Death Trip

Magda excused herself and seconds later Ma

‘You had trouble? You left one man wounded on the street below? I saw his friend helping him.’

‘We were followed. Two sets of men. I would say unco

Alfie studied it. ‘This is from a shop in the Chinese district. I will check it out.’

‘Magda must have something they want, Alfie.’ Alfie shook his head and drew up his shoulders. ‘It’s got to be something that has to do with Jake’s kidnap.’

‘You lost me.’ Alfie shrugged again.

‘Was this flat Deming’s?’

‘He bought it for Magda.’

‘He used to stay here, right?’

Alfie nodded.

‘When he died, he didn’t exactly have time to tie up loose ends. He was a man with lots of business concerns. Perhaps there’s something here of his. Have someone watch Magda at a distance. We have to find out what they want. And…Alfie, you have to trust me on this…I will go alone to find the kids.’

Alfie nodded, resigned. ‘I understand. Magda wouldn’t make it anyway.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Magda has terminal cancer. We are living on borrowed time.’

7

Jake tried to make out A

A

Behind him he could hear Thomas wheezing as he struggled to keep up. He was the youngest: he had just had his eighteenth birthday. Silke, his sister, was the oldest at twenty. With his goatee beard and his big limbs, Thomas always looked like the baby amongst them. He was a sci-fi enthusiast, always on the PC playing games when he was at home; he was a DJ in his spare time. That’s what he wanted to be when he finished college. Jake didn’t really know what career he wanted yet. He would be going back to study history and economics at university. He thought he wanted to be a businessman of some description, the next Bill Gates. He wanted to make a lot of money and travel and he wanted to marry A

Jake looked behind.

‘Come on, Thomas.’ Thomas was lagging behind again.

Weasel was making pig noises at him. Weasel’s real name was Jao. He was stupid, cruel and warped. He was tall and thin and laughed like a girl. His teeth were spikes. In the evenings, when they stopped and the drink came out, he was the one who tortured the porters and instigated the trouble. On drunken nights he wrapped himself in the women’s sarongs and danced for the others. The other deputy and the most worrying of them all was Kanda or Handsome. He was vain and cruel. He looked at himself in the mirror that he wore on his belt. He was the one Jake feared most after Saw. He was always after the girls. He loved to watch them squirm.

‘Ignore him, Thomas,’ Jake called back. ‘He’ll keep doing it unless you pretend it doesn’t hurt.’

Weasel often tormented Thomas as they trudged along. Now Weasel was alongside him, hitting him with a stick. The more Thomas cried out, the more Weasel did it. Jake had learned to pretend it didn’t hurt, not to flinch. Weasel enjoyed watching pain. If Jake ignored him he usually went away. But Thomas couldn’t do it. He had to cry out. Jake could hear it now. He turned to see Thomas stumbling as Weasel hit him every time he tried to get up.

‘I’m trying.’ Jake could hear that Thomas was close to tears, breathless from the effort. Now Jake heard the whir of Weasel’s bamboo cane coming down harder, faster, and more viciously. The men laughed as Thomas screamed out in pain.

‘Stop it,’ Jake shouted back. Thomas couldn’t hide his distress. He was crying and yelping with the pain and fear and Weasel’s demonic giggling grew more manic and shriller as he chased him with the stick and its movement became harder and quicker as it sang in the air.

Handsome came alongside and Jake said, ‘Make him stop.’

But Handsome only gri

8

Magda sat with her head in her hands, sca

‘But we want to help,’ she said as she looked from Alfie to Ma

‘You will be more help to me here,’ said Ma

Magda looked spent, overwhelmed by the hundreds of sticky notes, maps and other pieces of paper scattered around.

Alfie thought hard and then nodded. ‘I understand what you are saying, Joh

Magda took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes and spoke quietly.

‘It was supposed to be a fantastic trip for Jake. He has had a hard time in the last year, with my illness and everything. I didn’t want it to stop him going. I was in remission when he left. This week I found out I have secondary and I can’t have any more chemotherapy. I just have weeks left.’

Alfie took the tops off the beers and set them on the table, careful not to touch the map; then he placed his hand on Magda’s shoulder and gave her a supportive squeeze before sitting back down.

‘We live for today and today you are still here and Jake is still in the jungle. And today we have new help. We have Joh

‘Tell me from the begi

Magda looked down at her hands, gripping the edge of the table without realising she was doing it. ‘They wanted to do something fantastic together before going to university.’