The Runaways

by Ruth Thomas

  Nathan calculated. ‘They must have not been there. I know, I know, I know where they are! They’re at our camp, Ju! They found our camp. This is the place where you go down to the river.’

  ‘What are they there now for though, Nathan? They can’t catch us in the camp if we ain’t there.’

  ‘Perhaps they only just found it. Perhaps they’re waiting for us to come back. Perhaps they’re hiding. That’s a good joke, Ju, innit!’

  ‘It’s sneaky!’ said Julia, disapprovingly.

  They changed over, and Nathan rode on the carrier for a bit, while Julia pedalled. They were on the other road now, and there were some cars passing, but it was easy to see if they were coming because their headlights showed up a long way off. Every time that happened, the children left the road and lay flat in the heather until the car had passed. Julia was certain that none of the vehicles that passed was a police car. The search of the moor had presumably been called off for the night.

  Going down Porlock Hill, Nathan took charge of the bicycle, and Julia walked behind. Porlock itself was dark and sleeping. There was that other hill – up, this time – and at last they were on the Minehead road.

  ‘It’s going good, Ju, isn’t it?’ said Nathan.

  ‘I’m thirsty,’ said poor Julia.

  She was also very tired. She didn’t think her legs would carry her much further, and her ankle, which had seemed well again, was beginning to hurt. ‘I’ll pedal,’ said Nathan. ‘You just ride.’

  But Nathan was tired also. He had to concentrate really hard on keeping his feet going, and Julia’s weight on the back was making the bicycle wobble dangerously. Nathan clamped his teeth together and leaned over the handlebars. They must get further than this tonight. Everything hurt, but Nathan tried to think only of straining and pushing, straining and pushing, straining and pushing. . . .

  There was a screech of brakes behind them, and a large car swerved into the middle of the road, and came to a halt a short way further on. Startled, Nathan and Julia fell into the hedge, and the car reversed, stopping again just beside them.

  The nearside door opened. ‘You all right?’ said a voice.

  ‘Yes,’ said Julia.

  ‘You made us jump,’ said Nathan.

  ‘Well what the hell do you think you’re doing, riding two on a bike without lights? You’re lucky you didn’t get killed.’

  ‘I forgot we supposed to have lights,’ said Nathan.

  ‘You forgot! Well, the police won’t take that as an excuse if they catch you!’ The driver slid across to the passenger seat and peered more closely at the children. ‘Good lord – it’s a couple of kids! What are you doing out anyway at this time of night? Do you know what time it is?’

  ‘No,’ said Nathan.

  ‘Half past one in the morning. Where do you live?’

  Silence.

  ‘Well come on, where?’

  ‘Watchet,’ said Nathan.

  ‘You’re not intending to go all the way to Watchet in that fashion, I hope.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Nathan.

  ‘Oh don’t be ridiculous. Look, I’m going that way. You’d better let me take you. . . . I don’t know about the bike, though.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ said Nathan.

  ‘What do you mean, it’s all right?’

  ‘We’ll go on our own. Her bike broke, see, that’s why we’re late. Our mum knows,’ said Nathan.

  The man scratched his head and frowned. ‘But I can’t leave you here like this.’ He was really a very nice man, and he had three children of his own at home. ‘Oh I know, you’ve been told never to take lifts from strangers.’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Nathan, gratefully. ‘Our mum told us we must never get in a strange car. Our teacher said that too.’

  ‘But this is rather an exception, isn’t it? Damn it, I don’t know what to do.’ The man seemed to consider for a moment and then, in a different sort of voice, a falsely hearty sort of voice, he said, ‘Well – you carry on, you carry on. Good-night, then.’

  He slammed the car door, and drove off into the night.

  ‘I wish we went in his car,’ said Julia, wistfully.

  ‘Julia!’

  ‘Not really. . . . I wish there was something to drink.’

  Almost at that moment a large drop of rain fell on the top of her head, followed by another on her nose. She put out her tongue to lick the rain off her nose, and more drops began to come thick and fast, soaking her clothes and running down her face. She turned back her head and let the rain fall into her mouth. Both children made cups of their hands to collect the precious drops.

