Angel Blood

by John Singleton

  Nail was now bent forward, his chin almost resting on the steering wheel rim, trying to see beyond the limited search of his headlights. ‘Full beam doesn't work. Typical cowboy Coddy,’ he snarled.

  Natalie was checking in the side mirror. ‘We've lost them,’ she said. ‘Let's stop and I'll get in the back with the kids. Go on bouncing like this and they'll be juiced, kiddie smoothie.’

  ‘Quick then,’ said Nail and the van gravelled to a halt.

  Nail knew Dearly and his dogs wouldn't take long to get rid of his log stinger. And a clapped-out wheelie bin couldn't outrun a pair of Land Rovers especially in rough terrain.

  ‘They're holding on,’ said Natalie, jumping back in the van.

  Nail was hoping the track would divide and leave Dearly not knowing which way to go. He just needed a bit of luck and the Hyena Men to make one wrong turn.

  But the track didn't divide. It just went on and on, rubbled and rutted through endless plantations of firs all the same, all the same.

  He was trying to go as fast as he could without banging up the kids in the back, checking all the time in the wing mirrors for any sign of telltale lights behind.

  Nothing.

  It was so dark under the endless canopies of fir that he didn't dare put out his lights. And once Dearly could see the red of his rear ones they were done for. He thought of pulling off track and bouncing into the darkness, killing the engine and waiting for them to pass so he could steal out and backtrack all the yards to real roads and escape. But there was no way he could get the van over the continuous ditch that ran alongside them.

  He hit the steering wheel.

  Smack. Smack. Smack.

  They were stuffed.

  Then his luck really ran out.

  3

  They came slithering round a bend and there, dead ahead, right across the track was a single-pole, red and white barrier.

  Nail braked hard and leapt out.

  A metal notice hung on wire from the centre of the pole. ‘DANGER’ it read,

  ‘ENTRY PROHIBITED – WEAK BRIDGE’.

  Christ, the pole looked a ton weight.

  Natalie was by his side.

  ‘What are we going to do?’

  ‘Lean on the end,’ said Nail putting his full weight on the pole. ‘It's counterbalanced.’

  He doubled himself over the bar and Natalie climbed astride.

  It hardly budged.

  ‘They're coming,’ cried Natalie. ‘I can see lights.’

  Nail jumped down and raced across to the other end of the barrier. ‘It's padlocked this end,’ he shouted. ‘Only one thing for it. Get the other side, Nats. Time to gatecrash. Get the kids out. And hurry.’

  ‘But what about the bridge?’ shouted Natalie as she opened the van doors.

  ‘We'll cross that when we come to it.’

  4

  We watch Nail boy swing the wheelie round. Then it roars and charges the post where the pole is chained. It's like in The Natural World when we saw the elephant push over the temple wall.

  The wheelie fits out and pushes and pushes and the wheels smoke and squeal like the monkeys squealed at the elephant.

  Natalie girl is holding us tight. ‘Come on, Nail. Come on, Nail,’ we all pray.

  Suddenly the post cracks and swings away and the pole jumps up in the air like a fishing stick pulling up a fish.

  We all get back in the wheelie with Natalie girl.

  *

  Then we hear Doctor Dearly. His voice comes at us through the trees. ‘Stop where you are. You cannot escape. It is dangerous to go on. You are putting young lives at risk. Stop before it is too late.’

  But Nail boy doesn't stop. The wheelie jumps forward. Through the little back windows we can see the lights of the Hyena Men and Doctor Dearly behind us. They are getting nearer.

  Chicken Angel is holding me tight.

  Natalie girl is saying not to worry. She puts on the light to check us out. ‘Oh, X-Ray,’ she says, ‘you are bleeding, look.’

  My hands are wet and red. She wraps some soft tissue round them.

  ‘What about the bridge?’ says Chicken Angel.

  ‘We'll cross it when we come to it,’ I say.

  Chicken Angel looks at me with monkey eyes.

  ‘Well, Nail boy said we'd cross so we'll be OK. Won't we?’ I say, turning to the Natalie girl.

  But she doesn't answer because suddenly one of the back doors bursts open and Natalie girl has to kill the light.

