CHERUB: The Sleepwalker (7 page)

‘After the little bugger,’ the headmaster roared as he struggled to the top of the stairs. He couldn’t give chase because he was still coughing.

The long hallway had an echo and the headmaster’s voice attracted the attention of several staff. A petite French teacher was first into the hallway and she made a lunge, but Fahim was running at full speed and she couldn’t get hold of him.

The next teacher was a scarier prospect. Mr Linton taught science, but he doubled as a rugby coach and he’d tackled plenty bigger than Fahim in his time. His huge right arm locked around the eleven-year-old’s waist and swept him off the floor.

‘Let go, you nonce,’ Fahim shouted.

Linton had hitched him off the floor, but as his left hand came around Fahim sank his teeth into the teacher’s white lab coat.

‘Calm down,’ Linton shouted, as he tried pushing Fahim’s mouth away. But the boy kicked, spat and sank his teeth deeper as some of the Year-Six kids from Linton’s science class began filtering into the corridor to see what was going on.

Another teacher charged in and grabbed Fahim by his ankles so that he was suspended between two men with his teeth still sunk into Linton’s upper arm. The science teacher was in considerable pain and lunged with his free hand, knocking Fahim’s head away and forcing him to open his jaws.

‘I hate you,’ Fahim screamed wildly. ‘I hate this school. You can all rot in hell.’

Fahim was snapping like a turtle and Mr Linton didn’t want to get bitten again. He let the boy go and stepped backwards. The other teacher still held Fahim in the air by his ankles, and the back of Fahim’s head hit the wooden floor with a thud. The writhing and spitting stopped instantly.

‘Blast,’ Mr Linton stuttered, cupping a hand over the blood seeping through his lab coat before kneeling over the unconscious boy.

‘He was practically foaming at the mouth,’ the other teacher said, as he drew a mobile phone from his jacket and dialled 999. ‘What else could we do?’

By this time Yasmin had reached the scene and she collapsed in front of her son. ‘Idiots,’ she screamed. ‘What have you done to my boy?’

Dr McAfferty had dished out punishments to most of the kids on campus and at some time many of them – including James and Lauren – had cursed his judgement. But Mac’s days as chairman were far enough in the past for everyone to have put a rose-tinted glow around his memory and Mac
had
been very good at his job. He always listened to your point of view and was big enough to admit being wrong on the rare occasions when he was.

It was evening now and the news that Mac had lost his wife, daughter-in-law and two of his grandchildren was common knowledge on campus. It had affected everyone in some way, and even the cherubs who’d joined after Mac’s reign ended had picked up the bad vibe.

The dining-hall was usually filled with the sound of kids letting off steam at the end of a long day, but on this Monday night it was like someone had turned the volume down to number three and all but the youngest cherubs kept an eye on News 24.

Men in suits sat in the TV studio talking about who could have been responsible. Someone had dug up archive footage of the plane and a few of the bereaved had been brave enough to speak for the cameras. James kept looking up, hoping for a real breakthrough, as he sat between Dana and the others eating spaghetti Bolognese.

‘I hate twenty-four-hour news,’ he complained. ‘All they do is yap, yap, yap, but they won’t know anything for weeks and by then they’ll be covering some other story.’

‘Hello,’ a small boy said brightly, squeezing into the gap between James and Dana’s chairs.

‘Joshua,’ James smiled as he looked at the son of Chairwoman Zara Asker. ‘You’re getting so big!’

Joshua Asker was two months shy of his fourth birthday. He’d decided at a very early age that James was the greatest person in the universe.

‘James,’ Joshua said seriously. He clearly had something important to ask, but he was excited and could hardly spit out the next word. ‘After dinner.’

Everyone around the table looked at the youngster and James put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, they won’t bite.’

‘After dinner,’ Joshua repeated, ‘will you come to the lake with me and Daddy and Meatball?’

James smiled and pointed at Dana. ‘Can she come with us?’

Joshua thought for a couple of seconds before nodding. ‘But you’ve got to play with me,’ he said. ‘No kissing.’

Dana burst out laughing. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t kiss James. He’s disgusting.’

James took this as a cue to lean across and peck Dana on the cheek. Joshua screwed up his face and put his hands over his eyes.

James spoke to the whole table. ‘Who else fancies a walk down to the lake after dinner?’

