Back to Ascension for the Ivory Falcon, Chapter
Four (checks notes) Three. I've been enjoying @Sakuragi Miniatures style of storytelling, so I'll be trying something similar for the next few episodes...
A quiet morning on Ascension. Charles Vane’s van is out with a morning delivery; all that can be heard is the sea, the Sooty Terns…
…and the screeching of tyres and gunshots, as the 40 Elephants Gang chases the RNAS police* and that d*mn Ivory Falcon.
In the 40 Elephant’s car, Florrie Holmes was driving, with Alice Diamond, the Gang’s leader, “helping”.
“Get me closer to them.”
“I’m trying , I can’t… oof… go any faster…”
“There’s a gap, drive into it, quickly, knock ’em off the road… mind the sign… mind the signmindthe… stopstopstop… okay, get me closer so I can shoot them…”
Alice leaned out of the car and fired several shots. The rear window of the police car shattered, but apart from that, there was no obvious effect on the occupants apart from a stream of swearing at high volume.
Frank Bryant, captain, and commander of the local contingent of the Royal Navy Air Service Police Force police was lying on the rear seat of the police car, covered in broken glass, and loading a fresh magazine in his rifle He looked at his driver.
“Sergeant Williams, I could make you put a shilling in the swear box.”
“I didn’t know you spoke Welsh, sir.”
“I don’t…”
Bryant pulled himself up over the back seat, aimed the rifle, and fired. Florrie saw this coming and rammed the police car again, causing Bryant to fall sideways. The bullet shot skyward; in defiance of narrative tradition, it did not cause a bird to fall out of the sky with a humorous squawk. Bryant scrabbled at the seat to pull himself upright.
The car swerved as Florrie tried ramming them again, sending him down again.” He swore as another volley hit the back of the car.
“Do I get to fine you, Sir?”
“Shut up Sergeant.”
“Shutting up, sir.”
“Can’t yer keep it straight?” Alice shouted as she pulled herself into the car again. Florrie pretended not to hear.
“Where are the others?”
“I told ’em to block the road to the police station; they should be around this corner…”
Around the corner, Jim Bullock was not happy.
“‘Stop the police car’, she says… ‘just like that’, she says. And who has to risk his neck making it happen?”
Shirlie, following a few feet behind, rolled her eyes. She was often placed with Jim; Alice said they made a “Good team” which Shirlie suspected meant Jim needed someone for strategic thinking, or, just thinking.
“Gosh, a found a problem you can’t solve by kicking things.”
“I don’t see you coming up with any suggestions, Shirlie.”
As they spoke, a van drove past, stopped, and reversed towards the building in front of them. The driver, clearly in a hurry, left the door open as he ran to the building.
Jim looked at the van. Then at Shirlie. She shrugged. Sometimes you didn’t have to think too hard to find a solution.
Alice was still trying to micromanage the situation.
“Line up, I’ll get him this time…”
“Florrie pressed the accelerator. There was no response: the battering the car had received was taking its toll. She pressed harder and the car pulled forward sluggishly…
“What are you waiting for?” Alice didn’t wait for a response, but leaned out of the window, aiming for the police car’s tyres…
There was a loud bang and the car swerved sideways. Alice screamed and shot an advertising billboard twenty metres away.
“What are you doing?” She shouted, pushing herself back into the car with some difficulty.
Florrie tried to gesture backwards while keeping the car under control.
“More coppers, they’re behind us… Ow”
The car slammed into a wall. The fitting of seatbelts to cars would not become commonplace for another twenty years, so both occupants were thrown skyward and bounced around the inside of the vehicle.
“He rammed us”
Florrie considered this.
“But Alice, we…”
Gunshots rang out, hitting the wall in front of them.
Alice looked indignant: “And they shot at us…”
Florrie decided not to argue and pressed the accelerator.
“Turn here Williams.” Shouted the Captain from the back seat.
“Can’t sir, I bribed a couple of lads to block it with barrels, just in case.”
The Captain looked up the alleyway as they passed: four rather dangerous looking barrels blocked the entrance. One was leaking a noxious looking substance.
“You have a criminal mind, Sergeant Williams”
“Thank you sir.”
“D*mn, missed.” lamented Lt. Cain as the gangsters car recovered and pulled away.
“Careful Lieutenant, Captain’ll order you to put a shilling in the swear box if he hears that sort of language”.
“He owes me a shilling from last week.” Replied Lieutenant Cain.
Sergeant Coulson pointed at an alleyway just in front of them. “I’ll pull in there, and we’ll cut them off when they come round the Casino.”
“Excellent, let’s go.”
Sergeant Coulson pulled on the wheel, the van swung into the alley. Too late, they saw the leaking barrels across the entrance…
“Oh…”
The van hit the oil slick, spun out of control, slammed into a delivery van, and stalled…
Williams and Bryant used the opportunity to pull ahead of the Gangsters and around the side of the casino. Out of line of sight, Bryant breathed out.
“If we can keep going this speed, we should make it.”
Williams looked gloomy. “Not sure if we can, sir. Listen.”
Now he was no longer being distracted by being shot at, Bryant became aware that the car was making a suspicious “thump… thump” noise of a flat tyre. He swore.
“Exactly, sir.” Replied Williams.
As soon as the dust settled, Lieutenant Cain opened the door.
“I’ll take this truck to block the road behind the Captain. See if you can get the van restarted.”
He ran around the van, and…
The damaged police car was noticeably slower.
“Keep going, I’ll hold them off.” shouted Bryant as Florrie pulled alongside again. Alice had climbed over the seat. She leaned out of the window and fired at the car from a few metres away. Bryant returned fire.
Williams lurched towards their pursuers, causing Florrie to swerve.
Florrie missed the wall; Bryant and Alice missed each other.
Once again, the police car pulled forward. Bryant fired a few more times to keep Florrie from getting too close. “We’re getting clear, Sergeant” He called. “Keep going and we’ll make it.”
Little did they know what lay ahead…
Have the 40 Elephants gang finally outmatched the Royal Navy Air Service Police? Will the police car make it past the ambush? Will it, in fact, make it as far as the ambush? How much will Captain Bryant have to put in the swear box before the adventure is over?
Find out in the next thrilling episode of the “Ivory Falcon”…
*Whose car mysteriously seems to have changed colour from the previous episode.
