Jamie began to wander through the fields in somewhat of a daze. He kept repeating the words of the caterpillar, ‘I’m down low, you’re down low, who’s to know who won’t be low… up high, in the sky, you don’t know why, but you can fly…’
He continued to drift along in a dreamy state until, eventually, Jamie found himself back at the wall at the end of the alleyway. He surprised himself, as he had not planned to make his way back just yet. ‘Oh well! I’m sure Eric, Tank and Vern will be in school by now and safely out of harms way,’ he thought. Jamie then pulled his body up and over the wall. He landed on the concrete ground with a heavy thud. Then he stood up, dusted himself off and walked down the alleyway.
As he looked ahead, Jamie noticed groups of school children walking away from the school. ‘That’s strange,’ he thought, ‘why are they walking away from school? We don’t have any school trips today?’
As he neared the end of the alleyway he caught a glimpse of the clock which mounted the front of the school building. ‘3:25!’ he gasped. ‘It can’t be! I’ve only be gone a short while.’ But the streams of school children heading out of the gates and towards their homes indicated that the clock was, in fact, correct. Jamie had completely lost track of time.
Suddenly Jamie found himself flat on the ground. Someone had pushed him from behind and before he turned to look at them he heard their terrible voice, ‘So, you thought you could get away from us did you?’ Tank stood triumphantly over Jamie who turned to see the large thug standing in front of the sun, creating an intimidating silhouette. All Jamie could do was grimace as he realised there was no getting away this time. Eric and Vern had positioned themselves on either side of him, kneeling on his wrists to pin him to the floor.
Many of the school children stopped to watch, making sure they kept their distance, so as not to get involved – they knew what these thugs were capable of.
‘Get ‘im up and over to that lamp post!’ demanded Tank.
The two boys grabbed each of Jamie’s arms and yanked him to his feet, nearly dislocating his shoulders as they did so. They continued to pull him by his arms with his toes scraping along the road as they crossed the street and made their way to the lamp post. Tank marched behind them with an evil grin on his face. He loved the attention of the on looking children who watched, wondering what would happen next.
Tank turned his back on Jamie and faced the crowd, ‘My fellow people! Behold the itching powder!’ The crowd of children stared in wonder as Tank held the tub of itching powder high above his head. ‘This powder is to be used on young boys who have been know to act like little girls. We have found just the person – this disgusting thing here!’ he stepped aside and pointed to Jamie who felt more humiliation and shame than ever before as the crowd laughed at Tank’s woeful description of him.
Eric and Vern then began to chant, ‘Make him itch! Make him itch! Make him itch!’ The crowd joined in the chant, pumping their fists in the air whilst doing so. Before long Jamie could hear nothing but a wall of sound chanting such horrible words directed towards him.
Tank turned to Jamie and whispered into his ear, ‘See what I mean? There’s no escaping this time you little twerp!’
Jamie could only wish he had remained in that field till nightfall. There seemed to be no hope of getting away now.
The sound of the crowd was becoming louder and louder as the excitement of the occasion rose. Children from other schools joined the ever-growing mass of spectators. Eric and Vern had huge grins on their faces, as did Tank. This was their biggest stunt yet, and would surely seal their reputation as three of the most terrifying and fearsome boys in town. Tank held the tub of itching powder up to the crowd once again. They cheered as it rose, just the way a crowd would cheer when a football team lifts the FA cup trophy. Tank grinned as if it were the happiest day of his life. His eyes closed as he held up the tub. The cheering became louder, and louder and louder… then it stopped.
Tank thought he had suddenly gone deaf with all the noise, but no, he had not. He opened his eyes to see the faces of the crowd looking shocked, as if they had just seen a ghost. Tank was confused as he noticed all the faces no longer looking at him but slowly looking upwards as though they were following something. Tank felt a tug on his jacket. He turned to Eric and snapped, ‘What is it? Why are you pullin’ my sleeve?’
Eric looked pale as he stuttered his reply, ‘J… J… Jamie…’
‘Yes, Jamie! What about him?’
‘He’s… he’s… he’s…’
‘He’s what? Come on, out with it! Eric, you’re such a…’ Tank’s jaw then hung wide open as he turned around to see that Jamie was no longer where he had been. Jamie was half way up the lamp post!
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