Run, Zan, Run

by Cathy MacPhail

  ‘She’s dangerous.’ Her mother’s words rushed at her like a cold breath of wind.

  ‘He said … you killed your mother and father.’ Katie watched her expression. It didn’t change.

  ‘And do you believe that?’

  ‘Why is it so important you’re not caught then?’ She had to know the truth. She had to.

  ‘Don’t make me remember,’ Zan said softly.

  ‘I have to know, Zan.’

  It seemed an age before Zan answered. Katie forgot everything, where she was, how afraid she was, how much they needed to get away. There wasn’t another sound in the warehouse, nothing except Katie’s deep breaths and Zan’s soft words when they came.

  ‘They were bad to me, Katie, so bad. I kept running away. The police kept bringing me back. No one would believe me. I was the bad one. The troublemaker.’

  Katie could understand that. Hadn’t the same thing happened to her?

  ‘I didn’t burn the house down … you must believe that. My parents were mixed up with bad people, dangerous people. There’d been some kind of quarrel. They were scared, my parents, terrified. They took it out on me. The night it happened, I was running away again. But I didn’t burn the house down. I could never do that, no matter how bad they were. But the police would never believe a child. A “bad” child like me. And I was too afraid to wait around to tell them the truth. They wouldn’t have believed me anyway …’

  ‘The truth …?’

  ‘I saw him, Katie … the man who did burn the house down. And he saw me. He said he’d get me one day … I’ve been running ever since.’

  ‘Who?’ Katie asked.

  ‘I’ll never forget his face, Katie. The house was dark. They were sleeping upstairs … and I was sneaking out of the back door. I saw his shadow in the living-room. I stopped … and suddenly …’ Zan drew in her breath sharply, reliving the moment ‘… suddenly he struck a match … and it lit up his face, his eyes … made them look so strange and eerie. I’ll never forget it, Katie … those deep sunk eyes … that long thin dark face.’

  Chapter Fourteen

  Katie almost fell off the ladder! Zan grabbed her, clutching her sleeve just in time. ‘Katie! What is it!’

  Katie scrambled up the ladder, all fear of heights gone in an instant. She was breathless. ‘Zan, this man! He’s here! He’s Whittaker!’

  Even in the dark, Katie could see the colour drain from Zan’s face. ‘I should have known. I should have realized.’

  ‘But why? Even my father thought he was genuine.’

  Zan was already stuffing her pitiful belongings into a black bin bag. ‘I have to get out of here!’

  Katie began to help. ‘I know, I know.’ She could feel beads of sweat on her brow, feel her heart pounding inside her. She should have known too. Her gut feeling the very first time she saw him had told her there was something sinister about Whittaker. Why hadn’t she listened to that little voice? Instead of all the common sense of her parents. Her parents were high on common sense – most grown-ups were. He has a licence, authority, therefore he must only have her best interests at heart. What a great cover for a man looking for someone! A private investigator, with clients whose confidence he had to keep.

  ‘Oh, come on, Zan. Hurry!’ Katie put one foot over the loft and froze once again. The ladder wasn’t there!

  ‘You’re no’ goin’ anywhere, Cassidy!’

  Zan shrank back against the wall. Katie looked down. Way below was Ivy, just discernible in a shaft of moonlight, and with her Lindy and Michelle and the Posse.

  ‘You’re dead easy to trick, d’you know that, Cassidy?’ Katie could only just make out her grin. ‘I knew you’d come runnin’ to save your pal.’

  Smarter than we gave her credit for, Katie thought.

  ‘What pal? There’s no one else here.’ Her voice was shaky. But they couldn’t possibly know Zan was up here with her. Katie pulled back from their view. ‘They can’t know you’re here,’ she whispered to Zan.

  Zan nodded.

  Katie called down again. ‘I don’t know what your plan was, but I’m up here by myself.’ She said it with as much conviction as she could muster.

  ‘Think I’m stupit? I know she’s up there wi’ you.’

  No, you don’t, Katie thought. You think she is. You believe she is. But you don’t know she is. There was still a chance.

  ‘Michelle!’ Ivy ordered. ‘You run and get Whi-aker.’ She said his name as if it had no t’s. Whi-aker.

