A Life Beyond by Mark Church (ebook reader web TXT) 📕

'Let's see who we can catch today, eh boy, my hut needs new badges!!' Mr Twitcher said excitedly as he started his usual sneaky pacing up and down along the thick hedgerows, trying to peek inside to see any sign of children in them desperate to get past him and out of the school gates. Between them they had been very successful over the years, catching numerous children wanting to sneak past him but he always seemed to be one step ahead of them, whenever he caught anyone he would make up a new ‘Badge of Capture’ with the child's name on it and proudly display it on the wall of his tin pot shed which he called his ‘Base of Operations’, so over the years the walls had become almost completely covered by the names of all the children desperate to make a run for it but weren't quite clever enough to get past him and Rollo, The badges dated back well into the 1960’s which shows just how long he had been working at Longmeads.

So this time Daniel and Harvey knew they needed to be extra cunning to try their luck at getting past them,

Daniel was surveying the bushes to see if there was any way of sneaking far enough through and he turned and spotted a gap right where they were standing,

'Ah Ha..' he muttered silently as he slowly slipped out of sight, Harvey was still peering ever so carefully round the end of the bush to keep an eye on Mr Twitcher and Rollo to see how far away they were from them,

'So what's the pla….Daniel???, where are you?' Harvey whispered as noticed Mr Twitcher and Rollo heading their way,

'Daniel?, Daniel!!', Harvey sounding more desperate as he searched for his friend who was nowhere to be seen and now the caretaker was yards from where he was crouching.

The next thing Harvey knew he was being lifted off his feet and was being dragged through the gap in the bushes just as Mr Twitcher and Rollo reached the spot where he had just been cowering.

Mr Twitcher looked puzzled, he took off his rather tatty old hat, scratched his head and muttered to Rollo,

'I'm sure I just heard voices boy…',

Rollo Barked fairly tamely as if to agree with him, he then turned his head towards the spot where the boys were hiding and started his usual sniffing of the bushes, hoping to seek out anyone hiding inside. Daniel lay his hand across Harvey's mouth so he couldn't screech like he normally does when he gets scared by something which was just as well as all of a sudden Rollo’s big wet nose started poking in through the gap at the edge of the bush and he started sniffing furiously like he had picked up a scent.

Harvey's eyes widened and he began to panic as the dog's nose got ever closer to Harvey's trainers and trouser legs, next followed the dogs big brown head into the bushes, Rollo had discovered the boys hiding place but as the space was small he was unable to bark for Mr Twitcher to look inside so instead Rollo reached out to Harvey and managed to grab onto his trouser leg and began trying to tug him out of the bushes but he was stuck up to his neck by the sheer thickness of the bush, all the while he was growling as if to say ‘I've found something’ but Mr Twitcher seemed to be preoccupied by something else and didn't notice his dog neck deep in the bushes struggling to free himself.

Harvey was getting more and more agitated as Rollo tugged harder at his trousers slowly pulling him backwards away from Daniel’s grip, he still had his hand across Harvey's mouth trying to stop him from making too much noise that the caretaker would eventually discover them, Harvey on the other hand was trying to shout out in terror but instead was making strange noises on Daniel's hand which causes Daniel to hold it firmer each time, then he whacked Harvey on the arm and mouthed at him,

'Shhh Harv...I've got an idea!!', so he dove deep into his trouser pocket and after a bit of rummaging around exclaimed,

'Ah-ha, here it is' and he pulled small packet out and held it in front of Harvey's face,

'Look….' He quietly whispered and made sure Harvey could see what it was,

'Pepper….' He told Harvey who was more interested in getting loose from the jaws of Rollo who was still struggling to free himself plus pulling Harvey out through the bush.

So Daniel ripped the top off of the small pepper packet, carefully opened up the packet and began to sprinkle it all over Rollos big wet nose, waiting as the pepper stuck to the poor dog.

Rollo suddenly let go of Harvey's trouser leg and instead began licking at the pepper which had now spread nicely all over his nose and tongue.

'Snort...sneeze..' Went Rollo as he suddenly realised that whatever it was on his nose wasn't good for him, he managed to sneeze himself free from the bush and continued to sneeze all over the place as the boys were sniggering quietly to themselves.

Rollo was now rolling about all over the grass trying to rid himself of the pepper which by now was all licked off his nose and getting deep into his throat causing him to moan,

'Awwrrrrrr' Rollo whimpered as he pawed at his snout, trying to get his owners attention but Mr Twitcher was still oblivious to Rollo’s situation because he could hear what sounded like children coming towards the back gates,

'Sounds like we've got ourselves a couple of early leavers Rollo!!!' Mr Twitcher said excitedly as he hurriedly got ready to pounce on whoever it was that was trying to leave,

'Come here boy, we don't want to be seen yet do we' He said to Rollo who was now staggering towards his owner, his eyes streaming with tears and him still sneezing every so often,

'What happened to you Rollo??, Did you get stuck in the bush again' Mr Twitcher said as he caught sight of Rollo looking worse for wear covered in branches and leaves from the bush he had just been stuck in.

