The Great Escape (13 page)

‘You also forgot tissues,’ Max added helpfully, staring pointedly at her sleeve.

‘It’s one of the two things I forgot,’ she conceded. ‘I’m afraid it’ll be a slow walk home. You can sit on the saddle, though.’

They began to trudge wearily over the fields, Millie’s bike lights providing just enough illumination for her not to lose her footing.

She looked down at Max and thought what a miserable evening he must have had – first, the news about Monty, and then losing Celeste. She didn’t really know what to say, so she
decided to start with the obvious.

‘I’m really sorry about your friend Monty,’ she began.

‘Don’t be.’ Max gazed up at her and blinked slowly. ‘He was an excellent cat. Clever, dignified and stubborn. He punished them the only way he could, and he paid the
price for it. But it is what he chose to do – I’m sad for myself, because I shall miss him very much, and for Celeste, because she has lost her father. But I cannot be sad for him. He
did what he thought was right.’

Millie nodded.

‘We’ll make them pay for it,’ she whispered.

‘Yes,’ said Max. ‘Yes, we shall. By rescuing Celeste,’ he finished grandly, rather spoiling it by adding, ‘Again.’

Millie nodded. The plan to rescue Celeste might have to come tomorrow, she thought. She was just too tired to think of something now.

‘Do you think Jake made it out of there all right?’ she said, suddenly remembering their partner in crime. She realised rather guiltily that she had quite forgotten about him in all
the excitement.

‘I hope so,’ said Max, who had also failed to give Jake a moment’s thought since they’d heard the Alsatian pursuing him at the start of the rescue. ‘Should we call
him?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Millie, frowning as she pushed her bike over a small trench. ‘I mean, there’s no way he’d be home by now, is there?’ She looked at
her phone, checking he hadn’t left a message, and noting with astonishment that it was still only midnight. Had it really only been an hour since they saw him run off into the night? She
supposed so. ‘Depending on how far he was chased, he’s got to get back to wherever he left his bike – at least, I guess he has a bike.’

Max nodded slowly – they knew almost nothing about the boy. ‘He’ll probably call you when he gets home, wherever that is,’ said the cat, reassuring.

‘Mmm,’ said Millie, hoping he was right.

It had been a long evening for Jake, too. He had led the security guard away from the building with ease. Jake had outrun him and his Alsatian by some distance, mainly because
the man had appeared to believe that panting, ‘Oi, you! Stop!’ was an effective security measure. Jake had gone way past the lab and into the woods before doubling back to the main
road, once he was sure he’d lost his pursuers for good. He’d hopped over the fence and waited by the side of the road for a while, in the hope of catching up with Millie and Max later,
and seeing the rest of the cats.

He had still been sitting by a bush on the grass verge when a van, with the unmistakable air of being driven by someone who’d lost his way, had pootled past him. Jake had ducked behind the
bush, and hidden until the van went out of sight. Ten minutes later, the van had come back again. Frowning, Jake had watched it retrace its path, and then turn uncertainly into the laboratory
driveway. He had sworn under his breath. He’d vaulted back over the fence and sprinted towards the lab. He had to warn Millie. What if the van was going after her and Max? Maybe someone had
tipped them off. He had tugged his phone from his pocket and tried to call her. The screen had flashed at him instantly, telling him it had no network coverage. Jake had sworn again. Then
he’d thought for a moment, wondering what he should do.

He’d almost made it back to the lab, so he pressed himself against the back of the building, hoping that he’d be able to hear what was happening without being seen. He’d held
his breath as he’d watched the driver climb out of his van. He had been standing there, leaning against the wall, motionless and silent, for several minutes, just as Millie and Max were
crouched behind the lobby desk only a few feet away. He hadn’t been able to hear what was happening at all, but he’d been almost sure he had seen a couple of dark, cat-sized shapes run
past him, melting into the black undergrowth. He’d strained to see the driver get back into his van, without Millie, Max or any other cats, so far as he could see. He’d waited a few
minutes more, hoping to see Millie leave safely. Suddenly, he had heard a shout, ‘Oi! You again! You wait right there!’

