shoulder, and even Marland twittered at the
joke. The two girls turned back to lean against the railing but Sarah found it
difficult to turn away from Finn. She had been joking. Of course she had.
Hadn’t she?
Chapter
Twelve
Branded
The sound of
blades whipping through the air reached their ears and they turned around to
see a helicopter descending towards them. It was a large, solid aircraft that
despite being clearly designed for transport, still sported two large,
conspicuous cannons on each side. There was shrill whistle and they turned to
see Mr Painter standing and pointing at the floor in front of him. The others were
hurrying over to stand near him and the girls followed suit. By the time they
reached Mr Painter the helicopter had touched ground. One of the pilots
disappeared into the back of the aircraft and a door opened up from inside,
revealing tightly stacked boxes.
“Keep your heads
down,” roared Mr Painter over the noise of the helicopter blades, “and be
quick!”
They all ran
out, crouched low despite the blades being high above them. Justin was the
first to reach the helicopter. He jumped up into the storage space inside and
started to pass boxes out to the rest of them. Sarah sagged under hers. It was
heavy, but she jogged out as best she could and stacked it neatly with the
others against the wall before returning for another box. Each and every box
was marked with the hourglass symbol. By the time she had returned with her
fourth box Mr Painter was near the helicopter, chatting with the pilot. This
left Mr Wall alone near the growing pile of stacked boxes. She set down the box
down and rolled her shoulders in an attempt to stretch the muscles and release
some of the tension. None of the other prisoners were near them. He took a step
towards her as she positioned her box so that it sat squarely on the one below
it.
“Ms Hutchen told
me that you have the Hourglass Group symbol on your body,” said Mr Wall
quietly.
Sarah looked up
in surprise. He was staring at her intently, gauging her response. She didn’t
know what to say and after a moment she realised that her mouth was hanging
open. She shut it with a snap.
“Why do you have
that?” he asked after it was clear that she wasn’t going to reply.
“I don’t know,”
said Sarah. She was saved from further comment by Justin nudging her aside so
that he could place his box on hers.
“C’mon lazy
bones,” he said, clearly unaware of the conversation Sarah and Mr Wall were
having, “we still have more boxes.” Sarah jogged back to the helicopter
willingly. When she returned with the next box Mr Wall actually reached out a
hand and held her by the arm.
“Nobody else
knows,” he said earnestly. “Ms Hutchen will keep it to herself. I won’t share
your secret.”
Sarah just
stared back at him, nonplussed. What secret? What was he talking about?
“I don’t…” began
Sarah, but Mr Wall had pushed her away and was looking instead at Mr Painter in
the distance, who had just finished chatting to the pilot and was now
returning. Sarah didn’t need another cue. She took off once again and helped
retrieve the last lot of boxes. Once the helicopter had been cleared they all
grouped around the stacked boxes and watched as the helicopter took off and
disappeared into the distance. Mr Painter turned to face them.
“The boxes need
to be sorted and grouped into foodstuff, medicines and factory parts. You will
then load each group onto a trolley.” He glanced at his watch. “You have half
an hour.” He left them to it, ambling off to a more comfortable position in the
shade.
“How are we
meant to know what’s in each box?” grumbled Toddy, who was happy to complain
out of earshot of Mr Painter.
“It’s stencilled
on the corner of the box,” pointed out Justin. He picked up a box labelled
‘foodstuffs’ and moved it a couple of metres before putting it down again.
“This is the foodstuffs pile,” he announced. The group
joke. The two girls turned back to lean against the railing but Sarah found it
difficult to turn away from Finn. She had been joking. Of course she had.
Hadn’t she?
Chapter
Twelve
Branded
The sound of
blades whipping through the air reached their ears and they turned around to
see a helicopter descending towards them. It was a large, solid aircraft that
despite being clearly designed for transport, still sported two large,
conspicuous cannons on each side. There was shrill whistle and they turned to
see Mr Painter standing and pointing at the floor in front of him. The others were
hurrying over to stand near him and the girls followed suit. By the time they
reached Mr Painter the helicopter had touched ground. One of the pilots
disappeared into the back of the aircraft and a door opened up from inside,
revealing tightly stacked boxes.
“Keep your heads
down,” roared Mr Painter over the noise of the helicopter blades, “and be
quick!”
They all ran
out, crouched low despite the blades being high above them. Justin was the
first to reach the helicopter. He jumped up into the storage space inside and
started to pass boxes out to the rest of them. Sarah sagged under hers. It was
heavy, but she jogged out as best she could and stacked it neatly with the
others against the wall before returning for another box. Each and every box
was marked with the hourglass symbol. By the time she had returned with her
fourth box Mr Painter was near the helicopter, chatting with the pilot. This
left Mr Wall alone near the growing pile of stacked boxes. She set down the box
down and rolled her shoulders in an attempt to stretch the muscles and release
some of the tension. None of the other prisoners were near them. He took a step
towards her as she positioned her box so that it sat squarely on the one below
it.
“Ms Hutchen told
me that you have the Hourglass Group symbol on your body,” said Mr Wall
quietly.
Sarah looked up
in surprise. He was staring at her intently, gauging her response. She didn’t
know what to say and after a moment she realised that her mouth was hanging
open. She shut it with a snap.
“Why do you have
that?” he asked after it was clear that she wasn’t going to reply.
“I don’t know,”
said Sarah. She was saved from further comment by Justin nudging her aside so
that he could place his box on hers.
“C’mon lazy
bones,” he said, clearly unaware of the conversation Sarah and Mr Wall were
having, “we still have more boxes.” Sarah jogged back to the helicopter
willingly. When she returned with the next box Mr Wall actually reached out a
hand and held her by the arm.
“Nobody else
knows,” he said earnestly. “Ms Hutchen will keep it to herself. I won’t share
your secret.”
Sarah just
stared back at him, nonplussed. What secret? What was he talking about?
“I don’t…” began
Sarah, but Mr Wall had pushed her away and was looking instead at Mr Painter in
the distance, who had just finished chatting to the pilot and was now
returning. Sarah didn’t need another cue. She took off once again and helped
retrieve the last lot of boxes. Once the helicopter had been cleared they all
grouped around the stacked boxes and watched as the helicopter took off and
disappeared into the distance. Mr Painter turned to face them.
“The boxes need
to be sorted and grouped into foodstuff, medicines and factory parts. You will
then load each group onto a trolley.” He glanced at his watch. “You have half
an hour.” He left them to it, ambling off to a more comfortable position in the
shade.
“How are we
meant to know what’s in each box?” grumbled Toddy, who was happy to complain
out of earshot of Mr Painter.
“It’s stencilled
on the corner of the box,” pointed out Justin. He picked up a box labelled
‘foodstuffs’ and moved it a couple of metres before putting it down again.
“This is the foodstuffs pile,” he announced. The group
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