by John Kitchen
He told him about what he’d planned for Saturday. “I got to do it, man,” he said. “If I don’t, this thing will go on forever.”
“We’ll phone Justin,” Rudi said. “Get him back, get him and the professor down to talk to Dave.”
As soon as the mob had exploded from the dining room they headed outside where they could get a better signal and Lloyd called the number Justin had given him.
But the message crackling down the phone made his blood congeal. “The person you have called is unavailable,” the message said. “Please try again later.” And he looked at Rudi.
“He said he’d keep his phone on all the time.”
“Can’t you leave a message?” Rudi said.
He shook his head. “No way, man. I got to talk to him. He might be in some place where they haven’t got no signal. He might not get the message till it’s too late.”
Rudi stared across the grounds. There was desperation in his eyes. “We’ve got to do something,” he said.
Then Lloyd looked him straight in the face and said, “You know what?” And there was a tremor in his voice. “You ever bunked off school?”
“No,” Rudi said. “Why?”
“Well, you’re bunking off today, man. We got to get to London, to see the professor.”
“But we haven’t any money – the train fare?”
Lloyd put an arm around him and still he was looking him full in the face. “We’re riding the train,” he said. “You got to stick close by me and do what I say and it’s going to take a bit of nerve – especially for you, but we can do it. I done it before, with Lee Peddar –loads of times, I told you.”
“Say we get caught?” Rudi said.
“We got to take that chance. I mean, there isn’t no other way. If we don’t get to the professor, they’re going to shift me Friday.”
“I haven’t done anything like this before,” Rudi said. He sounded really miserable.
But Lloyd led him slowly back up the steps. “That’s okay,” he said. “You just follow what I do. We got to go into school just like normal. Then we got to get to Didcot.”
He knew this could go disastrously wrong. When he’d done it with Lee Peddar, Lee knew the ropes, but Rudi was a novice and one slip, they’d get caught, and that would land them in the hands of the transport police and they’d never get to the professor.
Chapter 16
All the time they were on the school bus, Lloyd was planning. There was no way they could walk from Brookley to Didcot, and they didn’t have money for a bus. It would have to be a lift and that wasn’t going to be easy.
When they reached school he held Rudi back until the rest had gone in. Then they walked as unobtrusively as they could around by the gate, hoping none of the teachers would notice. Once they were outside they headed for the main road.
“We got to hitch, okay?” Lloyd said. “We got to tell people we go to school in Didcot, and we missed our bus. You better keep an eye open for the police too. And you leave the talking to me. Swing your holdall over your shoulders and don’t say nothing.”
He stuck a raised thumb out. He’d seen people do this in old films.
A lot of vehicles passed, and most drivers didn’t even bother to look. He was careful though; anyone that seemed the least bit shifty and he withdrew his thumb.
All Rudi could do was watch, and there was despair scrawled all over his face.
He looked at the contorted face, dismayed. “Come on, man. This is an adventure,” he said. “You got to stop seeming like you’re going to be hung.”
“We might as well be hung if the wrong person picks us up,” said Rudi, but Lloyd just laughed.
“No way. No one’s going to lay a finger on us.”
He stuck his thumb out again, and this time a car drew up.
There was an elderly couple in it, a man and a woman. They both had grey hair and they looked like some kid’s grandparents. The woman wound down her window and leaned out. “Shouldn’t you be at school?” she said.
“We missed the bus,” said Lloyd. “We don’t go to the school in Brookley no more. We got places in Didcot. It’s a better school, see, but we’ll be in big trouble if we don’t get there.”
The man leaned over and opened the back door and they clambered in.
Lloyd squeezed Rudi’s arm with a gesture of adrenaline filled triumph. He grinned and winked.
“Have you been waiting long?” the woman asked.
“About ten minutes. It don’t matter too much if we’re late. We’ll tell them we missed the bus. They’ll just give us late points.”
“How long have you been at school in Didcot?” the man asked.
“Just this term.” Lloyd’s head was in overdrive. “It’s our parents, see? They said you get better results at Didcot. Brookley’s a rubbish school, isn’t that right, Rudi?”
“And you’d be – how old?” the woman said.
“Thirteen – we’re in year eight. We still got plenty of time before we do our GCSEs.”
“You shouldn’t make a habit of this, you know,” the man said. “Hitching lifts – it’s a dangerous occupation.”
“Yeah, we know,” said Lloyd. “But we thought you was safe. You got honest faces.”
They both laughed, and Lloyd added, “It isn’t going to happen no more – and it was all my fault, isn’t that right, Rudi? I couldn’t find my homework. I should have packed it last night.”
After that, things went quiet, which was a relief because Lloyd was running out of conversation.
The old couple dropped them by the school gate and they went through, waving. Then they hid around the corner until the car was out of sight and, as soon as it was clear, they made their way down to the station.
Their first task was to find somewhere to offload their holdalls.
“We don’t want to carry nothing that’s going to slow us down,” Lloyd explained. Rudi was still looking terrified and that worried him. “You got to do something about that face, man,” he added. “People see you looking like that and they’ll know something’s up. You got to look like you’re enjoying it.”
