Jack and Laura run over and hug Janie their older sister.
“Hello Mum! Hi Laura! Hi Jack! Fine, thanks. How’re you doing twins? Thanks for coming,” Janie answers gratefully. “ It’s been really boring today. Did you bring my magazines, mum?”
Two months ago Janie McQueen was on her way to school with her best friend, Alice Jones. As they were crossing the road on a black and white pedestrian crossing with a green walk-light, a speeding car drove through the red light and knocked down the two girls. Janie will be back home in a week or so but after the operation that saved her leg, she will walk with a limp for the rest of her life. She wasn’t able to leave the hospital go to Alice’s funeral. She has nightmares about what happened.
The driver of the car was never caught.
The visiting hour passes slowly. There is so much the twins would like to tell their sister, but can’t. The Bringals, and all they’ve learned, have to remain secret and suddenly, there is nothing to talk about! Even Mary, who normally would have raged about their encounters on the way to the hospital, is ultra-sensitive to her older daughter’s condition and restricts her conversation to the banalities of school gossip.
After the visit, Mary, Jack and Laura go out into the High Street again.
Now all they have to do is to fight their way back home.
Chapter 10: Herbert Hogg – Public Enemy
Let’s go back an hour in time and meet another one of Carly’s citizens who is just about to go for a ride in his car.
Herbert Hogg, a quiet, inoffensive, nerdy, bespectacled, book-keeper is leaving his suburban apartment block near the old part of Carly. He is dressed in very square clothes. Grey trousers, brown suede shoes, shirt and tie and a blue blazer. Apart from being a book-keeper, Herbert Hogg is also one of Carly’s most anti-social citizens!
Herbert Hogg’s Pekinese dog, Henry, is wearing a muzzle and is on a leash. He’s also wearing a dog jacket and a pink bow in his hair. He trots happily next to his master.
Herbert Hogg’s little family car is parked across the pavement causing pedestrians to walk in the road. Someone has sprayed, “GET THIS MESS OFF THE PAVEMENT!” in black paint along the side of the car. “Look what those vandals did to my car!” says Herbert to Henry taking off the muzzle and the leash and getting into the car, “Where are the police when you need them?” As Herbert Hogg starts the engine, his character immediately changes into that of an extremely nasty, vicious, uncaring, selfish man. Little Henry suddenly believes himself to be a huge, dangerous, Rotweiller dog. Henry jumps out of the car, deposits a pile of droppings onto the middle of the pavement and jumps back into the car. Herbert Hogg honks his horn. He’s ready to drive!
The town judge, out walking his pet spaniel dog, Charles, steps into the droppings! With radio at full volume and without putting on his seat belt, Herbert pulls off the pavement and into the road without checking first if other cars are coming. He causes a car to brake violently and skid and a passing cyclist to hit the kerb and be thrown onto the sidewalk. The exhaust pipe falls off Herbert’s car, which roars off down the street with a thundering noise. As Herbert Hogg throws his car at top speed under the old tree in the town square, a leaf falls from the tree and lodges under his windscreen wiper. The Judge watches in dismay as he tries to clean his shoes on the kerb. It’s another day for Herbert and Henry to create chaos on the roads. Let me tell you a little about the judge. He’s an elderly man, known throughout the land for his fairness and wisdom. He lives for truth and justice. A stern man but a good man. Honest through and through. He is a descendant of one of the first settlers of the old village and has been the town judge for many years. (Alright! Alright! It’s not so interesting but it’s nice to know that the judge is a good man.)
Chapter 11: The Answer
The day after Jack and Laura visited their sister Janie they were back in the tree waiting for Michael to return. Earlier, he had come to tell them that he would be delayed for a short while as the Bringals were having a meeting. The twins hadn’t slept so well last night. Something in Michael’s attitude at the end of their previous meeting had left them a little anxious but they didn’t really know why. It was on their minds and would not be pushed away. “What do you think it’s all about, Laura?” Jack asked for the zillionth time.
“I don’t know,” answered Laura for the zillionth time, “But I think we’re about to find out.”
Jack looked in the direction that Laura was looking in and saw Michael next to them on the branch.
“Hi Jack and Laura,” Michael said, “I’m sorry to keep you waiting but we had to make a very important decision about you two and we have made it. I can answer your questions now. Let’s go up to our branch.”
