Chapter 3

 

 

But on going up to his house the next morning he found a note for him taped to the front door from him. It read that he was to be away for a few days and that Ben was not worry about him. He would be back on Friday and he could come and see him then if he liked.

 

Ben was a little mystified, wondering where he had gone so quickly. He had a quick glance in the garage through a window and saw his car still there, so he had gone somewhere without it. Was the reason why he’d left suddenly to do with Alex Runcin. He had done some more research on the Runcin family and had found that the company had been started by Alex Runcin’s great grandfather in the eighteen hundreds. The company had been handed down through the family, growing in size all the time.

 

One thing that had caught his attention though was that all the Runcin’s had been quite interested in collecting things. Paintings, sculptures, ancient artefacts, coins and stamps. Even today Alex Runcin collected cars and had a personal garage of over a hundred, owning cars from a Model T Ford’s to a modern racing car.

 

As Ben walked home he wondered whether that was why he was interested Mr Wallace. Did he have something that Alex Runcin wanted? Had in fact Mr Wallace known his father and as the man had said.

 

Ben didn’t know of course and with Mr Wallace away, he wasn’t about to find out till he returned. And even then he figured Mr Wallace wouldn’t tell him much. Whatever was between the pair was their own business and perhaps he should not get involved.

 

Except that he was a curious fourteen year old who like nothing better than mystery. He would dig a bit deeper on the Runcin’s and see what he could find.

 

For now though it was the holidays and not all his friends had gone away. He had plans to go to the movies this week and that new video game he had wanted was waiting to be bought. Friday would arrive just like any other day.

 

* * *

 

The week went by, the weather clearing briefly on Wednesday with a little sunshine before rain returned late on Thursday. Friday dawned with low grey clouds and more rain. Ben spent much of the day playing his new game, his gran away again playing bridge.

 

He went up to Mr Wallace’s house late in the afternoon to see if he was at home, but there was no answer when he pressed the door bell. He heated up a frozen pizza for dinner and watched a DVD.

 

By the time it was finished it was near eleven o’clock. Outside the night was cold and very dark, with rain drumming on the roof. He got into his pyjamas, intending to read a bit before sleeping. As he dressed he looked out the bedroom window across Mr Wallace’s yard. If he had returned home he would be able to see some house lights, but there was nothing but darkness.

 

But coming back into his room after cleaning his teeth, he suddenly noticed that a light had come on in the house. Ben frowned. He hadn’t heard a car like a taxi arriving to drop him off, though it was noisy with all the falling rain.

 

But he was happy enough that he was home and apparently all right. He would go up and see him tomorrow. He slipped into bed and picking up a book, began to read. But he had only got through a few pages when he suddenly heard the sound of breaking glass and then car wheels spinning on the driveway’s loose gravel. Ben got out of bed as he heard it roar down it the street, then heard a whooshing sound and through the bedroom window saw bright flames rising into the air.

 

A shiver of dread went up his spine. Mr Wallace’s house was on fire!

 

Without a second thought he grabbed a torch from his bedroom desk, his mind spinning in fear at the thought of Mr Wallace inside. He dragged on a tracksuit and sweatshirt, then ran to the phone in the lounge room and dialled the emergency number. It was answered and Ben quickly told the operator that there was a fire and gave the address. Then he was out the front door and sprinting up the street in the rain, the wind blustering around him.

 

* * *

 

By the time Ben reached Mr Wallace’s house, the garage was well ablaze as well as part of the first floor with crackling flames. They were leaping out of broken windows on the ground floor and fanned by the wind, were sweeping across the front of the house.

 

‘Mr Wallace!’ he shouted at the top of his voice, more fearful that he was inside.

 

In the distance he heard the sirens of fire engines racing to the scene. But he knew with a horrible feeling that there was little chance to save the house no matter how quick they were. The flames had taken hold of its wooden frame with a fury, the heat beating against Ben’s face.

 

Then quite suddenly, at the top of the steps of the veranda something very weird happened. A silvery, oval shape about the size of a door appeared, blocking out the flames behind it. In the next moment Mr Wallace came stumbling through it. It winked out behind him as he suddenly stumbled down the steps and fell to his knees. Ben didn’t know what he’d just seen, but forgot about it as he rushed up to him, an arm raised against the fire’s heat.

 

‘Mr Wallace!’ he yelled as he reached him.

 

‘Ben!’ the elderly man hissed in a strained voice. ‘Help me away!’

 

Ben helped him up and together they moved further into the front garden, finding a little shelter under a bare tree. Here Mr Wallace abruptly collapsed, bringing Ben down with him. He fell awkwardly onto his left wrist and pain lanced through it. He knew he had hurt it badly, but he gritted his teeth as he helped Mr Wallace to sit up.

 

‘The firemen are coming, Mr Wallace!’ he exclaimed, not knowing what else to say.

