by Pete Johnson
‘Very fast. I’m impressed, and these will prove extremely useful.’ He got on his bike again. ‘For now, don’t tell anyone about this.’
‘As careless talk costs lives,’ I said.
He nodded approvingly. ‘Quite right.’
Then he rode off, once more finding time to give me a quick wave as he did so.
That was such a gratifying moment. And I felt so pleased with myself – but not in a big-headed way, just very relieved I hadn’t messed up. Then I took the shopping inside and shortly afterwards people came back again. I wondered if they’d been kept away deliberately as part of my test.
I longed to tell someone what I’d done, but I remembered how the Home Guard officer had impressed on me the importance of keeping quiet about it.
Then Mr Wallack ordered us into the kitchen for what he called a de-briefing.
‘Hope this won’t take long,’ said Izzy to me. ‘I’m starving . . .’ Then she asked, ‘What are you looking so happy about?’
‘I wasn’t aware that I was,’ I said.
‘Oh, yes,’ said Izzy. ‘You can’t stop grinning; neither can Leo. What’s going on?’
Of course, Leo and I were smiling about quite different things. Leo said to Izzy, ‘All will be revealed very shortly.’
Before I could reply Mr Wallack had strode into the kitchen and was asking for silence. He always expected to be obeyed instantly. He was joined at the front by Miss Weed. Farmer Benson and Mrs Benson also came in and sat at the back.
‘I’ve summoned you all here—’ began Mr Wallack.
But then Leo jumped to his feet. ‘Actually, I’ve got an important announcement to make first,’ he said.
Mr Wallack’s face twitched furiously. ‘How dare you interrupt me like that! How dare you! One more word from you and you will receive a warning.’
He looked so angry that Leo just muttered, ‘You just wait, mate,’ and sat down.
‘Now,’ continued Mr Wallack, ‘before I was so rudely interrupted, I mentioned to you yesterday that one of you would be set a challenge. That challenge was performed this afternoon.’
There was a murmur of surprise, while a modest little smile began playing about my lips.
‘One of you was stopped by this person.’ And right on cue the Home Guard man strode in. ‘He is, of course,’ said Mr Wallack, ‘in a Home Guard uniform and he asked one of you for maps as he claimed he needed them to track down spies.’
The way Mr Wallack said ‘claimed’ sent a horrible shudder rushing down my spine. Then he asked the Home Guard soldier to speak. In a grave ‘War has been declared’ voice, the man said, ‘I stole this Home Guard uniform. I am in fact a fifth columnist – a spy. I needed maps for the invaders. And the boy I asked just handed the maps over. Didn’t you, Zac?’
He saw the deep horror on my face and gave a little smile of triumph. ‘But,’ I cried out suddenly, ‘I asked for your ID card.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed, ‘you did, but you didn’t look at the card carefully enough.’ He produced the card again. ‘First of all, my date of birth is 1917, but look how I’ve done the seven with the line across the middle of it. Not a British style at all in those days.’
‘How could he be expected to know that?’ cried Leo.
‘All right, but surely he should have spotted the card wasn’t signed.’ The man waved the ID card about so that everyone could see it and then he turned to me. ‘Shouldn’t you have spotted that, Zac?’
I couldn’t even speak now. I just gave my head a stiff little shake.
‘By his actions today,’ continued the so-called Home Guard, ‘Zac has given the enemy immense help.’
Shocked, ashamed, I couldn’t stop the tears from trickling down my face. ‘I’m very sorry,’ I croaked.
‘So no extra rations for us,’ called out Izzy. ‘Oh well, it’s no big deal.’
‘I’m afraid it is,’ said Mr Wallack. ‘Zac, stand up, please.’
I stumbled to my feet.
‘With great regret, Zac, your journey is now over.’
‘What . . .?’ I faltered.
‘You are being evicted from the wartime house immediately.’
There were shocked cries of disbelief from everyone around me. Even Farmer and Mrs Benson looked stunned. And I . . . I just couldn’t take it in. I stood there, blood pounding in my ears, sick with shock.
I’d been banished from my new home. So this meant I’d have to return to Aunt Sara’s and go back to being weird little Zac, the nuisance, who never fitted in and never would.
