Red Fever

by Caroline Clough

“Hey, never mind, what does it matter?” Toby nudged him with his elbow. “Tellies and computers are not much good to us now, eh? We’d never have managed without that torch, so …”

  “Shush!” Jamie held his finger to his lips. “Can you hear that? I thought I heard a tapping noise.” Toby listened to the dripping of the water and scampering of tiny feet on the wet ground.

  “That’s rats, that is,” he told Jamie. “I hope they haven’t super-evolved too. I didn’t like them to start with!”

  “No, not that noise. The one I can hear is more like a regular tapping — listen.”

  Belle whined and pushed at Jamie with her wet nose.

  “Yeah, you can hear it too, girl, can’t you?” said Jamie.

  Toby listened again. Very faintly, in the distance, there was a tap, tap, tap. Then it stopped and then it started again: tap, tap, tap.

  “Could just be a loose tile banging in the wind,” Toby said, shrugging his shoulders. Jamie looked unconvinced.

  They trudged on, skidding and sliding as the tunnel grew steeper and steeper, and the ground more slippery. They stopped to catch their breath. Ahead the tunnel split into two.

  “Which way?” asked Toby. “The left tunnel or the right?”

  “I don’t know,” said Jamie, swinging his torch in the direction of the left tunnel. “Maybe my mum’s left another clue?” He pointed the light at the floor. “There’s some more red cotton, here,” he cried, “but it looks like the water has moved it. It could have been pointing at either of these tunnels.”

  Toby knelt down and studied the strips of red cloth. They lay wet and crumpled in a small pile.

  “We’ll just have to take a guess,” he said. “Unless Belle knows?”

  Belle was standing with her nose pointing down the right-hand tunnel. Her tail was wagging slowly and her ears were pricked. She gave a short whine and looked at Jamie.

  “What is it, Belle?” Jamie turned to Toby. “Looks like the right tunnel’s the one of choice.”

  The boys quickly followed Belle along the right tunnel, which became less steep and soon levelled out.

  “Did your mum say what happened to the tunnel once it got to Marischal College?” asked Toby. “I mean, does it come out in the cellars? Or into the street?”

  “I don’t know; she never told me,” replied Jamie. “Wait, I can hear that tapping again.”

  “You and your flipping tapping!” said Toby. But it did seem that the tapping was getting louder. Belle was bounding ahead now, going so fast that the boys had trouble keeping up with her.

  “Slow down, Belle,” called Jamie as she disappeared round a corner in front of them. “We don’t know what’s round the next bend.”

  They chased after her, coming round the corner in hot pursuit, but there was no sign of her. In front of them was a pile of rubble that, in the flash of Jamie’s torchlight, looked like it filled the tunnel from top to bottom.

  “Whoa!” yelled Toby. “The roof of the tunnel must have collapsed. But where’s Belle?”

  “Maybe she’s under all that,” cried Jamie tearfully.

  “No, this isn’t a fresh fall of rocks,” Toby told him. “Here, give me the torch. You see how the dust has settled — if this had just happened the air would be thick with it.”

  “I’m so glad I’ve come with an engineer,” Jamie whispered, half to himself.

  “There must be a gap somewhere, and it won’t be a small one cos Belle managed to get through,” said Toby.

  “Belle? Belle? Come, Belle!” Jamie called his dog.

  There was a scrabbling, and some rocks and stones fell from the top of the rubble. A dirty half-black, half-white dog’s head poked out from behind a large boulder near the ceiling. With a mighty wriggle, Belle jumped down and raced towards them.

  “Belle, I’m so glad to see you!” sniffed Jamie, hugging the dusty dog.

  She whined and ran back to the mound of rocks, then back to Jamie. She gave a short bark and jumped up at him.

  “Quiet, Belle, we don’t want the dogs to know where we are,” Toby told her, but Belle continued to whine and run backwards and forwards.

  “She wants us to go with her,” said Jamie.

  “Well, we’ve not got much choice,” quipped Toby, starting to climb up the mound of rubble. His feet slipped and slid as he clutched at the crumbly rocks and pulled himself slowly to the top.

