by Pam Harvey
‘Geez, it wouldn’t want to be switched on,’ E.D. said, peering in. ‘There’s no way in anyway —look.’ He pulled his head out. ‘That metal frame’s not moving.’
‘But they must have got in here. Why else would their bikes be here?’ Angus said.
‘C’mon, let’s keep moving.’
They headed further around, staying inside the fence, until they reached another closed-in section.
‘Oh great,’ Angus sighed, peering through the wire fencing as an angry looking dog suddenly jumped up and ran towards them. It barked viciously, baring its teeth. ‘Let’s head back.’
‘No, I can handle this,’ E.D. said, holding up an arm.
‘Don’t be stupid, E.D. It’ll rip your arms off.’
‘No, no. We had some German shepherd pups once. My older brother used to breed ‘em. Anyway, this is some sort of cross, way smaller than the real thing.’
‘That dog is not a pup. C’mon.’
E.D. took a step back, pulled out all his cabana sticks and held them at arm’s length, whispering quietly while staring intently into the dog’s eyes. The dog kept on barking, saliva dripping from its mouth.
‘E.D.!’ Angus hissed.
‘Wait. Its barking’s changed. Listen.’
To Angus the barking sounded exactly the same. Loud and mean. Then suddenly the dog stopped barking and cocked its head to one side. Its tail lifted.
‘Easy,’ E.D. said quietly, his gaze never leaving the dog’s eyes. Slowly he moved to his right, closer to the building. The dog followed.
‘Climb over, and go for the window,’ E.D. said, his voice low and level.
‘Are you kidding? I’m not—’
‘Trust me,’ E.D. said firmly.
Angus swore softly and slowly climbed the gate, keeping one eye on the dog. But it wasn’t paying him any attention. E.D. was feeding it a cabana stick through the fence.
Angus stepped lightly down, then tiptoed over to the open window. I guess they weren’t counting on someone taming the guard dog, he thought to himself as he clambered in. He found himself in a small, plain-looking office. There were no tubes or anything else to suggest this room was a part of Explore! Just a table and chair, filing cabinet, and various office machines spread around the room.
A few moments later, E.D. joined him.
‘What now?’ Angus asked.
‘We go find the girls,’ said E.D., moving over to the only door. He leaned his ear against it, then slowly turned the handle. It opened out into another small room filled with cupboards, each a different colour.
‘They’re the same colours as the tubes,’ Angus breathed.
E.D. opened the cupboard nearest to him—a red one. It was filled with various bottles, pads, washing equipment, cameras, cans of spray, mats, knee pads and other cleaning equipment.
‘In here,’ Angus whispered. He pointed to a small trapdoor tucked away behind the black cupboard.
ALL TUBE ACCESS
STRICTLY AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY
‘Bewdy,’ E.D. said, following Angus in.
They found themselves in an enormous plastic holding bay with small, clear tube openings heading off in all directions, each with a coloured sign.
‘Look,’ Angus said, pointing to a tunnel to his right, just next to the opening they’d come out of. ‘That could lead us to the girls.’
‘Makes sense,’ E.D. said, noticing the AIR CONDITIONING sign above it. E.D. followed Angus in. There was a gentle vibration as the unit hummed.
‘Hannah! Gabby!’ Angus whispered, as loudly as he could, into the gloom ahead of him. There was no reply. Angus had no idea where he was going, nor if the girls were in the air-conditioning unit, anyway. The boys crept forward on hands and knees for about 20 metres, passing the occasional side vent, once passing a flap with ‘GREEN TUBE’ on it. Angus kept up his whispering. ‘Gabby? Hannah?’
‘Take that turn,’ E.D. said behind him. ‘To the right. That’s back towards the opening where their bikes are.’
Ten metres on and Angus was confronted by a sudden drop. He leaned over.
‘Hannah?’
‘Angus?’ A cry came from below. Hannah’s face appeared, looking upwards. ‘Thank God. Can you get us out of here?’
‘Hang on.’ Angus turned. ‘E.D., hold on to my feet.’ He slowly edged himself into the drop. ‘Hannah, how far can you reach up?’ Angus felt a twinge of pain in his ankles as E.D. pressed down on them, holding him grimly as he reached further down the slippery, silver sides of the vent.
