by Unknown
ZOE
We must’ve sat the best part of an hour, listening. It’s amazing how sound travels. The guys in the fan kept moving from place to place, hovering to do their spiel about me. They got closer and closer till the tinny voice seemed to be directly over us, then moved off. I felt a little better as the noise receded, but no matter where they went we could still hear them, and of course we both realised that at this very moment somebody – one of the kids from last night – might be leading a bunch of cops here. When footfalls sounded on the stairs we tensed up and our eyes met across the cold stove, and when the outer door opened I half-rose ready to run, though I don’t know where I thought I’d run to.
It was Daz. He closed the room door and leaned against it, breathing hard.
‘They’re everywhere,’ he gasped. ‘In the sky, on the ground, underground for all I know. You’d think it was a king they were looking for.’
His mother looked at him. ‘Any in this building?’
He shook his head. ‘Not yet. Couple of cars in the next street.’ He turned to me. ‘Come on – I know a place you can hide till they’ve gone.’
I followed him out of the room, out of the apartment and down the twilit stairs. ‘Daz,’ I whispered. ‘Where are you taking me?’
‘Basement,’ he said.
We passed the doorway we came in last night and went on down. It was totally dark and knee-deep in trash and it stank. Daz switched on a flashlight and led me toward an enormous old furnace. In the dark above it, pipes filled the ceiling space like spaghetti, but the air was cold and dank and I knew nobody had stoked this furnace in years. I knew what Daz had in mind too, and it crossed my mind that this wasn’t exactly the most original hiding place ever devised. In fact if I was a cop, it’d be one of the first places I’d look.
I’d underestimated him. He didn’t open the door and tell me to get in. The furnace stood on a brick base, very close to the wall: so close that when he shone his torch on it I noticed that whoever had limewashed the walls down here back in the good old days hadn’t been able to get at this section, which was black and greasy and furred with cobwebs.
‘Halfway along there,’ he said, ‘there’s a hole in the base. It’s a crawlspace, goes right in under the furnace.’ He chuckled. ‘I used to hide from our mam in there. I know it’s not so nice, Zoe, but I want you to wait in there till I come back for you.’
He was right. It wasn’t nice. I had to scrape along sideways and by the time I reached the hole my damp face was caked with cobwebs and flakes of rust and my hair was an old mop, stiff with dirt.
Under the furnace was horrible. Pitch black and horrible. I won’t go on about it. I forced myself not to think about spiders and black beetles and thought about Daz as a little boy, hiding here from his mother. I wondered whether his brother Del had come here too, but that started me thinking about ghosts so I shook my head and thought about something else.
The cops came, eventually. I heard them on the stairs, then at the foot of the stairs where they paused to voice their disgust as flashlights showed the dirt they’d have to wade through in their shiny boots. I hoped it’d put them off: that their search would be perfunctory. I hoped one of them wouldn’t turn out to be a Sherlock Holmes, the sort of guy who’d notice torn cobwebs and scuffmarks in the dirt. I doubted it. My hidey-hole was a good one.
They didn’t find me. They spent a minute, maybe a minute and a half in the place. They looked in the furnace – I heard the door squeak – then one of them hit the boiler with something and the great hollow boom damn near creamed my brain, but that was all.
I listened as they went back up the stairs. After that it was just a matter of waiting for Daz to come. Wondering if he would, and what I’d do if he didnt? Suppose he’d been arrested, and his mother too? Suppose they never came back – what then?
I was doing a pretty good job of driving myself crazy in that dark little hole when I heard his voice.
I was filthy all over, but he took me in his arms and hugged me. I felt wonderful but I knew I didn’t look it and I was glad he couldn’t see me. I asked him what had happened with the cops.
‘Routine search, Zoe. No tipoff, so they don’t know I’m involved yet, but they will. Your old man must be loaded – they’re offering big peanuts for you and somebody’s gonna collect before long. That’s why we’ve got to get you out of here.’
‘Yes, but where?’
‘School.’
‘School?’