  Jamie trained the light from his torch on the spot where Belle had appeared. Belle jumped up past Toby and squeezed through a crevice between two big boulders.

  “Jamie, there’s light coming from the other side,” Toby called softly.

  Jamie hitched the rucksack up on his back and climbed up beside him. They perched on the chalky broken stones and peered through the cleft in the rocks. From somewhere, clear natural light was flooding into the tunnel on the other side.

  “I can hear that tapping noise again,” said Jamie.

  “So can I,” agreed Toby. He flattened himself against the rock and then crawled through the small space leading to the other side.

  The tunnel on the other side was bigger and opened into a chamber with a vaulted ceiling. The light was coming through a glass panel in the roof of a tunnel to the left of the main chamber. Toby stood underneath it and looked up.

  That’s weird, that’s SO weird. I remember this place, but where is it?

  Looking up through the glass Toby could see a room. It was covered in cobwebs but he could still make out paintings and a coat of arms on the wall, complete with a swag of tartan cloth that hung limply, heavy with dust. Toby stared and stared. The scene was like an old black and white photograph that had grown brown and faded with age. It reminded him of something.

  “I remember,” he muttered. “I’ve been in that room. It’s a café. It’s in Provost Skene’s House. That’s right — there was a pane of glass set into the floor. You could look down and see the chamber below. I went there with Mum and I wouldn’t walk across the glass cos I was scared I might fall through it!”

  “I know where the tapping’s coming from!” exclaimed Jamie, appearing beside him.

  “I know where we are!” said Toby. “We must be right under the road in front of Marischal College.”

  “Never mind that now,” cried Jamie. “That tapping’s coming from behind another pile of rocks at the end of this chamber.

  Toby followed Jamie to the bank of pebbles and stones. He could hear now a distinct distant tap, tap, tap. He picked up a stone and tapped it hard on the wall of the chamber. Tap, tap, tap … tap, tap, tap.

  There came a reply: tap, tap, tap … tap, tap, tap.

  “It’s Mum; I know it is!” Jamie screamed in delight.

  “Hush,” said Toby. “She must be stuck behind these rocks. But why doesn’t she use another exit. By my reckoning, she must be in the tunnels that go under Marischal College, so why doesn’t she get out that way?”

  “I don’t know. What are we going to do? I don’t know what to do!” babbled Jamie.

  “Shush for a sec. Let me think,” urged Toby. “You start to make a hole through the rubble here, but be careful. It might not be stable. Watch for any loose stones. And I’ll go up through Provost Skene’s House and try to reach her by going through the College. OK?” Jamie nodded. “Right, first I’ll need you to give me a leg up.”

  Jamie stood under the glass panel in the floor of Provost Skene’s House, with Toby on his shoulders. “Hurry up,” he cried, “I can’t hold you much longer.” Toby was trying to lift the pane of glass.

  “Hold still!” Toby ordered. “I can’t do it with you jumping all over the place.” He grunted, and with one final effort the glass sprung up out of the panel and fell sideways on to the floor of the café.

  “That’s it,” said Toby. “One last push up and I’ll jump. One, two, three!” Toby launched himself upwards as Jamie pushed him up off his shoulders.

  “Are you OK?” Jamie asked as Toby dangled from the gap, scrabbling with his feet to get thr
ough the hole. His body disappeared, and then a hand reappeared and gave the thumb’s up.

  It was strange inside the café. Huge grey ropes of cobwebs hung from the lights to the tables, and out to the chairs. The pictures on the wall were ripped and torn, and some of the furniture was broken and overturned. Daylight was fading, and the low light filled the ghostly room with an eerie glow.

  It’s like something out of Dickens. Great Expectations, was it? Miss Haversham? Mum liked that when it was on the telly. Now, how do I get across the main road without being seen?

  Toby opened the door into a small courtyard and slipped out, staying close to the side of the building. He crept to the edge of the wall and looked left and then right. What he saw next froze his heart.

  On the other side of the road was a monumental gothic-looking building, with tall spires and fancy turrets and towers. Sitting in the immense doorway was Cerberus, surrounded by his bodyguards.

  17. The World Explodes

  As Toby stood hidden in the shadows, he watched a parade of dogs coming and going from the college. Cerberus sat and watched with interest as each dog approached him and submissively licked its lips. Some of them rolled over in front of him, and with some he put his paw across their necks.

