The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis (21 page)

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Authors: Michael de Larrabeiti

Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Fantasy & Magic

BOOK: The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis
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‘That’s it,’ said Knocker. ‘That’s it.’
Napoleon gazed into the dark corners of the cul-de-sac. ‘I don’t like this at all,’ he said. ‘Only one way out and that’s behind us.’ He stared up at the blackness of the houses. They were faceless and tall, as friendly as glaciers.
The Borribles did not move for a few minutes, made apprehensive by the closeness of Sussworth’s caravan and the feeling of copper everywhere. When they had recovered themselves they turned to retreat
but it was too late. Four policemen stood behind them, their hands reaching out to grab the runaways by their collars. So surprised were the Borribles that they did not even bother to struggle. In any event such a struggle would have served no purpose; behind these four policemen were four more and beyond those four who knew how many? They had been there in the dark, leaning in the doorways, moving on rubber-soled boots. Knocker’s heart died and his knees gave beneath him. Was it to finish as stupidly as this? Sam not saved and the Adventurers not knowing where he and Napoleon were, separated for ever without time to say goodbye, captured without a fight; it was pathetic.
‘Well, well, well,’ said one of the policemen at last. ‘Come to join us have you? That’s nice, very nice, very very nice.’
‘We were just looking,’ said Swish.
‘Course you were,’ said the policeman, ‘and we’re pleased to have you looking. Our inspector wants as many of you dwarfs as he can get. You’d better come and wait with the others. I never knew there were so many.’
The Borribles felt themselves propelled towards the caravan and the grip on their collars did not loosen for a moment.
Knocker cursed this luck. It had been his idea to come scouting in such a heavily policed area. He had known it would be dangerous. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said to Swish. ‘This is nothing to do with you. If you get a chance, try and make a break for it.’
As Knocker was speaking he and the others were pushed past the end of the caravan and could now see what had been previously hidden from them. On the far side, between the caravan and the front fence of the nearest houses, stood two unmarked police cars, several policeman in uniform and a line of about twenty Borribles, complete with catapults and woollen hats. In the soft light of the one street lamp everything was quiet and orderly.
‘Go and wait in line,’ said one of the Woollies, and the four captives felt their collars released and they were each given a shove in the back. With that the four policemen left them and returned round the corner of the caravan so that they might take up, once more, their guard duty at the entrance to the cul-de-sac.
‘Do we run for it now?’ asked Treld.
‘No,’ said Knocker. ‘Wait till them four coppers are well out of it; there’s something going on here. We’ll have to—’
But there was no time for Knocker to say more. At that very moment yet another policeman approached the four Borribles with a clipboard in his hand. ‘Right,’ he said, pen poised above his paper, ‘have you thought yourselves up a Borrible name, you lads, because that’s how you’ll be known by us for purpose of administration and pay?’
‘Oh yes,’ said Swish, ‘it’s Swish.’
The policeman wrote it down. ‘Swish,’ he said. ‘I should think so with that red hair. What’s this one’s name, the one with the ’airstyle like a runny egg?’
‘My name’s Treld,’ said Treld. ‘I done my hair special.’ She smiled and twisted one of the spikes on her head.
Knocker glanced at Napoleon and they understood each other. They daren’t use their own names; they were too well known to the SBG, perhaps the best known of all Borrible names.
‘Well,’ said the policemen, his pen poised again. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Backander,’ said Knocker.
‘Sprazi,’ said Napoleon.
‘Sprazi!’ said the policeman. ‘Sounds foreign, that does. What’s it mean?’
Napoleon placed his hand on his catapult. ‘It mean a tanner,’ he said. ‘Sixpence. Before your time I should think.’
The policeman smiled. ‘Probably,’ he said. ‘Cheeky sod. Right that’s fine. Over there then and get on the end of the line with the rest of them dwarfs. You’ll be going in to see the inspector in a minute, four at a time. He’ll give you your orders and tell you all about it. You’ll get your plastic ears while you’re waiting.’
‘Plastic ears?’ said Swish.
The policeman put his fists on his hips. ‘So you look like Borribles of course. They’d torture you to death if they found out you weren’t real. Go on, wait over there.’
