We Were Only Strawberry Picking Read online

  Chapters

  1. The Meerville Strawberry Fields

  2. The Mineshaft

  3. Where’s Enoch

  4. Diamonds and Bears

  5. Our Meerkats Are Missing

  6. The Ambush

  7. Meet The Neighbours

  8. The Search

  9. Call My Bluff

  10. A Way Out

  11. Alfonso The Snake Fake

  12. The Great Escape – Part One

  13. The Great Escape – Part Two

  14. The MightyKat

  Copyright

  This is the third book of a series written

  By Henrietta Defreitas

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Meerville Strawberry Fields

  It was another glorious weekend as Henratty peered through the gleaming window panes, immersed by the rays of sunlight beaming through. She was certainly bored, as she breathed heavily on the recently polished glass and began to scribble her name. She watched the letters disappear one by one and then repeated the process several times. Her mother, Mama Mortimer, was doing the weekly cleaning, so she was not in the best of moods. Henratty desperately wanted to go outside and play with her younger sister, Lyndi Lou, but she was dubious about asking her mother right now. She had to see when she was in a better mood and then ask.

  Henratty was still reminiscing about playtime until the sudden clanking of saucepans and cutlery tumbling to the ground had startled her, as she stopped daydreaming. She knew instantly that her mother had accidentally dropped these items in a rush to wash up. This was the only household chore Mama Mortimer hated the most and could never wait for the task to be over with, but generally cleaning never was her strong point! If there was a record for the fastest washer-upper in Meerville Town, she had no doubt that her mother would be the outright winner, providing she managed to hang onto the dishes in the first place!

  Whilst Mama Mortimer was muttering to herself, no doubt frustrated, as she continued to chase the runaway cutlery along the kitchen floor, Henratty had now turned her attention to Lyndi Lou as she closely watched her finish eating her breakfast so elegantly. She really did take a long time eating her food, she was a proper little madam and most things had to be precise! Henratty then had this awful thought that if it were Jack Brian instead, not only would he have finished his food in seconds, but he would also have licked off every morsel he could find on his plate. The word “gross” came to mind, but thank goodness Jack was just a friend, she sighed with relief.

  Having taken her plate to Mama Mortimer to wash up, Lyndi Lou rushed over excitedly, as she said to Henratty, ‘Well, what shall we do today?’

  ‘I’m not sure but it’s a beautiful day, so let’s do something outside and to be honest, I think we’ve had enough of staying in,’ grumbled Henratty, as she placed one hand on her chin and began tapping with the other on the slightly worn but well veneered dining table, whilst she contemplated what they were going to do.

  Lyndi Lou was staring hard at Henratty, as she waited patiently for her to come up with something more adventurous than hide and seek! Also her continuous tapping was annoying Lyndi Lou somewhat who had been biting her tongue the whole time, and now on the verge of saying something. However, before she could say a word, Henratty had stopped tapping and was smirking. Lyndi Lou knew then that her sister had come up with something exciting for playtime.

  ‘I have a great idea, it’s strawberry season so why don’t we grab our baskets and go strawberry picking. We can also give some to Jack and Oscar to see if they can get Mama Katie to make her delicious strawberry tart that we all love,’ decided Henratty.

  ‘That’s a brilliant suggestion, why didn’t I think of that, you know how much I love strawberries,’ Lyndi Lou pronounced happily. She decided she would need to change into her favourite pink dress because it was so hot, as she darted upstairs and chuckled, ‘Pretty in pink that’s me!’

  Now, all Henratty had to do was to convince their mother to let them go strawberry picking, as she headed towards the kitchen apprehensively, where Mama Mortimer was still washing up and still wittering to herself.

  * * *

  Having spent an excessive amount of time pampering herself, Lyndi Lou had returned even more elated, as Henratty was explaining to Mama Mortimer where they were going.