No, I couldn’t go back there. Ever.
What else could I do? I stood there, totally and completely lost. I had to try and speak, so I asked, shakily, ‘At least let me stay until . . .’ Only I couldn’t even finish my sentence as this giant hand had started shaking me, or that’s exactly what it felt like – and now the whole room was spinning faster and faster . . .
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
‘I’m Staying Here’
Izzy
I MADE A little noise in my throat like a startled turkey. Zac evicted from the house – because he hadn’t checked an ID card was signed? It was a mad joke. It had to be.
Then Zac began swaying about as if he was going to faint. Leo, Harriet and I all jumped up, but Zac gripped the back of his chair tightly and said, ‘No, I’m all right, honestly.’ He stood there, sweat crawling down his face and then cried, ‘Please let me stay here. I realize I have lost the competition. I really never cared about that anyway. But may I stay at least until tomorrow – because Victor . . .’
‘I’m very sorry,’ murmured Wally, ‘but you must leave at once.’
‘I’ll do any number of extra tasks,’ Zac persisted, ‘and you needn’t even feed me. But don’t make me go back now.’
Zac was practically begging now. No, he was begging. And I hated seeing that. So I called out, ‘Excuse me, but you never said if you messed up the challenge, you’d be chucked out.’
‘No,’ said Wally, ‘but we did tell you to expect the unexpected, didn’t we?’ He turned to Miss Weed.
‘Yes, that’s right,’ she agreed, although not very loudly.
‘Give him another challenge tomorrow then,’ said Leo.
‘Yes, please do that,’ I urged as politely as I could.
Wally didn’t answer for a few seconds, and just when a faint hope was rising in me he said, ‘Team spirit is admirable. I like team spirit – but here it is wholly misplaced. A decision has been made and it is final. Already a new boy has been selected for the competition and he will be joining us for breakfast tomorrow.’
‘That’s not fair,’ I murmured.
‘And if anyone objects, then they too can join Zac in leaving right now. We have a waiting list with several hundred other names on it, desperate for their chance. Now, has anyone else anything to say?’
I had plenty, but I really didn’t want to be thrown out. So I just lowered my head. So did Leo.
Then a brief, supercharged silence before Wally said smoothly, ‘Now, Zac, will you go and pack. You are supposed to leave in five minutes, but I will give you an additional ten minutes. All right?’
Zac didn’t reply. He just stood there, staring at the wall opposite. In the end I got up and went over to him. ‘Zac,’ I said very softly. He didn’t react; I don’t think he even heard me. He just went on gazing at the wall, his eyes not even blinking.
I wondered if Zac was ever going to talk to anyone again. That sounds such a crazy thing to write now, but you didn’t see Zac’s eyes then; they looked as if he’d been hypnotized.
‘He’s very, very shocked,’ I said. ‘Could you give—’I began.
‘Zac, leave now,’ ordered Wally, his voice as cold as steel. Zac still didn’t react. Miss Weed and Wally looked at each other.
‘Poor lad,’ said Farmer Benson from the back of the room. ‘It’s been a huge shock for him.’
Mrs Benson made agreeing noises and then asked, ‘Shall I give him a hand?’
But at that moment Zac got to his feet. Only he looked so weird, like someone in a trance. He said: ‘I shall go upstairs, but I’m afraid I will not be packing. I do apologize for any inconvenience my decision may cause.’
Then he moved towards the stairs like a sleepwalker. His tone had been so polite, yet what he’d said was dynamite. He was going to totally disobey Wally’s instructions. Leo and I might talk big – but here was the true rebel.
I watched him trail up the stairs with a mixture of shock and admiration.
‘I think I should help him pack,’ said Miss Weed.
‘No, it’s all right,’ cried out Harriet unexpectedly, ‘I’ll do that.’
I shot her a look of utter hatred. How could she volunteer to do that? She really was the most loathsome girl I’d ever met. And she didn’t have one atom of loyalty towards her fellow evacuees. Not even for Zac, who always spoke up for her. Well, I didn’t care how much trouble I got into – I was tipping another jug of water over her tonight, for sure.
