Spurred into action, Philip took a deep breath and shimmied along the edge of the roof on his bottom. He reached the tree, and looked back. Bill was peering anxiously out of the hole in the roof at him. Philip reached out a foot and placed it on the branch that was only a few inches from the tree. He gave it a hard kick, and to his relief it hardly shook; it was a strong branch. He quickly shuffled onto the branch, whilst avoiding looking below at the ground a dizzying drop below him. Then he made his way to the trunk of the tree where he finally felt safe. He looked back towards the hole in the roof and beckoned.

Bill's face disappeared and then Dinah appeared, sitting cautiously on the edge of the roof. She looked very nervous, but shifted along the roof quickly. Bill was already preparing Lucy-Ann at the edge of the hole. He kept looking over his shoulder fearfully. The sound of the searching men was coming ever closer. Dinah was hesitating at the gap between the tree and the branch. Philip made his way back towards the roof and gave her a hand across. "Make your way down to the ground," he said. "I'll stay and help Lucy-Ann."

Lucy-Ann felt very precarious sitting on the edge of the roof. She couldn't help taking a glimpse at the ground and swayed in dismay. "Go on Lucy-Ann!" called Bill softly. Lucy-Ann was still afraid but didn't want to let Bill down, so she summoned up the courage and made it along the roof to the tree. Philip helped her to the trunk and from there she was able to climb down easily and join Dinah on the ground, who was keeping to the shadows as much as possible and watching the house sharply.

Jack was very quick to get to the tree; he was used to climbing and wasn't fazed by the height. Kiki merely flew to the ground and sat on Dinah's shoulder to wait for him. Philip and Jack made their way down as Bill clambered along the roof. He reached for the tree branch, but suddenly a face appeared in the hole in the roof. A voice shouted, and to everyone's horror a shot rang out. Jack could see the shiny barrel of the revolver in the hand of Gavin. Bill stumbled as the bullet was fired, and his grasping hand missed the branch. He fell over the side of the roof, his right hand grabbing the edge of the roof. Lucy-Ann gasped. Bill swung his other arm up and managed to grip the roof with his left hand as well. But then another shot was fired and Bill decided that pulling himself up would be worse than the drop to the ground, and he let go.

He landed with a bump and fell over, but it was only two stories that he had fallen from, and he had landed well. "I'm okay, don't worry," he gasped, jumping to his feet. "Quick, all of you, head for those trees."

He pointed towards a dense thicket of trees at the rear of the house. They all ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Luckily the hole in the roof was on the opposite side of the house so Gavin could no longer target them with his revolver.

Dusk was falling. Under the trees it was very dim. "We've got to hide," said Bill. He looked back at the house, and saw Gavin and Luke coming out of a door at the back. "Further into the woods," Bill urged.

They ran further under the cover of the trees. There were many leaves on the floor, and broken branches, and low undergrowth grew everywhere. "Quick, lie down!" Jack said to Lucy-Ann. Bemused, she did as he said, and he quickly drew leaves over her. "Lie still," he told her. Bill quickly did the same to Dinah and Philip, first positioning them behind plants to make them less conspicuous.

"Now you, Jack," Bill said.

"No, who will do you?" said Jack. "You won't be able to cover yourself completely."

"Nor will you!" said Bill impatiently. "Lie down, Jack!"

"I can hide myself up a tree. You are bigger than me and won't be able to hide as easily," Jack insisted. "I am less important than you to these men." Bill looked like he was about to argue back but time was short, and he gave up and lay down. Jack swiftly covered him as best he could, but Bill made a big mound. Jack hoped that in the fast-fading light they wouldn't be obvious. He heard the crack of twigs underfoot approaching and looked round quickly for a suitable tree. He soon found one and disappeared amongst the leaves. "Kiki, up here," he called to the parrot, who was scratching around in the leaves on the ground. She flew up to him.

He was only just in time. Gavin and Luke appeared, their revolvers held ready. Jack, watching through a gap in the branches, didn't doubt that they would use them. They seemed to know what they were doing. They skirted about on the edge of his vision, searching behind bushes. They came nearer and nearer. Jack realised he was holding his breath, and let it out slowly. If they stepped on anyone, it would all be over.

They stopped just a few metres from Philip's covered body. Jack felt so tense, he could hardly hold onto the branch he was lying on. Luke shrugged. "They could have gone in any direction," he snarled.

Gavin nodded. "What we gonna do?"

"They can't get far, there's nothing for miles but trees. Let's go back and think," Luke said, but just as they turned to go, there came a crackling hiss, and a voice said, "You there?" Luke pulled out a radio and pressed a button on the side. "Yeah?"

Ian's voice came over the speaker, mixed with static. "Not good news guys, just had a call from the Boss. He's coming tomorrow morning."

"What!" Gavin screamed. He pulled up his revolver and fired twice at a tree stump in anger. Jack noticed the mounds of leaves jump with fright, but luckily Gavin and Luke didn't notice.

"We are in so much trouble!" Gavin yelled. "We have got to find him!"

"We need torches," said Luke. "We'll never find them in the dark. Let's carry on in the morning. They won't get far." To Jack's relief, they set off into a different direction, and soon the sounds of cracking twigs had faded.

He jumped down from the tree, and called softly to the others. "They've gone."

"Stay where you are for a minute," came Bill's voice, as he erupted from a pile of leaves. He peered into the direction the men had gone in. "Okay, I'm fairly sure it's safe, for now."

The others got up thankfully. The leaves were damp and cold and Dinah had been very aware of all the creepy-crawlies that lived in the woods. She felt sure a spider had run down her back and flapped her top vigorously to dislodge anything that may have got in.

