them out either.
“It looks like code, or a checklist. I don’t know.”
“This is looters’ stuff,” I go. “Maybe we should just get out of here.”
“We’re just going to
borrow
it.”
I shine the flashlight at him and he’s beaming from ear to ear. He really is enjoying all this, but then, I have to admit I am, too.
Ten minutes later we’ve got the dinghy lowered into the water.
Erin and Wilbur are both speechless – Erin through fear, and Wilbur … Well, Wilbur don’t exactly look scared, but it’s kind of funny that he doesn’t “ooh” and “ah” like I’d expect. In fact, he never says much at all, right up to the point when I say he can’t come.
“Cass! Oh, please!”
“I’m crazy even to let you come this far! If Dad knew, he’d clout me into next week!”
“It was my idea to come to the tunnel!”
“So? This ain’t a game!”
“I can help!”
Wilbur’s on the verge of tears, but then Peyto squats down and puts an arm round him.
“Of course you can help,” he goes. “See, someone has to stay and look after Sheba.”
“That’s right,” I go. “Gonna have to be one brave soldier staying here in the dark to keep Sheba company.”
Wilbur ain’t too happy about it, but least he stops sniveling.
“Can’t Erin stay with me?” he whimpers.
We all look at Erin.
“I don’t think we should leave Wilbur here on his own,” she goes at last. “Can’t we all go together?”
“I told you he ain’t coming with us.” I’m all spoiling for a fight, cos we just sorted the question of Wilbur.
She throws a pointed look at Wilbur, who’s getting all hopeful about tagging along again. “But what if the Vlads come here looking?” she goes.
“It ain’t no crime to be this side of the river. All he has to say is he’s digging up bait for fishing or something. But they ain’t gonna be bothered – a kid and a cart horse. It’s us you have to worry about.”
“I don’t think you realize how dangerous it is over there,” explains Peyto.
“Too right. We ain’t got any excuse to be across the water at night. They catch us, it’s curtains.”
She gives me a puzzled look then, not angry. “I don’t want to argue with you, Cass. I just didn’t want to leave Wilbur alone, that’s all. If you say it’s safer for him here, I believe you.”
That takes the wind out my sails. “Fair enough. I think it’s me and Peyto on the paddles, but someone has to sit up front with the flashlight – and that’s got to be you.”
She strokes Wilbur’s head and nods at me, and without the huge scrap I was gearing up for, it’s done and dusted.
“Right, Wilbur, listening? Check your watch. We’re gonna be gone no more than, say, six hours. If we ain’t back by two at the latest, then don’t hang around, you hear?”
“But then what?” groans Wilbur.
“Well, we
are
gonna be back, I promise. It’s just in case we get stranded over there when the sun comes up – if that happens, I’d rather lay low till it gets dark again. Look, it’sgonna be fine. Get onto one of them mounds and keep an eye out. When we get to the far side, I’ll flash the light a few times to let you know we’re safe, then you stick with Sheba till we show up again.”
He nods and watches us as we clamber into the dinghy. It’s tragic watching him wave as we undo the winch rope and cast off into the gloom.
It’s swirly in places where the water’s being sucked deeper into the tunnels – vicious little currents that make the dinghy hard to straighten up. Every now and then, water gushes down from the roof and we get a drenching.
The farther we go, the stronger the current gets. After about ten minutes I clock a patch of moonlight shining through a hole in the roof. The tunnel branches off here in two directions – up a steep slope to the surface, and off into the rest of the Underground where the old Tube trains used to run. Me and Peyto paddle against the flow, and Erin manages to
“It looks like code, or a checklist. I don’t know.”
“This is looters’ stuff,” I go. “Maybe we should just get out of here.”
“We’re just going to
borrow
it.”
I shine the flashlight at him and he’s beaming from ear to ear. He really is enjoying all this, but then, I have to admit I am, too.
Ten minutes later we’ve got the dinghy lowered into the water.
Erin and Wilbur are both speechless – Erin through fear, and Wilbur … Well, Wilbur don’t exactly look scared, but it’s kind of funny that he doesn’t “ooh” and “ah” like I’d expect. In fact, he never says much at all, right up to the point when I say he can’t come.
“Cass! Oh, please!”
“I’m crazy even to let you come this far! If Dad knew, he’d clout me into next week!”
“It was my idea to come to the tunnel!”
“So? This ain’t a game!”
“I can help!”
Wilbur’s on the verge of tears, but then Peyto squats down and puts an arm round him.
“Of course you can help,” he goes. “See, someone has to stay and look after Sheba.”
“That’s right,” I go. “Gonna have to be one brave soldier staying here in the dark to keep Sheba company.”
Wilbur ain’t too happy about it, but least he stops sniveling.
“Can’t Erin stay with me?” he whimpers.
We all look at Erin.
“I don’t think we should leave Wilbur here on his own,” she goes at last. “Can’t we all go together?”
“I told you he ain’t coming with us.” I’m all spoiling for a fight, cos we just sorted the question of Wilbur.
She throws a pointed look at Wilbur, who’s getting all hopeful about tagging along again. “But what if the Vlads come here looking?” she goes.
“It ain’t no crime to be this side of the river. All he has to say is he’s digging up bait for fishing or something. But they ain’t gonna be bothered – a kid and a cart horse. It’s us you have to worry about.”
“I don’t think you realize how dangerous it is over there,” explains Peyto.
“Too right. We ain’t got any excuse to be across the water at night. They catch us, it’s curtains.”
She gives me a puzzled look then, not angry. “I don’t want to argue with you, Cass. I just didn’t want to leave Wilbur alone, that’s all. If you say it’s safer for him here, I believe you.”
That takes the wind out my sails. “Fair enough. I think it’s me and Peyto on the paddles, but someone has to sit up front with the flashlight – and that’s got to be you.”
She strokes Wilbur’s head and nods at me, and without the huge scrap I was gearing up for, it’s done and dusted.
“Right, Wilbur, listening? Check your watch. We’re gonna be gone no more than, say, six hours. If we ain’t back by two at the latest, then don’t hang around, you hear?”
“But then what?” groans Wilbur.
“Well, we
are
gonna be back, I promise. It’s just in case we get stranded over there when the sun comes up – if that happens, I’d rather lay low till it gets dark again. Look, it’sgonna be fine. Get onto one of them mounds and keep an eye out. When we get to the far side, I’ll flash the light a few times to let you know we’re safe, then you stick with Sheba till we show up again.”
He nods and watches us as we clamber into the dinghy. It’s tragic watching him wave as we undo the winch rope and cast off into the gloom.
It’s swirly in places where the water’s being sucked deeper into the tunnels – vicious little currents that make the dinghy hard to straighten up. Every now and then, water gushes down from the roof and we get a drenching.
The farther we go, the stronger the current gets. After about ten minutes I clock a patch of moonlight shining through a hole in the roof. The tunnel branches off here in two directions – up a steep slope to the surface, and off into the rest of the Underground where the old Tube trains used to run. Me and Peyto paddle against the flow, and Erin manages to
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