Jake had rolled his eyes, and started to run again. This time, he’d gone straight back to the main road, now he knew he could get over the fence easily enough. The Alsatian had barked
delightedly, seeming to think this was a new game arranged especially to alleviate his considerable boredom. Jake had launched himself over the fence and across the road into the ditch on the far
side, where he’d left his bike earlier. He had lain there for a few minutes, panting hard and trying to get his breath back. He’d jumped in surprise as he felt fur brush past his
head.

‘Wha—?’

‘Sorry,’ a cat had said, in a perfectly modulated voice, as though he were reading the evening news. At least, Jake assumed it was a cat – he could see nothing in the darkness
except two huge green eyes, staring at him. ‘And thank you, by the way. That was a splendid distraction. Very good indeed.’

‘Er . . . you’re welcome,’ Jake had replied, still not fully comfortable with a cat talking to him, even when it was complimenting him.

‘I’m afraid I must be off,’ added the cat. ‘Really, though – thanks. Marvellous work.’

Jake waited for a few more minutes, wondering if he dared head back into the laboratory grounds a third time and risk the chance that the Alsatian had now learned the rules of
the new nocturnal race. He looked at his phone, which now winked a signal at him. He hadn’t missed any calls or received any texts. So maybe Millie and Max were OK? He would text them, just
to check. As he began to type the message, he heard another engine. He peered through the foliage, and saw a car’s headlights racing down the driveway from the lab. He shoved the phone back
in his pocket and picked up his bike. Whoever it was could have Millie and Max prisoner, and the thought made him go cold. Had the mission been a failure? He would follow them. The car drove right
past him, only a few inches away, and he felt a rush of relief – he was certain he hadn’t seen Millie in the car. Unless she was a prisoner in the boot. Jake leaped onto his bike and
began to give chase. He slammed his feet onto the pedals, and kept up with the car for perhaps half a mile before its powerful engine took it around a bend and out of sight. Cursing again in
frustration, Jake only then realised that his bike lights were still in his pocket. He had been using the car’s headlights to guide him, and now he was in total darkness. Two seconds later,
he was lying in the ditch at the side of the road once again, on top of his smashed phone and broken, battered bicycle.

‘Ow,’ he muttered.

As they continued to walk, past the fields and now on roads at last, Millie thought about the cats they’d managed to release.

‘Where do you think they all went?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Max admitted. ‘There were only a few who were native to Great Britain. The rest came from Belgium and France.’

‘Do you think they’ll be OK?’

‘Of course they will. They are cats, self-reliant by nature. They will hide out here for a while, try to find some softhearted people to adopt, or they will head home.’

‘How would they get home?’ Millie was mystified.

‘By boat? Or, more probably, by the Eurostar, I think. Less water.’ Max shrugged.

‘You think they’ll get the Eurostar home?’ Millie looked at him suspiciously, convinced he must be teasing her.

‘I think perhaps this exercise is affecting your brain. Yes. They will get the train to Calais or Brussels, and they will make their separate ways home from there.’ Max said it
matter-of-factly, as if the cats were no different from businessmen returning home from an overseas conference.

‘But how would they get through customs?’

‘Easy. They are not carrying anything illegal.’

Millie now looked at Max very hard.

‘Oh, I see,’ he continued. ‘You mean, how will they get through
unnoticed
?’ He gave her a proper smile, the first since they had found out about Monty and lost
Celeste.

‘Well, yes. Given that they won’t have tickets. Or passports. Or, you know, be people,’ Millie added, as she smiled back.

‘You think the train is just for people?’ Max was amazed.

‘Isn’t it?’

‘Of course not. They will go to Waterloo, they will hide among people’s bags and cases. They will sneak on board once they have been carried through customs.’

‘What about the X-ray machines?’

‘What about them? The cats aren’t carrying guns. They may not even have luggage.’

‘Well, it’ll pick up their bones, won’t it? You’ll see the skeletons of cats going through the machines.’

‘No, they will go through the metal-detecting part, like the people do.’

‘You seem to know a lot about this.’

‘Well, we discussed it a lot in the laboratory. How we would escape from there, how we would get away to London, or the coast, how we would get the train or a boat and arrive home. Between
us, we knew quite a lot.’

