Title:GhostTown-the alternative universe rewrite
Chapter: 14
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Rating: PG
All the rest, see chapter one

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Dan returned within two hours, having scouted the side of the house and found nothing to indicate where Lizzie kept her pets. Pushing through the plants, Dan saw Fitzhugh jump and jerk awake, the older man quickly putting a hand to his heart in fright.

" You might give a body some warning,"

" I'll sound my trumpet next time ?"

" Well if you're going to be facetious..."

" What did you find Dan ?" asked Betty, ignoring Fitzhugh's grumbling.

" Nothing of note, just a garden shed, but no cages or pets."

" Chipper barked at a lizard," said Barry, coming up behind Dan and flopping onto the ground. The little dog lay down next to him and panted happily, his tongue lolling in the heat.

" Any sign of the Giants ?"

" The little girl and the old man came back about half an hour ago, they went straight into the house," Betty told him handing him the last of their water. Dan only took a mouthful, passing it onto Barry.

" Let's get moving then, I want to check out the other side of the house before the Giant's return."

Dan, followed by Betty, pushed his way through the undergrowth, finding the light getting dimmer the further under the deck they went. Finally they reached an area of ground clear of the larger plants, only straggling weeds attempting to grow in the gloom. There they made good progress, not having to worry about discovery or hindrance. Fitzhugh brought up the rear, the occasional scuttle of a woodlouse sufficient to keep him chivvying Barry and Chipper along to keep closer to Dan and Betty. Eventually they traversed the length of the deck, reaching the other side and another narrow band of vegetation. Pushing through they peered out. They had heard vague thumping noises coming from the house and assumed that the Giants were keeping indoors for the afternoon. Keeping close to the border of the vegetation, Dan lead the others towards a shaded lean-to that appeared to have several shelves stacked against the house wall. The structure towered over their heads, the shelves filled with a variety of containers and cages. As they came closer the smells and sounds of the various occupants became noticeable.

" It's not likely that she'd put them onto the lowest shelf, so find a place to hide and I'll climb up and check out the upper shelves,"

" Isn't there anything we can do to help ?" Asked Betty anxiously.

" Not really, send Barry down to the corner to watch for the Giants, and keep Fitzhugh from knocking anything over, other than that, keep out of sight, I'll signal if I find them,"

" Be careful Dan,"

" I will, now get to cover...go."

Betty watched as Dan scaled the lower shelf, then she turned to chivvy Fitzhugh and Barry towards the entrance of the lean-to, finding a flower-pot to hide behind. She instructed Fitzhugh to keep out of sight, then went with Barry to find a good look-out post.

Dan reached the first shelf and made his way along behind the row of cages and containers, finding nearly all of them empty, only the last one containing an inquisitive rodent that twitched its nose at Dan as he pushed past the cage. Reaching the end of the shelf, Dan again scaled the metal work to reach the second shelf. Looking down he saw the figure of Betty jogging back to where Fitzhugh could be seen hiding. He waved and felt a warm glow when the wave was returned. Getting his mind back on the job in hand, Dan eased himself along behind the row of glass beakers that lined this shelf. Most of the containers held reptiles or insects, making him shudder in disgust when liquid eyes turned in his direction, one of the lizards munching contentedly on a fat, green caterpillar. Finding nothing on that shelf Dan climbed to the next. Here a huge glass terrarium blocked his access to the rest of the shelf. He walked to the back but the tank was pushed tight up against the wall, at the front the glass went beyond the edge of the shelf several feet. Finding no way around, Dan peered through the smudged glass. At first he couldn't see very much, a large brown hill blocked his view, then he caught a hint of movement and he rubbed the glass to clear the blur. He caught his breath, he was sure he'd seen a flash of red, and maybe white. Moving along the glass to get a clearer view, Dan found a spot where he could clearly see the length of the glass tank. At the far end he saw a collection of twigs and sitting on a rock he saw the familiar figure of his friend and Captain. Dan immediately started to bang on the glass, but his fists made no noise and the glass was too thick to break. He tried shouting but his voice was too muffled by the impenetrable barrier.

Turning around he quickly returned to the edge of the shelf and started to climb down, his only chance of contacting his friends would be if he climbed up the other end of the shelf and reached them from that end.

