The Beneath (11 page)

“She’s in terrible danger. I think they might kill her.”

“Whoa – what? What are you talking about?” he said, pulling me round to face him. “Tell me!”

“Her people say she has broken the rules.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! What sort of weird cult is she involved with?”

I looked up at his concerned face. At least I wasn’t completely alone.

“It’s a very long story, and I’m not sure I have the time. I have to try and do
something
!”

“I think you have time to tell me first. Here,” he took a small bottle of water out of his back pocket, “have a
swig of that, take a deep breath and tell me everything. What’s she caught up in?”

“Well…”

I hesitated, wondering where on earth to start and how to get him to believe me.

“How much did she tell you? What do you know already?”

For all I knew she had told him all about her life when the two of them had been chatting alone.

“Almost nothing, really. The only time we spoke about it was when I saw her briefly yesterday. She said that she came from a very sheltered society where everyone has pre-assigned roles, and that she had run away because she didn’t like hers. When I asked her more about it she clammed up.”

“She didn’t tell you where this place is then?”

“I’ve only really had one conversation with her, and it didn’t come up.”

I glanced at him quickly, wanting to believe that his coffee with Aria had been swift and functional and not the lengthy wandering around that she had implied.

“Are you sure? She didn’t say anything?”

“No. To be honest, she didn’t say much at all. So where is it? Don’t you know?”

“I know exactly where they are,” I sighed, pushing the dog down as he tried to jump up on my lap, “and you’re partially right. She comes from a group called the Community, which has very strict rules and very little
technology. And they’re right here.”

I stamped my foot to emphasise the point. Will looked around.

“Here? What do you mean?”

“Right here, under our feet. Underground.”

He shook his head. “Nah, you’ve got to be mistaken. No one lives
underground
!”

“They do. I’ve met another one of them too. They live very deep to avoid detection, and have been there for a long time.”

“Oh, come on, Lily, this is getting ridiculous. Next you’ll be telling me that they breed dragons or something! How did you get taken in by all this?”

I leapt up, pushing the dog aside again.

“It’s not rubbish. I’m telling you what I heard from Aria! It’s a very strange place with very strange ideas, and I don’t know everything. But I do know that she is in danger and sitting here isn’t actually going to help her. I’m sorry, Will, but I’m off.” I turned and marched off down the path, tears of frustration stinging my eyes. Within seconds I could hear footsteps running towards me.

“Hold on,” he called, catching me by the arm. “I didn’t mean to offend you. You have to agree that it does sound a bit odd though.”

“I know, and it took me long enough to get my head round it, but I believe her. When I first saw her she was running down the tracks of the Bakerloo line, about to
get squashed by a Tube train. She wasn’t faking that.”

“She told me that,” admitted Will, falling into step next to me. “I assumed she’d just fallen on the track or something.” He paused for a second to call the dog. “So where are we going? How on earth do we find her?”

I stopped dead, turning towards him.

“We? You don’t have to come!”

“No, I want to. If she’s in trouble then we have to go and sort it out. That’s what friends are for, right? Anyway, I like Aria, and if she needs us I want to help.” He gave a swift cheeky grin. “But we could do with a plan.”

Relief washed over me – he believed me enough to want to help. But I also knew why he wanted to join me, and that was to get Aria back. There was nothing I could do about that, so I had to concentrate on finding her before it was too late. Two would be better than one.

“OK – plan. Good point,” I said, resisting the urge to start pacing again. “We have to get underground, as deep as possible, and we could probably do with some sort of weapon.”

“You don’t seriously think that they are going to hurt her, do you?” Before I could answer he carried on. “How about Foggy? Would he do?”

I wasn’t entirely sure if he was joking. Following his gaze I turned round and saw Foggy’s rear end. His front end was still rummaging in a bush. He was pretty strong, so might well be useful.

“I don’t know. Can he keep quiet?”

“As long as I have enough bribery material about me. Watch.”

Will pulled a small pouch from his pocket and shook it. The dog froze. Then with almost a single bound he was over by Will’s leg, looking up expectantly.

“Settle…” said Will in a long, drawn-out tone.

