The Honorable Augustus Montmorency Montacute Algernon Creighton-Ward, better known as just Gus, is the cousin of Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and one of the "black sheep" of the Creighton-Ward family. Described as a "rolling stone" by Lady Penelope, Gus shyed away from a life of aristocracy in favour of exploration and adventure.
He appeared in the novel Calling Thunderbirds.
Biography[]
A Peruvian Adventure[]
Gus travelled to Peru, determined to discover the location of an ancient emerald mine hidden somewhere in the depths of the forests, in echoes of how the Creighton-Ward family's riches began: spoils captured from a Spanish galleon returning from Peru. After discovering a well-preserved quipu - an ancient Incan system of record-keeping - he checked into the Hotel Miranda in the Peruvian capital of Lima and sent a telegram to his cousin Penelope requesting her assistance and informing her he was on the "verge of great discovery". He would also leave the quipu with the hotel's manager for sake keeping, making a copy for himself.
Not long afterwards, a series of strong earthquakes would hit Lima. Gus was in a cafe at the time, which would collapse during the quake, trapping him inside and rendering him unconscious. He was rescued by local authorities after a short amount of time, sustaining at least a head injury and a concussion, and taken off to Santa Anna hospital.
The next day, after regaining consciousness, he was "discharged" from the hospital by a "friend"; in reality he was kidnapped by a gang of adventurers after the treasure he was after. The same gang would also kidnap Lady Penelope not long afterwards. However, Gus was suffering from amnesia after his concussion, and was unable to tell his kidnappers anything - they would however discover the second quipu on his person.
That evening, Lady Penelope would make contact with Parker and Scott Tracy - who had been trying to locate the two Creighton-Wards - thanks to a communicator hidden in her wristwatch. She informed them they were heading to Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incas, before being discovered by her captors and having her comms device confiscated.
The quipu Gus had found described the location of a clue to the prescise location of the emerald mine, which was hidden in an underground vault at the old Vilca Pata in Cuzco, underneath a school. The convoy would successfully retrieve an emerald, which would have a map engraved on it.
The map would lead them to the temple of Illa Tica, located deep in a forest. This forest would be the home to a tribe known in legend as the Guardians of the Green Flame, To ensure their safe passage to the temple, Morales would trade Lady Penelope, whose fair hair meant she would be regarded as a god by the native tribe. Gus, however, would not be released, and continued on to the temple.
After safely arriving at the temple, and breaking into the hidden mine below it, Gus was put to work extracting the emeralds from the wall of the mine. Thanks to the help of Professor Carlos de Sabata, who translated the original quipu, Scott and Parker had caught up to them and entered the mine not long afterwards. Scott would shoot out the single light source in the mine, plunging the theives into darkness, before yelling to Gus to make a run for it. The duo escaped the mine, but not before the temple above it partially collapsed, showering the mine below with debris and killing his kidnappers.
The Hood had, in-turn, been following Scott, Parker and Professor de Sabata, and was also looking for the emeralds. He planned to hold them hostage while he extracted the emeralds for himself, disregarding the fact that he had just buried the emerald chamber moments earlier. He took Lady Penelope as security while the men were to try and excavate the chamber, but Penelope and Scott overpowered him, and he fell into the rubble and was buried by another rock fall.
The second rock fall had sealed them underground, and Scott had lost his radio, meaning he could not call for extra help. Meanwhile, de Sabata had noticed there was a rapidly rising underground river threatening to drown them all if they did not hurry up and find a way out. Not liking their chances of digging out without dislodging more debris, they chanced swimming down the river, hoping it would escape to ground level. Gus proved himself as a competent swimmer, accompanying the Professor down the rapids.
The river eventually deposited them somewhere along the coastline, near a gravel beach, and they were evacuated by Thunderbird 2.
Physical Appearance[]
Gus had a "good looking" face, with pale and handsome features, and fair hair. Scott Tracy thought he would only be a year or so older than himself. Scott also found his face "vaguely familiar" when he first met him, meaning he likely bears some level of resemblance to Lady Penelope.