  ‘Just make sure you do what the attendant says and I expect you both back here well before lunchtime,’ Mama Mortimer said more sternly than usual, as she was fully aware that they had had ample playtime recently, in fact, far too much. However, they just loved every minute of their playtime and were thankful that they were being allowed out. Deep down they knew they should be catching up with homework, but there was always tomorrow!

  Henratty had cleverly worked out that Mama Mortimer would let them out once she mentioned they were picking strawberries so that they could get Jack and Oscar to ask their mother, Mama Katie, to make her lovely strawberry tart. She had also noticed her mother give a broad smile when she mentioned why they were going strawberry picking. In Henratty’s eyes, this was a sure sign that she approved, not to mention the fact she had stopped giving them a lecture on the copious amount of playtime they had had already.

  Finally, Henratty and Lyndi Lou briskly made their way to the front door having listened intently to everything their mother had said, and all they could think about was strawberry picking! Henratty pulled frantically on the front door, as she needed to quickly escape before their mother changed her mind, and as it opened, they were greeted by the strong rays of sunshine – they both squinted and shielded their eyes from the intense sunlight with the palms of their hands. It was extremely hot and sticky, but they did not care, they just wanted to get to those strawberry fields and nothing was going to stop them. However, before the door could shut firmly, it was suddenly yanked open by Mama Mortimer. Henratty’s heart sank, she hoped that her mother had not changed her mind as she suspected only a couple of seconds ago, but Mama Mortimer was just being extra cautious and thinking of the welfare of her meerkats.

  ‘Just watch that sun you two, I don’t want you both coming home sunburnt to a crisp,’ Mama Mortimer said, as she gave the sunblock to Henratty with a look on her face that meant wear this or else … They both hated the smell and the feel of the lotion on their skin but they always wore it reluctantly as they knew it did stop them from burning. Also if they came back sunburnt, they knew that their parents would definitely not let them play out again, as their mother had just inferred and all because they did not wear any sunblock, it just wasn’t worth the risk!

  ‘Thanks mama, don’t worry we’ll be extra careful …’ and off they went on their one mile trek to the strawberry fields, but not before Henratty insisted that they apply the sunblock as she had seen their mother peep through the curtains from the corner of her eye.

  * * *

  At last they had arrived at Meerville Strawberry Fields. The air smelt lovely and sweet as they paid the attendant and entered the enormous field brimming with juicy red strawberries. They could see a few other meerkats already in the fields but it was not that busy, luckily!

  ‘Where shall we start then?’ asked Lyndi Lou excitedly.

  ‘How about over there, on the far left. No one seems to be picking strawberries there,’ and off they trundled. However, as they got a little closer, Lyndi Lou had noticed the No Trespassing Sign!

  ‘But, it says no strawberry picking in this area – look there’s the Danger Sign,’ as she pointed to the red notice. The colour “red” should have set alarm bells ringing, however, against her better judgement, Henratty had already decided that she was going to ignore this sign.

  ‘Oh, I’m sure no one will
notice. What could possibly harm us in there? It looks exactly the same as this field – see no difference apart from that warning sign.’

  ‘I would say there is a big difference, as it’s not just any sign, it says, “DANGER, NO TRESPASSING, AND THOSE FOUND WILL BE PROSECUTED!” Mama will see red if she knew what you were about to do. Where are you going, Henratty?’ demanded Lyndi Lou as she tugged on her sister’s cape.

  ‘Stop making a scene, otherwise we will get caught, and then we will be in trouble. Now please be quiet and follow me.’ On that note, Lyndi Lou decided it was pointless discussing the danger sign anymore as she could tell that Henratty was determined to enter that field and there was nothing she could do to stop her.

  Having scanned the surrounding area, when no one was looking, Henratty signalled for Lyndi Lou to move, in a crouched position, as they slipped through a gap in the fence and into the forbidden strawberry field. From this moment, there was no turning back and after just one look at those strawberries, they had both completely forgotten about the danger sign.

  ‘Wow let’s start over there, the strawberries look nice and juicy,’ remarked Henratty and off they sprinted eagerly.

