by Pam Harvey
They followed E.D. back through the crowd, but before they reached the Rite Bite Gabby pulled Hannah back by the sleeve. ‘Hannah, do me a favour?’
‘What?’
‘Find out where Andrea trains? I want to go and watch her.’
Hannah grinned. ‘You mean, spy on her?’
Gabby grinned back. ‘Come on, let’s get an ice cream before E.D. eats out the whole shop.’
Chapter 4
Teasdale Secondary School: Tuesday morning
Explore! was all anyone was talking about at school the next day. Most people had gone to the opening. If they hadn’t, they were visiting straight after school.
‘Bad luck,’ said E.D. to Angus as they passed a group of students arranging to meet there later. ‘There’ll be no half-price tickets handed out today.’
Hannah was the only one who seemed to be taking an interest in school work. She walked over to the boys, holding a Maths book in one hand and a Science book in the other.
‘Han,’ said E.D., frowning. ‘It’s lunchtime. You’ll put me off my sandwich.’
Hannah waved her books at him. ‘I don’t think so, guts.’ She sat down next to them and peered into Angus’s lunchbox. ‘Anything interesting?’
‘No. Just the usual.’
A group of girls walked past, Andrea Simpson among them. Words drifted out of their conversation—‘pink tube’, ‘amazing’, ‘pistachio ice cream’.
‘Hold these, Angus.’ Hannah dumped her books into his lap. ‘I’ll be back in a moment.’
‘Gross,’ said E.D., as Angus slid the textbooks onto the bench beside him.
Hannah reached the group of girls. ‘Andrea!’
Andrea stopped and turned. ‘Oh. Hi.’
Hannah smiled at her, ignoring the blank looks on the faces of the other girls. ‘I just wanted to say that I saw you race on Saturday and you were awesome.’
Andrea smiled. ‘Thanks.’
‘Gee, you must have trained hard to beat Gabriella Hunter. I heard she’s really good.’
Andrea’s smile set on her face. ‘She’s pretty good. But I beat her.’ She sounded a bit surprised herself.
‘So do you train hard? At the Swim Club?’
‘Oh, no. I mean, of course I train hard. Not at the Swim Club.’ Andrea looked around for her friends who had gone on ahead of her. ‘I train somewhere else.’
‘Oh? Where do you train? I might know the place.’
Andrea scuffed the dirt with one toe and looked down. ‘Oh, it’s a private place. You wouldn’t know it. I go there after dinner.’ She looked up again and checked where her friends were. ‘I’d better go.’
‘Okay,’ said Hannah, smiling like an angel. ‘Good luck with the state championships.’
Andrea gave Hannah a short nod and sped off.
‘What was that all about?’ said Angus, throwing the books back at Hannah as she sat down again.
‘I was congratulating her,’ Hannah said.
‘Don’t let Gabby know that you were talking to her,’ said E.D.
But that was exactly what Hannah was going to do.
‘Andrea said that she trained after dinner?’ Gabby sat at the edge of her pool, kicking at the water ferociously. ‘No one trains after dinner. You’d be sick.’
‘That’s what she said.’ Hannah sat back a bit, away from Gabby’s splashing.
‘I train every day before breakfast. My coach comes four times a week. How often does she train?’
‘She didn’t say.’
‘Right. That’s it.’ Gabby stood up, showering Hannah with drops of pool water. ‘We’re going to find out a bit more about this Andrea Simpson.’
‘You’re serious about the spying business?’
Gabby looked at her friend. ‘What are you doing after dinner?’
‘Not training for a swimming race, that’s for sure.’
‘Do you know where Andrea lives?’
Hannah frowned. ‘No, I’ve got no idea.’
‘Well that’s okay. I do. Meet you back here at six o’clock. It’s not far. You tell your mum you’ll be at my place.’
‘And you’ll tell your mum you’ll be at my place.’
‘Okay.’ Gabby smiled. ‘Six o’clock.’
‘When you go spying on someone,’ hissed Hannah, ‘you’re meant to wear something dark that doesn’t show up!’
Gabby looked down at her pink and white top. ‘It’s new. I wanted to show you. See? It matches my new phone.’ She pulled out a pink and white mobile.