Foggy lay down at his feet, eyes watching his every move. Will placed a small biscuit from the pouch just in front of the dog’s nose. Foggy was almost quivering with anticipation but he didn’t budge until Will whispered, “Take it!” and then he leapt up and scoffed the biscuit in a single swallow.

I smiled weakly.

“It’s tempting, Will, but I can’t let him come. I don’t want to be responsible for any harm coming to your dog. Or to you, for that matter. It’s going to be dangerous – very dangerous. They don’t have dragons, but they do have something protecting them – they chased me in the dark – and I don’t know exactly what it is. They call it the Crop.”

“The Crop? Sounds really scary.” He laughed. “It’ll be the Attack of the Killer Vegetables! I’m sure Foggy will be able to sort them out.”

I couldn’t join his laughter.

“Really, Will, no. Foggy can’t come. And there’s one other thing you need to know before you agree to help me.”

I looked up into Will’s curious eyes, wondering if he
would mark me down as a mad person in the next thirty seconds. It seemed pretty likely, but I couldn’t let him volunteer without being completely aware of what he was getting into.

“I told you that Aria is about to be killed. Her people are going to feed her to the Crop because she left the Community for a few days. Whatever the Crop really is, it’s deadly.”

Will’s face struggled for a moment and I could tell he was trying to work out if I was taking the mickey. I knew I hadn’t convinced him.

“It’s all true, I promise you!” I burst out before he could say anything. “I just have no way of proving it. Look, I’m sorry for mentioning it. I don’t want to get you involved. But now that you know, if I don’t come back will you please tell Nan where I went? It would be horrible for her to be forever wondering where I’ve gone.”

My voice quavered a bit towards the end, but I turned on my heel and marched away from him. He wasn’t going to see me cry. I was going to have to rescue Aria alone.

CHAPTER 10

I walked quickly out of the park and down the road, not wanting Will to see how upset I was. For a moment I had thought we might be able to do something, to be able to work together, and whatever his motivation that would have been good. I blinked back the tears that threatened to come, wondering exactly how I was going to do what I said I was going to do. How on earth could I get into the tunnels and past the Crop? I had no idea where the warehouse was. The only thing I could think of was the disused platform where Aria had taken me in the first few minutes after we met. Perhaps from there I could find the way down. And what about a weapon? What could I use for that?

I was going to have to get my hands on something. Nan had an old walking stick – would that be enough?
I could get in and out of the flat without her noticing to collect that and a torch. Glancing at my watch I sighed in relief – Nan would be out at her regular coffee morning, so I could go home.

I was turning into our road when I heard a voice calling behind me.

“Wait, Lily. I’m sorry, I’ve been an idiot.”

I swung round to see Will running towards me, dragging a reluctant Foggy, who was trying to go in the other direction.

“What? Do you mean you believe me?”

He and Foggy eventually caught up with me. “I do. I’m not entirely sure why, but I do. Let me help.”

His ruffled hair and crumpled shirt gave him an even scruffier appearance than normal, but his brown eyes held mine steadily. I wished that his earnest expression was because he wanted me, not my friend. But I wasn’t going to complain.

“OK then, thanks,” I muttered, not really sure what to do next.

“You mentioned a plan?” he said, smiling.

“The best plan I have is to go down into the disused Tube tunnels, and from there find the way into the lower level. I’m going to get one of Nan’s old sticks and a torch now.”

“Isn’t there an easier way? Didn’t you say that there are others up here? They can’t all go racing down Tube tracks.”

“Apparently they have a warehouse, but I have no idea where it is. There might be an entrance there, I suppose.”

Will looked quizzically at me. “Go on, fill me in.”

“Aria said that they get most of their food from up here. They have a warehouse where they collect the stuff together and then they take it down. Aria went there last night and got caught. They took her back down.”

“So where is it then? You must know.”

“I don’t,” I admitted in a small voice. “I’ve not got a clue.”

“Do you know,” Will started slowly, staring at the ground, “where Aria was going when I met her yesterday?”

“I’ve no idea. I didn’t even know that she had gone out.”

“I was on my way back from the dentist,” he said, still looking intently at the pavement, “and I saw her on the corner of the street, just standing and staring at something over the road.”

