A Cockney's Journey Read Online Free Page B

haven’t got a clue; I couldn’t see anyway. I landed on my feet and sighed with relief. “OK I’m in,” I whispered. One by one they dropped down. Tony shone his torch around. There were a few rows of pews and at the far end was a funny shaped altar. To the left and right were identical arch-shaped doors. Opposite, on the right of the pews, stood two large entrance doors.
    “That’s the way out,” Tommy yelled excitedly.
    “Not so bloody loud, you knob,” Brian barked.
    We started to move towards the large doors when suddenly the torch went out.
    “Oh no, the bloody batteries have died,” Tony gasped.
    We stood there in silence, listening to Tony shaking and banging the torch on the palm of his hand.
    “It’s not going to have it,” he informed us. Now this is what I call bang in the shit.
    “Ed’s got a lighter,” Brian muttered in a low voice.
    As he was saying it, I was already rummaging around in my pockets, feeling for my lighter. There was a click and a sudden surge of light appeared; much brighter than a candle. Pukka lighters these petrol ones .
    “Blimey, that’s nice and bright,” said Tony.
    “Yeah,” I said, all cocky and feeling proud of myself. “And it’s full up.” I put a fag into the flame and took a large drag, blowing a cloud of smoke in their direction. “Right, let’s see if we can budge these doors,” I said, pointing the lighter.
    “Not a chance, they must be six inches thick,” Brian remarked, disappointedly.
    “Yeah, you’re right mate. There must be another way out,” Tony said.
    “Let’s try one of those doors over by the altar,” I suggested.
    As we moved towards the door on the left, there was a horrible and loud howling noise that stopped us dead in our tracks.
    “Fuck! What was that?” Brian said, trembling.
    “Quiet will you, otherwise every motherfucker will know we’re in here,” Tony hissed aggressively with facial expressions to match. We stood there in total silence in front of the door. There was a dragging sound coming from the other side of the chapel. In fact, it sounded like it was outside the main entrance door. I flipped the lid on my lighter shut plunging us into darkness. I whispered in Tony’s ear, “Someone’s coming!” Suddenly, there were a lot of jangling noises and pushing; something was trying to open the main doors and it was obvious they were having trouble getting them open. I thought there must be a few of them. God help us. I reached out in the darkness, frantically feeling for the door handle. Eventually, my hand felt metal and I pushed it down. Realising the door was stiff, I leant on it with my shoulder. The door creaked as it opened slowly. “Come on, follow me,” I whispered. “Quickly.”
    Once inside, I shut the door tight and lit my lighter. We were standing on a small stone floor, with steps spiralling down. As we moved towards the stone stairs there was a thud.
    “Arghhh!” Tommy cried, as he fell to the ground.
    “Quiet!” Brian shushed.
    I pointed my lighter in the direction of the noise; Tommy was sitting on the floor holding his foot.
    “That bloody hurt,” he said. “I tripped over that lump of iron lying on the floor.”
    On the floor by Tommy’s feet lay a four-foot long iron pole, about two inches round, and completely rusty.
    “Great. Let’s prop it up against the door,” Tony said quietly. He picked it up and wedged it in a mortar joint in the floor, pushing the pole under the cross beam on the door.
    No one’s getting through that door, I thought gleefully.
    “Come on. Let’s get down those stairs,” Tony ordered. “You first, Ed; you’ve got the lighter.”
    I was just about to put my foot on the first step when we heard all the commotion coming from inside the church. I flipped my lighter shut and