  Michelle laughed inanely, and the sound of her running footsteps moved off into the distance. Whittaker didn’t know where Zan was. Not yet. No time to lose. Still a chance.

  ‘I’ll just keep yous up there till he comes, and see when he comes. Know whit he says …’ Ivy was laughing already. Obviously they had discussed ‘what he says’ for a long time. ‘Whi-aker says we can dae what we like wi’ you. As long as he gets the other one.’

  ‘He’s going to be disappointed. There isn’t another one up here.’

  ‘Aye, there is so. So there is?’

  Katie peered over the loft again. Ivy was looking round at the others. They all looked slightly baffled. They didn’t know how to answer. There was still a chance. A chance for Zan at least.

  ‘See if that’s right, Ivy,’ one of the Posse was saying.

  ‘That Whi-aker’ll be really mad at us.’

  ‘We’ll no’ get the reward.’

  ‘Why don’t you come up here and check?’ Katie suggested.

  Ivy’s eyes widened in alarm. ‘You’ve got to be jokin’. Think I’m stupit! I’m keepin’ you up there till Whi-aker comes.’

  ‘You’re going to look stupid when he does come, and I’m up here alone.’

  ‘I think you better check, Ivy.’

  ‘She’s kiddin’ us on, can you no’ see that?’

  The others weren’t so sure, and neither now was Ivy.

  Zan pulled at Katie’s sleeve. ‘What are you doing?’ she said, in a voice even softer than a whisper.

  ‘If I can convince them I’m on my own … Mr Whittaker will stop looking for you. You’ll have a chance to get away.’

  ‘But you, Katie …’ Zan clutched her sleeve tighter. ‘You’d do that for me?’

  ‘You have to get away, Zan,’ Katie said.

  ‘You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met, Katie.’

  ‘Me?’ She didn’t feel very brave. Actually, she was scared stiff. All she knew was that Zan had to escape from Whittaker. Zan was in even more danger than Katie.

  ‘Can you hide up here?’ Katie asked, her eyes searching round the platform. Old sacks in the corner, an old box pushed against a wall. ‘Can you?’ she repeated.

  ‘Sure, I’m the best at hiding.’ For the first time there was a smile in Zan’s voice. ‘You leave the hiding to me.’

  Katie peered back down to where Ivy stood. ‘I’ll come down. Then if there is another one up here, you can keep her up here till Whittaker comes.’

  Katie could see the fear in their eyes. As if they were afraid of her, of wee Katie Cassidy. They had hoped to keep her high up there till Whittaker came.

  Lindy grabbed Ivy’s shoulder. ‘That makes sense, Ivy. We’ll have Katie doon here and that other yin up there.’

  Ivy shook herself free. ‘I don’t trust her.’ She thought about it for a moment. ‘A’right. Come on doon. But I’m goin’ up there. I’ll see where this other yin is.’

  Katie turned to Zan. This might be the last time she would ever see her. She felt like crying. But it wasn’t the time to cry. ‘You be careful, Zan,’

  Zan nodded. ‘I’ll miss you, Katie …’

  They jumped at the sound of Ivy hooking the ladder against the platform. ‘Right. Doon here, you!’

  Katie put her foot over the loft and began to go down. She tried not to be afraid. ‘’Tis a far, far better thing that I do’ and all that. But she couldn’t help shaking as she went down. She hoped they thought it was the ladder. Ivy and Lindy and
the Posse were circled round her like vultures. Ivy grabbed her hair as soon as she stepped off the ladder. She pulled it back hard. Katie had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.

  ‘Hang on to her!’ she ordered and she passed Katie roughly to Lindy.

  ‘You goin’ up there?’ Lindy asked.

  Katie could see Ivy was afraid. She saw her swallow. ‘Aye,’ she said at last.

  She climbed slowly, and the ladder shook even more than it had when Katie had been on it. Katie prayed. She prayed Zan had hidden well. But where? There was nowhere to hide. Finally, Ivy reached the top. She stood on the top rung, her eyes searching the platform.

  ‘She must be here,’ Katie heard her say. ‘She’s hiding.’ Ivy climbed on to the platform. Katie held her breath. If Ivy searched for her she had to find her. Katie began to struggle. If she could run away, create some kind of diversion … but the three girls holding her were stronger than she was, and angrier than she could ever be.