“What? What was it?”

“She was staring down a side road, but there was nothing much down there as far as I can remember. I didn’t really take much notice; I was more concerned about whether she was OK. She looked upset. I stopped to ask her if she was lost, and she seemed so miserable I took her for a coffee.”

“Do you remember where she was?” I asked.

I tried not to give in to the new feeling of dread that was creeping up on me. Aria hadn’t gone out looking for Will, he had found her – stumbled over her, even – and asked her to join him. I had been accusing her of something she hadn’t done. I felt cold sweat prickle the back of my neck as I realised that I was doubly responsible for this whole mess. I had to try to fix it, and there was no time to lose.

“Come on, Will, where was it?” I urged.

Then I realised that he wasn’t really staring at the ground, but thinking hard. He put up his hand to keep me quiet.

“I came out of the dentist’s, turned down past the church, then … where? Where was I going?”

He was muttering to himself. I kept still, hardly daring to breathe.

“I had to get a loaf for Mum, so I was heading to the supermarket on the High Street!” he exclaimed suddenly. “I can’t remember exactly where she was, but if we retrace my steps I should recognise it.”

“That’s great, Will! Come on then!”

We hurried down the road, stopping at Will’s house to drop off Foggy first. He wasn’t happy about it, but at last Will had agreed that he didn’t want to be responsible for any harm coming to the dog. We shut him in the back garden and then dodged into my place to pick up Nan’s old stick and a couple of torches. Nan loved a torch, and
there were usually plenty of them round, but this time they proved tricky to find. As I searched, the realisation that I had driven Aria into running away kept me in a constant state of feeling sick. What if we didn’t get to her in time? Her death would be my fault. Every time I had that thought I had to take a deep breath and focus on getting everything that we needed for our plan.

One thing I absolutely had to do was ring the school and pretend to be sick. I dialled the number from the phone in the hall and held my nose as the school’s absence line answerphone picked up.

“Hello,” I said croakily. “This is Lizzie Wakefield, Lily Blackthorne’s guardian. She’s very under the weather today, terrible cold – we both have. She may be out for a day or two. Thank you.”

“That was terrible acting,” said Will. “And two days? Do you really think it’ll take that long?”

“I was just trying to sound convincing,” I admitted. “But who knows?”

I grabbed the hall notepad and scribbled a note:

I looked at it as I put it down on the table. Hopefully I would be back before Nan even saw it. I couldn’t let myself think of any other outcome.

“Will that be enough to convince her?” asked Will. “My mum always worries way too much about my sister, but she’s more relaxed about what I do. I’ve just sent her a text though, so she should be OK for a bit. You’re lucky that you don’t have to worry about your mum…” His voice tailed off. I glanced over at him. His face was stricken.

“It’s OK, Will, honestly. I’m used to it.”

“I know, but that was thoughtless. Sorry.” He gave me an apologetic smile.

He was right though. Mum would never have believed that note, so I was lucky that she was on the other side of the world.

“OK,” I said as positively as I could manage. “That’s the torches and the stick. Let’s go and find this warehouse.”

We jogged through the streets until we were at the far end of Marylebone High Street. Will stopped and looked around, a deep frown on his forehead.

“So where now then?” I asked impatiently.

“Shhh.” He motioned me to be quiet with his hand. “I’m thinking.”

“OK, sorry,” I whispered, backing away and looking around.

This part of London was pretty old, with some tiny streets and lots of mews houses all jumbled together
behind the big white mansions on the main roads. It was also stuffed full of restaurants, pubs and little boutiques selling hopelessly expensive things. There seemed to be plenty of deliveries in progress – white vans and lorries littered the roads, blocking some of the smaller ones as the surly drivers hefted large boxes into the service entrances.

Will suddenly looked up.

“Down here, I think,” he announced, before diving across the street.

The street was narrow and bent around to the right, the tall buildings on either side blocking out all the sunshine. We dodged around the few pedestrians on the thin pavement and Will stopped dead.

“Yup, here. She was looking over there.”

As we turned, a delivery truck pulled away and I could see a small road – barely more than a gap between the buildings with a cul-de-sac sign. An Italian restaurant was at the end, and to the left of it I glimpsed a grubby shutter.

