The Great Ice-Cream Heist (13 page)

Shan glanced at her watch and gasped. ‘The radio crew will be at the lodge in ten minutes. I have to get out and get up there.'

Brian had eased his foot off the pedal and the van slowed up. The adults in the wing mirror loomed larger.

‘No!' Eva shouted. ‘Please, Shan, I need you to read the papers for me. There isn't time to stop. We'll get back to the lodge soon. Anyway, if you get out now, Melanie will whisk you straight into Sally's office for a telling off and you won't get to speak to the radio crew.'

‘Would I lose my slot on the show?' Brian asked.

‘Yes,' Eva said.

‘Well, in that case, why don't you tell me where I need to go and as soon as you're done I'll take you back to the lodge myself?' Brian slammed his foot back on the accelerator and the van reached its cruising speed of about fifteen miles an hour.

‘Friar's Brook,' Eva replied. ‘Jamie is somewhere in Friar's Brook.'

‘Oh, really?' Brian asked. He sounded worried. ‘Only, that's not my patch. That belongs to Ginelli's Fresh Italian Ice Cream. They'll go mental if they see me on their streets.'

The main gate was close now. Brian pressed a remote control and the bollard sank into the ground. The van pulled out between the stone gate posts and on to the road.

Eva gave another glance at the rear-view mirror.

Bandit bounded ahead of the group, barking and leaping into the air.

Behind him, the runners kept pace. An air of steely determination had come over them now. They were going to catch the van no matter what. Sports types could be competitive like that, Eva thought.

And leading the pack – she must have sprinted like an Olympic athlete – was Melanie.

And she didn't look like she was going to give up the chase any time soon.

‘We'll keep you safe from Ginelli's and we'll get back in time for the radio,' Eva said. She sounded certain, but inside she was quaking – she might just be getting everyone into the most trouble they'd ever been in. She just hoped she could keep her promises.

Chapter 23

‘We need an address,' Eva said, turning her head away from the mirror. ‘Come on.'

She pushed Shan into the back of the van and then scrambled after her, still holding the briefcase. They were boxed in by freezers and the ice-cream machine. Shelves ran up one side, crammed with cones, wafers, pots and tubs. The whole placed smelled of sugar and cream. Eva's mouth watered. But this was no time for snacking.

They had to find out where Melanie had sent Jamie.

‘Here.' Eva thrust the briefcase towards Shan.

‘What's that?' Shan paused. She looked at the small, black case in Eva's hands as though it were a dangerous beast baring fangs. ‘This isn't Mel's, is it? You weren't supposed to take the whole thing! That wasn't the plan. You were supposed to find Jamie's file and bring that.'

‘There wasn't time. I only had a second and then all the boot campers were after me. So I just took it all.'

She laid the briefcase down on the floor. As Brian turned a corner, it slid towards Shan, like a card being dealt.

‘This is bad,' Shan said. ‘Really bad. Social workers work for the government, you know. There could be official secrets in there, or anything. We could go to prison for reading classified documents.'

‘They can't send me to prison for that,' Eva said. ‘I can't read!' For some reason she was feeling ridiculously happy. This was insane, but it was exciting too. Was this how Mum felt when she looked at the ice-white slopes and decided to ski? Eva had never felt more alive. Despite the fact that Jamie was still missing, Shan was furious with her and – she stood and looked out of the serving hatch – yes, the boot campers were chasing after their runaway ice-cream van.

‘
Travel news next
,' a cheerful voice came from the radio, ‘
then we'll join Andy live from a great little project in Elizabeth Park. It's a tear-jerking story we can all get behind. But first here's Katie with what's happening on our roads . . .
'

‘That's us!' Shan shrieked. ‘We're the great little story. We're supposed to be there right now! Brian, turn this van round!'

‘No!' Eva said. ‘Please? We're so close. Jamie's address is in that briefcase. Just take a look and then I'll get out and Brian can take you back to the park. I'll walk the rest of the way. I promise. Please just look.'

Shan looked as though she were going to argue. Then Eva heard the solid clunk of the briefcase clasps being opened. Papers rustled as Shan searched through them all.

‘It's not here,' Shan said a moment later. ‘Jamie's file's not here.'

‘What? It must be!' Eva joined Shan on the floor. ‘It's got to be here.'

‘It isn't, I'm telling you! I've looked at the names on every single case file here and Jamie is not one of them.'

Eva could have cried. What now?

She had practically kidnapped Shan, they were being chased by everyone, the radio station needed them at the lodge and it was all for nothing. Jamie's address wasn't even in the case.

They were moving down the high street now and shoppers, buses and cyclists were filling up the road. The van was forced to slow down. Melanie and the boot campers were bound to catch up with them any second. Eva felt her shoulders slump. There was nothing she could do.

The papers were everywhere, pulled higgledy-piggledy from the case as Shan had read the names on each one. There was no point in Eva trying to double-check – the more stressed she got the more the words turned into alphabet snakes, twisting and hissing around the page.

But there was something that caught her eye.

‘Hey, look.' She picked up a piece of paper that had hearts doodled on it in red pen. Arrows pierced the hearts and there were a few words scattered across the heart confetti. Words she
could
read:
Gary for Mel
,
Mel for Gary
.

Shan tugged the paper out of her hand and turned it over. ‘
Mel Sykes
,' she read. The name was repeated over and over again in flowery handwriting.

‘That's not Melanie's surname. She's called Tyndall,' Eva said.

‘No, it's Gary's. He's called Gary Sykes. I put his name on my list for the radio station. Melanie's been practising what her signature would be if they ever got married. Melanie fancies Gary.'