  5

  Natalie girl lets go of us and starts to scramble towards the door. And all the time we are shaking and the wheelie is banging and bouncing and Natalie girl is trying to grab the door and close it properly.

  And every time it swings wide open I can see the lights behind are bigger and brighter and dodging around and in and out of the trees.

  Lolo is morsing Chicken Angel. The Hyenas are coming she is saying. The Hyenas are coming. Soon she will start mewling.

  Now the girl is holding on to the locked door and trying to grab the free one. Careful, Natalie girl, you are not Jack the Cat with a lasso tail and clever paws and used to swinging and jumping all over.

  Then the other door starts to open and Natalie girl is falling and screaming and I throw my arm at her and she clings on and Chicken Angel holds me and we all roll and slide as the wheelie skids and jumps some more and my skin burns and bleeds.

  ‘Stop, Nail, stop!’ shrieks Natalie girl.

  And he does.

  The wheelie bangs and slides and stops.

  And we all tumble against the back. Chicken Angel has her arms round Lolo and is able to save her but she is thrown herself against the back of the van. I'm thrown over and slide into Chicken Angel. Natalie girl slides into me.

  Then Nail boy appears and screams to us to get out.

  We climb out and he pushes us towards a bridge.

  It's the DANGER bridge and we're not sure. Is it strong enough?

  ‘Get over, get over,’ he cries and we stumble to the edge of the wooden planks.

  ‘It's OK,’ says Natalie girl. ‘I'll take you over.’

  We all hold hands.

  Nail puts on the sidelights so we can see a little.

  There is no rail, just logs and planks and the sound of water below crashing over rocks.

  Lights Out is mewling and the planks are moving and we can't see the other side, only the bridge sinking into darkness.

  Mrs Murdoe help us. Jack help us, I say in my head over and over.

  Suddenly the floor fits and throws light all over us. Something crashes down below.

  Chicken Angel shouts.

  Nail boy has driven the wheelie on to the bridge.

  ‘Wait,’ shouts Natalie girl. ‘Wait till we've crossed. It's not safe for all of us at once.’

  But Nail boy doesn't listen because just behind and very close is one of the Land Rovers. Its lights blind us.

  ‘Don't look,’ shouts Natalie girl.

  I stumble forward, all monkey fears.

  Then we hear Doctor Dearly's voice again but not the words because they're lost in the gushing sound of waters and the wheelie revving behind us.

  And then I hear a plank crack like a biscuit and suddenly we are on a gravel track again and Nail boy is halfway across the bridge and as we turn the first big wheelie reaches the other side and in its lights Nail boy's little wheelie looks like a black bug, like we get in the Bin sometimes.

  ‘Come on. Come on,’ Natalie girl is shrieking at Nail boy. ‘Do it. Do it.’

  ‘Nail. Nail. Nail,’ we all cry.

  But Nail boy is moving very slowly and the wheelie is bending over and he's just about halfway across and then we hear the growl of dogs as the second big wheelie arrives.

  ‘You cannot escape.’ Doctor Dearly's voice cracks through a voice-over. ‘Do not make us release the dogs. Stay where you are. We will save you. You will be safe with us. Your welfare is our priority. Stay where you are. Do not continue this folly.’ />
  Nail boy shouts at the wheelie.

  ‘What's FOLLY?’ asks Chicken Angel.

  Natalie girl doesn't answer.

  I can see her lips moving.

  There are black patches in the bridge floor and Nail boy is wheeling round one of them. They look like paw prints. Big paws.

  Leopard!

  A giant leopard has gone ahead of us.

  Nail boy is nearly across.

  Doctor Dearly's voice cracks again. ‘You have ignored all warnings. This is your final chance before I release the dogs.’

  Suddenly from the other side of the bridge the dogs start shouting and we can see their heads and sharp ears and stiff tails in the headlights. Then we see the Hyena Men bending over them.

  ‘Nail,’ screams Natalie girl suddenly, ‘they're letting the dogs go.’

  We hear the engine fitting and fitting hard shot, we watch it shake, we watch the wheels spin, we hear the bridge go crack crack. We hear the dogs barking, we see the wheelie shake. Nail is shaking the wheelie. Then it leaps forward and stops next to us.

  ‘Get in, get in,’ shouts Natalie girl to us.

