Faster Than Lightning

by Pam Harvey

  Ignoring the pain in her leg, Ling lunged towards Angus, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him away from the horse trembling on the ground.

  Angus fought to get the air into his lungs. For a sickening moment he thought it wouldn’t happen. Panic swept over him. He stared at Ling’s face, trying to focus on something. She smiled.

  ‘Just breathe, Angus. That’s all you’ve gotta do.’

  He closed his eyes, concentrating on trying to inhale.

  ‘Breathe, Angus, breathe.’

  He listened to Ling’s voice and took in a small amount of air. Shakily, he sat up.

  The horse lay a few metres away, silent and still. Breathing more deeply, Angus stood up and went to it, kneeling at the horse’s head.

  A four-wheel drive pulled up alongside them. Natasha jumped out and ran to where Angus and the horse were.

  ‘No!’ she said. ‘Not another one gone.’ She stood over him, wringing her hands. ‘Hang on, you’re Hannah Williams’ friend, aren’t you?’

  ‘You killed this horse,’ Angus lashed out, ignoring her question. ‘Cloning Gale Force. It’s wrong: it makes the horses sick. All the horses back there in that secret stable of yours, they’re all Lightning Strikes. You’ve made a whole army of them. But you stuffed up. Some of them are dying. S-some…some of them…’

  ‘Are dead?’ Natasha finished his sentence for him. ‘It’s sad, isn’t it? But it’s so exciting too! Do you see what we’re doing here? We’ve made history. We’ve made living things out of dead things.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Natasha knelt down beside Angus and he pulled back, wary of the way her eyes were glittering. She reached out a hand and grasped his arm, long pink nails digging into his skin. ‘You know. We took a dead famous racehorse and brought him back to life.’ She waited expectantly and suddenly Angus realised what she meant.

  ‘You stole Gale Force from the exhibition at the museum?’

  ‘Not me, exactly. And not the whole of Gale Force. Just a piece of his skin.’

  A phone rang. Natasha let Angus go and stood up. She pulled her mobile out and flipped it open. Ling slipped in quietly beside Angus, putting a hand through his.

  ‘Tom, you better send Jim and Kevin around to clear up the mess here,’ Natasha said. She turned to the dead horse, bending down and looking behind its right ear. ‘24B6,’ she added. ‘That horse was due to be euthanased next week anyway, wasn’t it?’

  Angus stared at Tash, dumbfounded.

  ‘What do you mean, euthanased?’

  ‘Didn’t you hear that shot before? That’s what I mean by euthanased.’ Natasha lowered her voice, said a few more words, then snapped her phone shut. ‘Come along, you two.’

  She headed for the car, not bothering to check that they were following. Angus looked back up the track, but his stomach still hurt from being winded and Ling was limping. There was no running for it this time. They followed Natasha into the car. Angus leant back against the seat, closed his eyes and prayed that the others had had more success than he and Ling.

  ‘Someone’s coming,’ Gabby whispered. The door flew open. Angus and Ling were bundled into the laboratory.

  ‘What happened to you?’ E.D. said, looking from one to the other as the door slammed shut.

  ‘Don’t ask,’ Angus replied. ‘Are you guys okay?’

  ‘Fine. Having a ball.’ E.D. tried to lift his arms. ‘You’ve arrived just in time to join the party.’

  ‘Idiot,’ said Hannah. ‘Untie us, quickly.’

  Angus struggled with the knots, finally pulling their hands free.

  ‘Thanks, mate,’ said E.D. He turned to Hannah, rubbing his wrists. ‘No offence, but I don’t want to get that close to you again.’

  Hannah ignored him. ‘What’s that?’ she asked Angus, pointing to the ceiling.

  ‘A fire alarm?’ Angus said, after a moment.

  ‘Exactly. And what are they?’ Hannah continued.

  Gabby was shaking the door.

  ‘It’s locked,’ she sighed, returning to the others.

  ‘Of course it is. What did you expect?’ E.D. sighed.

  ‘Angus?’ Hannah persisted.

  ‘Are they sprinklers?’ Angus said tiredly, looking up at the small metal devices spread evenly across the ceiling. ‘I should’ve let all those horses out,’ he added, turning to Ling.

  ‘Got it in one, Angus.’ Hannah was feeling better now that he’d joined them.