Stretching out his fingers, he tried to touch Hannah’s outstretched hand.
‘Further over,’ he grimaced to E.D. ‘Heaps more.’ Wriggling forward, Angus eased his thighs, then his knees and lower legs, over the edge. He was almost completely vertical. This time he felt the clasp of Hannah’s hand. He gripped her firmly, as Gabby pushed from below. Slowly Hannah rose, her feet trying to help by pushing off the smooth sides of the vent. Angus dragged her over the top.
‘Don’t ask,’ she said, noticing E.D.’s look.
‘C’mon, let’s get Gabby up, then get out of here. There’s still the dog to get past.’
‘What dog?’ Hannah asked.
‘The dog who took my last cabana sticks,’ said E.D. ‘You want me to go down this time?’
‘Nah, I’m good.’ Angus worked his way over the edge again, then reached down.
‘What happened to your phone?’ he asked, as he clasped Gabby’s arm.
‘Battery went flat on me.’
Angus chuckled as he hauled Gabby up.
‘You took your time,’ Gabby gasped, her nose wrinkling. ‘What’s the smell?’
‘Cabana. Sorry, none left,’ said E.D.
A whooshing sound suddenly erupted from behind them.
‘Oh no,’ Gabby shrieked. ‘It’s starting up again.’
E.D.’s reply was quickly drowned out by the roar of wind surging up through the tunnel. He spun around, heading back the way they’d come.
The noise was deafening. With one hand covering an ear and their heads turned to the side, the four pressed on. A cold gale of air was blasting into them, buffeting their bodies, roaring and shrieking as it whipped past them. Tears streaming down his face, E.D. paused next to a panel to his left. GREEN TUBE.
He slid it open and crawled through the tight gap. Immediately the noise died away. The others followed him in.
‘We’ll just wait for the air conditioning to go off,’ Hannah said as Angus crawled in behind her. Gabby came in last.
‘So what happened?’ Angus asked. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Yeah. Couldn’t you have just gone through the front door?’ E.D. added. ‘And charged your phone battery?’ he added dryly.
‘We’d decided to follow Andrea—’
‘Oh my God. What was that?’ Gabby screamed, a look of terror on her face. She’d hurled herself forward, crashing into Angus, who bumped Hannah. ‘Aagh! It’s a rat!’ she shrieked.
The others pushed themselves against the wall. A small white mouse scuttled past them and down the tube. A moment later another one followed, then two more, racing along the tube, ignoring the four children.
‘C’mon, let’s follow them,’ E.D. said, crawling forward.
‘I’ll wait,’ Gabby said, breathing hard.
‘I think it’s our only way,’ Hannah said. ‘C’mon, Gab. We need to stay together, anyway. We can’t go back into the air conditioning—we’ll go deaf.’
‘Pardon?’
‘What?’ said Hannah, frowning at E.D.
‘Joking,’ he said. ‘You know, deaf?’ But no one laughed.
They were in darkness, but ahead appeared to be brighter. After a few metres, the tube turned, suddenly breaking out into an enormous room full of trees, ferns and jungle. Above them, metres away from the green tube, was a ceiling made entirely of glass. They could see the sky, a deep blue as evening turned to dusk.
‘Wow,’ Angus whispered. ‘Awesome!�
�
The floor had dropped away, leaving the four high up amongst the dark green leaves and tree tops of an indoor jungle.
‘Look at that!’ Angus said, pointing away to his left.
‘What?’ Hannah asked.
E.D. whistled slowly.
‘What?’ This time it was Gabby. Then she saw it. An enormous yellow and brown snake wrapped around a tree trunk was slowly unwinding itself and crawling towards them.
‘Doesn’t matter, guys. We’re surrounded by plastic. Let’s just get out of here,’ Hannah said, starting to crawl forward again. They sped along on hands and knees, deeper into the jungle. More mice scampered past them. Hannah frowned.
Mice. Snakes. Mice. Snakes.