  What are they doing in there? Starting a university?

  Toby hoped the badger juice was still working, as he was only yards away from the procession of dogs. He had to get back and warn Jamie. If Jamie made too much noise clearing the rockfall, it might attract the dogs to the cellars and then they would be discovered.

  He slid slowly back along the wall, his heart thumping so loud against his ribs that he felt sure the dogs must hear it. He gulped with relief once he was back inside the spooky café, and crouched down to drop himself through the hole in the floor to the tunnel below.

  Without Jamie there to help, he had to leave the glass pane sitting on the café floor and hope the dogs didn’t find the entrance to the tunnels.

  Back in the chamber, Jamie was busy scraping frantically at the rock pile. He had cleared a good-sized hole with the help of Belle, who was using both her front paws to dig the stones away.

  “You’re back quick,” he puffed, stopping for breath, as Toby joined him in the hectic digging.

  “I’ve seen Cerberus; he’s holding court at the college. That’s why your mum can’t escape that way. The place is alive with dogs. There are hundreds of them.”

  “What? Quick, we’ve got to get her out.” Jamie scrabbled desperately at the mound.

  “We mustn’t make too much noise. The dogs will hear us,” warned Toby.

  The boys tore and clawed at the powdery rubble, their hands sore and bleeding. Toby’s bandaged hand became even filthier with dust and grime. He tried not to think of the pain.

  Must concentrate on getting Jamie’s mum out of here. Then I can think about finding medicines for Sylvie.

  Through the dusty air came the distinct sound of tapping. It was getting louder and more urgent. Finally Jamie sat back and, wiping the grime from his face, said, “I can see something moving! There’s something there!” He moved a large stone carefully to one side, and revealed a hand holding a large pebble. The hand was knocking the pebble against a boulder. Tap, tap, tap!

  “Mum!” Jamie whispered hoarsely. “Mum!” He crawled forwards on his belly and grabbed the hand. They boys could hear a sob coming from the other side of the cleft in the rocks.

  “Jamie? Oh, Jamie, I knew you would find me!” cried the muffled voice. “Jamie, hurry! The dogs are in the cellars; they’re getting closer.”

  The boys redoubled their efforts and soon the hole grew bigger, and then …

  “Mum!” Jamie gasped as he caught sight of his mum. She was lying, covered in dust and shale, with her legs half covered with boulders. “Mum? What happened?” He wriggled through the gap and grabbed his mum in a huge hug.

  “Steady,” she said, fending him off. “I’m a bit bruised. The roof collapsed and I just didn’t quite make it. I’m OK, I think. Nothing feels broken. But I can’t move; these boulders are pinning down my legs.”

  “It’s OK. Everything’s going to be OK now,” gabbled Jamie. “I’ve got my friend Toby with me. He’s really brave and great and … He’s the one who got me and Belle here. We’d never have made it without Toby.”

  Under the sweat and dirt on his face, Toby felt himself going pink.

  “Toby, come and meet my mum. We need to dig her out. She’s stuck.”

  Toby crawled through to join him. Belle pushed her way past him and bounded up to Jamie’s mum, licking at her face and hands.

  “Hiya, Belle!” Jamie’s mum greeted the dog warmly. “Have you been having an adventure?” Belle furiously wagged her tail.

  Toby and Jamie gently lifted the heavy rocks from Jamie’s mum’s legs. She groaned and tentatively stretched them.

  “How long have you been here, like this?” asked Toby, picking away at the stones.

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “I went down to the beach café on the sixth of June to wait for you, Jamie. But when you didn’t turn up, I laid a trail back here, just in case you’d got the days mixed up.”

  “Me? Get the days mixed up?” snorted Jamie. “It was you got the days mixed up Mum. Today is the sixth.”

  Toby decided not say anything about Jamie thinking that the day before had been the sixth. Best to keep quiet, he thought.

  “There’d been a storm, the night before,” continued Jamie’s mum, “and the rain had pelted down. When I got back to the tunnels they were gushing with water from the drains. It must have loosened the rock, because as I was coming up this last bit there was a rockfall behind me, and then this one fell just as I was passing under it.”