‘So I see.’ Millie thought this quite an understatement. ‘And what about you?’ she asked in a small voice.

‘What
about
me?’ Max was confused.

‘Don’t you want to go home?’

He gave her a long, even look.

‘Yes,’ he said finally.

‘Oh.’ Millie pressed her lips together, trying not to cry for the second time that evening. These cats were an emotional business.

‘Ah, Millie, don’t be sad.’

‘OK.’

‘No, I don’t mean just stop being sad. I mean you
shouldn’t
be sad. I’m not going home straight away. Not until we have rescued Celeste, and then exposed this man,
this Arthur Shepard.’ Max spat out his name. ‘And then I was hoping you might help me to get home. To be honest, I was hoping you’d come with me, and help me to explain everything
to Sofie and Stef.’

‘OK.’

‘It’s not OK, is it?’ asked the cat shrewdly.

‘Not really. I’m sorry. I mean, I know it’s your home, and of course you want to get back there. It’s not like you ever wanted to leave.’

Max shrugged, casually, as though being kidnapped were only a small inconvenience for a cat of his stature.

‘I suppose I just like having you around. I’ve got used to it. I’ll be bored without you.’

‘Of course you won’t be bored. Surely there is some industrial espionage you need to be getting on with,’ suggested Max.

Millie giggled. ‘You’re probably right.’

‘Besides, you will be back at school soon, won’t you?’

‘In September, yes.’

‘Well, think how bored I would be, waiting around for you to come home and entertain me every day. Haverham is not as exciting as Brussels for exploring, you know.’

‘Well, think how bored
I’ll
be every holiday without you to muck up my plans of sitting around and feeling sorry for myself. In Haverham, which is not as exciting as
anywhere,’ she pointed out.

‘You will have no time to do that, then, either. You will have to come over and visit me.’

‘Really?’

‘Of course really. You will like Sofie very much. And you will like Stef too, I’m sure. You will definitely come to visit.’

Millie wasn’t sure if he was asking her or telling her.

‘OK.’ She leaned over and scritched Max behind the ears. And they walked on.

They were not too far from Millie’s house now, and there was still no word from Jake.

‘Maybe I should ring him?’ Millie wondered.

Max shrugged. ‘Is that wise?’

‘I could text him,’ she thought out loud. ‘No, I can’t. They’d see my number. I mean, if he’s been capture— If he doesn’t have his phone any
more,’ she rushed, unable to say aloud what they were both thinking. She hoped he hadn’t been caught by the security man. Or, worse, by the Alsatian.

‘I could do it from a phone box. No,’ she corrected herself again. ‘They could track us to the phone box.’

‘Do you need me to contribute to this conversation, or are you happy having it with yourself?’ asked Max, in tones of some exasperation. He was very fond of Millie now, but sometimes
she was a bit hard to follow.

‘Sorry. You know, I’ll text his brother. I should have thought of that in the first place.’

She really was tired, thought Max. So was he. He watched as she texted quickly with just one hand, still pushing the bike along with the other.

Moments later, the reply came:

‘Oh dear,’ said Millie. ‘He’s bruised, apparently.’

‘It’s not as bad as being bitten,’ Max pointed out, ever the pragmatist, particularly where large dogs were concerned. He was a little suspicious of Jake, anyway, after he had
lied about bringing a mass of people to help with the rescue. He knew that Millie had done pretty much the same thing, but he already trusted her, and knew that she hadn’t had much choice.
Jake’s brother had done very well, admittedly, with the electricity and everything, but Max couldn’t shake the feeling that if Jake had brought more help, Celeste would not now be in
captivity again. He changed the subject, not wanting to share these thoughts with Millie, in case she thought he blamed her, too, for the loss of Celeste.

‘Where are we going, by the way?’ he asked.

Millie looked surprised. ‘Home,’ she said. ‘Aren’t we?’

‘No, we can’t,’ said Max.

‘Why not? Oh, because Dad thinks I’m staying over at Sarah’s?’ she asked.

‘Exactly.’

‘I think he was going to stay over at a friend’s, too,’ Millie said, with a slightly nauseated expression.