Moving surprisingly fast for such a bulky man, Phil lurched forward, snatched the refuge bin up and hurled it straight at Rob. Simultaneously, Brendan stepped forward, grabbed Joe by his shirt collar with both hands and shoved him roughly up against the side of the house.

Rob’s arm shot out and batted the large bin to one side, trash flying out all over the garden. Phil took the opportunity to throw a punch towards Rob’s jaw, but the Randall brother sidestepped and allowed the other man’s momentum to carry him forward. As he passed, Rob grabbed him by the bicep and forearm and tossed him further into the garden away from Joe who was still tussling with his opponent.

Taken by surprise at Rob’s skill and strength, Phil felt an unfamiliar rush of fear. His arms pin wheeled madly as he tried to regain his balance, barely stopping himself from falling onto his face. He slipped on something else and looked down to see it was a metal pole, he grasped it eagerly and turned to face his adversary who was now striding up behind him.

Phil made a clumsy baseball style swing towards the other man’s head, but Rob ducked underneath and grasped the very edge of one of the rods himself. He flicked it spinning into the air and snatched it out of the sky. Twirling it impressively in his hand, he worked his grip down until he was holding onto the end. Locking eyes with Phil, he grinned wolfishly - Phil wasn’t smiling back.

"Give it your best shot!" Rob challenged.

***

Joe’s teeth rattled as he was slammed against the brickwork of the house. Immediately, his arms instinctively traveled up between Brendan’s and drove them outwards, breaking the big man’s tenuous hold. He followed this up with a firm push, to the chest, driving his adversary back.

Brendan came straight at him again and threw two roundhouse punches in quick succession, which Joe blocked with his forearms. On the second punch, Joe trapped an arm and delivered a stunning hammer blow down onto Brendan’s bicep. Normally, this would have been sufficient enough to cause a dead-arm, but to the teenager, the muscle felt like it was made from solid rock. Perturbed, Joe realized punches were not going to be enough.

This thought delay gave Brendan the opportunity he needed for his other arm to sneak in a glancing blow to the younger man’s chin.

***

Phil yelled and swung the pole in a wide arc again, aiming for Rob’s collarbone this time. The older Randall brother immediately countered downwards sending a loud clanking noise resounding in the garden as the two bars connected. The force of Rob’s delivery was such that Phil was forced down onto one knee. Rob stepped forward to deliver an uppercut, but wasn’t quick enough, and Phil delivered a stunning blow straight into the side of his ribs. Rob felt the shock of white heat and pain spreading outwards and staggered away.

Sure he’d won the battle, Phil jumped up and (again underestimating his foe) began raining blows down on the Randall brother. Rob halted them all in quick succession, adrenaline pumping - instantly numbing his discomfort.

Frustrated, Phil pushed forward and swung the baton again, Rob drove it to one side and stepped passed him, his back momentarily showing to the enemy. Wanted to take advantage of this vulnerability, Phil raised his makeshift weapon above his head and aimed it towards his foe’s exposed scalp.

Relying on instincts gained through six years of reenactment, Rob’s hand immediately snaked up and caught onto Phil’s descending wrist pinning it in mid-air. Simultaneously he sent his other arm shooting backwards, driving the metal pipe into the other man’s abdomen. There was a loud ‘humph’ as all the air was pumped from Phil’s lungs and he doubled up.

Letting him drop, Rob picked up the discarded refuge bin and plonked it on top of his head. Using the pipe’s end as a hammer, he pounded it down until it was firmly jammed over his head right down to the elbows. He grinned at how loud it must be reverberating in the confines of the metal drum, and how foul it must smell. Lastly, he gave the trapped man a shove so he toppled over onto the grass, helpless.

Rob turned sharply to see if Joe needed his help, but was suddenly overcome by an agonizing pain in his side. He grimaced and placed his arm protectively across his midriff. The pain intensified until he was forced down into a crouch with his other hand supporting his weight, his breaths now coming in short, ragged gasps.

***

Joe allowed the shock of the punch to spin him around; as he turned he stepped firmly onto his supporting leg and drove the other one backwards, his heel connecting with Brendan’s pelvis. Forcing all his weight and strength through his hip, Joe caused the muscle man to fold in the middle and hit the ground sliding. "Frank, you’d be so proud!" Joe thought pulling his leg back in quickly and sending it behind him so his stance was facing forward again.

