A Good Find by Gary L Beer (chrysanthemum read aloud .TXT) 📕

they cycle along at a steady pace. The sea is at high tide; waves splash gently on the shingle beach as small birds run between the waves catching food, and not seeming to get their feet wet. The speeding boats are now lost to sight amongst the waves and only the faint hum of their engines can be heard as seagulls float lazily on the light wind.
Stef, impatient with the slow progress starts to pull ahead; turning his head he shouts that he will meet them at the river and pedals hard. He is proud of his physique and likes to push himself to the limit; along with the excitement of going fast the blood coursing through his veins as he pedals makes him feel alive and proud. Furiously he pedals, his heart beat increasing as he looks at the blur of concrete below him, tucking his head down he pedals faster.
“Look at him go.” enthuses Simon.
“And on only one pint of beer.” laughs Nicola.
They watch Stef’s departing figure as they cycle slowly along enjoying the peace and smell and sound of the sea. Skylarks sing from above the marsh making it appear a beautiful place. The sun soon changes that by disappearing behind a cloud, silencing the Skylarks and bringing a chill wind from the east.
Nicola stops and taking out a thin waterproof jacket puts it on as Simon waits and looks out to sea. Dark clouds now line the horizon to the north and east and they seem to be coming this way.
With jacket on Nicola continues cycling at a sedate pace with Simon riding beside her. They talk of Simon’s recent trip to America and of Nicola and Stef’s desire to move to Australia until they reach the river; and a very excited Stef!


