quads watched in fascination. They were used to Wilt's occasional bouts of booziness but they had never seen anyone paralytically drunk before.
'For Heaven's shake shomeone open the door,' Mrs de Frackas burbled.
'I will,' squealed Samantha and a rush of competing girls fought their way over the old lady for the privilege. By the time Penelope had won and the quads had cascaded over her into the kitchen the old lady had lost all interest in toilets. She lay across the threshold and, raising her head with difficulty, delivered her verdict on the quads.
'Do me a favour, shomeone, and shoot the little shits,' she gurgled before passing out. The terrorists didn't hear her. They knew now what she had meant about a bomb. Two devastating explosions came from the cellar and the air was filled with frozen peas and broad beans. In the freezer Wilt's BB had finally burst.
Chapter 19
Eva had been busy too. She had spent part of the morning on the phone to Mr Gosdyke and the rest arguing with Mr Symper, the local representative of the League of Personal Liberties. He was a very earnest and concerned young man, and in the normal course of events, would have been dismayed at the outrageous behaviour of the police in putting at risk the lives of a senior citizen and four impressionable children by refusing to meet the legitimate demands of the freedom fighters besieged in Number 9 Willington Road. Instead, Eva's treatment at the hands of the police had put Symper in the extremely uncomfortable position of having to look at the problem from her point of view
'I do understand the case you're making, Mrs Wilt,' he said forced by her bruised appearance to subdue his bias in favour of radical foreigners, 'but you must admit you are free.'
'Not to enter my own house. I am not at liberty to do that. The police won't let me.'
'Now if you want us to take up your case against the police for infringing your liberty by holding you in custody, we'll...'
Eva didn't. 'I want to enter my own home.'
'I do sympathize with you, but you see our organization aims to protect the individual from the infringement of her personal liberty by the police and in your case...'
'They won't let me go home,' said Eva. 'If that isn't infringing my personal liberty I don't know what is.'
'Yes, well I do see that.'
'Then do something about it.'
'I don't really know what I can do about it,' said Mr Symper.
'You knew what to do when the police stopped a container truck of deep-frozen Bangladeshis outside Dover,' said Betty. You organized a protest rally and...'
'That was quite different,' said Mr Symper, bridling. 'The Customs officials had no right to insist that the refrigeration unit be turned on. They were suffering from acute frostbite. And besides, they were in transit.'
'They shouldn't have labelled themselves cod fillets, and anyhow you argued that they were simply coming to join their families in Britain.'
They were in transit to their families.'
'And so is Eva, or should be,' said Betty 'If anyone has a right to join her family it's Eva.'
'I suppose we could apply for a court order,' said Mr Symper sighing for less domestic issues, 'that would be the best way.'
It wouldn't,' said Eva, 'it would be slowest. I am going home now and you are coming with me.'
I beg your pardon?' said Mr Symper, whose concern didn't extend to becoming a hostage himself.
