tried to remember its general shape
so I could maybe try and identify it later if the police asked me. Police! I hauled out my
mobile phone and dialled 999, and waited for seven long rings before I was put through to a
bored operator who promised to send a couple of officers around to talk to us. Talk! I felt
the panic rising in my throat. I had to do something. I glanced frantically around me at all the shocked blank faces, seeing no help there. Who could I call? Mum? No. She would lose
her mind there and then. I couldn’t do that to her. Let the police do that. And that’s when I
thought of Angus.
I took one last look at the other students milling about, and then I started running.
Angus
I’d been awake since three in the morning. I woke up feeling refreshed, but there was
something bothering me, though I couldn’t quite pinpoint it. I had breakfast and fed the cat,
and then settled down to read. I read a lot of books. It helped to pass the time. Reading
books had also taught the three us how to behave more or less normally. About as normally
as we could behave, I suppose.
It had just gone nine when somebody started hammering on my door. When I opened
the door and saw Mark’s white face and touched the fear in his mind, I was stunned.
“You’d better come in,” I said.
Mark
It was almost as if he knew what I was about to tell him before I actually told him. His
jaw was clenched, his mouth drawn in an angry line, and his eyes burned black.
“Rebecca’s been kidnapped. Three guys in balaclavas jumped out of a white van just
outside the school gates and grabbed her. They stuck her in the van, and off they went. No
number plate. Generic looking white van, no markings. I called the police and they said
they’d send someone to investigate, but I didn’t wait for them. They’d take too long. And
then I thought of telling you.” I was babbling, my voice rising in alarm. I looked up at
Angus’expression, at the rage that had settled there as if it belonged, and wondered if I’d
done the right thing. He stood frozen for a few more seconds and then suddenly he was
moving, snatching his mobile off a cabinet and punching numbers like the phone itself
annoyed him.
“Fergus,” he barked into the phone. “Somebody’s taken Rebecca. White unmarked van,
three guys in balaclavas, really smooth pick up, they’ve probably done it before. I’m going
after them. I’ll contact you if I need anything.” He smiled grimly at whatever his brother said to him, and then he hung up.
“Let’s go,” he said to me. “You need to show me where she was when they took her.”
He shoved his arms into the sleeves of an expensive looking leather jacket, and dropped his
phone into one of the pockets. Then he unlocked the top drawer of the wooden cabinet and
started filling his pockets with objects that I couldn’t quite identify, but which mostly looked dangerous and highly illegal. He locked the cabinet drawer again, pocketed the key, and
took a small tub of tablets from the second drawer, which he opened, revealing brown
tablets. He counted fifteen out into his hand and swallowed them all in one go. He put the
tub in one of his pockets too. I stood motionless, watching this frenetic activity, and then
suddenly he was stalking towards the door, car keys in hand.
“Come!” he barked. I jumped at the sound, and followed him obediently out of the
house. He was in his car and firing up that colossal engine before I’d even opened the door. I yanked the passenger door open and dived in just as the car started moving off.
We got to the school before the police did, of course. I had just managed to click my
seatbelt into place, when I had to unclick the damn thing again. There was nobody around;
the bell had sounded and everyone had disappeared into their classrooms, business as
usual. I felt a sudden surge of anger at their apparent lack of concern.
“Where?” asked Angus as he slid out of
so I could maybe try and identify it later if the police asked me. Police! I hauled out my
mobile phone and dialled 999, and waited for seven long rings before I was put through to a
bored operator who promised to send a couple of officers around to talk to us. Talk! I felt
the panic rising in my throat. I had to do something. I glanced frantically around me at all the shocked blank faces, seeing no help there. Who could I call? Mum? No. She would lose
her mind there and then. I couldn’t do that to her. Let the police do that. And that’s when I
thought of Angus.
I took one last look at the other students milling about, and then I started running.
Angus
I’d been awake since three in the morning. I woke up feeling refreshed, but there was
something bothering me, though I couldn’t quite pinpoint it. I had breakfast and fed the cat,
and then settled down to read. I read a lot of books. It helped to pass the time. Reading
books had also taught the three us how to behave more or less normally. About as normally
as we could behave, I suppose.
It had just gone nine when somebody started hammering on my door. When I opened
the door and saw Mark’s white face and touched the fear in his mind, I was stunned.
“You’d better come in,” I said.
Mark
It was almost as if he knew what I was about to tell him before I actually told him. His
jaw was clenched, his mouth drawn in an angry line, and his eyes burned black.
“Rebecca’s been kidnapped. Three guys in balaclavas jumped out of a white van just
outside the school gates and grabbed her. They stuck her in the van, and off they went. No
number plate. Generic looking white van, no markings. I called the police and they said
they’d send someone to investigate, but I didn’t wait for them. They’d take too long. And
then I thought of telling you.” I was babbling, my voice rising in alarm. I looked up at
Angus’expression, at the rage that had settled there as if it belonged, and wondered if I’d
done the right thing. He stood frozen for a few more seconds and then suddenly he was
moving, snatching his mobile off a cabinet and punching numbers like the phone itself
annoyed him.
“Fergus,” he barked into the phone. “Somebody’s taken Rebecca. White unmarked van,
three guys in balaclavas, really smooth pick up, they’ve probably done it before. I’m going
after them. I’ll contact you if I need anything.” He smiled grimly at whatever his brother said to him, and then he hung up.
“Let’s go,” he said to me. “You need to show me where she was when they took her.”
He shoved his arms into the sleeves of an expensive looking leather jacket, and dropped his
phone into one of the pockets. Then he unlocked the top drawer of the wooden cabinet and
started filling his pockets with objects that I couldn’t quite identify, but which mostly looked dangerous and highly illegal. He locked the cabinet drawer again, pocketed the key, and
took a small tub of tablets from the second drawer, which he opened, revealing brown
tablets. He counted fifteen out into his hand and swallowed them all in one go. He put the
tub in one of his pockets too. I stood motionless, watching this frenetic activity, and then
suddenly he was stalking towards the door, car keys in hand.
“Come!” he barked. I jumped at the sound, and followed him obediently out of the
house. He was in his car and firing up that colossal engine before I’d even opened the door. I yanked the passenger door open and dived in just as the car started moving off.
We got to the school before the police did, of course. I had just managed to click my
seatbelt into place, when I had to unclick the damn thing again. There was nobody around;
the bell had sounded and everyone had disappeared into their classrooms, business as
usual. I felt a sudden surge of anger at their apparent lack of concern.
“Where?” asked Angus as he slid out of
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