‘That’s right.’ He steered me toward the stairs and we climbed stealthily up the four flights to the apartment. He went first, pressing himself against walls and peeping round corners, but all the doors were shut, the stairs and landings deserted. He turned and winked at me. ‘Can’t beat a visit from the law for making people stay home.’
Back in the apartment I had to visit that awful bucket again. Then Daz sat me down and told me about the teacher, James. Mr? Barraclough was lying down so we had the room to ourselves. When he’d finished I said, ‘Okay, so I hide in the school, but what happens to you when the cops get their tipoff– you and your mum?’
He shrugged. ‘I dunno, Zoe. James said something about seeing a guy, but I didn’t know what he meant.’ He chuckled. ‘I don’t think he knew himself, he was so scairt. We’ll just have to see what happens.’
I spread my hands, palms up, on my knees and looked at them. They were filthy. So were my jeans. There were cobwebs all down the front of my jumper and I felt itchy. I remembered the bucket of cold, scummy water in the kitchen and right then I’d have given anything to be standing in our gleaming shower back home. Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks and I wiped at them with my fingers, knowing I was smearing dirt on my face. Daz got up and knelt by my chair and put his arms round me. He must’ve had a fair idea why I was crying and he didn’t say anything, just knelt there, rocking me in his arms like you would a little kid.
I hadn’t been a Chippy very long but I was beginning to understand why Mrs Barraclough had to have those pills.
As soon as it was properly dark we set off for the school. I’d wanted to clean myself up a bit before I went but Mrs Barraclough said I’d be safer the way I was. In fact, she persuaded me to take off my jumper, which was quite new, and put on an old one of hers which was through at the elbow and far too big for me. She had me take off my wristwatch and put it in my pocket. She thought people might notice my shoes, too, but she was nowhere near my size so we decided I’d have to risk it. They were pretty messed up from the dump and anyway it was dark.
It was drizzling, too, and we didn’t see many people as we trudged through the unlighted streets. The police always withdraw to the suburbs at night so we didn’t expect to encounter cops and we didn’t. It was almost seven when we got to the school, which was housed in a low wooden building which stood by itself on the edge of a vast, derelict site. The place in darkness but the door was open, and as we let ourselves in the teacher hurried forward.
‘Anyone see you come in here, Barraclough?’
Daz shook his head. ‘Don’t think so, sir. This is Zoe. Zoe, this is Mister James who’s gonna look after you.’
‘Only for a day or so,’ reminded the teacher. ‘I’m taking a big risk, y’know. If they find her here they’ll close the school and strip me of my status.’
Daz chuckled. ‘What’s the matter, sir– don’t you like it here? I thought you loved us Chippy kids. Wouldn’t it be great to be near us all the time?’
The teacher shuddered. ‘Heaven forbid. You’d better go now, Barraclough, but don’t let anyone see you, and remember you’ve got to come up with a different arrangement for this young woman pretty soon.’
We embraced briefly and then he was gone. I followed the teacher through the lobby, across the single classroom and into a tiny washroom. In this room stood a step-ladder, and a trapdoor in the ceiling was open.
James looked at me. ‘Why a child like you should want to leave Silverdale to live in a place like
this I don’t know. What I do know is this – that if I had my way I’d take you, by force if necessary, and restore you to your parents this very night.’ He indicated the trapdoor. ‘Climb through there. You’ll find blankets, a flask of soup and a torch. It’s the bes I could manage. Use the torch only when absolutely necessary and be very quiet, especially during school hours. All right?’
I nodded and said, ‘You live in Silverdale, sir?’
‘I do. Why’d you ask?’
‘Well – I was wondering – I mean, could you get a message to my parents, tell them I’m alive and – you know?’
He smiled sadly, shaking his head. ‘Your parents are frantic with grief, Zoe. What d’you think they’d do if I showed up with a message like that? D’you think they’d say, Oh fine – when you see her again, give her our best. D’you think they’d do that?’
I shook my head and he said. ‘You’re right, they wouldn’t. They’d call DS and say There’s a guy here knows where our child is, and DS would hang me by the thumbs till I told them where you were and who’d been hiding you, and then they’d go get young Bar-raclough and his widowed mother and hang them.’