  Suddenly Ivy shouted out triumphantly. ‘She’s here! Under the sacks. I can see her moving. I’ve got her!’

  Katie felt her legs turn to jelly. It’s all over, she thought.

  There was a sudden terrified scream. Ivy appeared at the top of the ladder and began to scramble down. ‘Rats!’ she was screaming. ‘There’s millions of rats up here!’

  Rats! Katie realized with relief. They had been friendly after all.

  ‘I told you she wasn’t there,’ Katie said when Ivy jumped from the bottom step.

  Her face was red with anger. ‘You’re going to be sorry.’ Ivy prodded Katie with her finger, pushing her back against the wall. Still held tight by Lindy, Katie started to struggle. If she could get out of here, Zan would have a chance to climb down the ladder and maybe, just maybe, she could sneak off and be safely away before Whittaker arrived. Ivy was pushing her hard and Lindy’s fingers were biting into her arm. They were both stronger than she was. But not smarter, Katie reminded herself.

  ‘The rats!’ she shouted suddenly. ‘Look, the rats!’

  Ivy screamed and turned. Lindy let her go and bolted. Katie ran for all she was worth.

  They were after her in an instant. They’d been tricked. And that realization made them angrier than ever. If Katie could just make it outside the warehouse! She darted this way and that. Someone leaped at her and she sidestepped them. They landed hard on the ground beside her. Someone pushed her, she stumbled. She fell. Ivy was on her, grabbing her ankles. Somehow Katie got to her feet. But by that time the others had surrounded her.

  ‘Smart wee bitch!’ one of them said.

  ‘’Mon we’ll show her,’ said another.

  They were outside the warehouse, just. The moon cast eerie lights on the faces around Katie. At least, Zan could get away. Zan could be safe. Her relief at that was tinged with fear.

  What were they going to do to her now?

  Ivy’s face was so close she spat the words at Katie. ‘Thought you were that clever, didn’t you? Thought you’d get away, didn’t ye?’

  ‘We’re a’ goin’ to get you now.’

  Katie closed her eyes. Nothing could save her now.

  In that instant, there was a frightened yelp. Katie opened her eyes in time to see one of the Posse fall face down in the mud. The girl screamed. ‘Something grabbed my ankle there!’

  ‘Where?’ Ivy’s question became a croak as she was yanked back, her arms flailing, trying to keep her balance. Failing. She fell on her back. Splat! The rest of the group took a step back, their eyes darting all around. What was happening?

  Katie knew. Divide and rule. Zan! That thought gave Katie the strength to struggle free. With as much power as she could find, she pushed them aside. Taken by surprise, they fell easily. Ivy scrambled to her feet, crouching. She grabbed for Katie. Katie sidestepped her. At the same moment, Ivy was caught by the ankles again. Again she went down with a frustrated scream. Katie caught sight of Zan’s face in the moonlight. Triumphant.

  ‘Run for it!’ Zan mouthed.

  Katie ran. Zan ran beside her. He who fights and runs away …

  ‘Why?’ Katie whispered as they ran. ‘You could have got away!’

  ‘Too many of them, kid. I couldn’t leave you to that.’

  Katie could hardly believe it. A few moments ago, all was lost. Now, they were free. Both of them. They had done it together. Again. She felt like whooping with joy. She glanced at Zan as they ran. She looked as delighted as Katie.

  At that instant they both collided with someone, looming out of the dark, arms outstretched to bar their way.

  ‘Going somewhere?’

  It was Whittaker, with his low, sinister … oh, so sinister voice.

  Katie had never seen Zan so afraid. He had her tight by the arm. Katie had to help her. Above everything, Zan had to get away from Whittaker! More in sheer fright than anything else, Katie bit hard into his hand. He screamed through his teeth, and for a split second released Zan to push Katie from him. It was all the time Zan needed. She was off like the wind. Whittaker drew in an angry breath. He threw Katie from him roughly, then he was after Zan. Katie lay there for a second, watching them both disappear into the pitch darkness of the warehouse.

  ‘You’re no’ gonny get away this time, scunner.’ Ivy, closing in on her. Katie shrank back. She tried to stand up. But Lindy stood on her hand, squashing it into the soft mud. Katie bit her lip. She wouldn’t cry. No matter what they did.

