Jane and the Fire – Part XVI

In 1958, young Jane has just moved to the city of Chicago, Illinois with her parents and cousins Billy. Jane and her friends are running from the Three Thugs when they get cornered. They escape and manage to get home, but their troubles are far from over. But first… it’s lunch time.

“Well done,” Jane whispered, “but careful, they might come back!”

But Don was too drunk with success. “Did you see me?” he chuckled, “That was great!”

He had, however, sauntered too far out – just past the exit of the alleyway. They all heard a faraway shout. The Thugs had seen them! The chase was back on.

“Great job, Don,” wheezed Paige as they ran again. “Really clever!”

They hurtled down the main street and turned onto the wide avenue by the park. This time, however, they had enough of a lead to reach the Joyces’ house without being seen. They had escaped the Thugs. For now.

They climbed the many steps inside Jane’s apartment building to reach the Joyce family flat.  Mrs. Joyce was secretly delighted that Jane had made friends.

“Very nice to meet you indeed,” she said cheerfully, “And yes, we do love going to The Hungry Eagle! Your family owns it? How lovely!”

Jane’s cousins were also pleased to meet the Landrys.

“Twins!” said Billy the Elder. “Real twins! Do you think the same?”

Don assured him that they did not. Jane was preoccupied with other matters. While Mrs. Joyce dished up lunch in the kitchen, Jane pulled the twins aside and outlined her concerns.

“You think the Thugs would come here?” asked Paige, confused. “Why would they come here?”

“They’re my neighbors!” hissed Jane. “Remember I told you about their first meeting with Mr. McCawley in the park? Mr. Bennet might put two and two together…”

“If he already suspects you and sees the three of us in here!” Don finished. “Oh no!”

“Oh no!!” Paige echoed. “Look who’s coming this way!”

She had caught sight of two unpleasantly familiar trench-coated figures approaching.

“If they see us here, they’ll know we three are the kids who followed them to the abandoned house. They’ll put faces with names!” Don looked horrified.

“Don’t panic,” said Jane. “You both hide! I’ll change my clothes. They didn’t see our faces so if they don’t realize we went outside today, we’re in the clear.”

“Mrs. Joyce?” asked Paige politely, a moment later in the kitchen, “We want to explore the loft above the apartment. May we?”

With the Landrys safely stowed away in the loft, and Jane in a vibrant orange frock coat, they were prepared to meet the Thugs should they pay a visit. Mrs. Joyce and the Billies watched the proceedings, looking mildly interested. Some peculiar version of hide and seek, Mrs. Joyce surmised – in a way she was right! The stage was set, and the apartment was silent, until – they heard a loud knock on the door. Mrs. Joyce opened the door.

“Afternoon,” said Mr. Bennet. He paused for a moment, trying to think of a veritable cover story. “Are the children here? We’ve, er, bought candy for them.”

Mr. Peele frowned and fished in his pockets. He was very particular about candy himself, but he had an unpleasant feeling that he was being called upon to share his candy.

“Very kind!” said Mrs. Joyce. She was surprised by Mr. Bennet’s inclination to kindness but didn’t show it. He had not until then been at all friendly.

“Here they are. Billy the Elder, Jane, and Billy the Younger.”

Mr. Bennet frowned. These certainly were not the kids whom they had chased. “I told you so!” hissed Mr. Peele, bitter about having to fork over his candy. “We would have recognized these three if they were the ones spying. Only the girl is the right age, and she is wearing that glaringly obvious orange frock!”

“You’re right I suppose,” said Mr. Bennet, frowning. They turned to leave. The Billies had gone back into the house, content with the candy offering. Jane closed the door and pressed her ear to it to listen as the two Thugs walked off. “We’re going to have to go back to the building tomorrow,” Mr. Bennet was saying. “Now that the market is over, there will be loads of people mingling there.”

“Right,” said Mr. Peele. “And forget about those kids. It was probably a prank.” Jane walked back to the loft space where the Landrys waited.

Will the kids keep trying? What does Mr. McCawley have to do with this?

Read on next month to find out 🙂