The Adventures of Campy Girlymann

As they pushed against the wall, their bodies slick with coal dust, Campy held his breath. One sneeze would give them away. The Belgian gently reached to Girlymann's nose and pinched the nostrils. Even in the dim light, Campy could see the look of concern on the domestic's face, inches from his as they held on and waited out  each second for the sound of men searching below to become more distant. With a quick look at each other, a smile of victory on their faces and they decided to continue up the shoot.

It was hard, the shoot was almost vertical and it seemed like climbing up the side of a building. The bike didn't help either, each effort to raise themselves meant jostling with the bike. It was bruising but in time, after they had stopped thinking the top was near, the shoot  angled somewhat and they could see the outline of light where the opening must be.

As they neared the trap door their ears listened for voices but heard little. Campy was sure that the whole estate would be looking for them. He had no idea where the trap door for the coal bin was located but sure it was on the outside and in back of the building. But where and how close to someone waiting to find them?

To be continued.....

The Adventures Of Campy Girlymann Continues

Once Campy had his bike fit to ride, he followed the Belgian to a room nearby, it was the boiler room where a large cold furnace, fueled by coal, sat in the middle of the room, to one side was a bin of coal and above it a large trap door. Just as the Belgian explained his plan to shimmy up the coal shoot, they could hear voices and yells getting closer by the second.

"We will have to pass the bike up as we go, it will be dangerous. If we slip, the bike and us will fall into the lap of Jean Claude and his men." The Belgian looked around, the voices were now loud and clear.  "We must hurry Campy they will search here soon."


The two men grabbed the bike and walked on top of the raw coal in its bin. Campy held the trap open for the Belgian to climb up first. He did so by pushing his back on one side of the shoot and his feet on the other. When he raised up as far as he could, Girlymann lifted the bike up to him. Then Campy crawled in. The quarters were tight, especially as the domestic held on to Campy's bike with one hand on one side of the shoot while Campy squeezed passed him on the other. Their bodies sliding, slick with sweat and coal dust pass one another. By the time they passed the bike once more they could hear voices in the boiler room and decided to holed as still as possible.

With all the disturbed coal dust, Girlymann felt his nose being tickled by a sneeze. 

To be continued......

The Adventures of Campy Girlymann Continue

It was strangely quiet once the iron door stopped.  Girlymann stepped into a hall and as he held his breath, waiting for the sound of alarm, he thought he heard rats.  It looked like a great place for vermin, dank somewhat, with little light to see by. He was in a hall connected to a series of what looked like barred jail cells. Each curved as if they were the foundation of the estate. Campy walked down the aisle of cells, some looked used recently, others not at all but near the end he heard something.

"S'il vous plaît?"  The voice said in a voice weak and in pain.

Campy stepped in front of the cell and saw the wretched body of the Belgian domestic.  His eyes and cheeks sallow. He was filthy with sweat and smears that defied identity. The Belgian's mouth dropped then his eyes brightened, he began to weep and rushed to the iron bars that held him.

"Where's the key to unlock you? Do you know?"

The captive looked at the old iron key in Campy's hand and pointed to it.

Girlymann smiled and immediately used the key to open the cell. He grabbed the Belgian and lifted him easily. "What the fuck did they do to you?"

"Quick. Your bike Campy. The De Rosa is in the main room. Leave me."

"I ain't leaving you or the bike. Can you ride mate?"

"I've done nothing but. I rode the De Rosa to supply Jean Claude and his friends power for their play room."

While the Belgian talked, Campy had carried him into the the main room. There was the De Rosa to the side of a large main room that held electronic games and televisions, looking much of a perverted game room for the ultra wealthy. The De Rosa was near a side wall with the rear wheel sitting on a drum to run a generator. Campy gritted his teeth, put the Belgian down and went to his bike.

"Monsieur Campy, we must hurry. They must know you're here."

"I had to knock one the bastards out, but will make it buddy. Just hang on."

Campy looked for the front wheel and when he saw it against the wall he placed the quick release of the wheel in the forks and snapped the handle in place.

"Mate, can you ride?"

"I can Campy."

Girlymann pulled out an energy bar from his jersey and gave it to the Belgian. "Take it."

The Belgian fell on it, ripping the wrapper off with his teeth. When he finished, which wasn't long, Girlymann gave him another and asked if he knew another way out that wasn't the secret passage.

The Belgian said there were two other ways out other than the secret passage that Campy came by.  But he had a better idea, one that he had been thinking of if he ever had a chance to escape.

Campy asked what it was....

To be continued....

The Adventures Of Campy Girlymann Continues

Quick, Campy slipped behind the opening door. It was a man dressed well, evidently from the party and with a very large key fastened to a steel ring in his hand.  Girlymann held his breath, waited for just the right moment, when the stranger would begin his decent or close the hidden door.

He left it opened and when he moved forward, Campy put a choke hold on him, as he pulled him down and back.  Once the man went limp, Campy let go, went to the linen and grabbed some covers used for the furniture. With a few rips to the cotton fabric, Campy had binding and tied both the feet and hands, as well as the mouth of what turned out, a very handsome, well dressed man.

Campy closed the door and placed the man so that his body leaned against it before he descended the stairs with the key in his hand. He knew he had a few minutes at best before his victim woke up with a very bad headache. It wouldn't take long though for the cob webs to clear and present a problem. Campy took the steps two at a time at a gallop until the iron door appeared.

Girlymann steadied his breath and used the key to open the door. It screamed with lack of oil. If anyone was there, they now knew someone just entered.

To be continued... 

The Adventures Of Campy Girlymann Continues

Campy heard a party in the one of the main rooms nearby. There was laughter and music at what seemed to be a dinner party. He quickly walked the short way to a hall where a door was near a mirror reflecting a vase of flowers on an ornate side table. He opened the door and stepped into a linen closet. Once he shut the door and turned on the light he pressed the side of the closet and it opened, shelves and all. He entered and stepped onto a platform before he shut the hidden door and  carefully made his way down a series of steps and landings.

He went deeper into the estate, down where now, there was no noise of the party going on above. Down to a level of old granite when the estate was a fortress. The walls were dark with soot from torches of long ago, now lit by a dim series of small naked light bulbs that cast the bare minimum of light. The floor and ceiling were dank and musty yet still the stairs descended until an iron barred door held Girlymann back.

Campy studied the door, looking to see how to open it when he realized it would need a very old key. Something that he should have looked for when he opened the hidden closet door. He would have to go back. He turned around and started his climb up the steep granite stairs, back into the estate where the granite ended and wood planks made up the stair case. The music could be heard, and then the laughter until at last he was where he started on the platform in back of the linen closet. He was just about to open the hidden closet door when he noticed the door began to move on its own.

To be continued.....