So that was that. He held the ladder and I climbed up. In the roofspace I found the things he’d mentioned, plus a couple of necessities he hadn’t mentioned and I won’t, either. And that’s where I spent the next two days.
DAZ
thay say trubble coms in 3s rite? 6s be mor lyk it. i leeve Zoe up the school so trubble number 1 okay for a bit. don’t get me rong – i drather hav her wiv me enityme.
nex morning 2 lornorders com nokking. thay got a kid wiv em. i open the doar. 1 ov em sez is this the guy and the kid sez yeah.you can see by his face he finks he got his dirty littel pause on the peanuts alreddy. wot guy i sez. wot you on abowt. Zoe May Askew sez the cop. wear is she. hoo, i sez. never herd ov her i sez. this kid seen you wiv her he sez. i luck at the kid. this kid, i sez. this kids the biggest liar in town – say anifing 4 a peanut. thay push me asyde, start going frou the place, opening doars, chucking fings abowt. or mam so scairt she crys. i’m scairt 2 cos i remember Zoe jumper wot she swop wiv our Mam. lornorders fynd it, we ded.
thay go frou the place lyke a hurry cane but dont find noffing. it make em reely mad. 1 ov em sez lissen – we know she woz hear. you hiding her somwear but we fynd her and wen we do you ded, boaf ov you.
wen thay gon i sez 2 Mam wear Zoe jumper. shes just popt her pill and she larfs. hear, she sez, and she pulls up her old jumper and i see Zoe jumper undaneaf. yor a cool 1 Mam i sez. no she sez i’m a warm 1 and she larfs again.
i dont know wear she gets em from.
Same day the lornorders com, rite? same day i’m wolking frou town finking wot 2 do abowt Zoe wen i seen Mick coming tord me. Mick dont tork 2 me no more, so i fink wen he sees me he mebbe cross the road but he dont. insted he coms up 2 me and he sez Cal onto you boy. wotcha mean i sez, finking its abowt Zoe. Pete, he sez. i dont know no Pete, i sez, but my hart jump and he seen it in my face. He larfs. You knowd him wel enuff 2 shootim, he sez. i dint shoot no 1 i sez. i got no gun. lissen he sez. Pete shot wiv Del gun. Cal knows cos Del gun always leave funny mark on shell and he fownd the shell wot kilt Pete. Then a cuppla days ago a guy sells a gun 2 Cal frend in the Diamond. Del gun, rite? Cal frend dont know this guy but Cal lucking 4 him 2 arstim hoo sholtim the gun, and if it turns owt 2 be Daz Subby-lover Barraclough, Cal gonna killim.
Mick grabs my arm, shoves his face near mine and sez i hoap it’s you Barraclough you roten sod. That Pete woz a frend ov mine see. I’d kill you myself only Cal do it slower. then he larfs again and wolks of.
Mick you havent maid my day. i got lornorders plus Dred after me. All i need now is creechers from ota space and fings’ll be pretty tuff.
ZOE
I don’t know if you’ve ever spent any time in a roof-space. If you have you’ll know it can get unbelievably cold at night. I had three thick blankets, but I used one folded as a mattress and the other two weren’t enough to keep me from shivering most of that first night. Maybe it was fear as much as cold that caused it. I can’t tell you what it’s like to be hunted – you’d have to experience it but I hope you never do. Anyway I didn’t get much sleep.
Daytime was worse, in a way. I woke from a doze and somebody was moving about below. I looked at my watch. It was only eight fifteen so it must be James. My legs and feet were frozen. I sat up and massaged them and it worked to some extent and then I felt hungry. I’d drunk more than half the soup last night and when I reopened the flask the rest was barely warm. I glugged it down, trying not to think about Mum’s pancakes.
After breakfast it was plastic bucket by torchlight time. Don’t ever try it.
The kids started arriving at eight forty-five. I don’t know how many there were but they made a terrific racket. I could’ve boogied up and down the roof-space playing electric base and nobody’d have known I was there, but at nine on the dot it all went quiet and for the next three hours I sat like a stuffed owl, listening for sirens.
