Before the next part starts, there are three chapters left and they will appear next Wednesday, Friday and the final part on Christmas Eve. Thanks for reading and enjoy the next chapter of Sammy. Anthony
"Sammy are you sure you want to do this?" Asked Emily taking my hand
We were standing outside of a pub called the Northern Star, in the middle of London, the streets filled with people on their morning commute rushing past us as we stood outside staring at the brickwork waiting for our contact to meet us. Having travelled here from Paris, we had parked up and slept in the Van of Dreams, getting some much needed rest. Laura had told us that the three men wanting to meet us would be here for 9am and we weren't to be late if we wanted to get the Leprechaun back, our only hope of finding Vixen and Comet before it was too late. The details of how they had captured the Leprechaun and from where were a little sketchy to say the least but our London contact would be here any minute, and it would be through him that we would make contact with the other three men.
"I don't have a lot of choice really do I?" I shrugged knowing that she knew the answer already.
"Sammy, you do know we are all here to help you don't you?" she said squeezing my hand softly
"I know and I appreciate it, its just sometimes I feel like this is all my fault and I have to fix it. I thought I'd dealt with Carl last time, that we wouldn't have to deal with this all again and yet here we are 7 years later and were still having deal with his madness. How can someone be that bitter, so twisted that they just cant allow things to be and people to be happy? I don't get it Emily I really don't" I so was frustrated, charging around the world at Carl's beck and call , when I should be planning Christmas and then making sure that everything was in place for my proposal to Emily.
"Sammy its not your fault okay" she stepped towards me and gave me a hug. I don't think I have needed one more than that moment in time. We stood there holding each other reassuring each other that everything would be okay and not seeing the young Elf who had walked up behind us until he gently coughed to let us know he was there.
"Morning Old chap" he said "I'm Edward Shropshire your London contact, you must be Sammy, good to meet you old chap" he put his hand out for a handshake and I shook it warmly. He was dressed in a dark blue suite, that fit him as if it had been made to measure, a bowler hat sat atop his head and his shoes shinned so brightly you could see your face in them.
"Hello" I replied suddenly aware that I was in the same clothes I had left the North Pole in a few days before.
"Shall we go in?" He asked smiling warmly at us both. "Unfortunately the meeting can only be between myself and Sammy" he said looking at Emily in a way that she wouldn't take offence at.
"That's okay Ill wait in the Van" she said kissing me on the cheek and whispering to me to be careful.
"Well Sammy you've had quite an adventure so far haven't you?" he said walking towards the pub.
It was covered in Ivy on the outside, there were Christmas decorations hanging in the window's and a sign outside advertising all you can eat breakfasts for £5.99. If I hadn't have eaten so much in Paris with the three Nannies I may well have tried it but I wasn't here for food I was here to find the Reindeer.
"The gentleman your meeting are an acquired taste to say the least" he said "They are what's known of around these parts as people who walk a thin line between right and wrong and are not to be crossed at any stage. do you understand?" He said reaching for the door handle.
"I think so" I said as I walked through the door he held open and into the pub.
It wasn't very busy, there was a bar in front of us, about chest height, with lots of different beer pumps on it, bottles of spirits' were hanging upside in brackets on the mirrored back wall. There was a large gentleman behind the counter, a pen in his mouth and a paper lay on the counter that he was studying intently. His head was a shiny and bald and he didn't even raise his head as Edward walked towards him.
"Good Morning Old chap are they here yet?" He asked smoothing down his suite
"Yeah over there" he said pointing to the far corner of the pub.
"Thank you kind Sir" Edward said and gestured for me to follow him towards the men sitting in the corner of the pub tucking into the biggest fried breakfast Id ever seen.
"Sammy may I introduce you to our contacts Paul Frankincense, Albert Gold and Terry Myrrh also known as The Three Wise Men of London, who between them help the poor by robbing the rich and keeping 10% of what they get. They are some of London's must up standing gentleman and people that I am honoured to call friends. However don't ever cross them Sammy as people have been known to take long walks of off short piers in concrete boots." He smiled taking a seat at the table.
