Outside

Chapter Eight

The AV’s engine sounds obscenely loud in the quiet of the morning. I’m sure, any minute now; we’ll hear raised voices and see Pa running up the Donovans’ driveway in confusion and rage. But, apart from the engine’s noise, I hear nothing.

Chilly and damp, I’ve got that half-asleep, grubby, early morning feeling. My eyes itch and the skin on my face feels raw and prickly. I wish the heater would hurry up and kick in. I forced myself to eat some breakfast before leaving the house and I can feel it now, lodged in my throat and chest – hard, undigested lumps of cereal.

All in all, I’m having major second thoughts and if I could click my fingers and be safely back in bed, I would do it in an instant. But we’ve got it all planned out and we’re going to do this thing.

Luc crunches the gears and the AV glides down the driveway and out onto the tarmac road. There isn’t a soul around. A skinny brown fox trots along the pavement and makes a left into Mrs Hannigan’s garden. A faint light glows on the blue black horizon behind the avenue of trees but the stars are still glimmering, bright and winking in the not-quite-morning sky. Dawn has all but broken and the translucent moon is fading.

We turn off our familiar road and onto Elgin Avenue. Luc turns to me and grins his cheeky grin. He gives my knee a squeeze.

‘Okay, Riley, time to duck down.’

I crouch on the floor in front of my recently vacated passenger seat and pull a blanket over my head. It’s very spacious really, not like a regular car. Luc grabs the partially full holdall from the back seat and places it on the passenger seat, so it also rests on top of my crouched body. In this way, no one will be able to see me if they peer into the vehicle.

‘You okay?’ he asks with a smile in his voice.

‘Mmm hm.’ I feel the AV turn and guess we must now be on Glenferness and heading for the gates. I feel us go slowly over the bridge.

‘You sure you’re alright?’ he asks again.

‘Yep, I’m fine.’ I giggle nervously. ‘Good luck.’

‘Thanks,’ he replies. ‘You’d better not speak anymore until we’re clear of the gates.’

‘Okay.’

‘Okay,’ he repeats quietly.

The vehicle slows and I guess we’ve reached the Perimeter gates. We come to a steady stop and I hear the electric window go down and the engine switch off. The birds are making an almighty racket. Not being a very morning person, I’m never awake to hear the dawn chorus, but they’re giving us a rousing send-off today.

‘Morning,’ Luc greets one of the guards.

‘Alright, mate.’ I recognise Liam’s voice. ‘I’m on with Duke this morning. He’s just brewing up.’ Then he lowers his voice. ‘You sure about this?’

‘Yeah, we’re all set.’

We let Liam in on our plan a couple of days ago. We needed him to pretend to receive a message from Luc’s parents, asking for their son to join them in Southampton. We also thought he should know what we’re really doing and where we’re headed, just in case we meet trouble along the way.

We plan to head for the Century Barracks in Warminster, where Chambers was sighted. Once we get there, we’ll gather as much information as we can and try to track him across to the West Country. My grandparents live over in those parts, so we’ll end our journey there rather than turning back to Bournemouth.

Ma’s at my grandparents’ house and I had the cowardly realisation I’d rather face her tears than Pa’s anger when we finally end our journey. I’ve never been there before but Luc’s done a lot of travelling with his parents and assures me he knows the way. So our plan is to end up at their place once we find Ron Chambers.

We know things could change once we get moving. New information could come to light at any time or we could run into any amount of unforeseen danger. So Liam has agreed to alert our parents and the guards to our plan if we haven’t reached my grandparents’ house by the end of the month.

He was against the idea at first, fearing for our safety and for his position. But Luc swore to guarantee his job. I asked Liam what he would do if a member of his family had been murdered and the killer had got away with it. I also think he feels guilty that he was one of the guards on duty at the time of Chambers’ escape, and so he’s agreed to keep our secret.

‘Okay, I’ll get the gates,’ Liam says. ‘Good luck.’ Then he shouts, ‘Mr Duke! It’s Lucas. He’s a bit earlier than scheduled. Shall I open the gates?’