Eva stood back up again and looked outside.

Melanie led the pack that was chasing them down. She had a determined look on her face, like she was ready to run all day and all night if that's what it took. She was here for a marathon, not a sprint.

Gary ran at her shoulder.

And Gary's group was right behind.

An idea blossomed in Eva's mind.

Shan's mobile rang just at that second. Her face looked nervous as she looked at the screen. ‘It's Andy from the radio station,' she said, and accepted the call.

‘No time for that. I've got an idea. Brian,' Eva said, leaning into the driver's space, ‘can I talk through the speakers? Or is it just “Greensleeves”?'

Brian glanced at her while still keeping one eye on the zebra crossing and the people just ahead. ‘Yes, you can. There's a mic there.' He waved towards a black box on the dashboard. ‘I never use it. Don't like the sound of my own voice. But I think it still works. Just press down the button on the side.'

Eva took up the mic. It was heavy and square, like a box of matches filled with lead. It was attached by a curly cord to the radio set. She pulled it as far as it would go into the back of the van. She was about to speak when the radio presenter blared again.

‘Sorr
y
, folks, looks like Andy at Elizabeth Park isn't quite ready for us. Sounds like something very odd is happening there. So here's a song from 1992 that will put a smile on your face . . .'

The van slowed right down, then came to a stop.

‘Andy, I can explain,' Shan said into her phone.

Eva leaned out of the serving hatch. In front, an old lady walked slowly across the zebra crossing at a speed that would even embarrass a snail. Behind, Melanie was closing in, her face red and shiny with the effort. Her hair had come loose from its ponytail and sprayed around her face in a sweaty halo.

Shan was babbling into the phone, desperate to keep Andy at the lodge until they got back. ‘It's an emergency, I promise. We had to. But as soon as we've found him we'll bring the van back,' she said.

Melanie put on an extra burst of speed, desperate to catch them before the zebra crossing was clear. She pulled away from Gary and the rest of the pack. A sprint now.

Eva pressed the button on the mic. ‘Greensleeves' spluttered to a stop and a squeal like mice cheering for their favourite football team came from the speakers above the van. Eva shook the mic and the squealing stopped. But all the faces in the street outside were staring at the van. Most people had their hands up over their ears.

‘Melanie Tyndall,' Eva said, her voice coming clearly from the speakers, loud and fierce. ‘You took my friend away and I want him back. You have information that we need. And we won't stop until we get it.'

‘I might stop,' Shan said. She closed her phone. ‘The radio station is furious. They want to know where we are. I couldn't fob them off. They can tell there's a story. They've got a nose for news.'

Eva moved out of the serving hatch and craned her head over Brian's shoulder. The woman was still only halfway across the zebra crossing. Eva could have screamed at her.

‘Stop!' Melanie's red face appeared in the serving hatch.

‘Go!' Eva yelled at Brian.

‘I can't!' he yelled back.

Melanie's hands gripped the Formica counter.

Her body lurched up into the serving hatch.

And with a tumble of trainers, wheezing, trackie bottoms and fury, she landed in a heap inside the van.

For a second, no one moved.

‘We've just received an interesting update from Andy. It seems the trouble on the roads that Katie was telling us about may have something to do with the team at Elizabeth Park. Andy, can you tell us more?'

Then everything happened at once.

Melanie dived for her briefcase.

Shan scrambled for her ringing phone.

Brian put his foot on the pedal.

Bandit leapt into the van through the hatch.

And Eva grabbed the piece of paper with Melanie's doodles on it.

‘What's going on back there?' Brian yelled. ‘Keep that dog away from my waffle cones!'

‘It's OK – keep driving!' Eva answered.

‘No,' Melanie tried to shout, though the wheezing got in the way a bit. ‘No . . . stop this van . . . right now.'

Luckily, Brian couldn't hear a word she said and, with the zebra crossing finally clear, the van trundled along the main road towards the town hall.

Eva pulled the paper closer to her chest. Melanie was bent double, still trying to catch her breath. Her empty briefcase was in her hand. Bandit stood guard on top of the pile of papers. But it was only a matter of moments before she lifted her head and said, very clearly, ‘You two are in a world of trouble. What were you thinking?'

‘I can't talk now,' Shan told her phone. ‘The van just got crazier.'

‘I just needed to find Jamie. I thought his new address would be in there,' Eva said simply.

Melanie shook her head. ‘I'll be speaking to your parents about this – both of you. Now, we need to turn this van round and get back to the lodge.'

Eva took a deep breath.

There was one final, desperate roll of the dice left. She felt a surge of adrenalin in her chest – the surge you might feel just before skiing down a mountain.

‘Not so fast,' she said.

‘Ooh,' Shan said. ‘I've always wanted to say that.'

Eva held up the sheet of paper she'd been holding – the sheet covered in love hearts and Melanie's fantasy signature. In the other hand, she held up the mic.

Melanie gasped. She glanced out of the back window. The runners following them were beginning to be stretched to their limit, splitting into groups like cyclists approaching a steep climb. But Gary was right at the front of the pack, leading the way. He looked as though he could keep running for hours without getting tired.

‘Does Gary know about this?' Eva asked, holding up a page of Melanie's loopy, droopy signatures.

Melanie flushed an even brighter shade of red and her mouth goldfished madly.

‘Didn't think so.' Eva held up the mic again and her voice crackled out of the loudspeakers. ‘I have an announcement to make on behalf of Melanie Tyndall. She is delighted to tell Gary Sykes that she loves –'