Sharp Shot

Then they were climbing, up and out of the river and into the field on the other side.

“We made it!” said Rich. “They must be awful shots.”

Jade laughed with relief.

“Still got to get out of the field,” McCain warned them.

“Who are those people, and why are they after you?” asked Jade.

Ahead of them, the tractor’s headlights picked out another gate. McCain stopped the tractor.

“I’ll tell you once we know we’re in the clear.” He nodded at the gate. “Maybe we should open this one.”

“I’ll get it,” said Rich. He pushed open the door, though he could probably have climbed through the empty space where the glass had been.

A minute later they were driving along a country lane with steep hedges either side. The tractor almost filled the whole road.

“We made it,” said Rich. “Amazing.”

“Well done,” Jade told McCain. “Now perhaps you’ll tell us what’s going on.”

“Got some bad guys after me,” said McCain.

“We’d never have guessed,” said Rich.

“Really bad guys. The worst. I was hoping John —your dad—could help me out.”

“I’m sure he would,” said Jade, “but he’s away on…business.”

“I can imagine,” said McCain, with a tight smile. The smile faded as he glanced over his shoulder, past Jade and Rich standing by the driver’s seat. “Sorry—looks like we spoke too soon.”

Jade turned to look. A pair of powerful headlights was scything through the darkness behind them.

“Could just be someone out for a drive,” said Rich.

The car clipped a hedge as it took a corner too fast and too wide. A bullet slammed into the back of the tractor.

“Or not,” Rich conceded, ducking down with Jade into as much cover as they could find.

“They must have had a second car,” said McCain. “And it looks like this one is going to catch us.”

3 (#ulink_6046efe5-1c26-53e8-abfe-5089f1bd0cc1)

The car was weaving back and forth across the road as it came up behind them. But the tractor was so wide and the lane so narrow that there was no way past.

“Only a matter of time before they hit a tyre,” said Rich. “Or one of us.”

“Any suggestions?” asked Jade, her voice cracking. They’d been in trouble before—several times, in fact, since they’d come to live with their dad. But this was every bit as serious as it got.

A bullet ripped into the metal cage surrounding the cab, making them both duck down even further. McCain was hunched over the steering wheel.

Up ahead, at the limit of the headlights, Rich could make out a dark patch in the high hedge. It might be an opening. “Go right!” he yelled, as he saw it was a single-track lane leading off at right angles.

McCain spun the heavy wheel, the tractor squealed as it turned. There was a smell of burning rubber as the tyres bit into the roadway. For a moment it looked like they weren’t going to make it. Then the tractor punched through the side of the hedge. Branches and leaves raked through the cab, scratching Rich’s face.

In a moment, they were through. The tractor roared as fast as it would go along the even narrower track. There was grass growing in the middle, and the gravel had worn away. The track was cratered with potholes.

In the road behind, the pursuing car screeched, engine protesting as it tried to follow. And failed. There was an ear-splitting crash as it buried itself in the hedge.

But at once it was reversing, lining up and hurtling down the track after them.

“Farm buildings,” Jade shouted, pointing off to the left.

The track swung in a shallow curve round towards the farm. But McCain headed straight for the buildings—across a ploughed field. The tractor lurched and bumped. There was no way the car could follow them—it would have to take the long route. McCain killed the headlights.

“No point in telling them exactly where we are.”

But even as he finished speaking, there was a flash of lightning, illuminating the scene brightly.

“Even the gods are on their side,” Rich complained. “And any second we’re going to get soaked.”

“Better than getting shot,” Jade told him.

The buildings loomed closer, silhouetted against the deep grey sky. There was a farmhouse, several barns, outbuildings and a cattle shed.

“Can we double back?” Jade wondered. “Get back to the road?”

“They might have another car, waiting,” said McCain. “And it’ll take too long to turn round.”

The tractor bumped up on to a paved courtyard outside the farmhouse. Chickens flew up in surprise and fright as the tractor woke them.

“No lights in the house,” Rich realised. Now they were closer he could see it was in the process of being rebuilt. “Nobody home.”

“Probably no phone either,” Jade complained. “Can you get a signal?”

Rich had been trying. He’d called Ardman, their dad’s boss, but the phone wasn’t connecting. Maybe it was being jammed somehow, but most likely it was just rubbish coverage in the countryside. He checked again. “Nothing. You getting anything?”

“Who knows,” Jade told him. “My phone’s charging up back at the cottage.”

Rich didn’t like to think about when he’d last charged his phone.

The lights from the car seemed a long way back. They’d gained some time, but the car would soon catch them up. Rain was falling heavily now— large drops angled in and quickly drenched Rich.

“Right,” McCain announced. “Time to lose ourselves.” He turned the tractor towards the group of outbuildings.

The nearest building was a Dutch barn—barely more than a roof supported by metal pillars. Hay and bags of fertilizer were stacked inside, but there was room for the tractor between them. Once through the barn, Rich could see the lights from the car crossing the courtyard behind them, picking out the bales of hay.

McCain turned the tractor towards another barn. This one was a proper building, the doors standing open.