‘Nice,’ said Hannah, not really meaning it.
‘I’ve been texting Ling all day. I’ve got one of those plans that lets you send 250 messages a month.’
Hannah rolled her eyes. ‘I wouldn’t know what to say in 250 text messages.’
Gabby shrugged and put the phone in her pocket. ‘I use most of them talking to Ling.’
They were sitting on the corner of a pine railing that surrounded the local playground, half hidden by an overgrown tree. Their bikes were leaning against a fence just behind it. Andrea’s house was opposite. Nothing was happening anywhere in the street. Gabby’s bum began to go numb. Finally they saw the front door of the house open.
‘There!’ Hannah said suddenly. ‘She’s getting into the car.’
Gabby watched as Andrea and her mother climbed in. ‘They must be driving off to train. But where’s her stuff?’
‘What stuff?’ whispered Hannah.
‘Swimming bag, flippers, you know. Towel.’
‘Maybe she leaves it there.’
Gabby shrugged and didn’t say anything as the car drove away. She jumped off the rail and ran to her bike.
‘What are you doing?’ said Hannah.
‘Following them.’ Gabby swung her leg over and started to ride.
‘We won’t catch them.’ Hannah put her hand on Gabby’s handlebars to stop her. ‘Let’s find out where they’re going.’
‘How?’
‘Easy. You wait here.’
Gabby watched as Hannah ran across the road to Andrea’s house. Then she plonked her bike on the ground and ran after her. ‘I’m coming with you.’
The girls walked up to the front door and knocked. They only had to wait a few seconds before the door was answered by a boy who looked about eight.
‘Hi,’ said Hannah with a winning smile. ‘We’re friends of Andrea’s. Is she home?’
The little boy looked like he was about to cry. ‘No. She’s doing swimming training.’
‘At the pool?’ questioned Hannah.
Gabby nudged her. ‘She’s never at the pool,’ she mouthed. ‘She hasn’t been there in ages.’
‘Now she trains at EXPLORE!’ The boy yelled the last word at Hannah and then burst into tears. ‘She used to train at Uncle Richard’s, but now she’s always at Explore!’ Tears were streaming down his face. ‘And I’m not allowed to go. I’ve only been once,’ he sobbed. ‘She’s been there heaps of times! Even before it was open.’ His nose started to dribble.
‘Before? Are you sure?’ Hannah asked.
‘Okay, we’ll catch her another time. Bye!’ Gabby took Hannah’s arm and pulled her away down the path.
‘Hmmm,’ said Hannah as they crossed the road again. ‘But at least we know where to go.’
‘But there’s no pool at Explore!’
‘Hmmm,’ said Hannah again.
‘Can you stop hmmm-ing?’
‘Hmm—’
‘Hannah!’
Hannah laughed. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
They made it to Explore! in twenty minutes, Gabby way ahead of Hannah whose legs weren’t as strong. Explore! was closed but the maze of tubes could still be seen from the street. The entrance was firmly locked and the car park had only two cars in it—Andrea’s mum’s and a small, red four-wheel drive.
‘This must be a mistake,’ said Gabby, putting her bike in a rack near the front door. ‘She can’t be training here.’
‘Maybe she’s in there.’
Hannah nodded towards the side of the building. There was a green door that Gabby hadn’t noticed before. On it was a sign:
Kids’ Head Start Learning Centre
‘Learning—to swim?’ Gabby was surprised. ‘And without a pool?’
Hannah wheeled her bike around the corner of the building and came back for Gabby’s. ‘We’ll put these around here in case people think we’re snooping.’
‘We are,’ said Gabby.
‘Well, yeah, but the whole world doesn’t have to know. Maybe Andrea’s coming to the learning centre for help with her school work and she was just embarrassed to say.’
Gabby frowned. ‘So where’s she doing her swimming training? Maybe there’s a part of this place we don’t know about. Hey, maybe there’s a tube full of water and you have to swim against the current, working on your strength or technique.’
‘That would be awesome but I doubt it.’
‘Yeah, I guess.’ Gabby looked up at the maze of tubes. ‘I wish we could get into that pink tube and check the place out again.’
