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| 17. So Much for Scouts being Prepared! |
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It was Maud Pinkerton's last day as owner of the ice cream and coffee shop. Her son was about to take over running it.
Ben Madigan and my niece were there to mark the occasion; and to have a look at photogaraphs of Maud's trip to Scotland.
Maud had no idea what life had in store for her from here on, but she had a feeling it would be exciting.
A few kilometres uphill, a scout pack had set up camp on the edge of Bryan Tang's farm. Woody Burns and his wife Cully, the scout leaders, were busy making the tents waterproof when the music suddenly stopped. The batteries had run out on their portable stereo player and nobody had brought any spares - not very clever for boys and girls who were supposed to be 'always prepared'.
So Bryan ran an electric cable from his kitchen, across the yard and out to the field, so they could have some background music to go with their 'ging-gang-gooley-gooley' and other scout songs.
On the other side of the field, right beside the bad bend in the road, local girl Becky Marshall was flying her kite. It wasn't a particularly windy day, and the kite wasn't particularly good at getting off the ground - at least not until the tractor came round the bend, causing a gust of warm air that Becky wasn't expecting.
Luckily she wasn't able to hold onto the kite as it launched itself high into the sky; right into the overhead electricity cable that she shouldn't have been playing anywhere near to in the first place.
There were lots of bright flashes and crackling, and the music on the stereo went all broken and fuzzy.
The scouts stopped singing. Cully Burns turned from the tent and looked across the field. She dropped her hammer and sprinted off in the direction of the kite; in the direction of Becky, who looked like she might be about to grab the end of the kite string.
'Nooooooo!!!' Cully screamed at the top of her voice.
***
'What was that noise?' asked Ben Madigan.
'Sounded like someone shouting in the distance,' replied Professor Dunlambert.
'Probably kids playing in the old quarry,' added Maud Pinkerton. 'The sound often travels this far on a still day.' She carried on showing her guests photos of her Scotland trip.
***
Like everyone else in a 5 kilometre radius, Becky Marshall had heard Cully Burns' scream. She didn't dare touch the kite string.
But by the time Cully reached Becky just to make sure, the poor woman was so out of breath she could hardly speak. She leaned forward to rest one hand against a tree, and clutched her chest with the other hand.
Down below, Woody Burns was on the phone to the Electricity suppliers to have them come out and switch the supply off before anyone attempted to rescue the kite: the results would have been disastrous.
It was only when he set the phone down, that he realised his wife was slumped against the tree. And when he looked in her handbag, her asthma inhaler was still in there. She needed it...and she needed it fast!
Bryan Tang's quad bike was in the yard. Woody threw the helmet on, and headed up the steep hill. He overtook most of the scouts on his way.
When he reached Cully, her lips were a pale blue colour and she was exhausted. She wouldn't even have the energy to suck on the inhaler now. It was a long time since Woody had seen her so bad. She needed proper help: paramedic-type proper help.
***
'What on earth's that smell?' asked Maud Pinkerton. 'I don't believe it's one of OUR ice cream flavours.'
'Scramble!' shouted the Professor. SHE recognised the smell in an instant: a familiar FRUITY sort of smell. And outside the coffee shop, she recognised the fading rumble of the helicopter-chasing-the-police-car sound from the castle across the road.
Ben Madigan was already one step ahead of her - well fifty-eight steps actually...he was just rushing in through the castle gate. The professor high-tailed it after him.
Maud had no idea where they were going, but SHE was going with them; and if the strange smell and the noise weren't enough to whip up her curiosity, the green goose-shaped flash overhead certainly did the trick.
Inside, the Beetle's lights were still flashing, the catapult was lying on the ground, and all that remained on the launch pad was a piece of stone. But the funniest thing was...the multi-coloured dog, who hadn't been able to fire a catapult AND pull a safety screen up at the same time.
Maud Pinkerton was puzzled: she pictured Uncle Sid without the fruit camouflage; she pictured him without one ear raised; she pictured him without the smile. And then she realised where she'd seen this one-eared old English sheepdog before: lying on grass on a Scottish shore... struggling to get a breath...just like Cully Burns was now.
***
The field was wide; wide enough even for a goose with its legs on the wrong-way-round to land, stumble and roll without doing any damage for a change. Still, the scouts did enjoy the last eight-metre tumble.
Fergus dusted himself down and got to work right away.
He was satisfied that they were all far enough away from the electricity cables and the kite.
Woody gave him a report as to what had happened; that his wife was definitely asthmatic, but that she wasn't able to get any relief from her inhaler.
Fergus pulled the oxygen bottle from his backpack. He knew Cully needed a special drug that would turn to a mist so she could breathe it in, but that would have to wait until the proper paramedics arrived. In the meantime he turned the oxygen to 'HIGH' and put the mask onto her face.
He got her to sit so she could rest, but upright so she could get as much of the oxygen as possible into her tight chest.
He checked her pulse and blood pressure with the professor's pink stethoscope. And talking of pink, that's the colour her lips quickly changed to, thanks to the oxygen.
But she still wasn't well enough to suck on her own inhaler. Just as well then, that the air ambulance was only minutes behind Fergus. And just as well that the paramedic on air duty today was PETE!
In no time at all, Cully Burns had been NEBULISED with the mist created by the oxygen and the special drug. In fact she'd recovered so well, that all she wanted to do now was get on with the tents.
EMERGENCY OVER!
Time for Fergus to head back to the pick-up point among the trees in Shaftesbury gardens.
***
Ben Madigan was heading there too, on his trike with the goose-sized box on the back. The superhero goose should be there any minute he reckoned.
At the castle, professor Dunlambert was bringing Maud Pinkerton up-to-date as they tidied up. Her biggest regret was that she hadn't managed to get the goose's legs back on the right way round. Or at least that HAD BEEN her biggest regret...until she found the emergency fruit can lying under the unused chain; the emergency fruit can Fergus was supposed to be using to launch himself back home.
She was just about to panic, when suddenly the air was filled with the sound of a helicopter again; not the helicopter-chasing-the-police-car sound this time...just a helicopter - the Air Ambulance Helicopter in fact.
And as it hovered about a metre above the cobbled stones of the castle courtyard, a little green goose jumped out and ran straight to the castle wall.
He picked up a certain wooden leg belonging to a certain old soldier and hurled it up into Pete's arms.
'Thanks for the lift boys,' he shouted, as Maud and the professor looked on with mouths opened wide. 'Tell Wee Man McCann I said Hi!'
'I will,' replied Pete. 'And thanks again for your help Fergus.'
And with a wave and a wink to the ladies, Pete and the air ambulance rose, turned, and headed for their base back at Farset Hospital.
Professor Dunlambert wasn't sure what she was more concered about: that Pete and his mates knew ALL about Fergus, or that a certain secret agent was sitting on his trike in Shaftesbury Gardens waiting for a goose that wasn't coming!
Watch out for the next BLOG...coming soon.
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