The Serial Burglar by Austin Mitchell - HTML preview

Chapter Three

They loaded up their gear and started out, pushing the

reluctant Bender ahead of them. He was shuffling his feet and

protesting that he wanted the ropes off him. They had just left

another grove of trees when two men jumped down on them.

They were Fuller and Clinch’s elder son, Mackie.

“What are you guys doing here?” Fuller demanded.

“What do you see us doing, Fuller?” Las in turn asked.

“Las was just at your hideout sneaking around. He says

that he’s going for the police,”Bender told them.

“What! How the hell did he find the shack? You showed

them, Bender?” Mackie pointed an accusing finger at Bender.

“Probably sold us out so that they would take those ropes off him,” Fuller opined.

“How could I? They have me bound and say they’re making a citizen’s arrest,” Bender protested his innocence.

“Let’s keep these boys busy, until Clinch returns. He’ll know what to do with them,” Fuller said as he and Mackie attacked Las and Dalby with huge pieces of sticks.

Las and Dalby grabbed up their sticks and began to fight the two men. Las knew that they had to beat up the two men before Clinch returned with the rest of the gang.

“Where’s Clinch?” Las asked as he bore down on Fuller and hit him on his hand. The man cried out from the blow, but didn’t drop his stick.

“I’m going to beat you up, Dalby,” Mackie shouted as he attacked Dalby.

Las and Fuller were fighting furiously as were Dalby and Mackie. Las had given Fuller some hard blows and thought that he would soon finish off the man, but the man kept coming back.

“I want to bust you up, Las. Keep you here for Clinch to kill you when he returns.”

“You won’t be that lucky, Fuller,”Las shouted as he rushed the man. Suddenly Mackie shouted.

“He’s broken my hand.”

Las saw when the man collapsed to the ground, groaning.

“Bender’s trying to escape, Las. I’m going after him.”

Las was too busy fighting Fuller to reply. Las was glad as the fights with Bender’s sons had been a real refresher. He knew that he had to beat Fuller soon or risk a fight with Clinch.

Las and Fuller were fighting furiously. Las had given the man some lusty blows and had received some in turn. Las was bearing down on the man, beating him to the blow. Las dummied a blow and as Fuller moved, gave him a mighty blow to his left leg.

“You’ve broken my foot,” the man cried out and collapsed to the ground. Las ran down on him. He saw Dalby leading back Bender.

“You, Fuller and Mackie let Las and Dalby beat you up. Clinch will run both of you out of his gang.”

“Look who’s talking. How did you let them put a rope on you?”Mackie asked disdainfully.

Dalby got some wisp rope and together he and Las tied Fuller and Mackie to separate trees. They then took up their packs and started out again, pushing Bender before them.

About two hours later they stopped to have a rest and to have a meal. They had started to move again when they heard gunshots. It sounded deep in the forest.

“That’s Clinch, he’s probably come back and found his boys beaten and tied up and is letting off steam,” Bender opined.

“Shut up, Bender,”Las told him and waved his stick

threateningly at him.

“You go to hell, Las. I know that Clinch will give both of you boys to me to beat.”

Both men decided to ignore Bender’s taunts. Las knew that they had to push on.

An hour later and they could hear the sound of motor vehicles passing by and knew that they would soon reach the road. Las decided to take another breather and have some food.

“Las, my boys are all over the place. They won’t let you take me in without a fight.”

“We fought two sets of your boys already. We beat them up with our sticks. Some of them were throwing stones at us, but we threw back stones and hit down two of them,”Dalby told him.

“I’ll get both of you for what you did to my boys,”Bender threatened as they picked up their gear and started out again.

“Your boys attacked us with sticks and stones. What did you expect us to do, lie back and let them hit us down?”

“Up to now, he hasn’t told us what he did with the goods he stole from you, Las. And why was he, Lippy and Fred trying to break into your house and shop the other day?”

“You’re just a police informer, Dalby,” Bender shouted.