  ‘So what’s your plan, Hannah?’ Ling asked, speaking for the first time.

  ‘Watch,’ she said, pulling a rubbish bin filled with papers from under a table. ‘Matches?’

  Gabby took the box of matches from the drawer and passed them to Hannah.

  ‘Are you sure this is going to work?’ E.D. said.

  ‘Of course I’m not sure it’s going to work, but have you got a better idea?’

  E.D. looked over at the windows, frowning.

  ‘I’m sure we could smash our way out…’ he mumbled, heading over to the far side of the room again.

  Hannah bent down and lit the papers. A thin trail of smoke spiralled towards the white tiled ceiling.

  ‘Move it a bit to the left,’ Angus said, giving the bin a gentle push with his foot. They backed away as the smoke got thicker.

  In the distance, a bell started ringing.

  ‘A fire alarm?’ Ling asked, her face suddenly alive.

  ‘Yes! That will bring the fire brigade, and probably the Sarge too,’ said E.D.

  Everyone looked up as a gurgling, whooshing sound came from above.

  ‘The sprinklers,’ Gabby gasped, her hands immediately covering her hair.

  ‘Quick, everyone. To the door,’ Hannah shouted.

  A dozen sprinklers sprayed water all over the room and everything inside it. The fire in the bin got smokier as the water doused the flames.

  Click.

  Hannah grinned. ‘Emergency exit!’

  ‘Bloody brilliant,’ E.D. said, patting her on the back and charging to the opened door.

  ‘E.D.! Wait!’ she called.

  He flung the door open and froze. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

  ‘They’ve shot King,’ Sean cried, then ran past E.D. and into the arms of his sister.

  Chapter 19

  Only Ling saw how pale Angus went. The others were looking at Sean. His face was red and splotchy. Hannah knelt down in front of him. ‘How do you know that, Sean?’

  ‘I heard the gun. They said they were going to kill him and they have!’

  ‘Did you see anything?’

  ‘No. I only heard the gun.’

  Hannah looked at Angus. ‘It was probably the same gunshot we heard.’

  ‘Come on,’ said Angus desperately. ‘We’ve got to find King.’

  The fire bell was louder in the kitchen. Sprinklers went off as they ran through and burst outside.

  ‘Looks like we’ve caused real problems,’ shouted Hannah.

  ‘Not us,’ said E.D., looking at the stables. ‘Those dudes have gone crazy!’

  There were fires everywhere. The roof of the stables was blazing. Stacked hay bales were smoking. In the distance, Angus saw Jim running around the edge of a shed, a lit stick in his hand. Further behind him, another man was dousing a tack room with something from a can.

  ‘They’re burning the evidence!’ screamed Hannah.

  ‘The horses!’ yelled Angus. ‘We have to let them out.’

  ‘What about the rabbits?’ Gabby had her hands in her hair and her face was twisted.

  ‘We’ll get the rabbits, Gabby.’ Hannah pushed her towards the house. ‘Quick, before they set the place on fire.’ They ran back inside.

  ‘Check the stables!’ shouted Angus, running to the burning building.

  The stables were dark and smoky. Angus and E.D. went inside the doorway and stopped. All the gates were open. Despite the dark, they could both tell: the stables were empty.

  ‘They didn’t have to get
rid of these ones,’ shouted Angus to E.D. ‘These horses were normal.’

  ‘They would’ve taken them out a long time ago.’

  ‘Angus!’ shouted Ling. ‘What about the other stables?’

  ‘We’ve got to get to them before they’re burnt!’

  Angus ran, not caring whether anyone else was following. The thought of all those horses trapped in their stalls made him run as fast as he ever had in his life. Panic filled him. Where was King? Was he safe? From the bush ahead, smoke began to rise in a grey cloud.

  The tractor was almost on his heels before he noticed it. ‘Hey, Angus!’ E.D. called from the driver’s seat. ‘Want a ride, dude?’

  Angus ran beside the vehicle until he could get a clear jump. He made for the cabin and felt two hands grab him. ‘Got you,’ said Ling in his ear just before he lurched in, sprawling on top of her.

  There was no time to be embarrassed about it.

  ‘How did you—?’

  ‘I got in with E.D.’ Ling grimaced. ‘Sort of wish I hadn’t now.’

