we’d practised, but none of the girls had any problem keeping up. Bane followed at the rear. Hard keeping even to a simple jog as we got out into the exercise yard. Every fibre of my being wanted to bolt.
But… oh, thank you, Lord , we reached the wall gate without anything untoward occurring and Alligator was grinning through his camo paint, waving us past him... we raced up the bank to where the Foxes lay... plunged past into the forest – bushes and trees flashed by and there was the truck ahead…
Boyracer began to help the girls in, and Pussycat was coming right behind Bane with the other dorm, Gerbil behind them , and Bane was speaking on the earpiece again.
“The dainty chicks have left the nest. Confirm scruffy chicks have left the nest?”
“This is Little Lion, scruffy chicks have left the nest.”
I was close enough to hear the relieved breath Bane let out.
“Fish, Reptiles, Aquatics, Birds, withdraw.”
The girls were almost all in. Thirty-six of them, unless I’d lost count somewhere. Going to be a squash with half the team as well. A lot of wide, anxious eyes glinted at me from under the canvas roof.
I touched Bane’s arm.
“I’m going to ride in the back.”
He scowled. If we were caught, he might not be able to get to me and I knew what his idea of protecting me in a last resort was. But after a moment he just nodded and boosted me in.
The Reptiles, Aquatics and Foxes jogged up. Bane, Boyracer and Gecko – still avoiding me? – slammed the tailgate once the others were in and went round to the front, the engine started and Bane made everyone do a full check. With everyone accounted for, the truck lurched off through the forest.
It was so dark in the back it was almost impossible to see, but several girls, staring at the silhouettes of the men and guns, began to cry. Enough light got in at the tailgate end to show the looks of confused dismay on the guys’ faces.
“Relax,” I told Fox One, who looked particularly aghast. “Some of them don’t understand what’s happening. How would you feel?”
The dark-haired girl was speaking in French again, her tone comforting, and some of the crying girls began asking her questions. She turned to me and switched to Esperanto.
“Where are we going?”
“We can’t actually talk about that until we’re on the boat,” I said with a reassuring smile. “Security, y’know. But it will be a safe place where you’ll have a future – no one will be cutting you up.”
The girl spoke again in French. A couple of the girls obviously didn’t speak Esperanto. People weren’t always very concerned about educating preKnowns. Salperton Senior School hadn’t even let Jon attend – apparently he’d have been ‘too much trouble to accommodate’.
More French back and forth and the girl turned to me again.
“They want to know if they can go home,” she asked flatly.
“No. They can’t go home. I think you know that.”
The girl nodded – turned reluctantly back to the others. Spoke softly and consolingly, but the waterworks redoubled. After a while she sighed and gave up.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Thérèse.”
“Thérèse. Hi. Nice to meet you. This is Pussycat…” I gestured to Sister Krayj, who smiled and waved to them all. “And here we have Gerbil, Fox One, Fox Two, Grass Snake, Hippo and Alligator.” The guys waved and tried to look ever so harmless. Cute but pretty unconvincing.
“You have funny names,” said one of the girls. I’d given the code names in Esperanto and Thérèse had translated them straight into French.
“They’re not their real names, silly,” said another girl.
“What are all your names?” I asked.
So all thirty-six of them gave their names, complete with surnames and mini-biographies. No one was going to remember it all, except possibly Jack – sorry, Alligator – and Grass Snake, being two of Eduardo’s brainiacs, but it broke the ice and reassured most of the girls they
But… oh, thank you, Lord , we reached the wall gate without anything untoward occurring and Alligator was grinning through his camo paint, waving us past him... we raced up the bank to where the Foxes lay... plunged past into the forest – bushes and trees flashed by and there was the truck ahead…
Boyracer began to help the girls in, and Pussycat was coming right behind Bane with the other dorm, Gerbil behind them , and Bane was speaking on the earpiece again.
“The dainty chicks have left the nest. Confirm scruffy chicks have left the nest?”
“This is Little Lion, scruffy chicks have left the nest.”
I was close enough to hear the relieved breath Bane let out.
“Fish, Reptiles, Aquatics, Birds, withdraw.”
The girls were almost all in. Thirty-six of them, unless I’d lost count somewhere. Going to be a squash with half the team as well. A lot of wide, anxious eyes glinted at me from under the canvas roof.
I touched Bane’s arm.
“I’m going to ride in the back.”
He scowled. If we were caught, he might not be able to get to me and I knew what his idea of protecting me in a last resort was. But after a moment he just nodded and boosted me in.
The Reptiles, Aquatics and Foxes jogged up. Bane, Boyracer and Gecko – still avoiding me? – slammed the tailgate once the others were in and went round to the front, the engine started and Bane made everyone do a full check. With everyone accounted for, the truck lurched off through the forest.
It was so dark in the back it was almost impossible to see, but several girls, staring at the silhouettes of the men and guns, began to cry. Enough light got in at the tailgate end to show the looks of confused dismay on the guys’ faces.
“Relax,” I told Fox One, who looked particularly aghast. “Some of them don’t understand what’s happening. How would you feel?”
The dark-haired girl was speaking in French again, her tone comforting, and some of the crying girls began asking her questions. She turned to me and switched to Esperanto.
“Where are we going?”
“We can’t actually talk about that until we’re on the boat,” I said with a reassuring smile. “Security, y’know. But it will be a safe place where you’ll have a future – no one will be cutting you up.”
The girl spoke again in French. A couple of the girls obviously didn’t speak Esperanto. People weren’t always very concerned about educating preKnowns. Salperton Senior School hadn’t even let Jon attend – apparently he’d have been ‘too much trouble to accommodate’.
More French back and forth and the girl turned to me again.
“They want to know if they can go home,” she asked flatly.
“No. They can’t go home. I think you know that.”
The girl nodded – turned reluctantly back to the others. Spoke softly and consolingly, but the waterworks redoubled. After a while she sighed and gave up.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Thérèse.”
“Thérèse. Hi. Nice to meet you. This is Pussycat…” I gestured to Sister Krayj, who smiled and waved to them all. “And here we have Gerbil, Fox One, Fox Two, Grass Snake, Hippo and Alligator.” The guys waved and tried to look ever so harmless. Cute but pretty unconvincing.
“You have funny names,” said one of the girls. I’d given the code names in Esperanto and Thérèse had translated them straight into French.
“They’re not their real names, silly,” said another girl.
“What are all your names?” I asked.
So all thirty-six of them gave their names, complete with surnames and mini-biographies. No one was going to remember it all, except possibly Jack – sorry, Alligator – and Grass Snake, being two of Eduardo’s brainiacs, but it broke the ice and reassured most of the girls they
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