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CHAPTER 2: Hounded

It's Sunday afternoon in Basingstoke. Linda has been having a lazy afternoon watching TV and doing nothing in particular. She is faintly annoyed when the phone drags her away from comfy position on the lounge.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lins, look out the window." It's an excited Steven.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

She does. There are two men standing on the footpath outside the Carter home. One is reasonably well-dressed, the other is rather scruffy and is carrying an impressive camera.

"Who are they?"

"The gentlemen of the press, or should that be gentle-persons?"

"Gentle pains in my arse. What do they want?"

"Me! I'm news." Steven is quite thrilled by it. "They started ringing about an hour ago and this lot just turned up. Dad took one look at them and slammed the door in their faces."

"But why? It can't be your wonderful speaking ability can it?"

"Sure is. I'm a celebrity."

"But it's been weeks!"

"Linda love, your memory's going, first sign of old age. It's only been eight days."

"Must be a slow news day. What can they be doing looking for a story in Basingstoke?"

"Following an exciting news tip."

"What are you going to do?"

"Worry about that later. Right now I need you to do me a favour."

"What is it O famous person."

"Curtsey when you say that."

"I did. Surely you heard my tired old bones creaking."

"Is that what that noise was?"

"No, that was my false teeth falling on the floor. What can I do for you?"

"I need you to talk to John."

"Ring his mobile."

"Can't get through. I've left a message but I don't think he'll get it in time."

"In time for what?"

"In time to stop him running into the hounds at the gate."

"What if he does?"

"Lins, he's got to be careful, he hasn't told his parents yet. That's why he's coming. We're going over to his place and he's going to tell them about us." There's a note of pride in his voice. John has come along way in a very short time. Just shows you what the shock of nearly losing your boyfriend can do for you.

"Wow. When's the wedding?"

"Ages away, this is the engagement."

"How big's the ring?"

"Linda be serious for a bit. John wants me with him 'cause he thinks he's not brave enough to tell them on his own."

"Wish I could be a fly on the wall when that happens."

"Come round later, I'll give you the gory details."

"How can I help?"

"Can you go and meet him? Tell him to ring me."

"When's he due?"

"Twenty minutes. And Lins."

"What?"

"Tell him he'll have to talk to the answering machine. We're using it to screen calls."

"Okay. Talk to you later."

Quickly Linda tarts herself up and heads out. She's only a few steps outside the front door when she's noticed. The journalists come over at a rush.

"Excuse me Miss. Do you know the people next door?" One look at this journalist's eyes and Linda has given him a nickname, Slimy.

"Which people?"

Slimy points to Steven's house where Linda can see Steven at his bedroom window.

"Oh, are there are people living in there? How strange."

"Do you know Steven Carter?"

Linda looks at the photographer and puts out her hand. "Please to meet you Mr Carter."

"He's not Steven Carter. The Carters live in there."

"Do they? You must introduce me sometime."

"We would like some information on the family."

"Would you now? I've got a suggestion about that. It's a little unusual but it might just work. You could walk up that path, keeping off the grass on the way, then you could knock on the door and when someone answers, you can ask them."

Slimy rolls his eyes. He thinks he knows how to handle this one. "We can pay well for reliable information."

"Oh that's so tempting." Slimy looks pleased with himself. "But I've got something really important to do," Linda sneers.

"Oh?" Slimy asks disinterestedly.

"Yes. The dog left some shit on the footpath and I have to go clean it up."

Slimy looks around nervously. "I didn't see a dog."

"Well you wouldn't. We don't have one."

Linda walks off. Puzzled, Slimy looks at the cameraman who is laughing quietly. He really likes seeing someone get the better of this berk.

Once she's out of sight Linda starts hurrying. She wasted five minutes on the reporters but thoroughly enjoyed doing it. She's just in time as she can already see John coming down the opposite footpath. She waves frantically to him and he comes over.

"Hi Linda."

"Thank God I caught you," she says puffing.

"Why what's wrong?" John's suddenly worried. Has something awful happened?

"Steven asked me to find you."

"Why didn't he ring?"

"He tried."

John gets out his mobile. "Damn! I forgot to recharge it. What's happened?"

"The bloody press have found him. They're camped out on the doorstep."

"What do the bastards want?"

"A juicy story. His antics on Prize Day are famous now."

"I was scared that'd happen. What's he want to do about them?"

"Actually he was more worried about you." John looks rather pleased by that. Linda finds the sparkle in his eyes quite endearing. "He wanted me to stop you running into them he said can you ring him and they're screening calls so talk to the machine." It all comes out in a rush and Linda has to pause to take a breath. John smiles at her enthusiasm and obvious fondness for Steven. He wishes he had a friend as loyal as her.

"How are we going to get him out of there?"

"He'll probably try to sneak out and meet you somewhere."

"Sneak out! He is not going to sneak out of his own house." John is outraged by the suggestion, there must be no more sneaking about for Steven.

"So how?"

"Linda, where's your car?"

"Depends whether my brother's back yet."

"Okay. Let's get closer to your place and see if he is."

They walk back towards Linda's house. As they get closer they see the Corvette drive in. John and Linda crouch behind a bush and watch as Linda's brother gets out and is confronted by the press. He seems totally confused. Linda looks at her poor brother and chuckles. "They won't get much from him, not unless they want to know about the car. Then he can talk for hours."

Steven assesses the situation and whispers to Linda. "I know what we could do."

Linda leans closer to him. She's really enjoying this, it's a great game. "Yes General?"