At twelve the kids erupted as school recessed for lunch. I expected a noisy hour in which I’d be able to move about a bit and stretch my legs, but after a minute or two the whoops and hollers receded and soon the place was silent.
Then there came a knock on the trap which damn near brought on a heart attack till James’s voice said, ‘Okay, Zoe – it’s only me.’
He’d brought me lunch – a packet of egg mayonnaise sandwiches which I demolished while he watched from his perch on the rim of the trap. I took a long drink from the can of coke he gave me, then said, ‘Where did the kids go?’
He shrugged. ‘Home, I guess. They’re through for the day.’
‘School’s just mornings?’
‘For them it is. Second shift starts one thirty.’
‘You mean different kids?’
‘Ah-ha. Older. There’re not many schools out here, y’know – not nearly enough for all the kids who’d like to come. They all operate the two-shift system but the waiting lists get no shorter.’ He smiled. ‘I better go. Some eager pupil might arrive early and catch me.’
He look my litter and flask and went, saying he’d look in again after school. I promised myself that if I was still here tonight I’d climb down, empty my bucket and treat myself to a really good wash.
The thought kept me cheerful through afternoon school.
The second night was better. Instead of soup, James had filled the flask with coffee and there were sandwiches. There was also a hint that I might be out tomorrow, but when I tried to question him he refused to be drawn.
When darkness came I kept the promise I’d made to myself. It was harder than I’d expected because I daren’t use the torch and when I opened the trap the step ladder wasn’t there. Well, of course it isn’t, you idiot, I told myself. He didn’t know you were planning to come down, and it’d be a dead givaway if the cops decided to search the school, wouldn’t it? He might as well pin up a little card with an arrow on it saying this way to the fugitive.
So what I had to do was lower myself through the trap, hang by my hands and drop. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, how’d she do that while carrying a plastic bucket, right? Well, I didn’t. I dropped empty-handed, dragged out the ladder, set it up and went back for the bucket. Easy, but of course there was a snag – I’d have to leave the ladder in place when I climbed back up, so there was no way I could hide what I was doing. The teacher would know I’d been down.
The water was cold and the one bit of soap I found refused to lather, but I really enjoyed that wash. I even washed my hair as best I could. It wasn’t till I’d finished and was wet practically all over that I realised there was no towel. I had to dry myself on one of my blankets and if you think blankets make good towels you’re wrong. Anyway, I managed, rubbing away till my body glowed from the friction and I felt better than I’d felt in days. I had to put on the same old dirty clothes afterwards, which was a bit of a bummer but couldn’t be helpe
d.
I even slept. Not all night, because it was cold again and I was short one blanket, but I must’ve zonked for some hours because the night seemed to go in a flash, and as things turned out it was as well I got that rest, because it was going to be a busy day.
To say the least.
DAZ
I’m downtown nex day scoring tucker wen I seen this guy i rekernise. He sees me 2 and coms over. Hear he sez, wots rong wiv that gun you solt me?
Noffing i sez, why?
2 guys grab me lars nite in the club, he sez. Arst hoo solt it me.
Wos 1 of em a littel guy wiv spex?
yea thats rite, and the ovver wos a big 1 wiv mussels.
Did you tel em?
Coudnt coud i – dont know yor name. Tolt em wot you luck lyke thogh.
Fanks.
Yea, well – they luck lyke thay mean biznis, know wot i mean?
I knew wot he ment alrite. i dint hang abowt. Set of hoam fast as i coud. Lornorders evrywear plus Cal gang lucking 4 me. O Zoe my lov, if i dont maykit wotl hapen 2 you?
Gotta maykit.
ZOE
My sleep ended with a bang at eight fifteen as James came storming up the ladder and flung back the trap. In my fuddled state I thought it was DS and was trying to crawl into a corner when he barked, ‘You were out last night, weren’t you?’
‘Not out sir,’ I said, returning to my blankets. ‘I went down for a wash, and to empty the bucket.’
‘You should have asked me. I’d have emptied the damned bucket. Meant to anyway and forgot. I’d have brought soap and water too, if you’d mentioned it. I suppose you showed a light?’
Boy, was he mad! ‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘I’m not stupid.’