  We climb up. Ba-bang the doors. We can hear the Hyena Men shouting and the dogs shouting back. They must have crossed the bridge.

  Next thing the doors are being pulled open.

  6

  We fixy. All of us pushed into a corner.

  I cover my eyes.

  Then I hear Natalie girl gasp.

  I look up.

  It's Nail boy.

  NAIL!

  He's standing there and looking at us and showing monkey teeth all over.

  We stare at him.

  ‘What are you playing at?’ says Natalie girl.

  ‘Just look,’ he says. ‘Out here.’

  Slowly we get out of the wheelie.

  On the other side the dogs are crying, but they haven't crossed the bridge.

  ‘They're afraid of the bridge,’ says Nail boy. ‘Look.’

  Some of the dogs walk and then stop and go back showing their teeth. The Hyena Men shout but it's no good. The dogs don't like what they hear, what they smell. Dogs have very Lolo noses. The bridge smells bad to them.

  Because the dogs won't cross, the Hyena Men won't cross. What's bad for dogs is bad for them. And for big wheelies.

  ‘Don't think you've got away,’ calls Doctor Dearly.

  We get back in Nail's wheelie.

  We drive for a bit and then we stop.

  Natalie opens the doors for us.

  Nail boy is leaning against the front bit. Natalie girl goes up to him and hugs him.

  Then Chicken Angel hugs him.

  So I hug him.

  Then Lights Out finds him and she just holds his sleeve and presses her face into his arm.

  I think he likes Natalie hugging. But not us. I don't know why. We're just kids after all.

  ‘You're trembling,’ Natalie girl is saying to me.

  I am.

  ‘It's not like the Bin,’ I say with a shiver. ‘We couldn't run away from Doctor D then.’

  ‘No,’ she says wiping my face. ‘But we've seen the last of him now.’ She smiles.

  7

  Between them, Nail and Natalie managed to clean up the kids, wetting tissues in a nearby stream and washing away blood and mess.

  They drank the cool sweet forest water.

  Then, under the front seat, they found a stash of chocolate bars. A Kenno haul.

  But the kids weren't sure about chocolate. They'd never seen it before. X-Ray said it looked like monkey blood and the others decided eating monkey blood was not good.

  ‘But you've got to eat something. Are you on a special diet?’ asked Natalie.

  ‘We eat porridge and chicken and toast and eggs.’

  ‘Every day,’ said Chicken Angel.

  ‘Don't you get chips and stuff?’ said Nail.

  But there was no time for X-Ray to answer because out of the forest and not far away came the howling sound of a hunting dog.

  CHAPTER 21

  Angel Blood, Leopard Blood

  1

  They scrambled into the van and Nail turned the ignition.

  The engine whirred but didn't fire.

  He tried again.

  Nothing.

  He swore.

  Tried again.

  Nothing.

  Nail smacked his fist into the dashboard.

  Then a noise near his door made him look sideways. Moonlight suddenly washed over the van and paled his face. Out of the trees he saw a figure emerging. He was holding something at arm's length. As the figure closed in Nail saw the glint of steel barrels.

  A shotgun was pointing straight at him.

  He sat very still.

  The figure was beside the van now and reaching forward to open his door.

  Nail could see him clearly enough. He was a tall man, bearded and dressed in wellies and jeans and a short quilted jacket.

  Next thing he was being motioned out and made to stand against the van while the man checked in the front.

  ‘Gun in the back?’

  ‘I don't have a gun,’ said Nail.

  The man eyed him up and down. ‘What's someone like you doing up here in the middle of the night, hiding on a prohibited road?’

  ‘I got lost.’

  The man spat. Didn't believe a word.

  ‘Yer not on yer own. I heard voices. Come on, son, yer up to something, aren't yer? Was it sheep you were looking for? Round here we string out poachers with fencing wire. Now tell me a better story or I'll set the dog on you.’

  Just then the back door opened and Natalie struggled out.

  The man swung his gun round. His dog growled. ‘OK, Bruce,’ he said quietening the animal. He eyed Natalie and smirked.

  ‘Oh, that's what it's about?’ he said lowering the gun.

  ‘No, it's not that at all,’ said Natalie. ‘We've got kids in here and we need to get out and get them home. Sick kids.’