Chapter Two

As they had approached Stef, who was waiting beside the river, Nicola could tell by his posture that something was wrong; pedalling faster she rides up to him and pulls up sharply;
“What’s wrong?” she asks as Stef’s face is flushed red with excitement.
He stares deep into Nicola’s eyes, his eyes flash and sparkle with excitement and he jumps nervously backwards when Simon screeches to a stop in front of him.
“What’s up Dude?” Simon asks.
Stef turns and looks deep into Simon’s eyes not saying anything. He appears proud and sure of himself, but at the same time there is a strange look in his eyes.
Stef looks at Simon and back at Nicola unable to speak; the thoughts racing through his mind become a jumble of excitement to what he has found. He opens his mouth to speak but finds it too dry, reaching down to his rucksack, which is on the ground beside his feet, he takes out a small bottle of water. Unscrewing the lid hurriedly he takes a long drink. Mouth no longer dry he turns back to Nicola and Simon, the excitement he feels makes him stutter; “Loo-Look what I f-found.” and waving his arm he indicates to them to follow him.
Nicola and Simon lay their bikes down on the soft grass and follow Stef along the riverbank until they reach a large area of reeds growing on marshland.
Stef looks around mysteriously to make sure no one can see him before he enters the reeds; “Stay there.” he commands as he disappears into the reeds.
A few moments later he emerges from the reeds carrying a long black holdall; the holdall looks heavy as he struggles to carry it towards them. Dropping the bag in front of them he lets out a big breath; “I think those fellas the old bill were chasing were smugglers; cop this!” he says excitedly.
Simon looks surprised and leans down to unzip the bag.
“What is it?” asks Nicola.
Simon unzips the bag as Stef says; “Have a look.” and attempts a scared smile.
“Oh my good god!” Simon exclaims as he looks inside the bag.
Nicola peers inside; the bag is full of money, Simon reaches in and takes out a thick bundle of twenty pound notes. There must be five thousand, if not ten thousand pounds in this one bundle, and the bag is full of them and many bundles that look composed of fifty’s!
Nicola takes the money from Simon’s shocked hand; the money is wrapped tightly with an elastic band and she struggles to pull a single note from the middle of the bundle. Not succeeding she impatiently removes the elastic band and then holds a note up to the sky;
“Hey, these are real.” she says with rising excitement.
The realisation of what Stef has found hits Simon and Nicola at the same time; “What are we going to do?” asks Nicola in a worried voice.
“Keep it.” answers Stef firmly.
“You sure ‘bout that Dude?” asks Simon.
“A third of it is yours.” replies Stef with a smile.
Simon looks down at the bag and thinks of the problems it will cure; and the problems it may cause, looking Stef in the eyes he says firmly; “If that money does belong to smugglers they could be difficult to deal with, guns possibly if they are dealing in that amount of money.” and he nods towards the bag at his feet.
Stef looks around at the empty marsh that surrounds them and laughs; “Who’s gonna know?”
Simon stands and looks at the surrounding marsh, being a head taller than Stef he can see further, a blue flashing light in the distance attracts his eye; “Maybe they will.” he says in a flat tone of voice.
Stef looks in the direction of Simon’s gaze and can see nothing, except marsh, reeds and grass; “Who?”
“Stand up on the bank, you’ll see better.”
Stef walks up the bank a little way and looks across the marsh, the flash of a blue light increases his heartbeat and he looks down at Simon; “They are a long way away and it’s a real bumpy track. I reckon we got twenty minutes before they get here that is if they are coming this way, they don’t seem to be moving.”
“Yeah I was thinking that Dude, shall we get out of here?”
“Don’t I get a say in any of this?” asks Nicola in a stressed voice.
Stef looks at her; “Of course you have a say on a third of it.”
“I say we get out of here; and fast!”
“Couldn’t agree more.” laughs Simon nervously.
Stef takes the money from Nicola’s hand and puts it back in the holdall, zipping the bag up he picks it up and with muscles straining walks towards the bicycles.
“How are you going to carry it back? You’ll end up with a hernia or something if you think you can carry it over your shoulder.” asks Simon.
“Easy, I’ll lay it along the crossbar, won’t be too bad cycling as long as I keep my legs open.” laughs Stef.
“How yer going to get past the pub or even home come to that, without being seen?” asks Simon.
Stef laughs putting the holdall on the ground he opens his rucksack and putting his hand in he pulls out what looks like a green waterproof jacket. Hooking the rucksack over his handlebars he slowly unfolds the waterproof jacket which gets larger as he unfolds it; Simon can see that it is a large waterproof cape!
With a swirl above his head Stef neatly puts on the cape and sitting astride his bike he picks up the heavy bag and lays it along the crossbar, where it fits neatly tucking itself under his saddle. Adjusting the cape Stef drapes it over the handlebars; the cape hangs low, about to his knees and effectively covers the bag.
“Cool,” laughs Simon; “You want me to take your rucksack?”
“Good idea.” replies Stef handing the rucksack to Simon.
Simon’s arm bends a little under the weight; “What you got in here Dude?”
“Bottle of water and sandwiches, you can chuck them if you want.” Stef replies.
Simon opens the rucksack and takes out a lunchbox of sandwiches and an old plastic lemonade bottle filled with water. Putting the bottle on the ground he looks inside; Stef tells him there is only another small water bottle and his tobacco. Simon takes off his rucksack and folding Stef’s he puts it inside. Emptying the sandwiches onto the grass he puts the empty box into his rucksack and slings it over his shoulders. Picking up the large bottle he unscrews the lid and empties the water over the grass; “I’ll throw this in the sea.” he says holding up the empty bottle.
“Can we please go.” shouts Nicola as she sits impatiently astride her bike.
Stef starts to pedal slowly away, the weight of the bag makes him wobble as he rides and it is a good twenty metres before he gains full control and able to ride in a straight line. Simon and Nicola ride about five metres behind, Simon anxiously looks out across the marsh and can see the blue flashing light in the distance. He speeds up and pulls alongside Stef; “A little faster if you can Dude and it looks like you are gonna need that cape; look up at the sky.”
Stef looks up, the black clouds that lined the horizon are nearly upon them and the air feels heavy with rain; “That’s good, keep the tourists away.”
“How are you going to get past the pub?” Simon asks him.
“You can go first and check it out.” Stef smiles as his bicycle wobbles dangerously.
Simon brakes, letting Stef pull in front of him and concentrate on getting his bike under control, Stef weaves in front of him and manages to steer his bike in a straight line.
“Is he alright?” asks Nicola as she draws level with Simon.
“Yeah, he’s alright, don’t go too close or he’ll run you over.” he laughs.
Nicola feels too tense to laugh only managing a worried smile as the first drops of rain blown in the wind reach them. Simon stops and hurriedly puts his waterproof jacket on as Stef and Nicola continue cycling. Zipping the jacket up to his chin Simon pedals hard to catch them up as the rain starts in earnest. Fifty yards further on Simon’s legs are soaked, as he has no waterproof trousers. Nicola has the same problem and pedals with difficulty as her jeans stick tightly to her legs. Stef fares better under the cape with only the bottom of his jeans and socks and trainers getting wet.
The rain beats down heavily upon them as they struggle along; visibility is down to about a hundred metres making them feel isolated and alone. The appearance of the Roman wall that once bordered The Towers is a welcoming sight and Stef gets behind it to get out of the rain and wait for Simon and Nicola.

Simon pulls alongside Stef as Nicola pulls in behind him and gets close to the wall; “Wait here Dudes, I’ll go and have a look.” he says as he leaves them sheltering against the wall. Simon cycles slowly up the little hill