  They were no longer thirsty, but they were very wet.

  ‘Can’t we shelter?’ said Julia. ‘Just till it stops raining?’

  ‘Where though?’

  ‘There’s only the hedge. We could go in that field – see if there’s a wood.’

  ‘It’s too dark to see, there might be bulls.’

  They pressed against the hedge.

  ‘Nathan, I think that man’s going to tell of us.’

  ‘Who can he tell? There’s no police stations here.’

  ‘There must be a police station somewhere. He can phone.’

  ‘You’re right. They probably coming now!’

  ‘They probably coming in their cars, to find us!’

  ‘Come on,’ said Nathan, making for the gate.

  ‘What about the bulls?’

  ‘I rather bulls than the police.’

  They climbed a gate and headed away from the road. They crossed one field, and as they were crossing the second they heard the police sirens and saw the flashing lights.

  The police found the abandoned bicycle, where the children had left it, but there was nothing to indicate which way the fugitives had gone. There were fields with gates to them on both sides of the road.

  ‘Poor silly kids,’ said one policeman to another. ‘Out there in all that wet!’

  ‘I quite thought we were going to have ’em tucked up in bed with a hot supper tonight,’ said the other. ‘No warm beds for them till tomorrow now, by the look of it.’

  The police searched with torches, but there was little they could do until morning light.

  Like rabbits, Nathan and Julia had gone to ground. Their panicky running had taken them across three or four fields and into the shelter of a thick wood. A wood which sloped upwards, and went on and on. They plunged deeper into the wood, scrambling up the slope to get as far from the road and the police as their aching legs would carry them. Then like rabbits they had burrowed into the dense undergrowth where the rain could not penetrate.

  They were wet, and cold, and hungry – but they slept until dawn.

  18

  The end of the adventure

  Nathan had just one idea in his head, and that was to get to his ship. The idea was a furnace in his mind, burning up all other thoughts. He had read about ships, and dreamed about ships, about adventures on ships – and now he was going to have an adventure on a ship. He was. Nothing was going to stop him. Not the police, not Julia, not anybody. As far as Julia was concerned, he’d rather she came with him than not, but if he had to go alone he would. He was not going to miss his chance, he was going to make it happen, he was.

  Julia was in poor shape. She was cold and wet and shivering. She had eaten her share of the biscuits at first light, but without appetite, even though it was a whole day since her last meal. She had no enthusiasm for Nathan’s adventure, but she could see no alternative for herself. Her efforts were now concentrated on one single thing – staying with Nathan at all costs.

  ‘How we going to get to Watchet, Ju?’ Nathan brooded.

  ‘Don’t know,’ Julia was past thinking, much. Whatever Nathan said she would do, as long as he didn’t ask her to leave him.

  ‘The police is going to be watching the road, and anyway we haven’t got the bike no more. There must be a way.’

  Julia could not help.

  ‘I wonder
if there’s a bus. Do you think there might be a bus, Ju? . . . But we don’t know where the bus stop is.’

  ‘The police might have told the bus conductors to watch for us,’ said Julia, coming to life a bit.

  They might, indeed.

  ‘We could stop a car.’ The incident last night had given Nathan that idea. ‘We could ask for a lift.’

  ‘Isn’t it dangerous though? There’s bad people.’

  ‘Not ladies,’ said Nathan, triumphantly.

  ‘I think there’s some bad ladies,’ said Julia.

  ‘I don’t care. I’m chancing it anyway. Are you coming or not?’

  ‘All right,’ said Julia, though she knew they really shouldn’t.

  ‘We’ll have to look out for police – and sometimes they have roadblocks. We’ll have to take a chance about that.’

  ‘What’s a roadblock?’ said Julia.

  ‘Oh, nothing for you to worry about.’

  She wasn’t really interested anyway. She just wanted the adventure over, one way or another, as long as she could stay with Nathan. ‘Look,’ she said, not caring very much, ‘the police is searching the fields. They’re coming this way,’ she added, almost casually.

