CHERUB: The Fall - Robert Muchamore Page 0,37
his helmet.
Like everyone else, Kerry was wet and covered in mud. ‘I’m freezing,’ she groaned, as she bounced on tiptoes and tucked her hands under her armpits.
James looked concerned. ‘Don’t you like it?’
‘It’s ace,’ Kerry grinned. ‘But next time I reckon we’ll do it for someone who has their birthday in the summer.’
Meryl and all the others were getting out of their buggies and coming towards them. The course was divided into three sections. The first was a muddy paddock with a few little bumps where you drove around in circles getting a feel for the buggies. The second section, which the CHERUB group had just completed, was a time trial on a winding course. It started off easy, but ended up with three large jumps that landed you in deep water if you didn’t take them at full speed.
‘OK everyone,’ the skinny teen said, adopting a slightly formal tone. ‘Results of the time trial for the Spencer party. In third place, with a time of seven minutes and sixteen seconds, car number eight, James Adams.’
A few cherubs clapped, but they all had thickly padded driving gloves on, so it didn’t make a lot of noise.
‘In second place, seven minutes fifteen and a half seconds, car number three, Meryl Spencer.’
‘In your face, kiddywinks,’ Meryl screamed.
‘And our winner – with a time of six minutes and thirty-six seconds that wouldn’t shame some of our regular visitors – Bethany Parker.’ James tutted as the teen presented Bethany with a plastic trophy that looked like it cost about fifteen pence to make.
‘Champion of the world,’ Bethany yelled, as Gabrielle snapped her picture with a camera phone.
‘Drop dead you stupid cow,’ James mumbled.
Kerry and Mo were standing closest to James and couldn’t help laughing. ‘You love her really,’ Mo whispered.
‘OK,’ the teen with the clipboard shouted. ‘I’m gonna open the gate and I want you to drive through to the competition track. You normally get ten laps, but we’ve got some time in hand, so I’ll let you have fifteen.
‘In this race you’ll be in direct competition with each other. Anyone who is overly aggressive will be red-flagged by the marshals and must pull into the pits. Any questions … ? OK then, get back in your buggies and make sure that your safety belts are fastened securely.’
The noise was deafening as the twelve buggies drove down a narrow alleyway. They had to wait a couple of minutes while the stewards wheeled off a broken-down buggy from the previous race and straightened up the tyre walls.
The twelve drivers were lined up on the grid in the order that they’d finished the time trial. The floodlit course was built into a hillside and dozens of daily races had turned it into a mud pit. James lined up in third, with Meryl and Bethany in front and Kerry alongside him.
He turned to Kerry and shouted over the drone of the engines. ‘Gonna kick your arse, girlfriend.’
Kerry turned and flicked James off. ‘Don’t think I’ll let you win, just ’cos it’s your birthday.’
James revved as the three red lights came on and slotted the transmission into drive the second they went out. But he felt a sharp jolt as Kyle – who must have started before the lights went out – rammed into his back.
The shunt actually gave James momentum and he got ahead of Kerry. Unfortunately, Bethany’s buggy was driving its wheels into the mud and he was about to smash into it. He snapped his steering wheel left to avoid the collision, but in the process he swerved into Kerry’s path and sandwiched her against the red-and-white-striped kerb.
A couple of cars swept past James on the outside as he tangled with Kerry, but he had the racing line into the tight first corner and came out with only Meryl Spencer ahead of him.
For the next two corners, James raced a couple of metres behind Meryl’s rear light. He fought to see through the mud spraying off her back tyres, while Kerry, Bruce and Bethany’s headlights blazed in his rear-view mirror.
James’ adrenalin level surged as he spotted Meryl going into a corner too fast. Her back end jiggled out – and while it didn’t look dramatic, she lost a lot of momentum. James and the three cars on his tail eased past her on the next straight.
James was thrilled at being in the lead, but a gentle bend gave him his first glimpse of the maddest part of the course. The back straight was four buggies