  E.D. was driving at his best—or worst—crashing along the track, taking out small trees on either side. He didn’t slow when the track turned and went downhill. Ling and Angus were flung against the windscreen. ‘Lucky Paul showed me how to drive this thing,’ yelled E.D., a wide grin on his face. ‘Hang on, people!’

  He stopped smiling when he saw the stables. They were blazing like the others, but this time it was clear they weren’t empty. The screams of terrified horses rose above the tractor noise.

  Angus jumped out before the tractor had stopped and ran into the stables. Thick smoke choked him but he kept going, undoing each gate as he went past. On the other side of the laneway, he could just make out Ling doing the same thing. Horses galloped past them, making for the open air.

  At the end of the stables, Angus turned to Ling. She was coughing and bent over. He grabbed her hand. ‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘We’ve done all we can.’

  They ran together, heads low, up the laneway and out into the yard where E.D. had stopped the tractor and was trying to hose the stables down.

  ‘It’s okay,’ yelled Angus. ‘We got them all out.’

  ‘But I can still hear one.’ E.D. sprayed the hose along the roof. ‘Listen!’

  The noise of the burning stable was loud. Angus strained to hear anything else. E.D. was right, though. A horse was neighing, a loud familiar sound. ‘King!’

  ‘He isn’t in the stables,’ Ling said, still holding Angus’s hand. ‘We know that.’

  ‘Did you check behind them?’ yelled E.D., waving his hose. ‘I think it’s coming from down there.’

  Angus ran along the edge of the building. The bush had caught alight as well and trees dropped glowing gum leaves around him. Two cars and a horse float were parked nearby—a horse float with a broken window. Through the empty space, Angus could just make out a chestnut horse’s head flinging up and down in fright.

  ‘King!’

  He ran to the back of the float and let it down with a thud. King wasn’t tied up and backed out straight away. Angus caught the lead rope in one hand and King pushed his nose into the boy. ‘You’re safe,’ said Angus, tears running down his face. ‘That’s the main thing.’

  He led the horse out into the clearing, swung up on his broad back and rode to the front of the stables. E.D. was in the tractor again. His hosing hadn’t done any good: the stables were now an inferno. Ling leaned out of the cabin next to him. ‘You found him!’

  ‘Yeah! He’s okay! Let’s get back to the others.’

  King led the way up the track. The tractor revved and bounced behind him. Angus couldn’t help thinking that he had the more comfortable ride. They burst out of the bush and galloped towards the house.

  The old homestead was alight as well. Orange flames shot into the sky, but Angus didn’t see them. He had his eyes on the police car and three fire trucks parked near the house. Angus pulled King up in the yard, looking around anxiously for Hannah and the others.

  ‘Angus!’ screamed Hannah, running over to him from the safety of the police car.

  Angus noticed both Tom Bentley and Natasha being marched towards a dark, unmarked car further back from the others. So they hadn’t got away. Probably still trying to destroy evidence, he thought, satisfied.

  ‘Where are the others?’ he asked.

  Hannah’s face crumpled. ‘Gabby’s in the car. But we don’t know where Sean is.’

  Angus gasped. ‘What?’

  ‘I saw him when we’d got the rabbits out. I know he didn’t go with E.D. and Ling in the tractor. But then he just disappeared.’

  Angus pushed King into a trot and headed towards the house. People were standing in groups, including a handcuffed Natasha and Tom. They were watching the fires and Natasha was crying. Not for the horses, thought Angus, just for the destruction of her experiments. He rode past, ignoring police officers who were waving and calling out to him, and swung around the stables, giving the fiery building a wide berth.

  There were a lot of places a small boy could hide at the back of the property: sheds and cars and even old barrels left scattered about. ‘Sean!’ Angus called as he went. ‘Sean, where are you?’ His search took him further and further from the stables.

  King noticed them first. He snorted and baulked. To Angus’s right, a small grubby boy stood with his arms around the neck of a lanky black foal.

  ‘Look, Angus,’ said Sean in a scratchy voice. ‘Look what I rescued.’

  Angus slid from King’s back and put his hand out to touch the white snip on the foal’s nose.

  ‘I did good, didn’t I, Angus?’ Sean was trembling, but there was no way he was letting the foal go.

  Angus smiled at him. ‘You did real good.’

  Chapter 20

  ‘And they’re racing!’

