‘Yes, here I am, mate. All of me,’ said the van driver rather tartly, misunderstanding Arthur Shepard’s words and assuming (since he could see no one else nearby) that Shepard was talking to him.
‘What?’ snapped Shepard, who had apparently not even noticed the man standing outside.
The driver, in turn, had not noticed the cats as his gaze was fixed on Arthur Shepard’s face, which was puce with fury and the unexpected exercise.
‘You don’t look well, mate,’ said the driver, with a total lack of concern in his voice. ‘Need some air, by the looks of it.’
‘What?’ said Arthur Shepard again. He was still too out of breath to say much more.
‘Doors broken, are they?’ asked the driver.
‘Yes,’ piped up a voice, which was not Arthur Shepard’s. ‘Give us a hand with them, could you?’
Millie never did know which cat had spoken, but one of them had come to his senses with excellent timing.
‘Here you go,’ said the driver. And he pulled the doors open with ease, making Millie blush to think how she had struggled to do the same.
‘No!’ cried Shepard. ‘No!’ The last of the cats ran between his legs to freedom, as he reached down, grabbing at them. He caught the tail of the last one and lifted it triumphantly in the air. ‘Got you,’ he crowed, grabbing it by the neck so it couldn’t bite. ‘Don’t scratch,’ he warned, tightening his grip. The cat went limp.
‘No!’ whispered Max. ‘He has Celeste.’
Millie placed a hand gently on his back. This was no time for heroics.
‘You idiot! Try and catch them!’ Shepard cursed at the driver. But the cats that had made it through the doors had disappeared like smoke on a windy day, dispersing in every direction, as though they had never been there at all. The sound of mocking laughter echoed back from the woods, growing fainter every second.
‘No need to call people names,’ said the driver, now rather huffy. ‘You asked me to open the doors. Should have made sure your cats was in cages, shouldn’t you?’
Arthur Shepard gave the man a look of pure, undiluted hatred. ‘Chase them!’ he demanded.
‘Chase cats, in the dark? You’re joking, mate,’ said the van driver, sounding happier at having something concrete to refuse. Shepard looked around desperately.
‘Where’s the dog?’ he continued.
‘You’ve lost a dog as well? Dearie me, you are careless,’ said the van driver helpfully.
‘The security guard’s dog,’ snarled Shepard. ‘Did you see anyone as you drove up?’
‘No, mate,’ said the driver. ‘Who else have you lost?’
‘I haven’t lost anyone,’ said Arthur Shepard, his voice shaking with anger. ‘People have broken into my laboratory and stolen most of my cats. You just lost the rest. They’ve only just left the building. You must have seen them. They must have driven past you to get out of here.’
Millie could scarcely breathe. What if he realised they hadn’t left the building at all? He only had to walk a few feet, and he would be standing right over her and Max.
‘Didn’t see anything come past me. There must be another route out of here, mustn’t there?’ said the driver. ‘If I’d known I was in charge of your security as well as driving your cats halfway up the country, I’d have been paying more attention, wouldn’t I?’
Shepard fixed him with a glare. ‘Go away,’ he said, so quietly that Millie could scarcely hear him.
‘Are you sure?’ asked the driver. ‘Because I’m supposed to be picking up a consignment of cats . . . No, hang on, you’ve lost ’em, haven’t you?’
‘I said, go away,’ Arthur Shepard’s teeth were gritted.
‘Right you are, mate,’ said the driver, feeling and sounding perkier than he had done all day. And he got back into the van, slamming the door. The engine started up and he drove swiftly away.
Shepard went slowly back to the stairwell, no doubt, thought Millie, to take Celeste straight back to the lab. She and Max had to be quick, so she texted Jake’s brother silently.
are the cameras still off?
The reply came back immediately.
yes.
‘We have to go,’ she said to Max. ‘I’m so sorry.’
He nodded, saying nothing. And they moved silently towards the doors.