Callum and Shakeel had too much homework, but Connor and a few others said yes. As soon as Lauren found out that the Askers’ dog Meatball was on campus she joined the plan, along with Bethany and a few members of their crowd.

It was only a walk, but Joshua had put himself in charge. He went off to put his coat and hat on before coming back and ordering several people to eat faster. All the while he grazed from the bag of stale bread one of the chefs had given him to feed the ducks in the lake.

In the end Joshua and Meatball led out a pack of eleven cherubs for the two-kilometre walk towards the lake. Joshua’s dad, Ewart Asker, trailed the group with his daughter Tiffany asleep in a buggy. It was a nice evening, although the breeze had some bite to it.

While Lauren and the younger cherubs ran around throwing sticks for Meatball and mucking about, James found himself strolling along the concrete path beside Ewart with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. He’d had a few run-ins with Ewart over the years, but they got on better these days.

‘Has Zara heard anything about the crash that isn’t on the news?’ James asked.

‘Not that I’m aware of,’ Ewart said, shaking his head. ‘All I know is that she went down to London for an emergency meeting of the anti-terrorist committee.’

‘So they definitely think it’s a terrorist thing?’

‘They’ve got to work on that assumption,’ Ewart said.

‘Poor Mac,’ James said, as he took a deep breath and stared thoughtfully at the sky. ‘His wife was only sixty-two. They could have had years together.’

‘That’s sad,’ Ewart nodded. ‘But at least she’d lived some kind of life. Angus and Megan weren’t even teenagers.’

‘Did you ever meet them?’

‘Just the once,’ Ewart said. ‘Mac had a barbecue a few summers back and they were running around in the garden with all his other grandkids.’

‘I heard that he’s got six kids and at least a dozen grandkids,’ James said. ‘I guess it’s
some
consolation that he’s got other family.’

‘There’s something else I wanted to ask you, actually,’ Ewart said. ‘A sort of favour.’

James was curious. ‘What?’

‘Joshua has always liked you. With us being away on missions, Zara having Tiffany and then getting promoted to chairwoman, we’ve never had a chance to get the kids christened.’

Meatball whizzed between them, in pursuit of a rubber ball with a chime jangling inside.

‘Crazy dog,’ James grinned.

Ewart cleared his throat before continuing. ‘Zara and I were cherubs, so neither of us has family. We’d like to ask if you’d be interested in becoming Joshua’s godfather.’

James was flabbergasted, but he broke into a big smile. ‘Yeah, I guess … I mean, I’d be honoured. To be honest, I never really thought you liked me much.’

‘Meh,’ Ewart shrugged. ‘You and I have had our share of problems, but you saved my life. That counts for a lot. And you’ve always had time for Joshua when a lot of kids your age would have told him to buzz off. He doesn’t have any older brothers or cousins, and when you go on a mission he always asks when you’re coming back. You mean a lot to the little fella.’

‘He’s really grown lately,’ James said. ‘I haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks and I’d swear he’s got bigger.’

‘He’s had a little spurt,’ Ewart agreed. ‘Unfortunately he’s starting to ask some pretty awkward questions.’

James smiled. ‘What, like where babies come from and stuff?’

‘I can handle those,’ Ewart smiled back. ‘But he asks questions about campus. Like, he asked why nobody on campus has a mummy or daddy and he asks where we are when we go away on missions.’

‘I guess he’s getting to the age where he can’t come on to campus.’

Ewart lowered his voice. ‘Zara and I are in discussion with the ethics committee about changing CHERUB’s admission policy.’

‘So that your kids can become agents?’ James asked.

Ewart nodded. ‘And children of other ex-cherubs and members of staff. It’s always been a struggle to recruit enough agents. This might be a partial solution.’

James didn’t seem sure. ‘But wouldn’t you feel different? I mean, would a parent feel right sending their kid off on a dangerous mission? And wouldn’t it be weird if some kids on campus had parents while others were orphans?’

‘There are obviously issues to resolve,’ Ewart sighed. ‘No doubt this is the last place some ex-cherubs would want to send their children, but even though you spend time away on missions your kids get an outstanding education. And besides, if I wasn’t prepared to send my own child on an undercover mission, why should I be happy to send you, or Lauren, or Dana?’

‘I see your point,’ James said.

Joshua stopped on the path in front of James and placed his hands on his hips.

‘You’re boring, James,’ Joshua complained. ‘Play with me.’