Knocker and Napoleon looked dazed as they walked away from the policeman, obeying his orders although their brains were reeling.
‘What’s it all about?’ asked Treld. ‘I don’t understand. Who are all these people? What are they doing with the Woollies? And plastic ears?’
Napoleon looked at Knocker and Knocker returned the stare evenly, his eyes as cold as a tombstone. A lot of things were becoming clear. Napoleon’s face grew spiteful. ‘They ain’t Borrible,’ he said, ‘They’re something else.’
‘But they’re the right size,’ said Treld.
‘They are,’ said Napoleon, ‘and that’s all they are. Apart from that they’re adults.’
Knocker swore. That was how they had been captured so easily on Clapham Common and that was how Sam had been taken. The circus Borribles had not been Borribles at all. That must be it. They had been dwarfs or midgets, just like these, working for the SBG and Sussworth. How could he have missed it? Knocker kicked at the ground. ‘Dammit!’ Even now he’d only made this discovery out of luck. If he’d only known beforehand he could have left Ninch and Scooter behind with the meffos at King’s Cross.
‘You realize what this means,’ said Napoleon, as angry as Knocker was; he hated being taken for a mug. ‘It means we spent all that time at King’s Cross being loyal to a pair of traitors. We could have left them there.’
‘Who?’ asked Swish and Treld together, puzzled.
‘Those two we brought with us,’ said Knocker, ‘the ones who’d been locked up by the meffos; well they ain’t Borribles they’re dwarfs, like these here, spies.’
Napoleon was beside himself with worry. ‘And our mates don’t know,’ he said. ‘We must get back to the flats before them midgets do any more harm.’
Another policeman called out at that moment and strolled towards the four Borribles. He was carrying a handful of small paper packages. ‘Here you are,’ he said. ‘These’ll fit you a treat. There’s some glue as well.’ He spun on his heel and returned to the squad cars.
The Borribles waited a second or two and then opened the paper bags they’d been given. Inside each one, nicely wrapped, was a pair of Borrible ears, or rather the top halves of them, made from flesh-coloured plastic, perfect replicas, hollowed out to make them weightless
and with special grooves to take the superglue. They were indistinguishable from the real thing.
‘Blimey,’ said Napoleon, ‘how the Mother Hubbard can we wear two pairs of ears at one and the same time? We’re for it now.’
‘It’s risky all right,’ agreed Knocker, ‘but I get the feeling that if we try to run off we’ll get caught, but if we pretend to be dwarfs and go through with it then we’ll get away.’
The policeman with the clipboard called out again and the line moved forward.
‘There’s only one thing we can do,’ said Swish. ‘We’ll have to shove these plastic jobs in our pocket and make out that our real ears are plastic ones.’
‘That’s it,’ said Treld. ‘And while we’re waiting we’ll pretend we’re sticking them on, like.’
‘Supposing they recognize us, Knocker?’ said Napoleon. ‘It’ll be curtains then, eh?’
Knocker shook his head. ‘Not likely,’ he said. ‘Sussworth only ever saw us once, remember, when we were captured on Clapham Common, but we were all of us covered in mud, all our clothes, our faces. All you have to do, Nap, is just be polite.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ replied Napoleon, ‘but I do know that we’ll never have a better chance then this for getting rid of Sussworth, like we did Dewdrop. What about it, Knocker? He wouldn’t be able to kill Sam then, would he?’
Again Knocker shook his head. ‘It wouldn’t help,’ he answered. ‘Somebody else would only kill Sam and we’d get caught and we wouldn’t be able to warn the others about the dwarfs. No, the main thing is to make sure we stay alive long enough to get back to King’s Cross.’
‘And deal with Ninch and Scooter,’ said the Wendle.
‘Yes,’ said Knocker, ‘that’s for sure.’
As they moved closer to the caravan the four Borribles started to go through the motions of glueing on their ears, making a great show of it. These efforts seemed hardly worthwhile however for not one of the policeman on duty nearby took the slightest notice of them. On the other hand the dwarfs who were standing in front of the Borribles became very interested in the activity.