That was it. They were free. She turned to look back at the laboratory as they ducked into the woods. They had made it. They ran a few feet into the cover of the trees, and then she stopped, picking Max up to carry him through the darkness. He still said nothing.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said again, and he finally turned to look at her. Tears were streaming down her face.
‘You don’t look very beautiful when you cry,’ he said softly.
‘Sorry.’ She wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve.
‘That, of course, is much more lovely.’ He gave her a half-smile, and patted her gently on her less grimy arm.
‘We’ll get her back,’ Millie promised. ‘I just don’t know how yet.’
‘You will,’ said Max. ‘You will.’
Max guided Millie effortlessly to her bike, and they began the journey back across the fields towards town. They had only gone about a mile, however, when Millie felt the bike lurch beneath her.
‘What is it?’ asked Max.
‘Puncture,’ Millie replied. She was suddenly exhausted, as though all the night’s stresses had caught up with her at once. She stopped pedalling and began to dig through her bag, hoping, rather than expecting, to find a puncture repair kit.
‘Can you fix it?’ asked the cat.
‘No,’ she sighed. ‘A repair kit is the one thing I forgot to bring.’
‘You also forgot tissues,’ Max added helpfully, staring pointedly at her sleeve.
‘It’s one of the two things I forgot,’ she conceded. ‘I’m afraid it’ll be a slow walk home. You can sit on the saddle, though.’
They began to trudge wearily over the fields, Millie’s bike lights providing just enough illumination for her not to lose her footing.
She looked down at Max and thought what a miserable evening he must have had – first, the news about Monty, and then losing Celeste. She didn’t really know what to say, so she decided to start with the obvious.
‘I’m really sorry about your friend Monty,’ she began.
‘Don’t be.’ Max gazed up at her and blinked slowly. ‘He was an excellent cat. Clever, dignified and stubborn. He punished them the only way he could, and he paid the price for it. But it is what he chose to do – I’m sad for myself, because I shall miss him very much, and for Celeste, because she has lost her father. But I cannot be sad for him. He did what he thought was right.’
Millie nodded.
‘We’ll make them pay for it,’ she whispered.
‘Yes,’ said Max. ‘Yes, we shall. By rescuing Celeste,’ he finished grandly, rather spoiling it by adding, ‘Again.’
Millie nodded. The plan to rescue Celeste might have to come tomorrow, she thought. She was just too tired to think of something now.
‘Do you think Jake made it out of there all right?’ she said, suddenly remembering their partner in crime. She realised rather guiltily that she had quite forgotten about him in all the excitement.
‘I hope so,’ said Max, who had also failed to give Jake a moment’s thought since they’d heard the Alsatian pursuing him at the start of the rescue. ‘Should we call him?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Millie, frowning as she pushed her bike over a small trench. ‘I mean, there’s no way he’d be home by now, is there?’ She looked at her phone, checking he hadn’t left a message, and noting with astonishment that it was still only midnight. Had it really only been an hour since they saw him run off into the night? She supposed so. ‘Depending on how far he was chased, he’s got to get back to wherever he left his bike – at least, I guess he has a bike.’
Max nodded slowly – they knew almost nothing about the boy. ‘He’ll probably call you w
hen he gets home, wherever that is,’ said the cat, reassuring.
‘Mmm,’ said Millie, hoping he was right.
It had been a long evening for Jake, too. He had led the security guard away from the building with ease. Jake had outrun him and his Alsatian by some distance, mainly because the man had appeared to believe that panting, ‘Oi, you! Stop!’ was an effective security measure. Jake had gone way past the lab and into the woods before doubling back to the main road, once he was sure he’d lost his pursuers for good. He’d hopped over the fence and waited by the side of the road for a while, in the hope of catching up with Millie and Max later, and seeing the rest of the cats.
He had still been sitting by a bush on the grass verge when a van, with the unmistakable air of being driven by someone who’d lost his way, had pootled past him. Jake had ducked behind the bush, and hidden until the van went out of sight. Ten minutes later, the van had come back again. Frowning, Jake had watched it retrace its path, and then turn uncertainly into the laboratory driveway. He had sworn under his breath. He’d vaulted back over the fence and sprinted towards the lab. He had to warn Millie. What if the van was going after her and Max? Maybe someone had tipped them off. He had tugged his phone from his pocket and tried to call her. The screen had flashed at him instantly, telling him it had no network coverage. Jake had sworn again. Then he’d thought for a moment, wondering what he should do.