  The crowd stood up and cheered as twenty-two horses leapt from the starting stalls and galloped along the green turf.

  Mr Mac trained his glasses on a horse in midfield.

  ‘Let him be,’ he muttered. ‘Keep him steady.’

  Angus stood beside him. ‘Looking good, Dad.’

  ‘Just got to keep to the race plan.’

  Hannah raised her binoculars and stared around at the crowd. ‘Well, at least I got one good thing out of Tash—the binoculars.’

  Angus grinned. ‘Doing some boy watching, Hannah?’

  Hannah grunted.

  ‘And Sky Blue’s leading in the straight, followed by He’s Happening and Decades Ago. Big Fish’s trying hard next to School Days and Canola Flower.’

  ‘Angus, what’s the name of your father’s horse again?’ Gabby was staring hard at the form guide.

  ‘Jackie’s Joy. See? Just behind the leaders.’ He glanced down at her. ‘You’re looking at the wrong race. This is race five.’

  ‘Oh. Do you think horse eight has a chance?’

  ‘What’s its name?’

  ‘Double Dingo.’

  ‘Not a chance. Saw him race two weeks ago. He was so far behind he almost got caught up with the next race.’

  Gabby was silent.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ asked Hannah.

  ‘Well, he’s a black horse.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘I thought, you know, with Lightning Strikes being black, that Double Dingo might be a good horse to back.’

  Hannah looked at Gabby in amazement. ‘You put money on a racehorse because of its colour?’

  ‘Is there any other way to judge?’

  ‘And into the home stretch now. Jackie’s Joy coming up from the outside, but Sky Blue holding on to the leader’s position. Canola Flower trying hard. Jackie’s Joy getting the push from her jockey now and surging on. Yes, it’s Jackie’s Joy. Jackie’s Joy with her nose past the post first, followed by Sky Blue, Canola Flower…’

  ‘Got it!’ Mr Mac lowered his binoculars and turned to Angus. ‘I knew we had a good horse there.’ He bent down to speak into Angus’s ear. ‘We don�
�t need to clone a horse to have a winner.’

  ‘No way, Dad.’

  ‘I’ll go and see them.’ Mr Mac almost ran down the steps and disappeared into the crowd.

  ‘He’s a happy dude,’ said E.D. from the bench he was sprawled across.

  ‘We haven’t had a winner for a while.’ Angus sat down next to Hannah. ‘Seems like we’re on a few winners lately.’

  Ling walked over to where Angus was and sat on the other side of him. ‘How’s Sean getting on, Hannah?’

  Hannah rolled her eyes. ‘He’s on cloud nine! It’s really nice of your dad to let him keep the foal at your place, Angus.’

  ‘Well, it was strange, wasn’t it, that it turned out not to be a clone. It just happened to have a white snip like Lightning Strikes.’

  ‘Gale Force,’ said Ling.

  ‘Yeah. Gale Force. Lightning Strikes. Confusing?’

  ‘Not to us.’ E.D. put his sunglasses on and sighed happily. ‘We worked it out.’

  ‘So,’ said Ling, ‘Sean gets to keep the foal?’

  ‘That’s what the Sarge said. The clones have been impounded as evidence. The other racehorses that were at Bentley’s have been sold. That only leaves the foal. He’s too young to sell. In about four years’ time, Sean will be able to ride him.’

  ‘He’ll need some lessons first,’ said Hannah.

  ‘King will be happy about that.’ Angus grinned.

  ‘What’s going to happen to Tash?’ Gabby flicked her hair over her shoulder, combing it with her fingers.

  ‘Don’t know,’ said Hannah. ‘She’s in big trouble, though. First of all for being involved in the exhibition robbery, then for illegal cloning, then for going against the animal ethics code, then for—’

  ‘She’s going to be out of the way for a long time,’ said E.D. ‘A loooong time.’ He sat up. ‘Who’s got any money?’

  ‘Not me,’ said Hannah. ‘I’ve never got any money. Why?’

  ‘I feel the need for a pizza. Or ten.’

  ‘Well, don’t look at me,’ Gabby said crossly. ‘I gave all my money to a complete stranger to put on that black horse. And besides, I can’t eat pizza. I’m racing next weekend.’

  ‘You’re riding a racehorse next weekend?’ E.D. looked at her over his glasses.