James grinned. ‘How about if I turn you upside down and dip your head in the lake?’

‘You’re silly,’ Joshua smiled, shaking his head as he walked towards the buggy and grabbed a football from the storage tray.

‘OK, I’ll play,’ James nodded.

‘I’ll be Arsenal,’ Joshua said.

‘Oh you reckon,’ James snorted. ‘
I’ll
be Arsenal; you can be the Chelsea girls’ team.’

‘No way,’ Joshua growled, stamping his foot determinedly.

Ewart shook his head. ‘James, I can’t believe you’ve turned my only son into an Arsenal fan.’

‘I tell you what, Joshua,’ James said, as he put his foot on top of the ball. ‘We’ll both be Arsenal and I’ll do this.’

James took two steps back from the ball, then made a run up and booted it. The ball swung through the air and hit Lauren hard in the back, making her stumble forward.

Joshua thought this was hilarious, but Lauren didn’t. She turned around and steamed towards her brother with her fists bunched.

‘It was an accident,’ James lied, giving Joshua a wink.

Lauren stopped walking and wagged her finger. ‘Your
face
will look like an accident if you try that again.’

*

Fahim felt like a bowling ball had been dropped on his head from a great height. It took a few seconds to feel around the single bed, half focus on the tatty wooden cabinet beside it and work out that he was coming around in a hospital.

Memories of smashing the trophy cabinets and the tussle with the science teacher bloomed, then lodged in his brain like fishing hooks. Acts that made sense when Fahim was angry seemed insane now his mood had levelled out.

‘Hey,’ Yasmin said gently. She dabbed her son’s face with the tips of her fingernails.

Fahim tried turning his head, but the tiny movement created an eruption of pain in his temples and a heave from his stomach. Yasmin slid an arm behind his back and raised her son off his pillow as she slid a bedpan into his lap, but the sick was already dribbling down his chin.

Fahim’s eyes shut and his head flopped forward as he momentarily lost consciousness again. He inhaled some of the vomit and Yasmin shouted for a nurse as her son came back to life with a start, before breaking into a desperate coughing fit.

‘Stand clear,’ a nurse shouted, pulling on a disposable glove as she dashed towards the bed. She plunged her fingers into Fahim’s mouth to clear the puke from his airway, as Yasmin backed up in a state of shock.

James and Dana had been going out with each other for ten months – nine and a half more than most people had predicted. Things had settled into a routine and some aspects of their lives had merged. CDs, T-shirts and socks were shared. James kept a Mach-3 razor in Dana’s room, and although Dana gave the impression she didn’t give a damn about her appearance, you wouldn’t have known it from the half-used creams, sprays and powders that littered the shelves in James’ bathroom.

It was gone eleven and James was snuggled up next to Dana on his bed, with half their clothes off and their backs against the wall.

‘I’d better go,’ Dana said, as she pulled a dead arm out from behind James’ neck and rubbed her muscle to bring it back to life. ‘I’ve got combat training first thing.’

James had early training too, but he’d got comfortable and his neck felt cold without Dana’s arm to rest on. ‘Don’t go,’ he moaned softly, as he grabbed Dana’s wrist. ‘You can stay here. Who’ll know?’

‘Don’t think so,’ Dana said, before pausing as her yawn got out of control. ‘I won’t get any sleep with you tossing and turning.’

‘Just cuddles,’ James said, pressing his bare toes against Dana’s bum as she pulled up jeans and a pair of boxer shorts.

‘Don’t,’ Dana giggled, waddling forward with the trousers halfway up her leg. ‘I swear to god, your feet are
always
freezing.’

‘So you’re wearing my boxers now?’ James noted. ‘I wondered where they’d all disappeared to.’

‘I’ve started to like them,’ Dana said. ‘They don’t ride up your crack like knickers.’

‘Maybe I should give your underwear a go,’ James grinned.

Dana laughed. Ignoring her balled-up socks, she slid bare feet into her boots. She was only going to her room upstairs, so she let the laces dangle.

‘I think those little pink numbers with the frilly green edges would suit me.’

‘Definitely,’ Dana nodded. ‘Might take some explaining when you’re getting changed in front of the lads though.’

James put on a soppy voice as Dana headed for the door. ‘Please stay.’

‘Not while you’re still a child,’ Dana teased. ‘I can’t be corrupting your innocence.’