‘E.D., stop!’ Hannah yelled suddenly. She needn’t have bothered. E.D. was frozen to the spot, just ahead of the others and only 30 centimetres away from an enormous snake, this one red and brown, slithering towards him. It had dropped through an opening in the roof of the tunnel. A few metres beyond, a panel had automatically closed, blocking any further progress anyway. The mice had gathered near it, sniffing at something that had their interest.
E.D. closed his eyes and opened them again. Just past the snake, to the left of the tube, was an opening. ‘EMERGENCY EXIT’ said the small sign on the panel.
Gabby crashed into Angus.
‘What’s the hold-up?’ she said.
‘Sssh,’ Hannah hissed. ‘Ease back, everyone. C’mon!’
Gabby looked past the two in front of her, and quickly turned pale. She swallowed.
‘Still,’ E.D. mumbled, staring at the snake. A mouse scuttled up to Gabby’s hand, pausing to sniff. Gabby held her breath. ‘A mouse,’ E.D. breathed. ‘Anyone got a mouse?’
Gabby closed her eyes, took a deep breath and snatched the mouse up by the tail. It wriggled and squirmed. ‘Angus?’ she cried. The snake’s head reared up, swaying and inching closer to E.D.
Angus took the mouse and passed it on to E.D., who tossed it down in front of the snake. For a moment neither the mouse nor the snake moved, then suddenly the snake lashed out, jerking down to seize the mouse. It slid away and up the side of the tube. Slowly, four pairs of eyes looked up. Four or five snakes were sliding ominously along branches towards an opening in the roof of the tube—an opening that none of them had noticed. A long green snake was hanging over the edge, its head swaying from side to side, its tongue dancing in and out.
‘Follow me,’ E.D. called, moving to the left and quickly sliding past the opening above them. The others followed. He pulled open the Emergency Exit and pushed through. Suddenly he was falling. Falling fast.
‘Guys!’ he shouted desperately, but his voice quickly faded. Hannah spun herself around, feet first, and followed. Angus dived after her, with Gabby practically on top of him.
They sped down a winding passage, getting faster and faster. Hannah felt Angus and Gabby pushing her from behind. But just as Hannah reached out a hand, she sensed she was slowing again, then suddenly felt herself flying through air.
‘E.D.!’ she yelled, arms and legs flailing everywhere. She crashed in a heap, right on top of E.D. and an enormous pile of soft green cushions.
‘Quick, before—’ E.D. gasped as he staggered to his feet.
A split second later Angus and Gabby came crashing over the top of them, knocking E.D. back into the cushions again. Gabby toppled over Angus and came to rest inches from E.D. She scrunched up her face, feeling hot peppery cabana breath waft over her.
They scrambled to their feet then raced to an open doorway. Angus peered around the corner.
‘Quick!’ he called, running to a door marked ‘EXIT’.
He flung the door open then froze.
‘What?’ Gabby hissed.
‘See for yourself,’ Angus said, beckoning her over. Gabby snuck a look around the edge of the door. Andrea Simpson and her mother were walking across the car park towards their car. Andrea was licking an ice cream. And her hair was totally dry.
Chapter 6
Teasdale Secondary School: Wednesday morning
‘Sssssssssss!’
Hannah jumped, knocking her pencil case off the table. ‘E.D.!’ she growled back at him. ‘Stop it.’
He’d been doing it all day, sneaking around behind her, pretending to be a snake.
‘Mr Emilio De Lugio,’ said Mr Collins, their Maths teacher, ‘if you wouldn’t mind sitting down. I have an announcement.’ Mr Collins watched E.D. over the rim of his glasses until he was satisfied that E.D.’s backside was on his seat. ‘Now.’ He straightened the piece of paper in his hands. ‘Mr Taylor has asked me to remind you all of the practice session being held in the library after school for the Whatever, Wherever competition. He has requested that all persons interested meet in the library as soon as they can after the bell. Any questions?’
Hannah put up her hand. ‘When’s the actual competition, Mr Collins?’
‘It says here that the Teasdale secondary school-based competition, sponsored by Kids’ Head Start, is to be held on Monday next week. The winners will be announced at a special assembly on Friday morning.’
‘Another assembly?’ E.D. groaned, not quite softly enough.
‘It won’t kill you, Emilio. And are you going to enter this competition?’
E.D. leaned back in his seat. ‘Yeah, I thought I might.’