“He won’t have time to hide them. When the police raid his hideout this time they’re bound to find some of those goods.”

“Go to hell, Las. The police will let me go because they aren’t going to find anything at the shack. I’m going to get a good lawyer and sue you. I’d sue Dalby too, except that he doesn’t have any money,”he mocked.

They had reached the road now.

“I hope we don’t meet any of those boys again. I’m tired of fighting them,”Dalby declared as they set off up the road. They had another five miles to walk.

Las was hoping that they got a taxi, but he knew how scarce they were in these areas. He was also wondering that maybe they should wait until nightfall before moving out Bender. If they stayed in the bushes, there was the possibility of being discovered by Clinch and his gang. Las thought that facing Bender’s boys was the lesser of the two evils.

As they walked up the hill both Las and Dalby were on full alert for Bender’s sons. They rounded a corner and saw some boys playing football on a small playfield. Bender shouted to the boys and four of them left the game. Neither Las nor Dalby knew any of these boys.

“Josh and Bissy, you need to get me away from these men,” Bender shouted at the two bigger boys.

At Bender’s request, the boys ran and grabbed up sticks. These boys ranged from fifteen to about nineteen years, Las thought.

Las and Dalby found themselves fighting two boys each. Other boys were watching but they were not related to Bender. Las heard Bender asking some of the onlooker boys to cut the ropes, but they refused.

Las and Dalby were fighting the four boys. Las shouted some instructions to Dalby. Bender was shouting instructions to his sons. One of the boys fighting Las ran to get a big stone with which to hit him down. Las promptly gave the other boy a fierce hit on his leg. The boy held his leg, cried out and hopped away. Las dodged the huge stone the other boy threw at him, but then he heard Dalby cry out.

“They broke my hand, Las.”

Las saw when the two boys rush down on Dalby.

“Beat up Dalby, kill him, Josh and Beppo,”Bender shouted as the two boys bore down on Dalby.

Suddenly a pickup rounded the corner and stopped. The driver and another man jumped out. It was Dex, the other man was another local farmer called Tanny.

The two boys who were beating Dalby ran off when Dex and Tanny ran to take machetes out of the back of the pickup. The boy who was stoning Las stood his ground, but ran off when Dex made after him.

Las explained what had happened. Despite Bender’s protests, he was loaded into the pickup along with the wounded Dalby.

But just as they were about to drive off some men burst out of the bushes further down the road. They were Clinch Salmon, Luddy and Welly Salmon!

“Drive, Dex!” Las shouted from the back of the pickup.

Dex started the pickup and they sped off.

Las and Dalby ducked as Clinch fired his gun. Las had to hold down Bender’s head. Clinch fired again, but the bullet flew over their heads. They rounded a corner and the shooting stopped.

Dex dropped Las and Bender at the police station. However Corporal Morris said he had summons there for Las and Dalby.

Apparently Fred and Lippy’s mother and Boysie and Delly’s mothers had taken out summons against them for wounding their sons. The corporal told them the court date and warned them to show up in court.

Las and Dalby were freed in court two weeks later when Bender’s sons failed to show up for the trial.

Epilogue-Bender was re-arrested and a battery of charges levelled against him. He received a five year prison sentence. Las and Dalby were able to lead the police to Clinch Salmon’s hideout. The police eventually brought his gang to justice with each one of them receiving various prison terms.

Las gave his portion of the reward money for both Bender and Clinch Salmon’s capture to Dalby. With this money Dalby and his woman were able to open a shop in a nearby district.

Of Benders ten sons, some of them followed their father’s footsteps, but other seeing what had happened to the man decided to follow a different path. His three daughters, all became professional women and are living abroad.

Despite all what has happened, Las is still worried about

what will happen when the Salmon gang and Bender leave prison. He has in fact bought a gun and is taking shooting practice as he prepares for that eventuality.

Jamaican expressions - meaning

bankra-Jamaican travelling basket