  * * *

  Meanwhile beneath them, and hundreds of feet down in the old mineshaft, Nora the bat had been awoken by the sudden tremor of the unstable ground above. She was hanging upside down in what she called her meditative state. Allowing the blood to rush to her head somehow made all her stress and anxiety disappear, but now this quiet period had been rudely interrupted and this had not happened for a long time, the last time being when two hedgehogs, Jasper and Nancy, fell down the mineshaft two years ago.

  ‘What on earth was that?’ she said aloud and then bellowed, ‘Enoch, Enoch, ENOCH! Come quickly, I think we need to start preparing for some unwanted guests. If they continue to run around like that, there’s only one place they’re going to end up!’

  ‘Oh, Batty, you could be right!’

  ‘Enoch, how many times have I told you it’s Nora, and not Batty?’

  ‘I’m sorry, but as you’re a bat, “Batty” is easier to remember than Nora – you know how forgetful I am …’

  ‘Look stop wasting time, forget about my name for now, this is far more important. I want you to go and warn the others if you can remember where they are, not to mention the conversation we have just had. Have you got that, Enoch?’ asked Nora apprehensively.

  ‘Of course I have, I know I’m forgetful but I’m not that dopey, am I?’ as he wandered off trying to recite what Nora had told him to say and do, as she looked at him thinking, Stupid mole, does he really want me to answer that?

  ‘I must warn the others to prepare for some unwanted guests,’ Enoch continued to mumble until his silhouette had disappeared down the long dark tunnel with his voice becoming more and more faint until it was no more.

  * * *

  Back above the mineshaft in the forbidden field, Henratty and Lyndi Lou were painstakingly picking the best strawberries and placing them in the specially made containers in their baskets to avoid bruising.

  ‘I just tried one – it’s lovely, here you go, try this one,’ as Henratty passed the strawberry to her sister.

  ‘You’re so right, but don’t you think we have enough strawberries for today?’ asked Lyndi Lou prudently.

  ‘I guess you’re right and like you said, we certainly don’t want to get caught if we can help it, but we are definitely coming back tomorrow,’ Henratty said adamantly. ‘We need more than this if Mama Katie is going to make that special strawberry tart, and we can bring Oscar and Jack with us next time, after all Jack is the one that will probably eat most of the tart anyway,’ as they giggled at the very thought of him stuffing his face with as many strawberries that he could fit in his mouth in one go.

  They then scuttled back over to the permitted side of the field and by now everyone had left the entire strawberry fields as the attendant was about to lock up when they appeared behind him.

  ‘Um – where were you two hiding? How come I did not see you? You’re both very lucky as I was about to lock up. Next time, make sure you don’t wander off too far, otherwise you could get locked in for sure.’

  ‘We’re terribly sorry, Sir, we promise we won’t do it again,’ responded Henratty as she smiled sweetly at the attendant.

  On the way back, they decided they would take the long route home so they could stop by the Brians and show Jack and Oscar the gorgeous strawberries, to entice them to go strawberry picking tomorrow and instantly knew that once Jack had tasted these strawberries he would not resist, after all food came first!

  * * *

  An hour, later Henratty and Lyndi Lou were outside the Brians’ doorway, as Mama Katie bellowed to Jack and Oscar that they had arrived, as they rushed out of their playroom into the hallway.

  Jack was holding Oscar’s MightyKats model but immediately dropped it on the floor as he saw Henratty’s basket with the big ripe strawberries strategically sticking out of the basket. Her tactics had started to work.

  ‘Strawberries,’ Jack cried out, as he instinctively ran over and grabbed a handful from the basket, not even asking if he could try one.

  ‘JACK!’ screeched Oscar. ‘Could you please mind what you do with my MightyKats model, you’ll break it if you’re not careful and papa will never buy me another one again. Is that what you want?’

  ‘Of course not – I’m sorry,’ as Jack forced another strawberry in his already filled mouth. ‘So where did you get these lovely strawberries from?’ as he continued to munch on them.