‘Then you’d better go to the practice session.’
‘Yeah, good idea.’ E.D. frowned and leaned forward. ‘Does anyone know where the library is?’
‘I wasn’t joking,’ said E.D. after school, heaving his bag onto his back.
‘Well, Collarbone Collins thought you were.’ Angus chuckled. ‘Have a nice recess?’
E.D. shook his head hard so that his black hair spun around his head. ‘He made me do algebra. Whatever that is.’
‘Doesn’t matter now,’ said Hannah. ‘Come on, we’ll be late.’ She sped off down the corridor. The boys followed more slowly.
The library was full. There hadn’t been so many people in the room since the day Andy Griffiths had visited. The Whatever, Wherever prize was a huge lure. Hannah found a table at the back and waved Angus and E.D. over.
‘Check out all these…books!’ E.D. goggled dramatically at the bookshelves.
Hannah frowned at him. ‘Now I know you’re joking.’
‘Good afternoon, boys and girls.’ Mr Taylor appeared at the front of the library, smiling broadly and holding a bunch of papers in his hand. ‘This is an impressive turn-out indeed. It’s good to see so many of you willing to have a shot at this competition.’
‘We’re only here for the prize,’ muttered Angus.
‘Look,’ whispered Hannah. ‘Jon Hodgkins is here. So’s Sarah Townsend. What a laugh! They’ve got no chance. And Dave Kelly’s here.’
‘Dave? Where?’ Angus turned to see where Hannah was pointing. A small boy with short spiky hair sat huddled at the corner of the table, glancing around at the crowd. He looked almost frightened. ‘Poor Dave. I don’t think this is his scene. He must be really desperate.’
‘Like the rest of us,’ said E.D., leaning back to pull a book off the shelf. ‘Camels in the Desert.’ He nodded. ‘Wow. I didn’t know there was anything in a desert except sand.’
‘Put it back, E.D. Here comes Mr Taylor.’ Hannah nodded towards the principal.
‘I’m giving out the practice papers now.’ Mr Taylor moved swiftly around the tables, placing a paper face down in front of each student. ‘The questions are divided into Maths skills, problem-solving and vocabulary. And there’s a practical component at the end. Remember, this paper doesn’t have an essay question on it, although it will in the actual competition. When it comes to the 3D model building, there is a choice of building materials in the middle of each table. When I say it’s time, you can turn the paper over and start.’
Hannah stared at her paper as though she thought it might fly away. Angus rolled the edge of his and stared at the box of art materials
on the table. E.D. tipped his chair back so it balanced on its two rear legs and gazed at the ceiling like it was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.
‘Ready? Forty-five minutes from…now!’ Mr Taylor checked his watch and the room filled with the noise of rustling papers turning over.
The first section was a series of short questions. Hannah read the first one:
1. Which of the numbers should replace the question mark?
She studied it for a moment, then circled her answer: B.
There were five questions like the first one, and then some complicated mazes to find your way out of.
Hannah glanced over at Angus and E.D. before she started the next section. Angus was reading each question, frowning, and then carefully putting an answer down. E.D. was drawing a picture of a two-stroke engine in the margin of the first page. Hannah shook her head slowly, smiling. Then she read the next bit.
In an athletics contest between the army, the navy and the air force, each team entered three athletes in a particular race. The winning athlete scored eight points, the runner-up seven, third place six, and so on down to none for last place.
Once the race was run, the judges needed a photograph to separate the first two army men to finish. A member of the navy’s team finished last. When the points were totalled, all three teams were found to have the same score.
Find by team the order in which the nine athletes finished.
The smile nearly left Hannah’s face. It took her a while to answer but at last she wrote: Navy—first, fifth, ninth. Air force—second, sixth, seventh. Army—third, fourth and eighth.
After that, there were words to put meanings to. Hannah started smiling again. Not a problem, she thought as she worked her way through them.
That left only the model to build. There was a choice of things to copy: Uluru, the Opera House or the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Shame it isn’t a motorbike, thought Hannah, glancing again at E.D. who was flicking spit balls at the boy in front of him. Or the Flemington grandstand, she thought, looking at Angus who was staring horrified at the question about the athletes.
