The Enemy

‘Hey! Is there any bread to go with this?’ ‘You’re joking, aren’t you?’ one of the cooks shouted back. ‘They’re scoffing next month’s supply upstairs.’

‘They’re scoffing everything upstairs. We’ll starve.’

‘We’ll make do.’

Ollie had seen enough. He slipped away. So David was lying to them, pretending they had more food than they really did. What was he up to? Showing off, probably. For now they would have to sit tight and see what happened. Ollie knew that he ought to be angry, but he was actually quite impressed. David was a clever boy, devious. He knew a bit of psychology. He understood about politics. About spin. He had achieved a hell of a lot here, obviously not quite as much as he was making out, but it was still remarkable. Ollie would need to be very careful – they all would – but David was a good person to be on the right side of.

Ella was eating her di

Was he really in heaven like Whitney had said? Ella didn’t exactly know what heaven was. She’d always imagined it looked a bit like this. A nice clean palace with pictures and a garden to play in and a nice man looking after you. And nice food.

She’d never liked vegetables before but now they tasted lovely. So many things had changed. Too many. She’d always thought Sam would be there to look after her, even though he was only small. She was nearly as big as him.

Now he was gone.

She said a silent prayer. Sent it up to heaven.

Sam, if you can hear me I hope you’ve got nice food where you are. Some vegetables like these. They’re meant to be good for you. So eat them all up, like I’m doing. When I die I’ll come and see you and we’ll be together again. But for now I’m going to think of you safe and happy and playing knights with a friend.

Love from Ella. Your sister.

PS I got a good long go with Godzilla today after we got here. Godzilla is very happy.

PPS I forgot, you never met Godzilla. He is a puppy and is very cute, he belonged to a boy called Joel who got killed by monkeys. I think the monkeys were sick. Monkeys are usually nice. At least in stories.

PPPS Maybe you’ll meet Joel where you are. Say hello. He is nice.

PPPPS Goodnight, Sam. The others call you Small Sam. To me you’re just Sam – my brother.

I miss you. I wish I was with you.

38

‘They put something in the soup to make you sleep.’

‘What do you mean? Why would they do that?’

‘Why do you think? They needed to chain you up. They’re keeping us prisoner.’

Sam had woken up in a different carriage. There was no fancy furniture in here, no curtains or carpets. There was straw on the floor, a bucket at one end to use as a toilet and the doors were jammed shut. Otherwise it was a normal tube-train carriage.

There were handcuffs around his wrists. A thin chain led from them up to the roof where it was fixed to the handrail. He had room to move about, but not far.

There were three other kids in here. Two were asleep. Twins. A boy and a girl, about Sam’s age. They looked clean and well fed, but a little feeble, and their skin was very pale. The third kid was a girl, older than Sam, quite fat but with withered, ski

Her name was Rhia

‘Why would they keep us prisoner?’ said Sam. ‘They seemed nice.’

‘When I’ve first come here,’ said Rhia

‘They can’t,’ Sam protested. ‘They’re not like the other grown-ups. They’re not diseased. They’re not mad.’

‘They still need to eat.’

‘They can scavenge…’

‘They want meat,’ said Rhia

‘You’re wrong,’ said Sam. ‘You’ve got no proof.’

Rhia

‘But Nick saved my life,’ said Sam, who was close to tears.

‘If a wolf attacks his sheep the shepherd kills the wolf,’ said Rhia

‘I’m not a sheep,’ said Sam. ‘I’m a boy.’

‘To them you’re a sheep. Or a pig,’ said Rhia

‘We’ve got to escape,’ said Sam, jumping up and pulling at his chain.

Rhia

‘I done it before,’ said Sam. ‘I escaped from a nest of grown-ups at Arsenal stadium. I’m Sam the Giant Slayer. I’ve come all the way here from Holloway by myself. I’m not going to let these buggers hurt me. We’ll all get out.’

‘Don’t you think I’ve tried?’ said Rhia

Sam sat down miserably. To have come all this way and end up like this was terrible, just terrible.

But he was Sam the Giant Slayer.

And he wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

39

‘This is ridiculous.’

‘Let’s just go with the flow, yeah? We’re their guests at the moment. If we want to live here permanently we’re going to have to learn to get along.’

It was ten in the morning. The most senior kids from the Holloway crew had been brought to somewhere called the Green Drawing Room and were standing around on the plush carpet, waiting. It was a ridiculously ornate room with patterned green wallpaper and a huge crystal chandelier dangling from the middle of the over-decorated ceiling. Apparently the palace kids were organizing some kind of ceremony for them. But it was taking forever.

The newcomers had spent the night in their sleeping-bags on camp beds in the ballroom, which had been made up as a huge dormitory. Most had slept well. Feeling secure and safe for the first time in a long while. They’d woken feeling excited, and eager to explore more of their new home.