‘Hold on!’ Something clatters loudly to the floor and I hear the out-of-breath guard come marching out. ‘Morning, Lucas, you’re up nice and early.’ Charlie Duke’s rich Dorset accent fills the morning air and I picture his ruddy face.

He’s never ever said more than two words at a time to me, (I think all the guards are too wary of Pa to speak to us) although he always seems cheerful, with blue eyes that disappear into his face when he smiles. He looks how I would imagine a farmer to be – thickset with apple red cheeks and huge square hands.

‘Hello, Mr Duke,’ replies Luc. ‘I want to try to reach Southampton before nightfall, so I’m leaving earlier than scheduled.’

‘No problem. I just wanted to warn you there was a bit of rioting outside Ringwood last night. Maybe you should postpone your trip for a couple of days till it blows over. I don’t think your parents would be too happy with you travelling into that sort of hazard. I’m surprised they haven’t assigned a guard to go with you anyway. No offence, I know you’re quite capable, but it’s always better to travel outside with at least two people in case…’

Luc interrupts, ‘I’ll be fine, Mr Duke. I’ll stay clear of Ringwood.’ He clears his throat. ‘This AV’s fully modernised; I’ll be quite safe and I‘m armed. They wouldn’t have let me do the journey if they were worried.’

‘Right you are, Lucas. Well, safe trip now. Send my best to your parents. I’ll get the gates.’

‘Thanks a lot, Mr Duke. See you, Liam.’

The engine starts and the window whirrs up. After some creaking that lasts about twenty seconds, followed by a loud thunk, we start moving and I feel the transition from smooth road surface to rough, uneven ground. The AV’s got good suspension, but crouched down here on the floor I wonder how we’ll be able to stand it – our bones being jolted and our teeth rattling in our heads. Hopefully it’ll be less bumpy once I can sit down properly. Luc said we’d only have to cross rough terrain until we reach the main road. I shift my position slightly.

‘Just stay hidden for a bit longer,’ says Luc. ‘I can still see them in my rear view and I don’t want to switch to blackout in case Duke gets suspicious.’

‘It’s okay, I wasn’t coming out yet,’ I mumble. ‘I’m just trying to get comfy. It’s really bumpy.’

‘I know. I’ll slow down a bit.’

‘No, it’s okay. I’m alright.’ I don’t want him to think I’m whingeing. ‘Maybe just move the bag off my head.’

‘Are you sure? I thought a bag-on-the-head was quite a good look for you.’

‘Yeah, great.’ I feel its weight disappear. ‘Ah, that’s better.’ He whips the blanket off next.

‘You don’t need that now either.’ He smiles down at me.

I can’t believe how sweaty I’ve become. My face must be bright red, my hair plastered all round it in unattractive clumps. My knees are clicking and my left foot’s got cramp. God, only several minutes into our journey and I’m already completely inadequate. What’s Luc going to think of me?

I’ve got more butterflies in my stomach thinking of him, than I do thinking of our mission ahead. Am I really so shallow? I even took special care with my hair and make-up this morning (a lot of good that’s done me, after sweating under an itchy blanket for fifteen minutes). Or is it simply that Luc is the here and now and our adventure still seems quite abstract and distant; not enough to make me feel afraid yet. I hope it’ll stay that way and I’ll face whatever’s out here with calm dignity and poise and not panic like an idiot.

I peer up at Luc while he concentrates on driving. He looks so calm and unfazed. No way on earth could I have done this without him. I don’t have the balls or the connections. I may have come up with the idea, but Luc’s making it happen.

I think of Skye and immediately feel guilty. Is this trip really for her, or is it just an elaborate ploy to get closer to Luc? Honestly… it’s a bit of both. I know the last thing I should be thinking of is my love life. My sister’s dead and she was in love with him. I feel like such a bad person. I imagine her looking down at me thinking how selfish I am to want her own darling Luc, while she’s gone and unable to have him.

But for all my guilt, I’m not really trying that hard to suppress my emotions like I know I should. The feelings run too deep and even if nothing ever happens with him, I’ll still have my daydreams.