He’d almost made it back to the lab, so he pressed himself against the back of the building, hoping that he’d be able to hear what was happening without being seen. He’d held his breath as he’d watched the driver climb out of his van. He had been standing there, leaning against the wall, motionless and silent, for several minutes, just as Millie and Max were crouched behind the lobby desk only a few feet away. He hadn’t been able to hear what was happening at all, but he’d been almost sure he had seen a couple of dark, cat-sized shapes run past him, melting into the black undergrowth. He’d strained to see the driver get back into his van, without Millie, Max or any other cats, so far as he could see. He’d waited a few minutes more, hoping to see Millie leave safely. Suddenly, he had heard a shout, ‘Oi! You again! You wait right there!’
Jake had rolled his eyes, and started to run again. This time, he’d gone straight back to the main road, now he knew he could get over the fence easily enough. The Alsatian had barked delightedly, seeming to think this was a new game arranged especially to alleviate his considerable boredom. Jake had launched himself over the fence and across the road into the ditch on the far side, where he’d left his bike earlier. He had lain there for a few minutes, panting hard and trying to get his breath back. He’d jumped in surprise as he felt fur brush past his head.
‘Wha—?’
‘Sorry,’ a cat had said, in a perfectly modulated voice, as though he were reading the evening news. At least, Jake assumed it was a cat – he could see nothing in the darkness except two huge green eyes, staring at him. ‘And thank you, by the way. That was a splendid distraction. Very good indeed.’
‘Er . . . you’re welcome,’ Jake had replied, still not fully comfortable with a cat talking to him, even when it was complimenting him.
‘I’m afraid I must be off,’ added the cat. ‘Really, though – thanks. Marvellous work.’
Jake waited for a few more minutes, wondering if he dared head back into the laboratory grounds a third time and risk the chance that the Alsatian had now learned the rules of the new nocturnal race. He looked at his phone, which now winked a signal at him. He hadn’t missed any calls or received any texts. So maybe Millie and Max were OK? He would text them, just to check. As he began to type the message, he heard another engine. He peered through the foliage, and saw a car’s headlights racing down the driveway from the lab. He shoved the phone back in his pocket and picked up his bike. Whoever it was could have Millie and Max prisoner, and the thought made him go cold. Had the mission been a failure? He would follow them. The car drove right past him, only a few inches away, and he felt a rush of relief – he was certain he hadn’t seen Millie in the car. Unless she was a prisoner in the boot. Jake leaped onto his bike and began to give chase. He slammed his feet onto the pedals, and kept up with the car for perhaps half a mile before its powerful engine took it around a bend and out of sight. Cursing again in frustration, Jake only then realised that his bike lights were still in his pocket. He had been using the car’s headlights to guide him, and now he was in total darkness. Two seconds later, he was lying in the ditch at the side of the road once again, on top of his smashed phone and broken, battered bicycle.
‘Ow,’ he muttered.
As they continued to walk, past the fields and now on roads at last, Millie thought about the cats they’d managed to release.
‘Where do you think they all went?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Max admitted. ‘There were only a few who were native to Great Britain. The rest came from Belgium and France.’
‘Do you think they’ll be OK?’
‘Of course they will. They are cats, self-reliant by nature. They will hide out here for a while, try to find some softhearted people to adopt, or they will head home.’
‘How would they get home?’ Millie was mystified.
‘By boat? Or, more probably, by the Eurostar, I think. Less water.’ Max shrugged.
‘You think they’ll get the Eurostar home?’ Millie looked at him suspiciously, convinced he must be teasing her.
‘I think perhaps this exercise is affecting your brain. Yes. They will get the train to Calais or Brussels, and they will make their separate ways home from there.’ Max said it matter-of-factly, as if the cats were no different from businessmen returning home from an overseas conference.
