June 2001

1 June 2001 :  HEY GUYZ - MISSED YOUZ ALL - WE ARE BACK!! - SANDY (AND BERTIE !)

2 June 2001 : Planning one cool rescue mission in Lilliput with Bertie this week.......... Who is Bertie I hear you ask?

3 June 2001 : Well, I met Bertie in a cold dark dungeon in Lilliput. It was during October of 2000 after my summer vacation... Suddenly, one night when I was walking down by the harbour in Lilliput a gang jumped me and bound me up in a gunny sack. Next thing I knew I was being thrown down a shaft, and landed in a dark stinky dungeon.

4 June 2001 : When I awoke the next day I could see a pair of eyes shining across the room... It was another human, and as I carefully approached, someone whispered 'Are you OK'. To cut a long story short it turned out to be Bertie. He'd been down there for about a month. He told me that we were in the dungeon of an old Convent up in the Lilliput Hills. The nuns were all fakes, but still wore the habits and pretended to be genuine nuns.

5 June 2001 : We told one another about ourselves, and it turned out that Bertie had been investigating the history of the Lilliput Miniaturez, and had found out about the racket to capture and sell off the little petz for human consumption. He was appalled and decided to check out the gang to see if he could help the mini dogz and catz of Lilliput. Trouble woz... he ran into the same evil people as I had encountered before.

6 June 2001 : Bertie had been using his time in the dungeon well... listening for the names of our captors, one of the names was VERY familiar to me ... guess who... Bertha... BIG BERTHA. I told Bertie about my previous encounters with her and we made a pact that we would fight the petnapping gangs together, and WHEN WE GOT OUT OF THIS PLACE we would try to save as many of the LILLPUT MINIATUREZ as we could.

7 June 2001 : Eventually after a long period in the dungeon our day came...  We had started to make a tunnel a few days after we met down there. We used an old piece of iron to scrape out the mortar between the big stones in the wall. That took us about a month. Once we could see soil on the outside of the stones it was only necessary to dig upwards and within a few weeks we saw daylight shinning down a shaft to out cells.

8 June 2001 : We had to work carefully when nobody was around, and some days it was real hard work because the the scraps of food they gave us a couple of times a week was not really enough to give us the energy we needed. But... because we were determined to make it out of there, we just kept digging when we could... and prayed... One dark night we picked our time, and made the break. Within hours we were back at in Lilliput at LPRL headquarters . Yakidooooooda!!

9 June 2001 : Today I spent a few hours at LPRL catching up with all the newz about Lilliput and the miniaturez. Everyone said they were pleased to see me again and asked how I had survived in the dungeons. They thought I had been murdered or something worse, because they had not seen or heard from me for so long.

10 June 2001 : I have decided to make a return to the old Convent. HQ told me that the local inhabitants called it the 'Secret Convent' because nobody ever knew who lived there or what went on. Seems that one day all the nuns disappeared, and then reappeared sometime later. I guess that the 'nuns' who reappeared were probably all imposters who just dressed up like nuns, and that they took over the Convent as a secret hideaway.

11 June 2001 : Bertie and I are determined to go back to the Convent tonight. I have a feeling that if Big Bertha is involved up there, that she is still dealing in the disgraceful business of catching and selling off the Lilliput Miniaturez. We WILL rescue them if we can find them.

12 June 2001 : It is now 2 a.m. and Bertie and I have found our way back into the Convent.  We have managed to move around undetected, and we have heard sounds of dogz and catz from somewhere inside these walls. So far there is no sign of humans but we know they are here. The last thing we want is to be caught red-handed again, and finish up in the dungeons...

13 June 2001 : We were right, last night we found what we were looking for, then made a plan of the convent and slipped away before we were caught. It was an interesting visit and it allowed us to plan our returning for a rescue mission. There were around 30 miniaturez up there in all, so we must plan a complicated strategy if we are to get them all safely out of the Convent... Could be one dangerous mission!

14 June 2001 : We have planned to accept some support from The Voluntary Society of Petz Lovers, who said that they would supply us with a vehicle and a couple of guyz to help out. The idea is that we will roll up outside the Convent late evening, and the vehicle being disguised as a horse box, will appear to have broken down outside. Bertie and I will slip out of the truck and hide nearby, whilst one of the VSPL guyz will ask for assistance at the Convent to make it all seem realistic. From then on it will be up to us to slip back over the convent walls to free the petz, and hopefully get them all safely to the truck. Just hope it all works to plan.

15 June 2001 : ... We arrived... the truck stopped, and Bertie and I made our dash for the shrubs near the walls. In the moonlight we could see the big main gates to the convent, and our friend Joe walking up to them. 'Hello' Joe called, and the big creaky gates jarred open. A stern looking woman stood there glaring at Joe... You've guessed ... it was Bertha. 'Clear off' she yelled at Joe as he started to explain that his truck had broken down. '... but I'll have to stay out in the truck till morning if you don't help' he told Bertha. 'Tough luck fella' she said. 'No men allowed in here... only nuns.' Joe just walked back to the truck and climbed up into the cab,  pretending to prepare for a nights sleep. Brill... the plan worked so far.....

16 June 2001 : The gates creaked shut and we waited for the light of the moon to fade. Then we clambered over the wall into the courtyard. We followed the route we had prepared to where we thought the petz were being held hostage, and then heard voices. ' Yes, get all the little pests ready for collection in the morning' someone called out from inside the building. 'Soon they'll be on someone's dinner table as a luxury main course' . That just disgusted us and made us even more determined. Were we too late? had they already bundled the miniaturez into some locked compound ready for delivery to some wicked middle-men?
'Quick... hide!' whispered Bertie. Two burly men sauntered out from an outhouse. They were carrying cages with up to 3 or 4 miniaturez crammed in each, and taking them to a truck which had 'RED ROSS' painted on the side. Another facet of their fake organisation. Bertie had a brainwave!!