“But if we get caught?”
“If we get caught, we got to bluff our way out, but that’s okay; I’ll do the talking. If a ticket-inspector comes, then we just slip off into another carriage and come back when he’s worked down the carriages. Then we got to push past him while he’s checking someone’s ticket and, if he says something, we just look all innocent like and say our parents got our tickets and they’re down the train. Then we lock ourselves in the toilets for a bit, till he’s finished doing his inspection.”
They wandered down the path towards the car park until they found a hole in the mesh fence. They pushed their holdalls through, burying them in the undergrowth, and then they headed for the station.
It was no problem getting onto the platform. There was a gate by the path leading directly to the platform ramp.
“We got to take the fast train,” Lloyd said. “That’s platform two. If we go on the stopping train the ticket-inspector will be up and down all the time. We don’t want to be right up the back neither. That’s where he hangs out in his little office. We got to be in the middle, say, halfway between the back and the refreshments, and we got to sit at the far end of the carriage, so, if he does show up, we got time to get out the way.”
When the train came in, they found a couple of seats, facing the back, just where they needed to be, but as they pulled out, Rudi grabbed Lloyd’s arm and he looked really scared.
“You sure this is going to be okay?” he said.
Lloyd grinned. “You just follow what I do,” he said. “It won’t be no problem.”
The journey didn’t have the same feeling as the trip with Justin had – or even trips with Lee Peddar. There was a tension all the time, watching for the ticket-inspector, and knowing that, at Paddington, there may be barriers to contend with. Lloyd would need to fill Rudi in about them. And there was the constant f
eeling that everything was closing in. Dave had got the better of him. He didn’t even know where Robin was taking him on Friday, and he just had to be at Sarson Hall. Besides, the thought that he’d be shunted off and not see James or Jenny again, or Justin, really crippled him. And there were other worries. When they got to London, they had to find the university. They’d never been to the university. He knew the office address, but London was a big place. And they’d have to ride the buses. His other worry was that James might not be there. He might have gone to the dig.
When they reached Reading they heard an announcement telling alighting passengers they should have their tickets ready as barriers were in operation, and that made Rudi’s face turn even more sickly.
“It’s okay,” Lloyd said. “There’s a gate for people with pushchairs and for disabled people, and when the operator-guy opens that he’s usually busy with the luggage and stuff. You can slip through when he isn’t looking.”
It wasn’t so straightforward after Reading either, because the ticket-inspector turned up asking to see tickets from all passengers boarding at Didcot and Reading.
Lloyd pulled Rudi’s arm. “Come on,” he whispered, and they slipped out of their seats, pushing down the carriages towards the refreshment car. “We got to hang around here for about ten minutes. Then we go back and, if the inspector says something, you leave the talking to me.”
Rudi was looking green by now.
“I get the feeling you aren’t enjoying this much,” Lloyd said, and Rudi shook his head.
The inspector was busy issuing some man with a ticket when they headed back, and they pushed past unchallenged. But by the time they got to Paddington, even Lloyd’s nerves were frayed.
They tumbled onto the concourse, and the conglomeration of activity and the cacophony echoing to the arched roof made it impossible to think straight. “Look out for some woman with a pushchair and luggage,” he said, but there wasn’t anyone and there were hundreds of people milling towards the barriers. No way was this going to be easy. For a while they waited and it looked as if no one was going to need the gate.
At last, though, an elderly man on a mobility scooter came down the platform. He had a huge case, and Lloyd knew that would keep the operator well occupied.
“Stick with him,” he whispered; but now, with the crowd thinning, it was difficult to stay inconspicuous.
They attached themselves to the queue adjacent to the gate and, as soon as the operator got involved verifying the old man’s ticket and managing his luggage, Lloyd grabbed Rudi by the arm.
“Go, man, and run like hell,” he hissed.
They slid behind the man, pushing into the crowd and Lloyd thought he heard someone shout. He didn’t hang around to find out who, though. They dodged between the passengers, tore over to the taxi ramp, raced up the hill and out onto the main street, and Rudi was panting and wide eyed.
But, for the first time, he was smiling.
“Good, isn’t it?” Lloyd said. “You get a wicked adrenaline rush when you do that.”
Rudi nodded, but he was too out of breath to speak.
They could only see one bus stop; it was on the other side of the road. The trouble was, Lloyd had no idea what direction they should go, and so he didn’t know if that was their stop.
“We got to get to Russell Square again,” he said. “The professor’s office is in the Institute of Education. Justin told me that before he went so we got to find a bus going that way.”
He watched buses snarling up and down the road but nothing indicated Russell Square as a destination. He did notice that, with Paddington being such an important stop, there were lots of passengers and that would make it easier to get on board without being seen.
“We got to slip in the back door – between them people getting off,” he said. “See – the people getting on go in the front so the driver can check them in. We don’t want to go near him.”
“Wouldn’t it be best to walk?” said Rudi. He was looking miserable again.
“London’s dead big, man. It could be hundreds of miles to Russell Square.”
He saw Rudi give a weak smile. “It isn’t that big,” he said.