Jumping onto the lower shelf he dodged behind the glass beakers and square tanks, running as fast as he dared. Reaching the other end he scrambled up the ornate metal work and hauled himself onto the wooden shelf. Finding only a few smaller cages between him and the huge glass tank he quickly negotiated them and reached the towering glass wall. He could clearly see Steve, Mark and Valerie grouped inside the tank. They had their backs to him but Dan found a lump of gravel and banged determinedly on the side of the tank, the sound making the three occupants whip around in surprise.

" Steve !!" Dan shouted, pleased to see them all in one piece.

Steve, Mark and Valerie all rushed to the wall, their hands pressing against the glass as if trying to touch freedom. Their excited voices came through heavily muffled but audible.

" Dan, are you okay, where are the others ?" asked Steve,

" Fitzhugh, Betty and Barry are down below, keeping watch,"

" Is everyone okay ?"

" Fitzhugh and Barry are fine, Betty is suffering from amnesia from a nasty head wound, but she seems okay otherwise,"

" Dan, take the others back to the Spindrift, you can't get us out of here," Steve shouted, his expression sombre," the roof is a solid sheet of glass and the walls are too high to climb, get away from here while you can,"

Valerie and Mark exchanged a glance, realising that Steve's order would seal their fate.

" I won't leave you Steve, any of you...we all leave, or we all stay,"

" That's an order Dan, take the others and take off, you can't help us,"

Dan was looking up at the top of the tank, choosing to ignore his Captains orders.

" I'm going to climb onto the next shelf, see if I can do something from up there,"

" No Dan, get away from here, dammit listen to me,"

But Dan was already running back to the end of the shelf and climbing up the fretwork to the next level. Steve thumped his fist against the glass and watched as his friend reached the upper shelf.

" He's only doing what you'd do in his position Steve," said Mark.

" I know,"

They all stared upwards, watching Dan's progress along the shelf, his distant figure coming to a stop directly over their prison. They could see him waving madly then he disappeared.

" What's he up to ?" Valerie queried, all eyes fixed on where they'd last seen Dan.

A sudden movement alerted them that Dan indeed had a plan. A large dark object was coming closer to the edge of the upper shelf, slowly but surely reaching the point of no return.

" He's crazy !" exclaimed Mark, realising just what Dan had in mind.

" Get behind those rocks, under the barricade, it might help shield us from the worst of the shards."

" Shards !!! What's happening......Eeeeeek!" Valerie only had breath to squeak as Mark roughly pushed her down against the base of the largest rock, Steve landing in the dirt next to her with Mark's weight smothering her as a loud crack rent the air and their world crashed down around them.

For the next few moments the air seemed full of the horrendous sounds of glass splintering and cracking, the pieces hitting the dirt of the tank and sending up plumes of dust. The tortoise in the far corner didn't put its head out, the larger glass fragments bouncing off its armoured shell. The object that Dan had pushed off the shelf hit the floor and caused the whole tank to shake, the sticks sheltering the Little People tumbling down onto Mark and Steve's shoulders as they sheltered Valerie at the base of the rocks. The noise seemed to go on forever but in actuality lasted only a few moments, then the air started to clear of the choking sand and dust and Steve cautiously poked his head over the rock to see the damage. Above him Dan leapt up and down on the shelf, shouting his head off.

" STEVE...MARK...ARE YOU OKAY ??"

" Bit late to ask that isn't it ?" muttered Mark, brushing sand off his shoulders.

" WE'RE ALL FINE DAN," shouted Steve, shaking his head to clear the debris out of his hair. At their feet Valerie spluttered and coughed, her clothes liberally coated in dust. Mark reached down and helped her to her feet, stepping out of their shelter to survey the former glass tank.

Dan also stared down into the devastation wrought by his use of a tin of food he'd found lying on its side on the top shelf. It had landed square on the roof of the tortoise enclosure, smashing the glass and folding it inwards, away from the sides so that the largest pieces fell into the middle of the tank. In doing so he had also smashed the front plate of the tank, the shards falling to the shelf below and to the ground, but opening the enclosure to the open air. He waved to Steve and started back to climb down.

Steve hobbled around the pieces of glass, taking care not to snag himself on the lethally sharp edges, making his way to the outer edge. He could see down to the next shelf, and by kicking out the loose glass, he cleared a jagged edge to allow them to use their rope.