  ‘Oh, Jack, we don’t want to see what you’re eating, thank you very much. Wherever did you get your manners from?’ asked Henratty.

  ‘I’m sorry, but they’re so delicious …’ proclaimed Jack.

  ‘If you come with us tomorrow, we promise to show you the secret place where we found these special strawberries, but we need to ask you a favour before we take you there,’ said Henratty.

  ‘Well, go on then what is it? I’m not going to promise anything until I know what you want,’ enquired Jack intriguingly.

  ‘All we want you to do is promise that you will ask Mama Katie to make that lovely strawberry tart, so we can take some home to our mother. Also, can you get us the recipe?’

  ‘Done!’ answered Jack without any hesitation.

  ‘Are you sure? You know that’s the one and only recipe that Mama Katie won’t disclose to anyone. It’s a secret that’s been kept in the family for generations,’ reminded Oscar vehemently.

  ‘I’m sure,’ responded Jack, as he had already worked out that he would just watch Mama Katie when she was making the strawberry tart and memorise most of the recipe. How would Henratty be able to tell whether he forgot a few ingredients or not, as long as he got most of it that would suffice!

  Henratty looked at Jack a little unsure of his intentions, but she had no choice, as long as he got Mama Katie to make the strawberry tart that was the most important thing.

  ‘Okay, that’s settled then, we’ll pass by tomorrow after lunch, that way it will stop you from eating all the strawberries if you have a full tummy,’ quipped Henratty.

  ‘I have a better idea, why don’t we just meet you outside the entrance of Meerville Strawberry Fields around one thirty in the afternoon, that way you won’t have to take the long route round,’ suggested Jack.

  ‘All right, we’ll see you two tomorrow.’

  * * *

  They were now a clear distance away from the Brians’ house and had walked in complete silence but Henratty could sense that Lyndi Lou did not seem herself.

  ‘What’s wrong, Lyndi Lou?’ asked Henratty.

  ‘Are you sure this is a good idea? When they see where the strawberries actually are, there is no way they will even enter that field,’ declared Lyndi Lou.

  ‘Trust me, when Jack sees the strawberries he is not going to be able to resist and once he goes, Oscar will naturally follow, so don’t worry my plan will work,’ sa
id Henratty confidently.

  ‘I just hope you know what you’re doing, Henratty,’ replied Lyndi Lou.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control,’ maintained Henratty. However, Lyndi Lou could not help feeling wary about trespassing, as she knew this could only spell trouble …

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Mineshaft

  By now all the animals were gathered in Cooper’s den. He was a rat with a chip on his shoulder, who had made it to the mine having escaped from Skylark (the unknown world in the sky ruled by these evil birds of prey called Larkans who had tried to take over The Land of Arkvale unsuccessfully many years ago). One of the Larkans’ guards had not noticed that the latch on Cooper’s door had not closed properly, even though it seemed like it had when visually checking, and so Cooper seized the opportunity to flee his chamber. He only had a matter of seconds to escape and his biggest regret was that he did not have time to let any of the other rats out. With literally no time to spare, all he could do was run and find a way out in the hope of coming back with help to rescue the other animals. He met Nora on the way who happened to have escaped at the same time, but the less said about Skylark, the better.

  Cooper tried to pretend that Skylark did not exist, as the memories were too painful, but how could he, knowing the secret Nora and he kept for the sake of not only Meerville but the whole of Arkvale. This should have been a distant memory as this happened some thirty years ago, but as long as Skylark existed, Cooper could never forget and just lived day by day in the hope that the Larkans never succeeded in ruling Arkvale.

  Cooper was now staring at Nora, as he got back to exactly why all the other mine inhabitants were gathered in his dormitory.

  ‘So, what are we going to do about the intruders?’

  ‘For the moment, nothing,’ Nora proclaimed.

  ‘Nothing, what do you mean nothing?’ demanded Cooper.

  ‘Well, it would appear that our little visitors have gone for the day, but I suspect they will return tomorrow, having got away with picking strawberries in the forbidden field.’