They wandered over to the bus stop and Lloyd stared blankly.
Most of the passengers had cleared, boarding a bus that had just left. There was just one elderly lady there, and he figured she looked quite approachable. He decided to try out a bit of Rudi’s diplomacy. He knew he’d got a winning smile, so it was worth a go. “’Scuse me, misses,” he said, and it was okay because she was beaming. “Me and my mate here, we got to see this professor guy, in the Institute of Education. We got to get to Russell Square, but we don’t know where the bus goes from.”
“There’s a route-finder,” she said. “There’s one in every bus shelter.” She hobbled down the shelter and she was right. There was a big route-map, and, underneath, all the destinations listed alphabetically, together with the buses they could catch. They even gave you the letter of the bus stop.
“That’s got to be neat, hasn’t it?” he said. “That makes finding buses in London dead easy.” He looked at the old lady with his broadest smile and he could see she was melting.
“So, why are you going to see a professor at the Institute?” she said.
“We got this big archaeological project going – back where we live and he’s working on it with us. I made this massive discovery last night, and we got to talk to him.”
The old lady’s eyes were sparkling and she was really nice. Lloyd was beginning to think, if you got out of the system, out of the reach of carers and social workers and all the others involved with homeless kids, there was a big population of decent people out there.
“You don’t know how much you’ve made my day, dears,” she said. “So refreshing to see young people enthused about history and archaeology. I used to work in the Institute library, you know? Have you been there before?”
Lloyd shook his head. “When we met the professor before, it was at the British Museum.”
“Well… I’ll take you if you like,” the old lady said, and suddenly Lloyd’s brain went numb. With the old woman in tow, there was no way they could jump the bus.
“I don’t want to put you to no trouble,” he said, but she just put an arm around each of them and gave her beaming smile again.
“It’ll be a pleasure. And I expect you’re on a limited budget – would that be right? So… I’ll treat you to the bus fare. How would that be?”
It was as if all his winners had come in at once. But old ladies and charm, he had to keep it up. “That isn’t right,” he said. “I mean, you probably only get a small pension.”
“I get my own travel free, with my bus pass,” she said. “And don’t forget, I worked at the university. The pension isn’t exactly a pittance; I’m not on the breadline.”
“Well, that’s real kind. Me and Rudi, we appreciate that, don’t we, Rudi?”
Rudi was grinning as if his face would split. He clearly hadn’t fancied jumping a bus.
“The bus goes from over the road,” she said. “Just down there. We want a number seven.”
They began walking back past the station and there was a bus stop further down the road.
“And your professor – what’s his name?” she said.
“Professor Appleyard. He’s an archaeologist.”
“James Appleyard?” She looked really pleased. “I know him.
I remember him when he was a student. He did his doctorate at the university.”
“You know James Appleyard, and the guy’s a doctor?” Lloyd said.
“Most professors are, but he isn’t a medical doctor, so don’t try showing him a poorly toe.” The old dear was laughing big time, and it was as if she wasn’t a proper old woman – Lloyd couldn’t believe their luck.
“That’s unbelievable,” he said. “I mean, London’s a big place, and to think, we meet up with you and you know the professor. That’s amazing. Isn’t that right,
Rudi?”
The old lady was shoving coins into a ticket machine. “These things aren’t just down to chance, my dears,” she said. “I’m a firm believer that there’s someone out there watching us, looking after our needs, bringing us together.”
“You religious, then?” said Lloyd.
“Not in the conventional sense,” she said. “But… these things are governed by some controlling force. I do believe that. There are too many things like this happening for it to be just chance.”
A bus pulled in and if they’d seen it before, they wouldn’t have needed the old lady at all; it had Russell Square scrawled all across the front. But with her they were legitimate, and that was a big relief. It wasn’t much fun riding trains and buses with Rudi. He didn’t seem to have the build for it.
She insisted on taking them to the Institute when they got to Russell Square, and she was greeted like an old friend.
“Miss Treadwell,” the receptionist said. “How lovely to see you.”
She beamed. “I’ve brought two young men on a mission. They’re here to see Professor Appleyard.”
“Do they have an appointment?” the receptionist asked, and Miss Treadwell laughed.
“I shouldn’t think so, not for a minute. Have you got an appointment, boys?”
“No,” said Lloyd. “But he’ll see us if he’s in, no sweat. You just say it’s Lloyd and Rudi.”
The girl rang through, and after a brief pause she smiled. “He’s on his way down.”
They had to wait a few minutes, and when he emerged he was looking really puzzled. “Lloyd – Rudi?” he said. “What are you doing here?” Then he stopped because he’d noticed Miss Treadwell and his bewilderment went up several notches. “And Agatha, how lovely to see you; but how did you come by these boys?”
“The guiding hand of fate, James. I met them at a bus stop in Paddington.”
“Amazing,” he said. He was still looking confused, but almost pleased at the same time. “Come up to my office.”
He glanced at the receptionist, raising an eyebrow. “Coffee?” he said. “For Miss Treadwell and me – and possibly orange juice and a couple of cookies for the boys?”