‘Actually,’ said Wally, ‘I think it might be best if Harriet does assist Zac.’
‘Yes, yes,’ agreed Miss Weed at once. I don’t think she wanted to force Zac to leave. But, of course, Harriet had no such scruples and she smirked proudly at the teachers before she glided upstairs.
‘Well, now I shall leave you with Miss Weed,’ said Wally, ‘but I shall be back with some important announcements about tomorrow later. You two,’ he said, nodding at Leo and me, ‘can start laying the table for tea.’
‘Do we set a place for Zac?’ asked Leo.
‘No, of course you don’t,’ said Wally, flushing angrily.
He strode off and I turned to Miss Weed. ‘Zac should not have to leave. You can’t do this to him.’
For a moment I thought Miss Weed was going to agree with me. She definitely hesitated. But then she clapped her hands as if Leo and I were disobedient puppies. ‘Come on, you have work to do – no more backchat.’
As Leo and I started bunging out the cutlery and place mats, Leo murmured, ‘On the bright side, Zac hasn’t ever got to see Wally or Miss Weed again.’ But that didn’t make me feel one millimetre better. Somehow I felt we’d really let Zac down, leaving him to the tender mercies of Harriet.
Then Farmer and Mrs Benson strode into the kitchen and beckoned to Miss Weed. ‘May we have a word with you?’ the farmer asked.
‘Yes, of course,’ she said, not exactly eagerly. Then she turned to us. ‘Now carry on, you two,’ she said, before joining Farmer and Mrs Benson outside the kitchen door.
Of course Leo and I immediately started ear-wigging.
Farmer Benson was speaking very quietly at first, so it was hard to catch a single word, but then we heard him say, ‘We thought this was going to be a social experiment, that’s why we agreed to let our farm to be used. But what you did tonight—’
And his wife interrupted, ‘I feel ashamed to be a part of it. You’re just playing with children’s emotions and now you’ve got a boy upstairs breaking his heart.’
Miss Weed whispered something very faintly and the next sound we heard was the back door being pushed open. And we realized they were carrying on this conversation in the farmyard.
Good old Bensons standing up for Zac. But they also made me feel even more ashamed. ‘We shouldn’t have left Zac up there with Harriet.’ I spat out her name.
‘No, we shouldn’t,’ said Leo. Then he hesitated. We both did.
‘So,’ I said, ‘are we going to slip up and see him now?’
Leo didn’t answer. He just started going upstairs.
I sped after him.
And then I got a shock.
Harriet wasn’t with Zac at all. No, she was in our room. I marched in, closely followed by Leo.
And then I got a gigantic shock.
Harriet was packing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Harriet’s Secret
Izzy
‘WHAT ARE YOU doing?’ I stuttered.
‘It looks remarkably like she’s packing to me,’ muttered Leo.
‘Score one hundred points for observation. Yes, I’m leaving instead of Zac,’ said Harriet.
‘Says who?’ I asked.
‘Says me,’ she said.
‘But why would you do that?’ asked Leo.
‘Before I answer,’ said Harriet, ‘I’d better warn you, this room is bugged.’
‘So’s ours,’ said Leo. ‘I meant to tell you all tonight.’
‘Oh, don’t worry,’ cried Harriet. ‘I’ve known the room was bugged since day one, and anything we say in here can – and probably will – be broadcast.’
I looked at her in total amazement. She seemed completely different suddenly. And her wet, annoying smile had just vanished.
She saw me staring at her and smiled. ‘You never guessed, did you, Izzy? I was sure you would.’ Before I could reply she was off bustling round the room again. ‘Well, I shan’t be sorry to lose that wretched gas mask. I don’t know how people put up with them for six years, do you?’
I didn’t answer. I was still reeling from what she’d just said. ‘What do you mean I never guessed?’ I said at last. And then as I stared at her again, I added, ‘You seem like a totally different person suddenly.’
‘That’s a relief,’ she said briskly. I don’t know how much longer I could have gone on saying “It’s all good, babe” and doing that awful simpering smile.’
I gaped at her. ‘Have you . . .’ I said slowly, ‘just been pretending to be annoying?’