  The children crept through the woods, which seemed to go on for ever. And a long way from where the police were searching, they made their way towards the road. At least it wasn’t raining. It was daylight though, and they could be seen from the road. They crept under cover of the hedges, and peered through the final hedge in case there should be a police car parked, but there was no sign of one. Nathan made for the gate, and was going to climb over. ‘Get back,’ said Julia quickly. ‘Get down.’

  ‘Police?’ said Nathan.

  The police car was crawling down the road, patrolling.

  ‘Let it go by,’ said Julia. She peered into the road again. ‘It’s clear now.’

  ‘Supposing it comes back?’

  ‘We’ll have to run again then, won’t we.’ She sounded as though she didn’t want to run any more, ever.

  They climbed over the gate, and watched the passing traffic. There were quite a few cars on the road, that morning.

  ‘You look a awful mess,’ said Julia suddenly. ‘I suppose I do too.’

  They picked twigs and leaves off each other’s clothes, to make themselves more respectable for getting into someone’s car.

  ‘There’s a lady in that one,’ said Julia.

  Nathan stepped forward and held up his thumb, as he had seen hitchhikers doing on the telly. The car slowed down immediately, and a very pleasant looking lady put her head out of the window. ‘Are you going to Minehead?’ asked the lady.

  That would do for a start. ‘We missed the bus,’ said Nathan.

  ‘All right, get in,’ said the lady, opening the back door for them. ‘My goodness, you are wet! Has it been raining here then?’

  ‘Just a shower,’ said Nathan.

  Fortunately, the lady didn’t seem to want to talk. She had the radio on, and she was listening to some very boring music. She switched it off just before they came to the town, and threw a question into the back of the car. ‘You wanted Minehead, you said?’

  ‘We’re meeting our mum and dad there,’ said Nathan.

  ‘O.K. Where do you want me to drop you? I’m going on to Watchet.’

  Watchet. This car was going all the way to Watchet. Nathan could not believe his luck. ‘Can we come to Watchet with you?’

  ‘I thought you said you’re meeting your parents in Minehead.’

  ‘I made a mistake, I meant Watchet.’

  ‘Oh. Well, not to worry. Yes of course you can come. But are you sure? You did say Minehead at first.’

  ‘I meant Watchet,’ said Nathan.

  The lady turned the radio on again. ‘Do you like Beethoven?’ she asked.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘This is. This music. Do you like it?’

  ‘Oh yes. It’s my favourite.’

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ said the lady, laughing. ‘I think you’re just being polite.’

  Nathan let her think that. He was not being polite at all, just prudent. While the lady was listening to the boring music, she could not be asking awkward questions, could she. ‘I like that bit,’ he added to encourage her. ‘That twiddly bit.’

  The lady laughed again, and there was no more conversation.

  ‘I think this is Watchet,’ said Nathan, to Julia. They were coming down a hill, and the little seaside town was spread out before them. Julia was silent. Her eyes were closed. She was curled into the corner, and sleeping. Nathan nudged her to wake her up. ‘Come on, Ju, we’re here. We’re at Watchet.’

  ‘Where do you want me to drop you?’ said the lady.

  ‘Oh – anywhere.’

  ‘Well, where are you meeting your parents?’

  ‘By the harbour,’ said Nathan, whose thoughts just then were of nothing else.

  ‘All right. I’ll leave you here by the bus stop. You know how to get to the Esplanade?’

  ‘Down the shopping street, isn’t it?’ said Nathan, suddenly wary.

  ‘Well you can go that way. It’s quicker along by the station. Here you are then, out you get.’

  ‘Thank you very much,’ said Nathan.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Julia, struggling to keep her eyes open, and balance on unsteady legs.

  ‘Wake up, Julia,’ said Nathan, seething now with impatience to get to his ship.

  ‘All right, I’m awake. Where do we have to go?’

  ‘To the harbour of course, to find the ship that’s going to Norway.’

  Julia gazed around her, getting her bearings, remembering. ‘That’s the street where the man was that asked us the questions. In that shop. The man that suspected us.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Let’s go, Nathan. He might see us again. And that pink woman with the wobbles. The strawberry jelly woman.’