Brendan stared up at Joe, a look of amazement on his face. This soon darkened to one of lividness, his eyes flashing blackly. He got up onto his feet, and lurched straight for the teenager once again, his large fists up, cocked, ready and dangerous.

Joe’s leg flashed out again in a front kick straight into Brendan’s stomach. The muscle man’s eyes bulged momentarily, but his stomach muscles were so tight, he felt the merest second of discomfort.

Joe attempted to pull his leg back out of the danger zone, but Brendan grabbed his ankle and held on.

He gave the hopping teenager a sickly smile and gripped his foot even harder. "Looks like I’ve got the upper hand now Kid! All the martial arts in the world ain’t gonna save you from a street fighter," he taunted, arrogantly.

Joe glanced over at Rob but saw his friend still had his hands full. "Only one thing for it!" he thought grimly and crouched down slightly. Drawing together as much muscle power as possible into his free leg he leaped into the air. Throwing his shoulders around, he corkscrewed his body, charging up as much explosive power as he could muster into his lower limbs. His free leg whipped round and the toe of his shoe connected with Brendan’s temple with a sickening crack.

The big man went down like a sack of potatoes, out like a light, taking Joe down with him.

Landing on his front with his legs trapped beneath Brendan, Joe was fully expecting to be further attacked - not believing for a second his improvised kick had been effective. He desperately clawed forward as quickly as possible, yanking himself free as he went. It took him a few long seconds to realize Brendan wasn’t resisting.

Twisting, he looked over his shoulder at his fallen foe with his eyebrows set high.

"I don’t believe it!" Joe croaked in amazement and laughed hoarsely. "I’ve only ever seen that move done in hammy films, I didn’t think it would actually work!"

He looked over towards Rob, smiling at the site of Phil rolling around ineffectually in the trash bin.

"You lost a contact lens?" he asked his friend, who appeared to be searching for something in the grass.

Rob shook his head quickly, not looking up, a bead of sweat dripping off the end of his nose.

Realizing something was wrong; Joe pulled himself fully free of Brendan and made his way quickly across to hunker down beside his friend. "What’s the matter, Buddy?" he asked, instantly concerned as to the shallow way his friend was breathing.

"Sod got me in the flippin’ ribs!" Rob managed to force out. He put his hand on Joe’s shoulder and heaved himself up, using his friend for leverage. Phil chose that moment to roll up to Rob’s feet, so he kicked him hard in the shin; "god damn muscle men!" he cursed, making Joe want to laugh at his unintentionally ironic comment.

Joe held his friend up until he seemed more stable on his feet, if a little hunched over. "I think I need to tie our friend up over there," he said, indicating with his chin to towards Brendan, "before he wakes up and starts causing us more bother."

"Garden twine…" said Rob.

"Eh?"

"Over there, use the garden twine," he repeated.

"Oh yeah - good plan." Joe let go slowly and hovered for a second just in case Rob fell. Seeing he seemed pretty balanced, he left him and went for the string.

"By the way Joe," Rob interrupted causing Joe to look back, "nice moves."

Joe grinned and trussed Brendan up without difficulty. By the time he’d finished, Rob was sitting back on the grass again hugging himself and looking positively green.

"You don’t look so hot."

"Humph – funny you should say tha…" his voice wound down to nothing and his head jerked towards the house, "…where’s Helen?"

He looked back at Joe with a worried frown and started to climb awkwardly to his feet again. Joe was sprinting past before he’d got as far as his knees.

Rob lurched in through the open doorway and leaned against the table, listening to the sounds of his friend racing from one room to the other. Finally Joe re-entered the kitchen and stuck his head down into the basement.

"She’s not here," He informed Rob uneasily.

"BMW?"

Joe went through the entranceway and looked out through the window. He returned bearing a thoughtful expression on his face. "It’s gone - she’s done a runner again!"

***

Mark was standing at the window, looking out into the quickly dimming night, tapping his hip impatiently. "I can’t believe she’s gone and pulled that stunt again!" he muttered.

"Actually, it was probably lucky she wasn’t here, she could have been hurt otherwise." Joe pointed out, trying to gloss over the situation.