"Never proved" said the one called Paul Frankincense, he was the youngest of the three medium height in a red and check lumber shirt and blue jeans, his hair thick and styled into a quiff. He was busy shuffling bake beans into his mouth hungrily
"Yes quite" said Edward smiling "May Sammy sit down gentleman so as we can discuss our little problem" he asked pulling a chair out for me
"He was anything but little" said the one called Terry Myrrh laughing as he mopped up his egg yolk with a piece of white buttered bread, he was the middle aged one, dressed in a blue tracksuit with white stripes down the sides and a sweatband on his head. His hair thinning on top.
"Mind you he didn't half moan didn't he?" laughed the one called Albert Gold as he sipped from his mug of tea. The eldest of the three he was dressed in a jumper and shirt that didn't quite match colour wise and his hair was more white than grey, what was left of it.
"Well he didn't want to get in there did he?" Paul Frankincense shook his head at the memory laughing to himself as he did so
"With a bit of a push he did though didn't he" said Terry Myrrh wiping his hand across his mouth
"That he did, that he did" said Albert Gold putting his mug down on the table "Now then young Sammy how can we be off assistance?" he asked
Edward smiled at me and pointed to a chair for me to sit down in. I nervously sat and rubbed my hands down the legs of my jeans trying to not let them see how nervous I was.
"Well" I started
"Speak up lad can't hear you with all that whispering" Albert said loudly
"I believe you may have a Leprechaun I'm looking for" I said nervously not sure how this was going to go
"Do you now?, and what makes you think that?" said Paul crossing his arms across his chest
"I hate people spreading rumours about us" said Terry pushing his empty plate across the table in front of him
"I didn't mean any offence" I stammered
"Didn't you now?, Well you come in here, disturb our breakfast and start saying you think we have something you want, that's rather rude to be honest wouldn't you agree gents?" Albert said looking at the others
"Very rude" said Paul nodding
"No manners at all" said Terry shaking his head.
"Do you know what we do to people who don't have any manners?" Albert asked leaning across the table
"No" I shook my head trying to work out if I could make it to the door before they grabbed hold of me.
"We do this to them" said Paul pushing a big black leather bag out from underneath the table
That was it I stood up and started to run towards the door, I could feel a hand on my shoulder and as I turned to shake it off I saw Edwards face with a huge grin on it. I stopped not sure what was going on as the Three Wise Men laughed so loud that they had tears rolling down their cheeks and slapping each other on the back.
"Get over here my son" said Paul "Were only messing aren't we lads"
"That we are" said Terry wiping the tears from his eyes.
"But you may want to see what we have in the bag" said Albert the smile disappearing from his face
I slowly walked back to the table, Edward by my side and sat down in the same chair. I was angry and scared and I wanted to just get out of there. I didn't like people making fun of me I had enough to do without all this going on.
"Well?" I asked impatiently waving my hands in the air
"Sammy mate were sorry okay, its just that we have this reputation and every now and then we like to play up to it, Edward here knows that don't you?" Paul said pushing the bag into the middle of the room,.
Edward nodded in agreement.
Albert and Terry went to each end of the bag and started to undo the zip slowly. I stood there watching as the bag started to move about a little and then stopped as they tipped it over and there in front of me on the floor was a Leprechaun bound at the feet and hands a gag in his mouth
"I I I I'm not sure" I stammered in shock at the Leprechaun that now lay at my feet his eyes wide with fear.
"No, No, Sammy mate, no need to thank us its all part of the service" they all started to laugh again as if this was the most natural thing in the world.
"Thank you? Service?" There was something I was missing here I was sure of it.
"Well let Edward" explain said Albert, "Anyone want more tea?"