All the while the boys were still hiding in the same spot too scared to move as the voice of the caretaker got slightly louder and closer to the spot where they were hiding.

They didn't dare make a sound as a sneezing Rollo plodded past the spot where they were hiding but didn't bother with the boys as he knew what had just happened and didn't fancy a repeat of it.

The next thing the boys knew was that the hole in the side of the hedge where they got in was slowly going dark as all of a sudden the backside of Mr Twitcher started to push through into the gap slowly and quietly which now seemed to scare both boys at the thought of them both being dragged back into school and straight into detention, but all of a sudden Mr Twitcher stopped moving backwards, his bottom must've been about a foot away from the arm of Harvey, the boys were now completely petrified as they thought the game was up so they sat completely still, not daring to move a muscle.

Out of the corner of Harvey's eye he caught sight of something small, stripy and buzzing which was flying towards his hand, to Harvey it was the biggest bee ever!!, he was frozen to the spot as he watched it land close to his hand, Daniel had spotted it too and immediately put his hand back over Harvey's mouth as he knew he would squeal like a pig if it got any closer, all the while Mr Twitcher was completely still in the gap of the bush.

Then it happened, the insect made its way onto Harvey's hand, who was now frozen with terror, then his eyes widened and he began to breath heavily as he knew what was coming next, He was stung on the hand and started to fidget uncontrollably as the pain took over but Daniel still had his hand over Harvey's mouth which was proving harder to keep there as he jerked around.

Mr Twitcher on the other hand wasn't paying any attention to the commotion behind him as he was concentrating on his next capture, mumbling softly to himself as he sat there waiting,

'Oh goodie, another couple of pupils to add to my list!!, That's it boys come closer!!'. He muttered, all the while licking his lips in anticipation,

In the distance and getting ever closer to the spot where they were all gathered were two more Longmead pupils heading towards Mr Twitcher and Rollo,

From their voices Daniel could just about make out who it was, It sounded like Archie Jenkins and Henry Thompson coming towards them, Daniel didn't really get on with them so he was willing them to be caught so it would take the attention away from the two boys who were stuck between Mr Twitcher’s looming bottom and the huge trunk in the bush which was stopping them from moving away, Harvey was still frantically swatting his arms trying to hit the bee and also trying

to get Daniel to move his hand as he was struggling to catch his breath now and turning a darker shade of red than he was used to but Daniel held on because he knew if he let go then Harvey would give the game away and they along with the other two boys would be hauled in front of the Headmaster again,

'Mmpphh' Harvey tried to alert Daniel to his predicament and eventually Daniel looked at him and seeing that he was turning redder by the second released his grip ever so slightly but still wary of any noise that Harvey may make,

'Shhh…' Daniel gently whispered in his friend's ear,

'I can hear Archie and Henry coming...this is our chance to get away, just got to wait for Twitcher to catch them...so keep still and don't make a sound!!'.

And with that Daniel turned towards where Mr Twitcher was hoping and praying he wouldn't turn round and see them.

Then all of a sudden Mr Twitcher leapt out of his hiding place like a coiled spring shouting,

'Ah-ha, I've got you!!!, looks like we are going on a nice little trip to the Heads office doesn't it,', all the while smiling like the cat that got the cream with Rollo barking with excitement alongside him as the startled boys looked at each other with total fear in their eyes, Archie then stuttered as he tried to reply to Mr Twitcher,

'B.B..but sir….I have permission to l..leave, I'm going to the dentist',

'A likely story if ever I've heard one' laughed the caretaker as Rollo started circling the two scared boys making sure they didn't make a run for it,

'Looks like we got a couple of new badges to add to the wall boy, now let's get moving' said Mr Twitcher as he spread out his arms as if to herd the boys back towards school like a couple of sheep with them still pleading their innocence,

'But sir….we need to go, my mum is waiting…..' Henry replied as they started to make their way back to the school with Mr Twitcher rubbing his hands with glee at the thought of being seen as the school ‘hero’ again.

Mr Twitcher just muttered at the boys to get a move on as there were more to catch, all the while the two boys pleading to be let go,

'Come on sir….please let us go, I have a letter…..' Archie begged and thrust a piece of paper into the caretaker’s bony hand but he just smirked and screwed it up, tossing it into the nearest dustbin as they neared the school.

Now out of sight Daniel breathed a huge sigh of relief as Mr Twitcher and the boys disappeared out of sight and into