WORRALS IN THE WASTELANDS

by W. E. Johns

10. WORRIES FOR WORRALS (Pages 126 – 137)

“When the bitter truth, that Frecks was not there, became so evident that there was no longer any question about it, Worrals was for a moment bereft of the power of lucid thought by sheer dismay. It was a contingency outside her reckoning and for once she was at a loss to know what to do”. Worrals waits and looks around. She finds a struck match, obviously new. Someone else must have been there as Frecks did not smoke. Hunting around further, Worrals finds an unstruck match and then another and soon follows the trail left. This trail leads to the Box and Worrals can hear people inside. Then she hears Frecks laugh. Why would she laugh if she was a prisoner? Worrals can’t understand it. Looking through a window, she sees that “Frecks was sitting with Shultz and Wolfe – drinking a cup of tea. They were chatting as if they were the best of friends”. Worrals walks to some fallen rocks and sits down to think. Then Wolfe comes outside, shortly to be followed by Shultz. Worrals crouches and listens to their conversation. They think it is a bit of luck to be flown out and plan to kill the girls to ensure they say nothing. They will let Larwood and Hedin go to work in the morning and take the gold when they have gone. When Frecks departs and the others have gone back to the Box, Worrals follows her and joins her as soon as they are out of earshot. They exchange stories and set off back to their base.