‘Of course I have,’ she said.
Leo, who’d been watching all this intently while squatting on the end of my bed, said, ‘Sorry, but this is really weirding me out, Harriet. Why would you pretend to be annoying?’
‘The truth is,’ said Harriet, ‘I’m an actress – well, a wannabe actress – who’s never had the whisper of a part on TV before. I’ve been going to auditions since I was six. I’m seventeen, by the way.’
‘No way!’ I yelled.
Leo shook his head in an amazed sort of way too.
‘And I had to get through three auditions for this part actually.’
‘This part . . .’ Leo repeated.
‘Oh, yes,’ grinned Harriet with an impish grin I’d never seen before. ‘On the first night they let the viewers know I was really a seventeen-year-old actress, on a secret mission. That was the show’s secret challenge. Would you sniff out that I wasn’t a genuine thirteen-year-old? If none of you guessed my secret identity, I got a part for at least six episodes in a TV soap.’
‘You should still get that,’ said Leo.
‘Because you fooled us completely,’ I added.
‘Somehow,’ said Harriet, ‘I don’t think they’ll be giving me any pats on the back tonight.’ Then she faced us. ‘Now my other secret challenge, as they put it, was to really irritate you, Izzy. I had to be the person you’d least like to share a room with: your nightmare.’
‘But why?’ I asked.
‘So you’d lose your temper,’ said Leo.
‘Exactly,’ said Harriet.
‘The madder I got you, the better they liked it; makes for great telly and all that. So when you threw that jug of water over me I was thrilled.’ She walked over and faced me. ‘In fact, I was amazed you hadn’t done it a lot sooner.’ She went on, ‘When I first met you, Izzy, I liked you a lot. And I thought, can I really wind up this poor girl day after day? And for a few minutes I wanted out. Remember on the train when I rushed off, saying I was sick?’
Leo and I nodded.
‘I told them I couldn’t go through with it. But Wally gave me this big lecture, said this was my big chance and I might never get another. So I gave in.’ She looked at me. ‘No hard feelings?’
‘None at all,’ I replied. Then I added, ‘But now you’ve given it all up.’
Harriet turned away. ‘Yeah, well I saw the way they treated poor Zac tonight. And why? To create another sensation, to get viewers talk
ing. No thanks. Not for me. Hadn’t one of you better check he’s all right, by the way?’
‘I’ll go,’ I said.
Zac was just sitting on his bed, staring into space.
But before I could say anything, Wally’s voice erupted out of nowhere. ‘I want everyone downstairs. You will all go to the classroom immediately.’ His voice seemed to fill the whole room.
And suddenly Zac came out of his trance. ‘He sounds very angry,’ he whispered.
‘Do you think so?’ I said. ‘He just sounded his usual miserable self to me. Still, I suppose we’d better go down.’
But I was far more anxious than I sounded. As I hadn’t a clue what was going to happen next.
Not a clue.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Who Leaves?
Izzy
THE HEAVY GLOOM of our classroom was bad enough in the daylight. At night it was even worse. Especially as there was just one dim light flickering away in this shadowy chamber of doom.
A wave of fear rushed over me.
‘Hey, this is scary,’ whispered Leo to me. ‘Do you suppose Miss Weed will give me a cuddle to cheer me up?’
‘Ask her if you like,’ I suggested.
‘No talking,’ snapped Miss Weed. She stood at the front of the classroom, as still as a bookend. I grinned at Harriet. She gave me a triumphant wave, and she looked very relaxed. Perhaps it was a relief to be herself at last.
Would she be evicted now? I didn’t want her to be. (And I never thought I’d want Harriet to stay.) But if she was chucked out, did that mean Zac was now safe? Poor Zac, he just looked totally confused.
‘Class will rise.’ I hadn’t heard Wally come in and his voice made me jump. He strode to the front of the room, frowning heavily. He brought a sharp coldness with him. In fact, this room was suddenly freezing. His unblinking eyes scanned the room sternly.
‘There has been some highly unfortunate behaviour tonight,’ he said at last. He looked at Harriet. ‘I believe your cover has been blown.’