  Ivy grinned viciously. ‘I’m goin’ to enjoy kickin’ lumps out o’ you.’ She looked around. ‘We all are, aren’t we, lassies.’

  No one knew where she was.

  No one knew Zan existed.

  It was hopeless praying for help.

  Nothing could save her now!

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ivy lifted her foot, preparing for that first vicious kick. Katie closed her eyes, and prayed anyway.

  ‘Don’t you dare touch her!!!’

  The words boomed into the cold night air. Somewhere a bird whooped up across the dark sky.

  Katie gasped and opened one eye. Her father’s voice? But how?

  ‘You leave my wee girl alone!’ Her mother! It was a miracle. The cavalry had arrived.

  Ivy and her cohorts, mouths agape, took a few steps back. They couldn’t believe it either.

  ‘You leave my friend be!’ Nazeem too?

  Out of the gloom they all emerged, like a line of advancing soldiers. Her father, his face grim and angry. Her mother, worried. Nazeem, looking like a fierce little warrior. Miss Withers. Miss Withers? What was happening?

  ‘You were all ready to get stuck right into her, weren’t you? All of you against one little girl.’ Miss Withers sounded disgusted. Then she added, ‘I should have done something about this a long time ago.’

  The two policemen were there too. Blue-eyes and Ginger.

  Ivy stood rooted to the spot, too terrified, surprised, shocked, to move at all. The game, as they say, was definitely up.

  Katie’s mother ran to her and gathered her up in her arms. ‘Oh, my wee darling, are you all right?’

  Katie was puzzled. It was all like a dream. ‘But … I don’t understand.’

  Nazeem bounded up to her enthusiastically. ‘That was me. You see, at your house, I saw Ivy and all of them follow you when you ran off. They’d probably followed me and waited to see what you would do. I knew they were up to something, so I followed them. They led me here, and I knew you were in trouble, so I ran home to get your mum and dad.’

  Her mother took up the story. ‘I came in from the garden and you’d gone, and the door was wide open. I thought something terrible had happened. I called the police.’

  ‘The police were there when I arrived,’ Nazeem broke in. ‘I told them everything … And so was Miss Withers.’ Nazeem went on, as if the teacher’s presence still baffled her.

  ‘I was angry. You didn’t come to school. Your parents didn’t come to the meeting I’d arranged. So, after school, I decided to come to your hou
se.’ Miss Withers crouched down beside Katie and her mother. Her voice became soft, her eyes softer still. This was Miss Withers? ‘I’m so glad I did.’

  She looked at Ivy. ‘When I think of what those girls were going to do to you …’

  Her father leaned down to her. ‘But Katie, why did you come to this awful place to begin with?’

  Katie jumped to her feet. Zan! That should have been her first thought, but things were happening so fast.

  ‘Zan! We’ve got to help her!’ They all looked puzzled. Her parents, Miss Withers, Nazeem, even the police, already preparing to lead Ivy and co. off to their police car. Katie began to pull away from her mother.

  ‘She does exist, Mum. And Whittaker is after her. Believe me. She didn’t burn the house down. Whittaker did. Zan saw him do it, and he’s been after her ever since.’ She could see disbelief flit across their faces, but they had to believe her this time. They had to. ‘Don’t you see, Dad? That’s why I couldn’t tell anyone about her. She’s been afraid of Whittaker … and now he’s got her.’ Suddenly, she remembered the terror in Zan’s eyes. ‘Please!’ she screamed.

  Her father glanced round at the police. ‘Come on. Where did they go, Katie?’

  She pointed at the warehouse. ‘In there.’

  They all ran, spreading out as they searched, only the moon darting in and out of clouds lighting their way until the policemen switched on their torches and two shafts of light weaved across their path. They would never find her, Katie thought. Perhaps she would never know what happened to Zan. She prayed again. Prayed for another miracle.

  Blue-eyes beamed his light to the rafters above, and there, suddenly caught for a moment, were two figures.

  ‘There!’ Katie shouted, pulling at her father’s sleeve. ‘She’s up there!’

  Light from the two torches merged on the beam above. Everyone down below gasped. Zan was hanging by her fingers from one of those old creaky beams. It didn’t look as if it was going to hold for long, and lying across it was Whittaker, his face in the torchlight more sinister than ever.