"I will, thanks Bert" said Paul
"Yep me too" said Terry sitting back down at the table
"Well?" I arsed looking at Edward
"Oh right sorry got a little caught up in the moment and all that, right let me begin, we had word that a Leprechaun was seen with some Reindeer wandering around London and well that's nor normal is, so after a little investigating and Laura calling me when you all first started your trip to find them I knew if anyone could find them it would be The Three Wise Men, they put some feelers out, is that how you say it?" He asked looking at the three of them, they nodded and he carried on "They contacted me last night to let me know they had dealt with the problem as it were." he shrugged
"But the Reindeer?" I asked nervously
"They are fine Sammy mate" said Albert "Well as fine as they can be with those wires they are hooked up to, we didn't try and take them off as Edward here said it was somehow linked together with the others but Dancer and Dasher are fine and said to tell you so"
"That's right "Edward said "I can take you to them when your ready"
"What about him?" I said pointing at the Leprechaun on the floor
"Oh don't worry about him" said Paul "He's seen the error of his ways and is now going to be a model citizen aren't you?" he said poking him with his foot
The Leprechaun just nodded
"Good lad" said Terry "Right then if you don't need us for anything else here's the address and well let you be on your way" he handed me a piece of paper with an address written on it
"Hold on a minute" said Paul "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Am I?" asked Terry
"The other bit of information we got out of him?" said Albert
"Oh right, yes of course" said Terry reaching into a pocket of his tracksuit and pulling a piece of paper from it, "Here you go mate" he said handing it over to me
"What's this?" I asked unfolding it and seeing an address on it
"That's where in New York that Cupid and Vixen are being kept" he said matter of factually
"But how?" I asked shocked
"Oh we have our ways and to be honest you don't want to know" Paul said looking at the Leprechaun was trying to wriggle his way across the floor
"Get back here" he said putting his foot on the Leprechaun's legs "We told you we would let you go as soon as we had seen Sammy so chill out a little bit okay"
"Thank you" I said reaching to shake their hands, which they warmly received and shook.
"Our pleasure son, the Boss speaks very highly of you" said Albert
"You know Father Christmas?" I asked not able to keep the surprise out of my voice.
"Of course I do" he said "We go way back me and Frank, known each other since we were nippers the story's I could tell you about him and his brother Clarence, would make your hair curl" he said sipping his tea
"Clarence who's Clarence?" I asked
"You didn't know he had a brother then?" Albert asked "I'm not surprised he doesn't talk about him much I shouldn't have said anything me and my big mouth"
"You cant leave the lad hanging like that" said Paul crossly
"We have to go" said Edward shooting Albert a look that I wasn't supposed to see.
"Am I missing something here I asked?" not moving from here I stood even though Edwards was trying to pull me away
"Tell him!" said terry looking at Albert
"Not my place" he said crossly
"Well you started to tell him so now finish it!" Paul demanded
"I can't its not my place Ive said too much" Albert replied angrily
"Then who's place is it!" I demanded to know
"Sammy there are things going on here, history that you don't understand, these things are best left in the past" he wouldn't look at me as he said hiding behind drinking his tea
"Tell me!" I shouted "Me and my friends are travelling all over the world here trying to get the reindeer back in time, after that we then have to find Father Christmas and Mrs Christmas and Rudolph so if you know something then I suggest you tell me!" I thumped my hand on the table and made the mugs of tea jump and spill across the table
"I cant" he said "But if you got to New York ill make sure that there ate people there who will tell you everything, okay do you understand?" he said placing his mug back on the table
"I don't have a lot of choice do I?" I replied angrily
"Sammy trust me these are good people they were there when it all happened, I only know what I was told, they saw it first hand" He looked me in the eyes as he said it and I got a sense that whatever it was that he wasn't telling me wasn't because he didn't want to, it was genuinely because he couldn't..
"Who are these mysterious people?" I asked losing patience
"They live in New York and they are the oldest friends that Mrs Christmas has in this whole world, they grew up together and were around at the very end when it all fell apart. They will find you, Ill make sure of it. Just land the Van in Times Square and Ill make sure they are there to meet you" he said
"I have your word?" I asked
"You have my word" he nodded
"And Sammy" Paul called as I walked "If the stories I've been told are true, then you are in far more danger than you think you are, be careful who you trust"
I nodded and walked out of the pub and once again into the unknown.
To be continued..................
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