CHERUB: The Fall - Robert Muchamore Page 0,47
he noticed that the confidential files of eight red-shirts and three new recruits were spread over the table.
‘There’s a new session of basic training starting in a month’s time,’ Mr Pike explained. ‘This is our preliminary meeting. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, try and pair them off into evenly balanced partnerships and also finalise the exact nature of the exercises we’ll be taking them on, without overspending on the travel budget.’
James was surprised. ‘I always thought you paired kids off at random.’
‘Quite the opposite,’ Mr Pike said. ‘CHERUB is always short of agents and the powers that be put us under a lot of pressure to get everyone through basic training.’
‘Without lowering our standards,’ Mr Speaks added, as he ran a length of grubby towel between his toes.
‘I want you to take a look at this young fellow,’ Mr Pike said, as he slid one of the folders across the table towards James. ‘You’re pretty confident on the height test obstacle these days aren’t you?’
James nodded. ‘I’ve been over it that many times now, I don’t even think about it.’
‘The little fella in that folder is having some serious problems.’
James flipped the file open and saw a black and white picture of a red-shirt boy who’d turned ten three weeks earlier. His name was Kevin Sumner. James didn’t know him, but he’d seen him around campus.
‘So he’s scared of heights?’ James asked.
‘Terrified,’ Pike nodded, ‘and he hasn’t got a hope of getting through basic training unless he combats his fear. Kev’s a tough young fellow, with a good head on his shoulders, but he went on a rollercoaster when he was seven years old. The emergency brake came on when he was half-way around a three-sixty-degree loop and he spent three hours hanging upside down before the fire brigade got him out. He’s been petrified of heights ever since.’
‘So, you want me to take him through it gently?’
Mr Pike shook his head. ‘We’ve been there, tried that and Kevin’s thrown up all over the T-shirt. I want you to use a different technique. Remember how you learned to swim?’
James would never forget. When he first arrived at CHERUB, he’d been terrified of water and a month of intensive swimming lessons had made no difference. In the end, it took two bullying sixteen-year-olds repeatedly throwing him in the deep end of a swimming pool to combat his fear.
‘You’ll have to be ruthless, James,’ Mr Pike said. ‘Pick one of your mates to help you. You can both take whatever time you need out of lessons and if you can get Kevin to go across that obstacle unassisted, I’ll make sure you get a passing grade in any subject you choose.’
‘You mean I get out of having to do my History coursework?’
‘I can set that up if that’s what you want,’ Mr Pike nodded. ‘But remember, the technique only works if that kid is more frightened of you than he is of plunging off a fifty-metre drop.’
James looked at the photo and wondered if he had the cruel streak necessary to become a CHERUB training instructor. But then again, it was totally worth it if it got him through GCSE History.
*
John Jones was staying at a guest house less than a kilometre away from the Aldrington Care Centre. When Lauren got bored of sitting around waiting for Anna and the other kids to get back from school, she arranged to meet John in a nearby café and told her carer that she was going for a walk.
The café was in the back of a baker’s and the smell of warm bread filled the air as Lauren and John drank mugs of tea and ate doughnuts.
‘I’m starting to wonder if young Anna’s as innocent as she seems,’ John said.
‘Why’s that?’ Lauren asked.
‘Those lists you read show that she’s determined not to reveal her identity. That’s a pretty smart move if you want to stay in England.’
‘How come?’
‘If Anna had revealed her name and told the authorities where she was from, she probably would have been deported back to Russia within a matter of days.’
‘But we know she’s Russian now,’ Lauren said.
John nodded. ‘Yes, but the rules don’t permit the authorities to simply stick a child back on the first plane to Russia. They have to know who she is, where she came from and that someone will look after her when she returns. We’ve checked with the Russian police and nobody has reported Anna missing. If she can keep