Hannah walked over and pushed on the door of the learning centre. It didn’t have a handle, just a small box to one side and a key pad. ‘We can’t get in here. What about…’ she walked around the corner and Gabby ran to catch her ‘…here?’ Hannah pointed at an external air-conditioning pipe. ‘It’s just a big tube. It might lead to the others.’
Gabby looked at the corrugated silver pipe. ‘It looks dirty.’
‘Of course, Gabby. It sucks air in from outside and blows it inside. It’s meant to get dirty.’ Hannah gave her an exasperated look. ‘There’s an opening in it. See? If we could get to it, we might be able to crawl in.’
‘It’s dirty and it isn’t very big.’
‘Big enough,’ said Hannah.
The pipe was attached to the Explore! building but there was a fence between the pipe and the girls. Hannah looked around, grabbed Gabby’s bike and leaned it against the fence. She pulled herself up onto the seat and climbed to the middle section of the fence, peering over the top into the paved area.
‘Maybe it’s a bit high,’ Hannah said, carefully feeling with her feet for the bike seat.
‘Alright,’ sighed Gabby. ‘Get down. I’m taller than you. I’ll have a go.’
Hannah stepped carefully off the bike and Gabby got up. Hannah tried not to notice how easily Gabby went from the bike seat to the top of the fence, landing lightly on the ground on the other side. Gabby walked to the air vent and pulled at the outer rim.
‘I’ve got it. How do you…? Oh, I’ve just pulled the door off. Do you think that’s okay?’
Hannah climbed back up and looked at the broken panel in Gabby’s hand. She glanced around the laneway. No one was there. ‘Yeah, it’s okay. Someone will fix it later. Climb in.’
Gabby glanced down at her new shirt, tucked it in as much as she could, then dived into the pipe, wriggling until her whole body disappeared inside.
‘Gabby?’ called Hannah softly. ‘You okay?’
Gabby poked her head out, a look of disgust on her face. ‘It’s filthy in here. I’ve never seen so much dust! Is this the only way in?’
‘What do you think? Anyway, it’s too late now. I’m coming up too.’
Hannah clambered awkwardly from the bike seat to the top of the fence, closed her eyes and bumped her way down the other side, banging her knees against the hard diamond-shaped wire. She hobbled over to the open vent. Gabby reached down with one hand and Hannah grabbed it. Carefully, she stood on tiptoes and poked her head into the pipe.
It was disgusting. Hannah had to hold her nose to stop her sneezing.
‘Jump now,’ said Gabby. ‘I’ve got you.’
Hannah jumped and got her head and shoulders into the pipe. ‘I’m stuck,’ she winced.
‘Keep trying.’ Gabby grinned at her friend. ‘Wriggle!’
Wriggling wasn’t Hannah’s style but she tried. After a few long moments when she thought her arm would be pulled out of its socket by Gabby, she was able to haul herself over the edge of the pipe. She fell in a heap next to Gabby in her now black, pink and white shirt.
‘Not much room!’ Hannah gasped.
‘There’s more up here.’ Gabby crawled a bit further into the pipe, passing through a small opening leading to a wider chamber. Hannah followed, knocking her knee again, this time against the rim of the opening.
The pipe was dark, but ahead of them a small area of light glowed. Hannah pointed towards it. ‘We should make our way up there. It looks like a window or something. We might be able to see inside Explore!’
Gabby hesitated. ‘You go first,’ she said, squashing herself back against the wall to let Hannah past. ‘You like the dark.’
‘I don’t really.’ But she shoved past Gabby and started slowly down the tunnel. ‘Are you coming?’
‘Hang on,’ called Gabby. ‘I’ve got my shirt caught on something. I hope it doesn’t tear! Got it. It was caught on a knob. Why would they have a knob here?’
‘I don’t know but don’t touch it.’ Hannah kept crawling but a loud clunk stopped her in her tracks.
‘Hannah? I accidentally touched it.’
Hannah looked back. A closed door had now covered the opening, making the tunnel even darker. And what was that noise?
‘Hannah? What is that?’
There was a whir. Then a whoosh. Then the whir joined in again and it was like being inside a vacuum pipe. ‘The air conditioner’s turned on!’ yelled Hannah against the noise.
‘Is that bad, do you think?’ Gabby shouted.
