Stephanie replied firmly.
‘Wait! What if they’re crazy people? What if they’re drug lords or kidnappers or something?’
‘I doubt it,’ Stephanie thought about the possibility, ‘In Hibaldton? I think I’ll be ok.’
‘Wait- there was something in the local news yesterday about drug raids increasing in the area and I saw two police cars down my road last night.’
‘There’s drug raids going on all the time.’
‘Keep your phone on so I know you’re ok,’ Lisa ordered.
‘Ok,’ Stephanie answered and then returned to the clump of trees.
Mary must have seen something that night to take that photo, and Stephanie just had to find out what it was.
Stephanie, very carefully, stepped over a rock and put her foot in between two trees. She had to duck under the branches and walk bent over for a few steps. She decided that if she were seen, she could pretend that she was finding somewhere to go to the toilet. There was an opening in the group of trees. Branches tugged at her coat-like hands trying to stop her from moving forward, it was as if the wood didn’t want her to go further. She crouched down behind a heavy clump of tangled branches that seemed to have grown around each other. It made a good hide for her to peep through. One of the men started to walk over to Stephanie. He held a phone and wore a long black coat which was open to reveal a dark polo neck jumper and jeans. Stephanie looked behind him to the other men. They had their back to her in deep conversation. What were they doing there? They must have finished in the barn because the door was shut. She looked over to the river, they seemed to be looking up towards Rigby, she couldn’t see a boat. One of the men, from the back, reminded her of Mark. She was just thinking that his jacket looked the same when the man near her spoke.
‘Right, so you think the drop’s going to be next Saturday morning 0100 hours… Yeah…yeah…ok. We’ll be here from midnight. It should take about half an hour to get here from Hull Marina. Yeah…we’ll be waiting.’
Stephanie suddenly had pins and needles in her foot. As she shifted her weight from one leg to the other a twig snapped. The man looked up and his eyes scanned the area. Stephanie held her breath for what seemed like ages. She didn’t dare move an inch. His hand moved to his waist and Stephanie thought she could see a gun peeking out under his coat.
A gun? People in Hibaldton didn’t usually carry guns. Maybe it wasn’t a gun, maybe it was a mobile phone. Ok, he had a phone in his hand, but he might have two phones….
‘Right. No, it’s nothing. I thought I heard something but it’s probably a rat, there’s loads of ‘em near the river.’ With that, he turned back to the barn and they all walked round the side. Stephanie waited, not daring to breathe. She could hear engines starting and then…silence.
Slowly she stood up and looked around to check for rats. The thought of sharing her hiding space with a furry animal sent shivers up her spine. Her legs felt like jelly and were numb from crouching for so long. She didn’t have to go back the way she came. Stephanie walked around the thicket and was in front of the barn where the men had been standing. She realised that she was hardly breathing so she took a deep breath.
‘What’s happening?’ Lisa asked on the phone.
‘They’ve gone,’ Stephanie replied.
‘There’s a padlock on the barn door, I can’t see any windows or gaps in the walls.’ Stephanie walked around searching for a way to see inside.
‘I’m going to come back next Friday night,’ Stephanie decided.
‘Are you crazy? We should call the police.’
‘They’re not going to do anything. We need proof. If I come back, I can hide back there and film what I see.’
‘It will be so dark, you won’t catch a thing.’
‘Well, they probably will have lights, and they’ll be talking. They said something was being dropped off at 1 in the morning. What do you think it could be?’
‘I don’t know but whatever it is, it’s worth killing over.’
‘Maybe you were right- it could be drugs, or money, or stolen goods.’
Stephanie had reached the river again. She stopped and her eyes traced the line of water as it flowed towards Rigby, its movement caught clumps of green algae and floating branches. It looked dark and deep and cold.
‘The river flows through Rigby and then it eventually leads to the Humber, doesn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ replied Lisa. ‘My dad’s friend has a boat moored in Rigby and he often goes up the river. You can get to the sea if you want to.’
‘The man said something about Hull Marina. So, whatever it is, it’s coming in from the sea. That’s how they’re doing it. A ship must bring the goods in, and then they transfer it to a small boat, that brings it here down the river. It’s a quiet area, no one around to see. Perfect for smuggling…’
‘This is John Barry’s land, isn’t it?’ Lisa asked thoughtfully.
‘Yes,’ Stephanie replied. ‘I think he recognised the photo and rang somebody up to tell them.’
‘Do you think he knows what’s going on?’
‘I think so. I overheard him talking, and it sounded like he was asking for money to keep quiet.’
‘I really think we should tell someone Stephanie. It sounds dangerous. What about Mark?’
‘If I told Mark, he’d stop me from coming. I promise I’ll be really careful.’
‘I wish you’d change your mind. I’m worried something’s going to go wrong.’
‘Look, I know what I’m doing. I’ll see you tomorrow but don’t say anything in case someone hears.’ Stephanie hung up.
She felt the adrenaline running through her body. It was up to her to solve this, no one else was going to. She owed it to Mary.