‘’Ere,’ said one of them to Swish, ‘you’ve done yours a treat. Could you help me stick mine on?’
‘And me,’ said another. ‘Make a good impression on the inspector, that will, I bet.’
Swish agreed readily; she was only too pleased to occupy her nervous hands with some kind of work and Knocker thought it might be a good moment to ask questions. He looked at the dwarf nearest him, not liking what he saw: a face that was neither adult nor childlike, neither old nor young, a strange blank face a bit like Ninch’s. Knocker forced a smile.
‘How did you get the job,’ he asked, ‘you’re not a copper are you?’
‘No fear,’ said the dwarf. He was feeling his newly stuck-on ears and Knocker had to admit that they changed his whole appearance. ‘They advertised in the stage papers; we’re only in it for the money. You know, cop it and hop it is our motto.’
‘Is it much money?’ asked Napoleon, sidling up close.
‘Aha,’ continued the dwarf, ‘it all depends on how many Borribles we catch, special bonuses. It’s going to be very exciting, sloping round the town at night, spying. They’re murderers, you know. Killed a poor old rag-and-bone man and his harmless son in Southfields. They told us.’
‘The villains,’ said Napoleon.
‘Villains is right,’ said the dwarf. ‘Ain’t scared, are you?’
Knocker laughed. ‘I think he is. Look, he’s gone quite pale.’
Before Knocker could ask any more questions the policeman with the clipboard crouched down beside them all and inspected their ears; dwarfs first, then the Borribles.
‘They’re very good,’ he said, ‘some of the best I’ve seen. My goodness me, if I didn’t know you weren’t I’d swear you were, in a court of law too. Excellent.’ And with that he marshalled the dwarfs into the caravan and the four Borribles were left waiting at the foot of Sussworth’s steps on their own.
They did not wait long. In less than ten minutes’ time the four dwarfs were sent quickly on their way and it was the turn of Knocker and Napoleon, Swish and Treld, to climb towards the figure of Sergeant Hanks who stood just by the caravan’s open door, waving them into the presence of Inspector Sussworth.
The four Borribles stepped bravely forward and were made to stand in a line facing a huge desk. Sussworth sat behind it looking tiny, flicking through his papers. Above him on the wall, a new addition to the decor, were two photos, one of Field Marshal Montgomery, the other of Rommel, both smiling.
Slightly to the side of the Borribles a kettle was bubbling; just in front of them Sergeant Hanks leant against his bunk, his fat arms folded. The double bed had been folded away and a policeman sat in its place at a temporary desk, keeping a record of all that was said.
‘These are the last four tonight,’ he said, and read out the names. ‘Swish, Treld, Backander and Sprazi.’
Without looking up Sussworth suddenly shouted, ‘And what do you say when you hear a Borrible name?’
‘Er … what a good name, I hope that I shall hear the story of the winning of it, one day,’ said Knocker, his throat dry.
‘Good,’ said Sussworth. ‘Remember, every one of you from now on and into the future has to live and think like a Borrible. If they so much as guess your true identity your lives won’t be worth a second-hand peanut. On the other hand … for every ordinary common or garden Borrible you capture I shall pay the sum of two hundred pounds. If by chance any subsequent investigation and questioning of your prisoner should lead us to any one of the Southfields murderers you will receive a further thousand pounds. But if any of you become responsible for the capture of any of that gang of malefactors yourselves, well, there will be a reward of five thousand pounds.’ Sussworth leant forward, his moustache quivered. ‘Just imagine that. I happen to know that there are approximately ten of these vagrants in the Southfields gang, so it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that you could catch yourself a grand total of fifty thousand pounds. That is enough to retire to Portugal on, several times.’
Knocker did not know how the others were feeling but he had never been so nervous in his whole life. The sweat poured from his brow and into his eyes. He gulped and wiped his face with the sleeve of his jacket, then he clasped his hands behind his back to keep them still. He looked round the caravan, studying it. It was so clean. The wood stank of polish, the chrome fittings were burnished bright and
the carpet was spotless; and in the place where he and his companions stood was a plastic sheet, spread there to keep mud from the floor.

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