“Look, there!” I hissed. “That looks like a warehouse!”

“It
could
be,” he agreed, “and that was broadly where she was looking.”

“You run over and see if you can see anything useful. They – or at least one of them – know what I look like, so I’d better not get too close until we’re sure they’ve gone.”

“OK, sounds sensible. Wish me luck.”

As he turned to run over the road he gave me a quick smile, and I felt my heart melt. This was so ironic, the two of us working together to save Aria when it was going to help them be together, but I knew that I had to do it.

I stood in the doorway of a small bakery opposite the cul-de-sac, trying to look inconspicuous as Will checked out the building. In a few minutes he was back.

“So? What can you see?”

“There’s nothing to see, only that shutter and a door with no window. I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t belong to the restaurant though. There’s a name on the door.”

“And? What did it say?”

“Community Recycling,” he said triumphantly. “Didn’t you say that they called themselves the Community?”

I nearly hugged him in excitement, but stopped myself just in time.

“That has to be it. It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise. Come on, let’s see if we can get in there.”

We tried not to run down the little lane but even so I felt really conspicuous. I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder as we went, but Will was more confident, approaching the door as if he had every right to be there. The shuttered entrance was set back slightly into a corner, at right angles to the restaurant, and looked as if it might have once been a garage. The building was very old, just one storey high, and seemed to be squeezed into the gap left between the restaurant and the back of a shop. Next to the shutter was a painted wooden door.
I sauntered over to it as casually as I could. Will was right – it was really solid-looking. I tried the handle gently but it wouldn’t budge. Pressing my ear as close to the wood as I could, I listened to what was going on inside. For a moment there was the distant hum of machinery, and then it went quiet. I froze, waiting to see if the machinery started again, but there was nothing. Grasping the door handle more firmly, I tried it again, but it still didn’t give. Using both hands I gave it a hard wrench. Nothing happened. I hadn’t really thought that we might actually have to break in. I turned to look at Will, hoping that he had some bright ideas. He was examining the shutter.

“Can you get this door open?” I hissed out of the side of my mouth.

He tried to look casual as he sauntered the few steps towards me, but it was blindingly obvious we were up to no good. Luckily the little street was deserted and no one on the main road was looking in our direction. He grasped the handle and tried to twist it sharply, the tendons on the inside of his wrist suddenly taut as it refused to turn.

“Er, no, I can’t,” he admitted. “Well, that blows that plan, doesn’t it?”

He pressed his hand against the door but there was no give in it at all.

My sense of helplessness reared up again. She was going to die and it was all my fault. We
had
to get inside. The lock on the door seemed pretty old, and I wondered
if we could slide something in like they do in the films. I started patting my pockets, hoping to come across something useful, and found my Oyster card.

“How about this?” I asked, trying unsuccessfully to force the piece of plastic in between the door and the frame.

“This might be easier,” said Will, his back to me.

“What?”

“Look, down there. Something is caught under the shutter.”

The grey metal security shutter was all the way down, but on the far side a discarded Coke can was wedged under it. The fire escape from the building next door provided some cover from the road, and no one could see Will kneel down next to it.

“I can get my fingers under here,” he grunted, trying to pull the shutter up. “Come and help.”

The metal was cold and felt utterly immovable, but I got a good grip.

“OK, when I say three, heave!” Will instructed.

This was our only chance. I had to make it work! On his count I pulled with every bit of strength I could find. I could feel him straining next to me, but nothing was happening.

“Come ON!” I muttered to myself.

Suddenly the shutter started to move, just fractionally at first, but as we heaved again it gained some momentum, creaking upwards to about knee height.

“We’re in!” Will leaned in, bracing himself to take the weight. “Quick, get inside. I’m not sure how long I can hold this for.”

I rolled under the shutter as quickly as I could, shoving the stick and the torch ahead of me, then took the strain from the inside, tensing my back and knees so that I didn’t drop it and crush Will.

“I’ve got it. Come on under,” I hissed, conscious of the darkness in the room.

In a moment he was through, and we lowered the shutter back into place before turning round to see what was behind us.