  ‘I know. We don’t have to go that way though. We can go by the station. Look – you can see where the harbour is. You can see the lorries and things!’

  They hurried towards a messy conglomeration of lorries and warehouse sheds and great bales of wood, behind a high barricade. The harbour would be somewhere to the left of all this, and the ship that was going to take them far away. Nathan seized Julia’s wrist and dragged her with him, and she scuffled her tired feet, trying to keep up.

  The harbour lay in front of them. It was full of little boats and unsightly mud. But the place by the wharf where the big ship had been last time, was empty. ‘There’s no ship!’ said Nathan, not believing it. He had been so sure the ship would be there.

  ‘What shall we do then?’ said Julia, bleakly.

  ‘Wait till tomorrow. Perhaps it’ll come tomorrow.’

  ‘I’m tired,’ said Julia.

  It was a bright morning, but there were grey and pink clouds billowing up from the sea. It was going to rain again soon, and in any case if they stayed in the open, the pink woman might find them, and start asking a lot more nosy questions. They must find shelter, but Nathan did not want to stray too far from the harbour. ‘Let’s go this way,’ he said.

  There were some steps leading up to the railway line, and a path running beside it, heading towards some high cliffs to the right of the harbour. Nathan dragged Julia up the steps and along the path. Soon there were more steps, and as they climbed they were looking down on the dockyard. There were piles of things everywhere. Peering with his short-sighted eyes, Nathan could see that there were plenty of places to hide. He would have liked to shelter in the dockyard, to be handy for when the ship came. But the way to get there was a steep drop over a cliff face, and in any case they would surely be seen if they tried to climb down. The barricade at the entrance was not there for nothing. Clearly, trespassers were not allowed. Nathan went on dragging Julia up the steps and on to a grassy cliff-top, overlooking the sea.

  ‘Let’s go in there,’ said Julia.

  Nathan had been so preoccupied
with his survey of the dockyard that he almost missed the perfect shelter, which Julia had seen. It was actually a relic of the war – a look-out post, like a little man-made cave, with a low entrance and a dark interior. Nathan looked around. He didn’t want anyone to see them going in. He would feel safer if no one at all knew they were there. But there was no one on the cliff, and the pinky-grey clouds were already obscuring the sun. The rain would be falling any minute now, drenching them. Nathan pushed Julia inside the dug-out, as the first drops began.

  It was smelly and dark, but at least it was dry. ‘Good as the tent, innit, Ju,’ said Nathan, to keep her cheerful. But Julia was sinking into an exhausted stupor, and didn’t answer. They both slept, more or less, for two or three hours, and when they woke, Julia moaned that she was hungry and thirsty. She went on moaning until Nathan lost his patience and told her to shut up.

  ‘Well I am,’ she insisted.

  ‘You are what?’

  ‘Hungry. And thirsty.’

  ‘If I go out to buy something, I might meet the pink woman. It’s too risky.’

  ‘You want me to starve, then?’

  ‘Besides, it’s raining, and my pullover’s only nearly dry from yesterday. I could borrow your coat, Ju.’

  ‘Then I’ll freeze, as well as starve.’

  ‘You could have my pullover. You Know Who couldn’t see me, with the hood up on your coat.’

  ‘I don’t want you to have my coat, I want my coat myself.’

  ‘Julia! You got to be reasonable. If you want to eat you got to let me have your coat. That fish and chip place might be open, eh?’

  ‘All right, then.’

  ‘You’ll have to give me some money.’

  Enveloped in Julia’s anorak, Nathan felt protected both from the weather, and from the prying eyes of pink ladies. He battled his way through the driving rain, down the steps and across the Esplanade. He noticed that the tide was almost in, in the harbour.

  It was lunch time, and the fish and chip place was indeed open. Nathan was so hungry himself he felt he could probably eat everything on the menu, and with a new twenty pound note in his pocket there was no need to stint. He bought fried fish and sausages and beefburgers, and four portions of chips, and four cans of Coca-Cola. The lady in the shop wrapped the hot food and found a carrier bag for him to put everything in. Then Nathan turned to go.