Adam and the Arkonauts by Dominic Barker

door.
    The Marquez family’s mouths dropped open.
    Moments later four large policeman burst into the house.
    â€˜I am Officer Grivas. These are other Officer Grivases. Hand over the criminals or face the consequences.’
    â€˜Never!’ screeched Grandma Marquez, waving her knitting aggressively at the police officers.
    The rest of the Marquez family, their mouths getting wider every moment, turned to her.
    Officer Grivas was taken aback but swiftly regained his air of authority.
    â€˜I insist you hand over the criminals hiding in this house.’
    â€˜You’ll never take me alive!’ shouted Grandma Marquez. ‘I’ve got a thimble and I’m prepared to use it.’
    â€˜What are you talking about, Mother?’ said Señor Marquez.
    â€˜I said we should have put her in a home,’ said Señora Marquez.
    â€˜I thought I’d got away with it,’ Grandma Marquez muttered.
    â€˜Got away with what?’
    â€˜Sixty-seven years I’ve been on the run,’ the old lady went on.
    â€˜You haven’t run much in the last few years,’ said Señora Marquez drily.
    â€˜On the hobble, then,’ she conceded.
    â€˜But what have you done?’ said Señor Marquez.
    â€˜I can’t remember,’ admitted Grandma Marquez. ‘I think it was something to do with peas.’
    â€˜Peas?’ cried Officer Grivas. ‘I know of nobody in Buenos Sueños wanted for a pea-related offence.’
    Grandma Marquez wasn’t listening.
    â€˜Take one step nearer,’ she warned the policemen, ‘and I kill my hostage.’
    â€˜You haven’t got a hostage, señora,’ Officer Grivas pointed out.
    â€˜What do you call this?’ shouted Grandma Marquez, holding her scarf up in the air. ‘Try to arrest me and I’ll unravel it. I’m not bluffing.’
    â€˜Now, now,’ said Officer Grivas, ‘let’s all stay calm. Just put the scarf down and . . . What am I saying? Destroy your scarf if you like. I don’t care. I want to know where the two criminals are who just cycled into your house.’
    â€˜They went out the back,’ said Señor Marquez.
    â€˜It’s a dead end out the back. They’ve got nowhere to go,’ Señora Marquez added.
    The four policemen charged out of the back door. The yard behind the house was enclosed on all sides, and there were Adam and Anna astride the bike.
    â€˜Arrest them!’ cried Officer Grivas joyfully.
    Adam slumped in his seat. They were caught.
    But Anna wasn’t giving in so easily. She stood high on the pedals for a moment and then cycled furiously towards the far wall.
    â€˜You can’t escape,’ Officer Grivas crowed triumphantly.
    â€˜What are you . . .’ began Adam. But he didn’t finish the sentence because he saw what she had in mind. An old plank was propped against a box at the far end of the yard. If Anna hit it right, and if she pedalled dead straight, and if it didn’t break under their weight, then it just might provide enough of a ramp to launch them over the wall.
    These were way too many ifs for Adam’s liking, but there was no stopping Anna. He gripped the saddle tightly.
    Would she hit the plank right?
    Yes!
    Would she cycle dead straight?
    Yes!
    Would it hold their weight?
    Yes!
    Would they have enough elevation to get over the wall?
    No!
    At least it didn’t look like it.
    The bike rose but not fast enough. The wall seemed to be growing in front of them. If they hit it, it was really going to hurt. Adam closed his eyes and waited for the crushing pain of impact.
    When it didn’t come, he opened his eyes again.
    Anna had jerked the bike back at the last second and then jolted it forward. Like a horse jumping a fence, the bike flew over the wall.
    â€˜Yessss . . . nooooo!’ shouted Adam.
    The ‘yes’ was for getting over. The ‘no’ was for what was on the other