17 June 2001 : We agreed on his idea, risky as it seemed... then more crates of whimpering and crying petz were being loaded onto the truck... it was so sad to see. Then I spotted a very familiar looking little dogz up against the bars of one of the crates. C.. could it be.. yes.. it certainly seemed like him... it looked just like Rob... The little hero dogz might be alive after all.

18 June 2001 : Our plan needed precise timing. Once the crates were all loaded onto the truck, Bertie ran quietly to the front of the cab. I was to distract the crooks... OK.. only one way to do it. I headed straight for the outhouse and threw open the door where all the villains were laughing and drinking, and one of them was just about to come outside. They all looked amazed that I was standing their in their hide out. If this plan didn't work, it would be curtains for me... all over ...  and I'd be thrown back in that dingy dungeon again. One of the men grabbed me by the neck and twisted my arm up my back. I kicked out but he was too strong to get free.

19 June 2001 : Bertha was yelling at the men and warning them that I had been BIG trouble for them before. She told them to lock me in the back room, and make sure I didn't escape. 'Hey, Anton,, she shouted, get that truck rolling out of here, and make sure those pesky petz get on their way to market! Anton started for the truck... ' Sure thing Bertha' he was muttering as he headed out of the door. Now was the time to put the next part of our plan into action.

20 June 2001 : We had taken some fire crackers with us, and I had got them concealed under my coat. No one had noticed, and now it was time to use them. I lit two and hid behind a massive trunk. Then bedlam was let loose!  The terrific noise started panic in the convent. Bertha yelled.. 'It's a raid... get them', and they all began shooting their weapons in the direction of the loud cracks and bangs from the crackers. Then suddenly the whole wall of the outhouse collapsed outwards... It was working!

21 June 2001 : Bertie had managed to attach a chain from the crooks truck to the wall of the building, He had got into the truck and driven it a few yards until the whole wall collapsed... it created havoc. I ran through the smoke and debris heading for the truck, and managed to jump in to the open cab door as it swerved by. Bertie was excited and shouting.  'Come on Sandy, lets get out of here', he said as we sped towards the gates.

22 June 2001 : Well, this was becoming quite an adventure, but not over yet! As I looked back a black Mercedes car was in hot pursuit behind us. Bertha was driving, and a man was hanging out from the window aiming a pistol in our direction. Then the pistol cracked out, and bullets were flying. We were approaching the gates at a high speed and crashed straight through them... pieces of wood and splinters flying in all directions. The Mercedes was still in hot pursuit, and we had only a few minutes to put the final part of our plan into action.

23 June 2001 : Once through the gates Bertie pressed his foot on to the air brakes as hard as he was able, and the truck came to a screeching halt. There was a terrific bang from the rear of the truck which almost sent us through the front windshield. Bertha's car had ploughed straight into our rear end!! When we jumped out the black car was a mangle of twisted metal, and she was slumped over the steering wheel in a daze murmuring ' mama mia, where are we.. oh... oh-oo...oh-oo'. The gunman in the rear was trapped under the weight of Bertha's other henchman sprawled on top of him, and he couldn't move. Bertha  just lay there motionless.

24 June 2001 : We only had a couple of minutes before the other crooks caught up with us, and we had to move real fast. Joe, our truck driver was waiting for us and quickly drove our truck over to  us. 'O.K.', I told Bertie, ' You and Joe move all the crates from the crashed truck to our truck'. 'Waste no time'.

25 June 2001 : While the little miniaturez were being transferred over, I pulled the pistol out of the guy'z hand in the crashed Merc' and hid behind the stone pillar of the convent gates. I could see the desperados running towards us in the distance. bertha also began to stir !

26 June 2001 : 'Come on guyz' I yelled out to Bertie and Joe, 'How we doing?' They had just about loaded all the crates, but trouble was brewing... Bertha raise her dizzy head and saw her henchmen approaching. 'Shoot the little petz spy' she mumbled to them and they began to let fire.

27 June 2001 : I just pointed the 'borrowed' gun in the direction they were coming from and squeezed the trigger... bullets flew in their direction as the gun suddenly flew from my grasp. Bertha was by now climbing out from the wreckage and I made tracks for Joe's truck. All the crates were loaded now and Joe was starting the engine. Bertie stayed in the back and comforted all the barking, whining, and terrified little petz. 

28 June 2001 : 'Jump' shouted Joe. And just about when Bertha was making a grab for me I hurled myself at the rear of our truck. Bertie managed to grab my hand and I swung from side to side until he eventually pulled me in. Bertha's men had reached the gates and were still firing their guns, but to no avail.. we were on our way.' LPRL here we come', 'FREEDOM' !!! 

29 June 2001 : All the little miniaturez were freed from their cages by Bertie and I on the way back to Lilliput, and boy, were they happy to be alive! We caught an express flight  and prepared the petz for adoption as soon as we reached our web-base back in UK. Up they went for adoption, and holy-macaroni u guyz were brill. In the first few hours nearly 20 petz found new homes. Bertie and I were dead tired, and decided to call it a day after our long mission in Lilliput, and the flight back. Sure enough it was Rob, our little hero dogz from last year in one of the crates, and was he happy to see us again! We left him back in Lilliput LPRL H.Q where I know he will be mighty excited to see us when we return to start a new rescue mission soon.

30 June 2001 : So, it's another rescue mission completed successfully for July 2001, and we'll be out of contact 'til we find out what is in store for July. Hope you're all having a nice summer out there and CU SOON guyz. Thanks a million... Sandy.