"I need to think," said Bill. He sat down on the ground with his back to a tree. The others exchanged worried glances. They were well aware of the predicament they were in. Bill was silent for a while. Dinah yawned loudly, and this seemed to wake Bill from his thinking.

"Yes, it's late. We need to sleep, but it's going to be cold without any shelter."

"I'm hungry," said Lucy-Ann.

"I'm sorry," said Bill. "I am too, but I daren't go back to the house and try and steal anything. The fact that Big Charlie is coming tomorrow makes everything a little more urgent."

"Big Charlie?" said Philip.

"Yes, it's the name of their boss. I've been tracking these people for a while," Bill explained. "We've been trying to find out what they are up to; we've intercepted a few messages so far, but none as informative as the one you found, Philip."

Philip nodded, pleased, but the danger they were in stopping him from being proud at the praise.

"I had no idea they knew we were on to them," Bill carried on. "That shows they are good, for starters. Big Charlie obviously wants to know how much I know."

"If you know about this gang, won't your colleagues be looking for you by now?" asked Dinah.

"After all, you were supposed to go straight off to work today after collecting us."

"They will, but it won't do us any good," said Bill with a sigh. "We knew nothing about this place. I'm afraid I have no idea where we are at all, so neither will anyone else."

"Bill, I'm scared," whispered Lucy-Ann.

Bill reached over and gave her a hug. "Don't worry, we'll think of something," he said with a smile. "Let's all try and sleep for a while. It's too dark to see now. I'll wake you all up at first light and we can get further from the house before those men begin searching."

They had been asleep for nearly two hours, huddled together for warmth, when Bill started to hear noises. He had remained on watch as guard and had arranged to wake Philip in two and a half hours for a switch. It was now dark and Bill was sure he could hear the sound of low voices and the cracking of twigs. They worried him and then he remembered that Luke had said that they would start to look again in the morning. He looked at his luminous watch and saw it was now only just after 10:00pm. He felt a little more at ease and reassured himself that the men wouldn't be out looking for them now. He sat with his back against a tree and tried to relax. Then a rustling sound right near Bill made him become aware at once. He sat still and listened intently. Then he heard another rustle and started to become uneasy and was just wondering weather to wake the others when an owl swooped down from the tree he was leaning against and picked up the mouse and swooped off with it, making Bill jump. So it had just been a mouse, well that was all right then. Then he suddenly wondered if that had been Philip's new pet, Whiskers. He hoped not. He decided to wake Philip; it was his turn on watch anyway. Bill shook Philip awake and told him to keep watch. Bill lay down in Philip's spot and shut his eyes.

"Philip, have you still got Whiskers with you?" asked Bill.

Philip felt in his pockets and found his mouse. "Yes, of course Bill, why?"

"There are owls about, you need to watch him. Goodnight Philip and wake me again in two hours."

Philip woke Bill when his two hours were up and said he had nothing to report. Bill then shook awake the others.

"What time is it?" asked Dinah sleepily.

"Just after midnight," said Bill. "I think it would be wise to get going now, while the going's good. I'm not sure when those men will come back looking for us."

"What are we going to do, Bill?" asked Jack curiously.

"I haven't fully decided," said Bill. "Just get all you lot to safety for starters."

"What then?" asked Dinah.

"Well, then I'll probably report back to my base and then get on with my job of tracking these men," said Bill.

"What, without us!" said Philip aghast.

"Especially without you!" said Bill.

"This is our adventure too," said Jack. "We want to track the men with you. Come on Bill, say you'll take us with you."

"Let's not stand here and quarrel," said Bill changing the subject. "We need to put some distance between us and those men."

"Silly Billy, Silly Billy," said Kiki joining in as usual.

They set off walking, Bill using Jack's torch and Philip using his own. The girls didn't use theirs in order to preserve the battery. The all walked along almost in silence, not wanting to make any noise at all.

"Bill, where are we walking to?" asked Lucy-Ann, keeping close to Bill.

"I don't know, Lucy-Ann. We'll just keep walking until we find a road and then follow it and try and find out where we are and get some help," said Bill. The woods were pitch black and there were strange noises made by the woodland animals. Owls hooted overhead or swooped down over their heads making them all jump. Little mice ran around the ground and unsuspected spiders webs hung down from tree branches and the cry of bats could be heard calling in the night. Dinah and Lucy-Ann didn't like it, but the boys loved it. Philip dearly wished to have a little bat or a snowy owl for a pet and Jack loved listening to all the cries of the different owls and identifying them. They had a slight disturbance when Dinah walked into the thick of a spider's web that the spun in-between two trees. She was in the lead and when she felt the spider's web sticking to her face she screamed and started thrashing about. Bill, who was at the back of the group, instantly though someone was attacking Dinah and rushed to her rescue, picking up a hefty branch from the ground to fight off the attacker, only to find no one there. He got a little cross and told Dinah to stay in the middle of the group and put Jack in front, as leader. They carried on walking, stumbling over hidden tree roots and climbing over the odd fallen branch until it showed 3:30am on Bill's wristwatch and Lucy-Ann stopped dead and cried that she couldn't walk another step.

"Well, alright," said Bill considering. "I think it would probably be safe to have a rest here now. The men won't come this far in the dark, they'll wait until morning." Everyone else sank onto the ground thankfully, including Dinah who didn't even worry if there might be mice about. Kiki had been asleep with her head under her wing for some time, perched on Jack's shoulder.

"Not too long mind," said Bill. "Just until we are rested and then we must start off again." Bill stayed awake the rest of the night and let the others sleep.