"That was grandad."

Is he joking? Probably not.

"You go ahead. Try and get them talking. It won't have to be long, just try and give me time to get to the door."

Linda starts to stand but John grabs her arm. "Hang on. Once I'm in get your brother inside and wait 'til we call. We're going to need a getaway car."

They stand and Linda starts walking towards her brother. Slimy sees her coming. "Back already? How's the dog?" Linda keeps walking 'til she's on the side of the car nearest her front door. The journalists are facing them with their backs to the Carter house.

"What dog?" Her brother asks.

"The dog we feed the meals I don't eat to."

"What?"

"You know, the dog we haven't got."

Out of the corner of her eye Linda watches as John walks quietly up to the Carter door. Someone inside has seen him as the front door has been opened slightly. Unfortunately Linda's brother has also seen him. The cameraman notices that he's looking over their shoulders and turns quickly. He's just in time to see the door open, John dash inside and the door close behind him.

"Who was that?" he asks.

"Who was who?" says Linda.

"That man."

"What man? I don't see any man."

The cameraman and Slimy exchange looks, this woman's definitely not going to be much help.

"Well I can't stand here chatting." Linda takes her brother's arm and unhurriedly goes inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a quick look at the confused men Steven's mother closes the door. She had been watching the journalists for a while and was surprised to see John coming up the path. She knew that it was important to get him inside as quickly and as quietly as she could.

"Hello John."

"Hello Mrs Carter." He's not sure what to say to Steven's mother. Does she know? Of course she knows about Steven, but what else does she know?

"Is it that journalist again?" Steven's father calls from the living room.

"No Graham, it's a friend of Steven's."

"Oh."

"Steven will be glad to see you John. Go on up."

As John starts to head upstairs she calls to him, "John."

He turns and looks into her troubled eyes. "John, all I want is for Steven to be happy. Can you do that for me?"

"It'll be my pleasure."

He runs up the stairs, taking them two at a time and bounces into Steven's room.

"Hello gorgeous."

"John!"

John grabs Steven in his arms and holds him tight. "I've missed you."

"So ha…" Steven's words are smothered by John's lips as he kisses Steven lovingly. The kiss completed they stand, clasped in each other's arms, looking deep into each other's eyes. If only they could stay like this forever.

"Why didn't you ring?"

"Because I couldn't wait to see you."

"But what about the"

"Dogs of the press?" John finishes the question. "Linda helped me slip past them. I like that girl."

"I'm glad. She's my best friend in the whole world."

"What about me?"

"Ah but you don't count as a friend." John pouts. "You're my boyfriend and that's quite different."

"How different?"

"Well there are things I'd do with you that I'd only ever talk about to Linda."

"You tell her everything?"

"Not quite everything. I haven't told her about that cute freckle you have just there." He puts the tip of his finger a few inches to the right of John's navel.

"Oi, stop that. We've got things to do."

"I can think of something."

"That could be fun but I want to get this over with."

"What? You're finished with me already?"

"You know what I mean."

"Sure, but I can tease you can't I?"

"Anytime you like my love." He kisses Steven again. Steven's heart lurches. 'My Love.' It's the first time John's ever called him that. It feels so right.

"Not much later I hope." Kiss. " If we're going we'd better start." Kiss. "Otherwise we'll be here all night." Kiss.

"Is that a promise?" Kiss.

They separate and both have to pause to readjust themselves. Steven can't resist, "Something wrong with your trousers?"

"Yes and it's all your fault."

"I'm glad it's no one else's. By the way, how are we going to get out of here?"

"Linda'll drive us, but I can't think of anyway to get out except through the front door."

"We could climb the fence into next door and get out that way."

"I'm not going to have you creeping in and out of your own home. We'll use the front door. How fast can Linda drive?"

"How fast do you want?"

"Just fast enough. We need her to get to the car and have it ready to go. Then we'll just open the door, walk to the car and drive off. Do you know if they're from Basingstoke?"

"They're from London."

"Good, they won't know the area. If we move fast enough we can lose them. Can you ring Linda and tell her? I've got to use the loo."

"It's first on the right."

John's lips twitch in amusement, "I know."

By the time John comes back Linda's already in the car. The press have lost interest in her and are standing on the footpath smoking.

"Let's go Johnny." One last kiss.

They go downstairs. Steven's parents are in the lounge-room. His father is watching TV while his mother is sitting not reading a book.

"We're going out for a bit."

"Will you be alright?" Mrs Carter gets up to talk to them.

"Sure, there's only two of them. Linda's going to drive."

They head towards the door but are surprised when Steven's father gets up and come over to them. "Look after yourselves." He puts out his hand. "Good to meet you again John." John takes it and they shake hands. "I hope we'll see a lot more of you."

"So do I sir."

"I certainly hope so," Steven adds. "Come on John, we're going over the top." He opens the door and they both walk out. There is a sudden flash of lights as the cameraman starts photographing. The walk straight to the car.

"Which one of you is Steven Carter?" Slimy demands.

"I am," Linda sings out as Steven climbs into the Corvette. She starts the engine.

"She sure is," says Steven as John joins him in the passenger seat.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Slimy asks Steven pointing at John.

"Didn't your mother tell you it's rude to point," Linda yells as she starts to back the car.

The cameraman takes a last photograph as Slimy runs over to his car. By now Linda has reached the road and as the cameraman jumps into Slimy's car she speeds off.

"Let's do this again sometime," she yells over her shoulder.