  “Don’t worry, Belle found a gap in the first one,” Toby told her. “We’ll be able to get back. Come on, we’d better move. Can you walk OK?” He offered her his hand and helped her to her feet.

  “Yeah, I was really lucky. Just swallowed a lot of rock dust,” she said, feeling her arms and legs. “As I thought, no breaks.”

  “Mum, Toby’s sister is really ill. He needs to find some medicine. Can you help?”

  “What kind of medicine?” she asked.

  “We don’t really know but antibiotics seemed to be working before we ran out. Now she’s got a really high fever,” replied Toby. Jamie’s mum smiled.

  “You’re in luck, young man. I’ve been stockpiling stuff in the Inversneckie Café. I’ve found loads of medicines, and all sorts of provisions in the Offshore Survival Centre.”

  Toby chuckled. “That’s where I was going to look for some.”

  “Yeah? Well, there’s nothing left now. I managed to move most of it, but someone else thought of it too and the place is wrecked. Could have been the dogs, I suppose.”

  “Just as well we rescued Mum first then, wasn’t it?” said Jamie. “You’d have got there and found nothing.”

  The three of them, and Belle, squeezed back through the hole in the rubble and started to make their way back through the vaulted chamber and down the tunnel. They climbed up the second pile of rocks and clambered through the gap into the tunnel that led back down towards the sea. As they went Toby recounted his visit to Marischal College, and the sight of Cerberus sitting on the steps, like a king on a throne.

  “Yes, I’ve been keeping an eye on him,” said Jamie’s mum. “His power has grown enormously lately. He seems to be in control of all the dog packs in the area.”

  Jamie told her about Cerberus going to Collieston, and about their escape in the dinghy.

  “He followed us back to Aberdeen. Why?” asked Toby.

  “I don’t know,” replied Jamie’s mum. “He seems to be keeping a watch on all human activity. Perhaps he thinks it’ll lead him to food supplies. He’s very clever. You’d almost think he had a plan.”

  “Dogs can’t plan, can they?” questioned Jamie.

  “These are no ordinary dogs. I’m working on a theory that …” />
  “Hush!” cried Toby.

  A rumbling noise was rolling up from the bottom of the tunnel towards them. It was followed by a series of crashes like claps of thunder. The whole tunnel shook and a shower of shale fell on to their heads.

  “What was that?” exclaimed Jamie.

  “I don’t know but it seems to be coming from the beach,” cried Toby, shaking the dust from his hair. “We need to get out of here — now!”

  The three of them stumbled and slid down the slimy passageway, trying to hold on to the cold wet walls. Jamie’s mum leant on her son as she limped along, while Toby scouted ahead with Belle at his heels.

  Another violent crash rent the air, and more dirt fell on their heads.

  “We’re getting closer to whatever’s going on,” said Toby worriedly, “but we don’t have much choice. There’s only one way out of this tunnel and that’s straight into what sounds like a full-scale war!”

  They crept slowly towards the ladder where they had descended into the tunnel.

  “I think it’s safer to follow the tunnel down to the beach where it comes out,” said Jamie’s mum. “I’m not sure I’ll get up the ladder, anyway. I’ve been out of the tunnel that way before. It leads to near the golf links.”

  As they staggered along the last stretch of tunnel, an orangey-pink light glowed from the entrance. Suddenly the tunnel was filled with a screaming noise like something in a firework display.

  “That sounded like a rocket,” said Toby.

  The small party reached the end of the tunnel where it spilled out on to the beach. The sea to the right was bathed in the reflected light from a blaze in the harbour, which sent flames leaping skywards and orange sparks spitting into the night.

  “What’s going on?” cried Jamie.

  “Look!” yelled Toby. “There!” He pointed across to the mouth of the harbour where, illuminated in the flickering light, sat the sleek grey shape of a warship. “It’s the frigate! It must be the pirates blowing up the harbour!”

  As they watched, the guns bristling on the deck of the frigate fired another volley of ammunition, hitting the mangled heaps of ships in front of them. Toby, Jamie and his mum covered their ears with their hands as the blasts shook the ground.