They went up to the place where they had sat yesterday when Michael had told them about the history of the Bringals. Jack and Laura sat facing Michael. “Let’s get down to it,” said Michael. “Do you remember I told you about the number of Bringals there are on the planet?”
“Yes,” said Laura, “100 Bringals in a family, 10,000 families, 1,000,000 Bringals.”
“That’s right, Laura. You have a good memory. One million Bringals came to Earth and settled here, that’s true. But there is a problem that I didn’t tell you about and that is connected to the question that you asked, Jack.”
“Are you going to tell us why you are going against your rules and showing us humans who you are and how you live, Michael?” asked Jack.
Michael smiled. The twins were beginning to see Bringals as they really are and it was good to see Michael smiling. “That’s what we’ve been discussing. The time had come to make a decision and we’ve decided to go ahead and tell you. You might know that the first atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in 1945 at the end of the Second World War. Since then many, many nuclear weapons have been tested by several countries around the world and there have been disastrous leaks at atomic power stations at 3 mile Island, Chernobyl, the Japanese power station disaster and so on.
We have seen this before on our own planet, Xrig, and it led to us having to leave our home and come here.
The problem is that since 1945 we have had some problems with the ‘Pop-in\Pop-out’ process. Some of the Bringals did not manage to complete the process and did not ‘Pop-in’ to their next families. They have been lost to us. We do know what happened to those Bringals that disappeared but we don’t know where they all are or exactly why it happened. From our past experience we are sure that it’s something to do with atomic radiation. Are you with me so far?”
“Yes,” answered Jack and Laura.
“How many Bringals are missing?” asked Jack.
“168 Bringals are missing up until now,” Michael answered.
“That’s very sad for you but where do we come in to it?” asked Laura
“I’m coming to that now,” said Michael. “I also told you that humans can’t see Bringals as they really are, do you remember that?”
“We remember everything you told us,” said Jack.
“Well, that was absolutely true.” Michael stopped and looked at Jack and Laura.
“Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
Jack and Laura looked at Michael for several seconds.
Laura spoke first. “You said that we see you as you really are.”
“That’s correct, Laura,” Michael said quietly.
“So…, what are you saying,” asked Jack, “That Laura and I are Bringals?”
“I’m saying that we believe that the Bringals that have been lost in the ‘Pop-in\Pop-out’ process somehow end up being born as human beings and that may be what happened to you two.”
“So, are we Bringals?” asked Jack.
“Not exactly,” answered Michael, “But you seem to be part Bringal. You have the Bringal essence in you. We recognized you as two of our missing Bringals as soon as we saw you. We can sort of sense your cluster of ‘coloured sparks’, as you call them. But you must understand you are all human just with some Bringal mixed in”. “That’s why you were so attracted to this tree, for instance. That’s why you can really see us. That’s why it’s so easy for you to accept what we are. That’s why you are twins. There are many clues which point to the fact that you are part Bringal.”
“What about our mother, what about Janie, our sister?” asked Laura.
“They’re still your mother and your sister and they’re humans just like you. Only you are also part Bringal. Your family consists of you two, your mother and your sister and now you can look upon us as your second family – your Bringal family. We thought a long time about this and decided to introduce ourselves to you and see how you reacted. The next step was to decide whether or not to tell you who you are. We decided to tell you.”
“I think it’s great,” said Jack, “I always felt at home here and now I’ve got two great families!”
“I feel the same,” said Laura, “I’m so glad you told us. We’re Bringals, human Bringals!!!!”
Jack and Laura burst into laughter, “We’re human Bringals! Human Bringals!!!”
Michael joined in with them, “Human Bringals! Human Bringals!!!”
The laughing and shouting became louder and louder as the entire Bringal family, compete with whizzing and popping had joined them in the celebrations.
“You see!” said Michael, I told you that the Bringals never miss a celebration!!
Ma asked everyone to be quiet as Pa would like to say a few words.
“Every Pa is always ready to say a few words,” Michael whispered to Laura and Jack.
“Thank you, Michael,” said Ma.
“I have to keep teaching them, don’t I?” Michael answered.
“Yes, yes,” said Pa. “On behalf of the Bringals of Carly, we give you a very warm welcome to our family and hope………..” suddenly, his green nose began to flash orange. Everyone became serious.
“Bring the Bubblevision”, said Pa to Ma.