" Mark, see if you can secure a rope to those rocks, we can use it to reach the shelf below. Valerie, be careful those splinters of glass are like razers."

Valerie was picking her way carefully over the shattered glass, mindful not to lose her footing and grab a sharp edge. Reaching Steve, she held onto his arm and looked down at the climb to come.

Mark joined them, throwing a line over the edge and tugging to make sure it was secure. Dan had reached the shelf below and was standing beside the cage where the rope dangled, taking a hold and keeping the line from moving.

" Whose first ?"

" Valerie, you go down, Dan can help you when you reach the bottom,"

Valerie had only just started to ease herself over the edge when a shadow blocked the sunlight, looking up she saw a giant hand reaching for her, too startled to scream, Valerie only gripped the rope tighter as the hand closed around her.

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Lizzie was just about ready to scream in frustration because her Grandfather refused to allow her out of his sight for longer than a few minutes. They had spent the morning cleaning up the town, repairing the train and generally tidying up. They had returned to the house for lunch and Lizzie had hoped to escape to check on her captives but again her parent had insisted she eat her lunch under his watchful eye. Mrs. Phall had insisted that Lizzie needed to go with her into town and get her hair cut, despite Lizzie's refusal, but for once her Grandfather agreed with the housekeeper and Lizzie had to go, wasting more time she would rather spend with her 'pets'. After returning to the house Lizzie was determined to visit her new acquisitions but was once more thwarted by her Grandfather reminding her that she had unfinished homework to complete and that there was no time like the present. Nearly yelling in her anger at being frustrated again, Lizzie almost blew it by making Ackman angry again. With a poor grace, she accepted the inevitable and settled down to finish the homework, under the eagle eye of her stern faced Grandfather.

As they sat in the living room, a loud crash made Lizzie jump, her thoughts instantly flying to the glass tank containing the Little People. She was half out of her chair when Mrs. Phall popped a head around the door and said she'd investigate. Lizzie barely opened her mouth to protest when the door was once more closed and Lizzie could do no more than fume at the injustice of it all.

She heard the back door open and close and the sound of Mrs.Phall's shoes on the deck then silence except for the tick of the mantle clock.

" I really should go and see what that noise was about, Grandfather, it could be one of my pets."

" Mrs.Phall will see what the matter is, you just concentrate on that homework,"

Gritting her teeth, Lizzie bent her head and savagely ground her pencil into the unoffending page of her notebook.

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Sira had been fretting all the day about the fate of the Little People. She had arrived at the house and found Lizzie behaving perfectly calmly and smugly which immediately rang the alarm bells. But it wasn't until the afternoon that Sira was able to do anything. She had been just coming downstairs when the crash had sounded from outside the house. At first she had thought it was a window but common sense ruled that idea out, which only left the glass cages that Lizzie used for her pets. Ducking her head into the back parlour she managed to keep Lizzie from dashing outside by offering to go outside herself. With Ackman's approval, and to Lizzie disgust, Sira quickly shut the door and hurried outside. She walked around the edge of the deck and approached the lean-to. A sharp crack of glass breaking alerted her to something happening on one of the upper shelves and she trod cautiously, aware that Lizzie get an odd, and sometimes dangerous collection of animals in her various containers. Once her eye's adjusted to the darker interior she saw the shattered tank that had once housed a large tortoise. One side was complete wrecked and she saw movement among the broken remains. Her eyes widened when she recognised the Little People she had helped only the previous day.

" So Lizzie caught you, after all," she said softly to herself. Keeping still, Sira watched as the woman started to lower herself down the makeshift rope while the two men remained in the tank, with another man, one Sira hadn't seen before, waited on the lower shelf. Making a decision, Sira stepped forward and reached out to grasp the woman as she slid down the rope.

" I'm going to help you get away," Sira said, startling the Little People remaining on the shelves.

She looked down at the woman held loosely in her hand. Valerie, after recovering from her initial fright at being caught, called down to Mark and Steve who watched anxiously from the broken enclosure.

" I'm okay," Valerie turned back and addressed the Giantess.

" How are you able to help, Sira ?"

" I can get you all away from this house, and Lizzie. Get you to somewhere where you can return home from."

