Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 1200.

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The Daily Dormouse.
(aka Bike)
Part Dodecacentenary (1200)
by Angharad

Copyright © 2010 Angharad
All Rights Reserved.
  
-Dormouse-001.jpg

‘There is chaos in the centre of Portsmouth after a suspicious package was found inside Marks and Spencer’s store. Police have confirmed that a coded message was phoned through to the local paper which contained enough authenticity for a full scale evacuation to be started, which is playing havoc with the late night shopping on this the first Thursday in December.

The stores are very upset with all the money they’re losing, customers are annoyed which combined with the cold weather and general air of gloom pervading the country, is making the people of Portsmouth and surrounding area very depressed and to cap it all, it’s snowing–Merry Christmas.’

The reporter spoke to someone from the police, the fire service, the bomb disposal service and some shoppers. Their opinions varied significantly. The police and fire service were delighted that no one had been hurt or killed although one or two persons had been taken to hospital suffering from shock or had been trampled in the occasional panic which had happened now and again.

“Right, where are Henry and the girls?”

“Have you tried phoning them?” asked Jim.

“Why haven’t they phoned me?” I asked to no one in particular. Danny looked shifty and avoided eye contact. “You know something don’t you?” He wriggled some more and kept his gaze low, sneaking the occasional glance at my face. “C’mon, spit it out.”

“I promised not to tell you.”

“Promised who?”

“All of them?”
“Grampa Henry as well?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Promised them what, look, Danny, this could be important.”

“Okay–they went to get you a birthday present.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s your birthday tomorrow.”

“I told them not to worry about presents.”

“I’ll bet you don’t say that to Simon,” said Jim.

“No I told him I wanted a Porsche.”

“I hope you told him a Spyder.”

“Would prefer a dormouse, not into arachnids.”

“Cathy, it’s the most expensive Porsche ever built.”

“Nah, I’d be happy with a run of the mill one like yours or the 911.”

“Run of the mill–we’re talking Porsche here, not a Ford Fiesta.”

“I’m only joking, I told him I’d settle for a nice dinner–but if it snows, I’ll be lucky to go anywhere. Maybe I should learn to ski instead or get a bike with snow tyres on it.”

“How often would you get to ride it?”

“About as often as I would a Porsche.”

He laughed.

“Could Gramps buy you a Porsche, Mummy, he is pretty rich?”

“No darling, he was more likely in Marks and Sparks than a car dealership.”

I went out to the kitchen and phoned the girl’s mobiles one after the other, but apparently there was no signal.

“I can’t get a signal for the mobiles,” I sighed.

“God no, after Madrid, where they used mobile phones to set off the bombs, they switch off the masts to stop terrorists doing it while the bomb disposal people are working on it.”

“That would be an adrenalin rush job for you?” I teased Jim.

“No thanks, I helped to clear a field of mines once–that had me changing my underpants about twice a minute. So bombs–no thanks, I prefer a more calculated risk. Mind you they say women make good bomb and mine disposal people, smaller hands, delicate touch, more sensitive to change–ever thought about it, Cathy?”

“Oh yeah, for a millisecond–no way–making bread is about as dangerous as I like things to get.”

A newsflash came up on the screen and we all stood transfixed by the picture we saw. ‘News is coming in of a second package found outside a bank in the town centre...’

“Simon’s office is higher up that building,” I gasped.

“I thought he worked in London?”

“Not since November, he moved the office down here to see more of his wife and children.”

“Does he?”

“Now and again.” The television flashed again.

Reports are coming in that a number of people are stuck in the building above the bank and that some sort of incendiary device has been activated on the ground or first floor. We don’t know if the explosive device has been deactivated yet.

“Shit, if that goes off as well, it’ll blow the fire right up through the building and over to adjacent ones.” Jim looked very worried.

It is thought there may be some children in this building, though we’re waiting for it to be verified, if there are it makes things even more serious.’

“The way that fire is taking hold, they look pretty serious already,” Jim wasn’t reassuring me.

“I need to get down there.” I felt sick with worry and the lack of information.

“Could the girls be in there?” asked Jim.

“They could be, Henry might have gone to collect Simon.”

“I don’t know anything about that,” Danny said before I could interrogate him. “D’you think they’ll be alright, Mummy?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” he put his arm round my waist and squeezed me tightly to him and I put my arm round his shoulder.

A helicopter appeared over the building and the downdraught was attempting to stop the fire climbing up the office block. It was also lowering someone down to the roof.

“Are they going to try and airlift them off the roof?” asked Danny.

“I don’t know if they’d have time to do that, it’s a very time consuming method. I presume they can’t land a chopper on top of the roof?” Jim answered one question and posed another. I just stood and watched with a growing sense of despair filling my solar plexus and slowly spreading all over me.

“There are radio masts on the roof which would stop it, there’s a whole network of cables and masts up there, Simon did tell me what they were for, but I’ve forgotten.” I was too upset to think about trivia now.

“So they can’t. If that bomb goes off...”

“Jim, please, I’m worried sick enough without you speculating on what may or may not happen.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault–it’s my bloody birthday, that’s the problem–my fucking parents.” I blushed when I realised I’d sworn in front of a bemused Danny.

“I expect they were,” quipped Jim and Danny sniggered–I blushed nearly as red as the flames on the television.