Chapter 12: Careful! You’re on BV
“When Pa’s nose flashes orange it means that there’s a problem in the area. It could be kids or the environment in possible danger.” Michael explained. “If it flashes red, it means the situation is very serious.”
Ma Bringal took what looked like soapy water and blew a bubble through a small loop. The liquid looked different from the shiny liquid that Michael had used that first day and the loop was also smaller. So was the bubble that Ma blew. A picture, like a television picture but in 3D, appeared in the bubble. “This is called Bubblevision,” Michael told Jack and Laura. “It’s similar to the bubble I blew for you when we first met. Watch it carefully.”
In the Bubblevision they could see a group of several children laughing and joking as they made their way to the park, crossing side roads without checking if it was safe to cross or not. They could see that the kids would soon arrive at a major road junction. Herbert Hogg and Henry were approaching that junction at a very high speed.
Pa’s nose was now flashing red! It was obvious that the kids were not concentrating on the road and were in real danger. Herbert Hogg, his foot heavy on the accelerator, was smoking a cigarette while chatting on his mobile ‘phone and Henry was barking at the drivers they overtook. The children were heading for a nasty meeting with Herbert Hogg and Henry. The children arrived at the junction crossing. They stopped and waited for the walk-light to turn green. Soon, the walk-light turned green and the children began to cross the road but they didn’t look to see if it was really safe to cross. “That’s a problem,” said Michael, “If the walk-light is green they assume everything’s fine.” But someone else hasn’t seen that his light is red and he’s not stopping. Herbert Hogg is speeding toward the crossing while shouting at other drivers as he passes them. He doesn’t see the red light, the crossing or the children. The children have no idea of what’s about to happen. Herbert Hogg is almost on top of them. He’s travelling very fast. “Can’t you do something!?” screamed Laura, “Those children will be killed!” At the very last moment, an old man appears out of nowhere. He pushes the group of children back to the kerb just as Herbert Hogg flashes past them. Herbert Hogg is eating a sandwich and still chatting on the ‘phone. Henry is sitting in Herbert Hogg’s lap with his paws on the steering wheel. A policeman is standing in the middle of the road about 400 meters further on. Herbert Hogg doesn’t see the policeman in the middle of the road. He’s too busy trying to find another music station on the radio. Now the policeman is in mortal danger. Herbert Hogg hears a loud tapping caused by a leaf on the windscreen which causes him to look up and see a dot in the distance. The dot quickly becomes a hand at the end of an arm being held up by the policeman. The hand means STOP! Herbert Hogg jams on his brakes and brings his car to a stop just a few inches from the hand.
“It’s a good thing the leaf that fell off our tree somehow attracted the driver’s attention, isn’t it?” said Michael to Jack and Laura. Laura looked at Michael. “You mean the leaf….” Michael nodded, “A Bringal!” “And the old man that suddenly appeared?” said Jack. Michael smiled. “Guess!” he said. “A Bringal too!” said Jack laughing. “But how did he get there so quickly?” “Remember how you got to ride on a ‘Squawker’ bird?” asked Michael. “Of course! He stepped into the bubble,” said Jack. “Was the policeman a Bringal too?” asked Laura. “Oh no, he’s the real thing,” said Michael. “The police in Carly are used to getting mysterious calls telling them that something is about to happen. They always take those calls seriously because they know it’s good information.” In the Bubblevision Herbert Hogg had reverted to his normal nerdy book-keeper character and Henry had his Pekinese character back again. The policeman, with Herbert Hogg and Henry in handcuffs, warns the children to be very careful when crossing the road. “Keep checking right and left when you cross the road even when you have a green walk-light. Use your eyes and ears. You can never know what lunatics there are around. Alright, kids?”
“Don’t worry about us, we sure will”, answer the children, still in shock. “Thanks very much for the help.” The policeman takes Herbert Hogg and Henry away to the police station and the kids look around for the old man who saved them. They want to thank him too but he is nowhere to be seen. “That’s it!” shouts Pa happily. His nose has returned to its normal green colour. “Let’s hope they’ll take care in future. Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s celebrate!”
“Did we hear the word, celebrate?” says a voice full of hunger. Pa looks round and sees a drooling Glupper face peering over his shoulder. “Ok, you’re invited. But behave yourselves and don’t eat all the food.” Pa tells the Glupper. “That’s very hurtful. Why do you think we’re so greedy? Of course we’ll leave some for you!” answers the Glupper as all ten of them dive into the food. “We’l