 

Mr Wallace looked up, a terrible expression of pain on his face. But he managed a smile and suddenly thrust something into Ben’s right hand. Ben’s fingers closed around a hard, round object about the size of a golf ball and he felt a brief, but icy tingling on his skin.

 

‘Take care of this, Ben,’ he said in an urgent tone. ‘Don’t let Alex Runcin get it!’

 

Then he passed out and slumped back against the tree. Ben looked up, the wail of approaching fire engines almost upon them, but the house now engulfed by fire and beyond help.

 

* * *

 

What happened next was very much a blur to Ben. Several firemen came hurrying down the driveway, a couple dragging thick fire fighting hoses. One of them quickly spotted he and Mr Wallace by the tree and they were quickly carried back up the driveway where two fire engines were parked.

 

Ben watched as two firemen inspected Mr Wallace, then one began breathing into his mouth as the other began to push against his chest. He realized in shock that Mr Wallace must have had a heart attack and that the firemen were trying to revive him.

 

Then two ambulances arrived and Mr Wallace was seen to by paramedics before being put onto a trolley and loaded into one. It drove away with sirens blaring as Ben was helped into the second, a paramedic inspecting his hurt wrist.

 

‘I think you’ve broken your wrist, son. Do you live here?’ she asked.

 

Ben shook his head.

 

‘No… I’m a neighbour… number eighteen,’ he replied shakily.

 

‘Is there someone home… your parents?’

 

‘No… my gran’s out.’

 

A police car suddenly pulled up and a policewoman came over. The paramedic spoke to her and she climbed into the ambulance.

 

‘What’s your name, son?’ she said with a smile.

 

Ben gave his name and then heard one of the paramedic say he would have to go to hospital to have seen his wrist seen to.

 

‘Does your gran have a mobile? Can we ring her?’

 

Ben somehow managed to give her his gran’s number, even though his mind was a bit numb with the shock of what had happened. Then she was gone and the ambulance door was closed. It began to move away, but not before Ben got a final look at the fire. The house was beginning to collapse as flames ate at its heart and he realized that everything was gone, all of Mr Wallace’s books and his museum collection.

 

He must have passed out after that, the last thing he remembered was stuffing whatever Mr Wallace had given him into his tracksuit pants pocket. He woke up again lying on a trolley in a hospital’s emergency ward with two women standing by him, one a nurse and the other a doctor wearing a white coat.

 

‘Ah… he’s awake?’ the doctor said in a relieved voice. ‘How do you feel, Ben?’

 

‘My… my wrist hurts a fair bit,’ he replied a little shakily.

 

‘Well, we’ll give you something for the pain shortly,’ he said. ‘I’m Doctor Wilson. We’ve contacted your grandmother and she should be here soon.’

 

Ben nodded, managing to sit up and inspecting his wrist. It hurt like blazes and he saw that it was very swollen. But he wasn’t that concerned for himself, his immediate thoughts were for Mr Wallace.

 

‘How’s Mr Wallace?’ he asked in a worried tone. ‘He was taken away in another ambulance.’

 

‘I’ll see if I can find out for you,’ the doctor replied. ‘But you need to rest now.’

 

Ben lay back on the trolley, his mind whirling with what had happened. He could only hope that Mr Wallace was all right. But he also realized in horror that the fire hadn’t been an accident. It had started just after the car in the driveway had driven away at high speed. He immediately suspected that Alex Runcin was behind it. What had Mr Wallace done to deserve such a thing, he wondered?

 

He was shortly put into a bed in a ward and a nurse came by to take his temperature. He was given a hospital gown to put on and as he was taking off his tracksuit, he felt the large lump in the pocket. It was the round object Mr Wallace had given him, forgotten about till now. He was suddenly eager to find out what it was.

 

The nurse left and he quickly got dressed into the gown and then retrieving the object, got into bed. Raising his knees so no one could see what he was doing past the bed covers, he inspected it.

 

His eyes opened wide in wonder. It was a metal globe, a little bigger than a golf ball. It was an oily black in colour except for two narrow rows of tiny silver symbols that encircled it. They looked a little like roman numerals, though were more complex in design.

 

He turned it over in his fingers, wondering what it could be when the symbols suddenly began to glow. He snatched his hands away in surprise, only to gasp in shock. The globe didn’t drop, but hovered there in the air.

 

It then moved across to hang just above his injured wrist and gave a bright pulse. He abruptly felt a deep chill wash through it and up his arm. Then the globe winked out and dropped onto the bed.

 

Ben lifted his wrist and eyes went wide in disbelief. The swelling in it was completely gone and so had the pain. He flexed it and a feeling of awe swept over him. His wrist was completely healed! He was sure he had broken it when he had fallen with Mr Wallace, or at least sprained it quite badly. But now it was healed entirely!

 

A heavy feeling of drowsiness suddenly overcame him. As sleep claimed him and his hand closed over the globe, he managed a last thought.

 

Just what had Mr Wallace given him?