I didn’t seem able to drag myself or my gaze away from the screen as the cameras watched the drama unfolding. I felt the same sort of horror and helplessness when I saw the newsreel of the attack on the World Trade Centre. I felt physically sick, worrying if my children were in the building or not, and naturally the same about Simon–but Simon was an adult, he’d be able to take care of himself–he’s a resourceful adult–well Trish will look after them, please God.

The flames were spreading up the building. “Simon will be miffed,” I said as a stupid thought assailed me.

“Why?” asked Jim.

“He’s got his best tie on today.”

“Yeah, ‘course,” said Jim shaking his head.

Then we heard a loud bang and the television went blank, switching to show a studio where people were rushing about like headless chickens–I really lost it and rushed off to be sick.

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Comments

Bike pt 1200

Wonder if Cathy's Blue Light Special wil be working over time.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Oh Gawd!

We knew it - no. 1200 and a dirty great cliff.

S.

100 dozen

and going strong looking forward to the next 100 dozen

Chapter 1,728?

Of course then there is Chapter 1,728 which of course is a dozen, dozen, dozen (12 x 12 x 12) chapters.

Of course in base 12 that would be 1,000.

Michelle B

Bike #1200 is a doozy of cliffhanger!

Bike #1200 is a doozy of cliffhanger!

Thank you, Angharad, for 1200 episodes of this marvelous serial.

Kris

Kris

{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}

I just restored a paragraph that got lost in the html Bike 1200

I saw a funny break with just ' at the left, and went in to find this paragraph i the posting, that did not show up in the normal view

Reports are coming in that a number of people are stuck in the building above the bank and that some sort of incendiary device has been activated on the ground or first floor. We don’t know if the explosive device has been deactivated yet.

So I restored it, as the news report went on, italicised a couple pf paragraphs below.

Holly

P.S. I want to join the thank yous for the first of many more episodes of Bike

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

Holly

1-800-Cliffhangers....

Beverly Colleen's picture

Oh Bloody Hell! Where is that that cat!?! Bonzi!!!!!!

I know you were the one responsible for this little ending! Wait until I get my hands on you!!! Gah!!!

Beverly Colleen

Beverly's Balcony

**********
I am a leaf on the wind, but someone turned the fan off.

What do you expect?

Cats are psychopaths who hate people and cyclists in particular. Believe me, I have both first and very close second hand experience. Mark my words this episode has Bonzi's paw prints all over it. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if Angharad was tied up somewhere and being tortured with cat nips.

Robi

Thank you

Greetings

Than you Angharad and Bonzoi for another chapter, but my finger nails are again suffering from hanging off this cliff.

Brian

Let me add my gratitude

for an incredible series ... and another nail-biting cliffhanger, grrrr.

Big Closet would not be the same without Bike.

Kim

Blimey!

Where are all these bombs coming from? Surely it's not still the 'Sarf Lunnon' mob?

Thanks A+B: It's been a real roller coaster ride, being a Bike aficionado. You do manage to keep us all on our toes, or hanging by our fingertips...

So thank you on behalf of your readers. As another commentator has already noted, BCTS would not be the same without your contribution.

Pandemonic Stories


Bike Resources

Evacuation

Most tall buildings will survive an explosion, as they are constructed differently to the late WTC. Evacuation via the roof sounds impossible, but depending on the design of the building, there might be either regular or emergency stairwells situated in a different part of the building to either the fire or the bomb

As for Henry, Simon and the girls, Cathy's got another method of seeking them out. Since Trish has a minor BLH ability of her own, Cathy could perhaps get as close to the cordon as possible then try the "blue light radar" she used on Julie and Phoebe the other week. As for the perpetrators, any surviving remnants of the gang after Julie seem implausible, as it's not their modus operandi. Portsmouth shopping district also seems a strange location for a terrorist plot - transport networks, particularly in London, are the usual favourite targets, particularly with extremists with links to certain Middle Eastern countries. They also don't tend to phone ahead warnings. The land mass surrounding Lough Neagh tends to be the spiritual home of the kind of terrorist that phones ahead warnings and targets shopping districts - although they're more associated with previous decades - the current batch of extremists usually restrict themselves to smaller scale offences on home turf. Puzzling.

 

Bike Resources

There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...

As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

Oh Shit!!!

Shit! Shit!! SHIT!!!

I hope the 1200th chapter doesn't have any significance vis-a-vis 'the end' This would be one ghastly way to end it all.

No, no no say I!

All together now. NO!!!

Please, hope there's lots more.

Beverly.Love and hugs.

Growing old disgracefully.

bev_1.jpg

Angharad, Another totally

Angharad,
Another totally awesome mile stone with 1200 chapters of super story! Thank you so very much for it. Tell Bonzi to take a day or two off and let Cathy and her family get some much needed "family time" together without all the worry and harm constantly coming to them. Many Hugs, Jan

Egad!

Steadily working my way through the archive. I think the word that best describes this particular cliff dangle is "daaammmmmnnnnnnn!" I know I have nearly 700 chapters left to catch up to the current thread so I'm not going to say anything like "there's no way A+B can top this". I am, however, looking forward to seeing them pull it off.

Must be my Irish Prod relatives at it again

Oh crap, you've outdone yourself for cliff hangers this time my dear.
This is notgood for my high blood pressure.
I must assume that Simon and the girls are alright.
Tom also, he's portrayed as such a nice man, that even Angharad wouldn't kill him.

Karen

Annnnd, you've done it again

I was going to go to be at episode 1200, but nooooooooooo.