The volume increased and Hannah felt her hair being pulled towards the light along the tunnel. ‘I don’t think it’s good! Can you hit the button you pushed?’
‘I tried. It’s stuck.’
‘Come down a bit further!’
The girls crawled along with their heads down, keeping their eyes closed against the dust being kicked up by the whooshing air. Hannah didn’t notice the clear plastic divider until she hit her head against it. ‘Ouch!’
‘What’s the matter?’ shouted Gabby, trying to see Hannah through screwed-up eyes.
‘The pipe’s blocked!’ Hannah shielded her eyes and looked around her. Another pipe had joined theirs but it was going straight up, too steep to climb. ‘I think we’re stuck!’
‘Oh, that’s terrific!’ yelled Gabby. ‘Now I’m dirty and stuck.’
‘Ring Angus!’
‘What?’
‘Use your phone! Or we might be stuck here all night!’
Gabby rummaged in her jeans pocket, her long hair whipping around her face, until she found her phone. ‘I hope he’s home!’
No one answered the phone at Angus’s. Mr Mac, Angus’s dad, was outside and Angus was at E.D.’s. They were on the Xbox when E.D.’s phone beeped.
‘Message for you,’ said Angus, his eyes not leaving the screen.
E.D. put down his controller and reached for his phone. He played with the message buttons and read what was there.
‘Come on, Angus. Game’s over.’
‘What?’ Angus put his controller down. E.D. handed him the phone.
Help! Explore! Stuck in air vent.
Chapter 5
Teasdale Technology Centre: Tuesday evening
‘I thought Explore! closed at six,’ E.D. called over his shoulder, pedalling hard, munching on a piece of cabana as he went.
Although E.D. would have preferred to take something motorised, Angus had convinced him it would probably be quicker going with the bikes via the streets; the back roads and dusty lanes of the outskirts of town were different. Out there the motorbike was great.
‘You got a reply yet?’ Angus asked, coming up alongside E.D. They’d rung Hannah’s but been told that she was over at Gabby’s place.
E.D. looked at the phone and shook his head. ‘Wonder what sort of strife they’re in? What the hell are they doing in an air vent, anyway? Maybe they mistook it for a tube?’ He chuckled.
‘Hannah never told me she was going back to Explore!’ Angus said, frowning.
‘She tells you everything? How annoying is that!’
‘No, she doesn’t, idiot. She’d said we were going back later in the week. Maybe Friday or the weekend.’
The boys reached the car park a few minutes later.
‘Anything?’ Angus asked, nodding at the phone in E.D.’s hand. Again E.D. shook his head.
‘In strife, lost, or the phone’s out of battery power. Knowing Gabby, it’s probably the battery.’ He grinned. ‘What’s the plan?’
Angus looked at Explore! Two cars were parked around to the left but otherwise the place looked deserted. The only sign of life was a man emptying the stuffed rubbish bins along the front of the building into the back of his van, replacing the bags along the way.
‘Let’s do a quick loop of the place. See if we can see anything.’
‘Should we ask that dude first?’ E.D. said, nodding towards the main entrance.
‘Yeah, okay. You go ask, I’ll head round this way, you come around from the other side.’ Angus set off towards the two cars.
Explore! was very different on the other side. There was a delivery section, lots of fences, closed doors and large concrete spaces, all accessed by a narrow laneway. Angus passed a green door, but decided to press on. Maybe that could be investigated later. Then he saw one of the girls’ bikes, leaning up against a fence that ran close to the edge of that part of the building. He climbed quickly onto the bike, immediately noticing the large air vent in the wall. They’d obviously climbed into the opening, but why?
Angus looked up as E.D. approached.
‘Anything?’
‘Nope,’ E.D. said, staring at the bikes. ‘The cleaner had only just arrived. Hasn’t seen anyone.’ He pulled out another cabana stick. ‘There’s a guard dog back there. Must be a bit of cash in the office.’ E.D. joined Angus on the fence. ‘We gonna follow them in then?’
‘Weird,’ Angus said. ‘I didn’t think Hannah and Gabby would want to crawl into that.’ He rolled towards the grimy looking vent. ‘Yep, let’s do it.’
They scrambled up and over the fence. A faint humming noise was coming from inside.