" That's a nice idea, Sira and we appreciate the offer, but can you do it ?" asked Steve.

" It's almost the end of my day here, if I could get you to my car, I could easily transport you to wherever you want to go, within reason."

Coming to a decision, Steve exchanged a hurried few words with Mark before speaking again.

" Sira, there are seven of us, plus a dog. Can you find something to carry us all in ?"

Sira cast about, looking at the various containers still intact on the shelves.

" The only thing I can think of would be a cage, if you trust me that is, there nothing else that would hold you all comfortably, my dress doesn't have any pockets to hide you in, I'm afraid."

" Steve, it's a pretty big ask to expect us all to blithely walk into a cage," hissed Mark.

" We trusted her before, no reason not to now, and what choice do we have ?" Steve whispered back. Turning back to face Sira, Steve spoke again.

" We don't have many choices here, can you get the cage into the house without Lizzie or Ackman seeing you ?"

" I won't have to, this lean-to is attached to the back of the garage, I can put you in my car and return to the house the same way."

" Then we agree," said Steve.

Sira nodded and gently put Valerie back onto the shelf where Mark and Steve stood. Then she picked up several wooden cages, checking them for occupants and condition. Finding one that hadn't been used for awhile, she emptied out the bedding and shook out the dust. While she had been doing that, Dan had climbed down to the ground and raced over to where Fitzhugh and Betty watched worriedly. Bringing them up to date on what was happening, Dan then went to fetch Barry from his look-out post. By the time he got back Sira was holding the newly cleaned box up to the shelf for Steve, Mark and Valerie to climb into. Once they were aboard, the Giantess carried the box to the doorway and placed it on the ground for the others to get onboard.

" I'm sorry it's not more comfortable, but it will only be for a short time,"

Sira watched as the remaining Little People and one dog clambered into the box cage. Once inside, Sira loosely secured the door and straightened up.

" I'll try not to jostle you too much, but hang on anyway, I'll have you in the car in no time."

Not waiting for a reply, Sira left the lean-to and slipped down the side way to the back entrance to the garage. Once inside she pulled open the back passenger side door of her car and placed the cage on the floor behind the front seat.

" I'll leave the cage door open, but keep out of sight, won't you ?" said Sira, undoing the catch and watching as Steve stepped out, pushing the cage door wide.

" I have to go back and clean up that glass, so I have an explanation for taking so long. I'll be leaving in about an hour or so, so don't expect me before then. I'll shut the car door now, keep out of sight."

With a small wave at the tiny figures standing on the carpet, Sira quickly shut the car door, making sure that it was secure, before grabbing a broom and dustpan from the workbench and leaving by the back door of the garage to return to the lean-to and start the cleanup.

In the car it was dark and faintly musty, but the occupants of the cage were just pleased to be all back together again.

" I hope your trust isn't misplaced Captain Burton. You've placed all our lives in that woman's hands," said Fitzhugh, his lugubrious expression more morose than usual.

" I'm aware of that Mr.Fitzhugh."

" Why shouldn't we trust her, she helped us before," said Valerie.

" Maybe she has her own plans for us, plans that include the SID," persisted Fitzhugh, his voice rising.

" Would you rather be waiting for Lizzie to return, I'm sure she had interesting plans for our future," Mark exclaimed, exasperated at Fitzhugh comments.

" Let us hope, Mr.Wilson, that we haven't leap from the frying pan into the fire, that's all I'm saying."

" Well I prefer this frying pan to that fire anyday, atleast we're all together, that has to count for something,"

" Valerie's right, lets just be grateful we're all in one piece. I trust Sira, she helped us before, and there's no reason to suppose she won't help us again, so lets not worry about the rest for now. I suggest we make ourselves comfortable here for the time being and take stock of our supplies."

" We don't have alot Steve," said Dan," lets hope you're Giant lady friend thinks to bring us something."

" Sorry Dan, in the rush I forgot about our provision, what do we have ?"

" Not much of anything, maybe just enough to go round all of us,"

" Pass out what we have, I'll ask our benefactress for more when she gets back,"

Steve watched as Dan unfolded the makeshift backpack and passed out the remaining food. He knew he'd taken a huge risk by trusting Sira to help them, their situation was far from perfect, but for the moment they were safe and unharmed. What more could anyone ask for.

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