‘But how would they get through customs?’
‘Easy. They are not carrying anything illegal.’
Millie now looked at Max very hard.
‘Oh, I see,’ he continued. ‘You mean, how will they get through unnoticed?’ He gave her a proper smile, the first since they had found out about Monty and lost Celeste.
‘Well, yes. Given that they won’t have tickets. Or passports. Or, you know, be people,’ Millie added, as she smiled back.
‘You think the train is just for people?’ Max was amazed.
‘Isn’t it?’
‘Of course not. They will go to Waterloo, they will hide among people’s bags and cases. They will sneak on board once they have been carried through customs.’
‘What about the X-ray machines?’
‘What about them? The cats aren’t carrying guns. They may not even have luggage.’
‘Well, it’ll pick up their bones, won’t it? You’ll see the skeletons of cats going through the machines.’
‘No, they will go through the metal-detecting part, like the people do.’
‘You seem to know a lot about this.’
‘Well, we discussed it a lot in the laboratory. How we would escape from there, how we would get away to London, or the coast, how we would get the train or a boat and arrive home. Between us, we knew quite a lot.’
‘So I see.’ Millie thought this quite an understatement. ‘And what about you?’ she asked in a small voice.
‘What about me?’ Max was confused.
‘Don’t you want to go home?’
He gave her a long, even look.
‘Yes,’ he said finally.
‘Oh.’ Millie pressed her lips together, trying not to cry for the second time that evening. These cats were an emotional business.
‘Ah, Millie, don’t be sad.’
‘OK.’
‘No, I don’t mean just stop being sad. I mean you shouldn’t be sad. I’m not going home straight away. Not until we have rescued Celeste, and then exposed this man, this Arthur Shepard.’ Max spat out his name. ‘And then I was hoping you might help me to get home. To be honest, I was hoping you’d come with me, and help me to explain everything to Sofie and Stef.’
‘OK.’
‘
It’s not OK, is it?’ asked the cat shrewdly.
‘Not really. I’m sorry. I mean, I know it’s your home, and of course you want to get back there. It’s not like you ever wanted to leave.’
Max shrugged, casually, as though being kidnapped were only a small inconvenience for a cat of his stature.
‘I suppose I just like having you around. I’ve got used to it. I’ll be bored without you.’
‘Of course you won’t be bored. Surely there is some industrial espionage you need to be getting on with,’ suggested Max.
Millie giggled. ‘You’re probably right.’
‘Besides, you will be back at school soon, won’t you?’
‘In September, yes.’
‘Well, think how bored I would be, waiting around for you to come home and entertain me every day. Haverham is not as exciting as Brussels for exploring, you know.’
‘Well, think how bored I’ll be every holiday without you to muck up my plans of sitting around and feeling sorry for myself. In Haverham, which is not as exciting as anywhere,’ she pointed out.
‘You will have no time to do that, then, either. You will have to come over and visit me.’
‘Really?’
‘Of course really. You will like Sofie very much. And you will like Stef too, I’m sure. You will definitely come to visit.’
Millie wasn’t sure if he was asking her or telling her.
‘OK.’ She leaned over and scritched Max behind the ears. And they walked on.
Chapter Twenty-Three
They were not too far from Millie’s house now, and there was still no word from Jake.
‘Maybe I should ring him?’ Millie wondered.
Max shrugged. ‘Is that wise?’
‘I could text him,’ she thought out loud. ‘No, I can’t. They’d see my number. I mean, if he’s been capture— If he doesn’t have his phone any more,’ she rushed, unable to say aloud what they were both thinking. She hoped he hadn’t been caught by the security man. Or, worse, by the Alsatian.
‘I could do it from a phone box. No,’ she corrected herself again. ‘They could track us to the phone box.’
‘Do you need me to contribute to this conversation, or are you happy having it with yourself?’ asked Max, in tones of some exasperation. He was very fond of Millie now, but sometimes she was a bit hard to follow.
The Great Escape Page 10