  ‘Let's see.’

  After checking he came back.

  ‘More than sick if yer ask me.’ He looked puzzled. ‘So how did you get over Craigie Bridge just back there? I wouldn't trust a rabbit on that.’

  Nail shrugged. ‘Just drove over.’

  ‘So how did you spring them from the Bin?’

  Nail looked blank.

  ‘Don't try it on with me, laddie. I'm not one of those plookies back there. I listen in to their radio traffic. They're panicking all over because of the breakout.’ He paused. ‘Now, how bad are they?’

  ‘One of them's blind. The others are OK really,’ said Natalie.

  ‘OK? Who told you that? They're goners all of them.’

  ‘How?’ said Natalie.

  But the man didn't answer. ‘You'd better get them back ASAP. They won't last long out here. Nor will you. The police are already on your case.’

  ‘We know,’ said Nail.

  ‘That place is like a concentration camp,’ Natalie blurted. ‘It's a crime the way they treat them. We're not taking them back. We can't.’

  The man shrugged. ‘Suit yerself, lassie, but they'll catch you. They will. Anyway, I've done my bit. Told you. Warned you. It's up to you now.’

  ‘We'll just drive into the forest,’ said Natalie. ‘They won't be able to find us there.’

  ‘They will, believe me. They did last time.’

  ‘Last time?’ said Nail.

  ‘Yeah. One got away a few years ago. Found it dead out here. No one ever knew. It was all hushed up. Like everything else in Bin Linnie.’

  ‘How do you know all this?’

  ‘Because my mum was working there at the time. It happened on her shift and they blamed her. Said she had encouraged them. Helped them. So they got rid of her. Said they'd have her for maltreatment and neglect if she said anything about the place. That's the kind of criminals they are. It's not the kids are warped; it's the management there and that cold bastard, Dearly. Keep out of his way. That's why I'm saying yer
better off taking them back. Evidently it gets them in the lungs in the end.’

  ‘Your mother's name isn't Mrs Murdoe, is it?’ said Natalie slowly.

  ‘Yes, it was. Was,’ he repeated quietly. ‘She died a couple of years ago.’

  ‘Oh, sorry. Only the kids talk about Mrs Murdoe like she's a kind of guardian angel.’

  ‘Yeah, well, she's with her own kind now.’ The man stood up. ‘Take the next turn left and follow the track till it hits the Garvie Road and then you'll see Bin Linnie straight ahead.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Natalie. ‘But we're taking them to the seaside. We promised.’

  ‘Seaside?’ The man thought for a moment. ‘OK. This is for my mum. You're kids and doing crazy comes with the territory, I guess. And if you're screwing up Dearly you've got my vote. What you need right now is to rest up. There's an old caravan up by Loch Inchie. It belongs to the Forestry. You can use that. Anyone asks, say Chief Ranger Murdoe gave you permission. It's a good hour from here. By then it'll be near dawn. Hide there during the day. Travel at night. Avoid the main roads. Keep to forest tracks.’

  ‘Rest up? Why during the day?’ said Nail. ‘Surely we need to get moving now.’

  ‘Look, laddie. This isn't Thunderbirds to the Rescue. These plookies are serious. You'e seen what they're like. They hunt with dogs. They'll drop you down a well shaft with rocks in yer pockets if they have to. You'e got a white van here and that's as visible as it gets.’

  Natalie slumped back. ‘We'll never do it, will we?’

  ‘Just which way to the sea?’ said Nail.

  ‘When you leave the caravan follow the track round. You'll reach a derelict bothie. Take a right there and just keep going. Eventually you'll come to signs for the Visitor's Centre. Ask there or get a map. You'd better go.’

  And with that the man turned and he and dog were soon swallowed by the deep shadows of the forest.

  2

  The track looped down, gently in and out of the trees, through scrubland areas of fir stumps and fireweed, through bog patches tufted with spikes of marsh grass, over shallow forded streams till it settled into a long incline.

  Nail let the van freewheel.

  ‘You know they think we're angels,’ said Natalie.

  Nail smiled. Angels were not his bag, no way.

  ‘That Mrs Murdoe told them one day they'd escape the Bin by the hand of angels.’