Free We Were Only Strawberry Picking by Henrietta Defreitas

noted Lyndi Lou.
    ‘I could kiss you,’ gleamed Jack.
    ‘Oh, Jack, please. No thank you!’
    ‘I don’t mean kiss you literally, Lyndi Lou, I’ll leave that to Oscar …’
    ‘You promised, JACK!’ howled Oscar.
    ‘Oh, get over it, we all know you have a crush on Lyndi Lou and I bet she knows it too,’ Jack said amusingly.
    ‘Jack, let’s just get back to what you were trying to say,’ interrupted Henratty.
    ‘I think Lyndi Lou hit the nail on the head. It’s way too dark down here for anyone to survive and bearing in mind how healthy they all look, I would say they have a pretty well maintained diet, so where is their food source? I say above ground and if it’s above ground then there’s a way out of here and I intend on finding it,’ Jack beamed smugly.
    ‘Jack, I don’t know how you do it, but what you’ve just said makes sense. I think everyone is so exhausted, so it’s best we sleep on your notion and try to come up with a plan of action tomorrow. Like you said, if they wanted us dead, they would have done something by now,’ concluded Henratty.

CHAPTER EIGHT
The Search
    Back in Meerville Town, the Brians and Mortimers had just left the sheriff’s office to report that their meerkats were missing following a visit to the strawberry fields. They had also paid a visit to the attendant but he could not shed any light on where they may have gone, as he was adamant there was no one left in those fields before he locked up.
    The sheriff decided that it was really too dark to commence a search and would utilise the rest of the day to hand out posters and resume a serious search tomorrow, beginning with the strawberry fields.
    They had all decided to head back to the Mortimers’ house, being nearer to the fields, still hopeful that Henratty, Lyndi Lou together with Jack and Oscar had made their way home, but as Papa Mortimer opened the door they were met with total darkness and silence.
    Mama Mortimer began to cry as he consoled her whilst Mama Katie went to put the kettle on. Mama Katie was a very strong individual indeed, she always remained positive and refused to get too upset until she knew the facts for definite, unlike Mama Mortimer who was more emotional and could not hide her feelings of distress so easily.
    Mama Mortimer had now joined Mama Katie in the kitchen whilst Papa Brian and Papa Mortimer were in the sitting room discussing an action plan for tomorrow. They had decided that they would get up at the crack of dawn and head down towards the strawberry fields to meet the attendant who would let them in, extra early, so they could search the fields thoroughly and see if Jack had left any clues. They knew how adventurous he was and if in danger, the only thing on his mind would be plotting to escape and leaving clues so they could be rescued.
    * * *
    At the first sign of light the next morning, Papa Brian and Papa Mortimer met the sheriff and the rest of the force along with the attendant who let them into Meerville Strawberry Fields. Not a sound could be heard at all. Each group of meerkats were given a specific area to cover ensuring that the whole field would be searched thoroughly, but their search was in vain.
    ‘What about over there?’ stated Papa Brian, as he pointed to the prohibited area with the trespassing sign.
    ‘I think it is highly unlikely they would venture there, especially after seeing that warning sign – Henratty was very sensible and would never endanger anyone’s life,’ assured Papa Mortimer.
    ‘Nor Jack for that matter,’ commented Papa Brian.
    ‘That field is above the old mine that was shut down thirty years or so ago. I don’t know if you remember it, as you two would have been little then, but the ground became very unstable from all the mining and I’m afraid my force would be lost if they went in there,’ said the sheriff.
    ‘We do understand,’ affirmed Papa Brian. ‘We’re just going to take a closer peek to see if we can find anything that