"He’s right Mate," agreed Kiwi.

Several hours earlier, the three of them had arrived just as an ambulance was preparing to leave with Rob and Brendan on board. Mark had instantly climbed on the back while Frank and Kiwi had entered the house.

They’d found Joe with Detective Chief Morgan in the living room going over the day’s events. Phil was standing sullenly in the hallway handcuffed, with three police officers surrounding him

"Is he talking?" asked Frank looking at Phil. "Has he told you the name of his ‘boss’?"

"The fellows not saying a word," sighed the Inspector. "His friend is still unconscious and neither of them are carrying identification. His boss is obviously a powerful man, so they may never talk. We’ve picked up Mike Gregg’s friends though and I’m pretty confident we’ll get some information out of them eventually, but they’re very scared at the moment."

Joe shook his head, frustrated. "They arrived in a Jag, which matches the description of the car that was used to abduct me. Its number plate has been run through the usual channels, but it seems they’re bogus so the car’s untraceable.

Morgan jumped in. "We’ll conduct a forensics test on the vehicle and see what that flags up. But at this point in time, we’re reliant on one of the prisoners eventually speaking out."

"What’s the story on Helen?" Kiwi prompted.

Joe raised his arms up and shrugged. "Who knows? She took Barney along too."

Morgan shot a quizzical look his way.

"Barney’s her car," Joe offered by way of explanation. "The good news is that her handbag and clothes are still here, so I’m figuring she snuck out to be by herself."

"She’s acting so strangely," remarked Kiwi under his breath.

After much cajoling and persuasion, Mark finally succumbed to sitting in the lounge with his brother and friends. Two minutes later, the unmistakable glow of car headlights shone through the window into the darkening hallway. The younger Randall brother was immediately on his feet and storming the front door. He yanked it open and disappeared from sight down the front steps.

All four young men in the front room could hear Mark’s muted voice raging outside. They heard a car door slam and his voice being joined by the unmistakable sound of Helen’s higher-pitched tone.

Kiwi made his way hesitantly into the hallway and looked out of the window. He could see them both silhouetted against the dusky sky. Mark was jabbing his finger and yelling, while Helen had her hands on her waist and was walking backwards and forwards.

Rob looked at him inquisitively as he re-entered the room. "They’re having an argument," he announced.

"Elementary, my dear Watson." said Joe, trying to lighten the mood.

Helen suddenly stormed in through the front door shouting, "GET OFF MY BACK!" over her shoulder at Mark who was hot on her heels.

Frank looked down at his feet, wishing he were somewhere else. Joe was looking up through his eyelashes at them embarrassed, as Kiwi surreptitiously side stepped so he was concealed against the wall next to the open doorway.

"We were all worried sick Helen - you can’t keep doing this!" Mark countered.

"I’m not a child Mark, I’ll leave the house whenever I choose - I don’t need yours, or anyone else’s permission."

"Normally that would be true, but you know the situation, none of us can go gallivanting off on our own, it’s too dangerous - anything could have happened to you."

"BUT IT DIDN’T!"

"BUT IT COULD HAVE!"

Helen grunted and stomped off up the stairs, Mark in pursuit. The rest of the household listened as a door upstairs was slammed with such force that it shook the building and the shouting continue unabated.

"I’m going up there," Rob decided, clutching his side and getting slowly up.

"Can you manage to stairs?" Frank asked.

"It’s my rib that got cracked - not my legs."

He made his way to the staircase and slowly made his way upwards, gripping the handrail as he ascended.

The three teenagers all looked uneasily at one another.

They eventually heard Rob’s voice joining the other two, but could not make out what was being said as the sound was heavily muffled. Rob voice continued for quite some time, interspersed with Mark’s and Helen’s.

The row reached a crescendo until one of them allowed their anger to gain dominance over sense. Suddenly there was the unmistakable sound of Rob screaming "Ouch!" which had the instant result of nullify the other two and the shouting ceased. A door opened and Mark came thundering downstairs. Without even glancing into the living room, he went straight for the kitchen, swept some ice from the freezer into a towel and ran back upstairs.

Kiwi looked wide-eyed at the other two, his hand over his heart. "Cripes! I wonder who hit Rob?"

"I’ll give you two guesses," said Frank.