CHERUB: The Fall - Robert Muchamore Page 0,39

unceremonious halt, crashing into a foam barrier that had been erected to stop flying buggies from rolling clean over the tyre wall and hitting the trees on the other side.

James’ engine cut automatically when his buggy tipped over, but insult was added to injury as Lauren’s buggy and the three behind it skimmed over the ramp and sprayed him with muddy water as they nosedived into the puddle beyond it. Once the first batch of buggies was past, James hurriedly unbuckled his seatbelt, before rolling over the slippery tyres and dropping down into the mulch on the opposite side.

‘Why didn’t you move over, you idiot?’ Kerry yelled, as she jumped off the tyre wall and angrily flipped up her visor.

‘I had the racing line,’ James said, as he fought with his helmet buckle.

‘But you must have known I’d crash into the tyres.’

James grinned. ‘How’s that my problem?’

‘Pig,’ Kerry yelled, as she hurled her helmet at James. ‘I thought you loved me. If you loved me, you’d have let me win.’

James started to laugh as he tugged off his helmet and unzipped his foam neck brace. ‘Love is one thing, buggy racing is another.’

Kerry put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. ‘Wipe that smile off before I thump you.’

‘You gonna make me?’ James stepped closer to Kerry.

‘You know, even with your hair all wild and mud all over your clothes, you’re still sexy.’

Kerry tried keeping up her scowl, but she couldn’t help smiling at the compliment. ‘You’re lucky it’s your birthday.’

‘Knew you couldn’t stay mad for long,’ James said, as he leaned forwards and gave Kerry a kiss.

16. ROOMS

CHERUB’s hotel points had stretched to the Lake Lodge, a luxurious hotel, sports club and spa built inside a converted country manor house. Meryl stood at the desk in an opulent reception area, with an ornate ceiling, tapestries hanging on the wall and a man in a penguin suit playing a grand piano.

The guests were mostly middle-aged and elderly couples, heading into the restaurant in evening gowns and smart suits. They all looked surprised when they noticed the eleven muddy youngsters standing by the revolving door in their socks.

As the receptionist tapped her keyboard, swiped Meryl’s credit card and offered her a long form to fill in with the names of all the kids on it, the lanky hotel manager raised the counter flap and swept up alongside her. ‘Geraldine, perhaps you can give this party their room keys now and Miss Spencer can come downstairs and complete the formalities when they’ve cleaned up. The young guests are dripping on the carpet.’

The manager rapidly programmed sets of room keys and handed each one to a pair of kids.

‘And one room is supposed to be a suite,’ Meryl said. ‘It was part of the offer when you booked more than five rooms.’

As the birthday boy, James got the suite and was seriously impressed. It was four times the size of his room on campus, with a king-sized four-poster bed, a separate living-room with a giant TV hanging on the wall, a real fire and a steaming plunge pool outside on the balcony.

He took his second shower of the day, then put on a hotel robe and slippers before calling Kerry on her mobile.

‘Hey, sweetcakes. This room is the dogs, what’s yours like?’

‘Pretty snazzy,’ Kerry said. ‘Not as fancy as your suite though, I bet.’

James picked a couple of grapes out of the crystal fruit bowl beside his bed. ‘The only thing is, the porter was supposed to be bringing my bag up. He hasn’t left it with you, has he?’

‘We had it brought to Lauren’s room,’ Kerry explained. ‘I’m waiting for Gabrielle to finish doing her hair, then we’re all heading your way.’

‘Can’t I come and get my clothes?’

‘You can wait,’ Kerry said stiffly and James immediately twigged why.

‘Oooh, am I getting presents?’

‘You’ll find out soon enough.’

James crashed out on his massive bed and smiled as he brushed his cheek on the soft hotel robe. The buggy racing had been superb and now he was all clean and relaxed in this incredible hotel room. It was exactly what he needed after the last few weeks. The only downer was that his nose wasn’t fully healed yet and it always seemed to ache when he came in out of the cold.

Meryl was first to knock, dressed in her hotel robe and trailed by a room service trolley stacked with chocolate biscuits and insulated jugs of coffee and hot cocoa.

James was warming his