CHERUB: The Fall - Robert Muchamore Page 0,51

those legs one more millimetre and I’ll stand on your balls,’ Bruce shouted. ‘Now jump.’

‘I’ve seen four-year-olds jump from higher up than that,’ James yelled.

A tear ran down Kevin’s cheek as he sat down.

‘I’m giving you until three to stand up and jump off that barrel,’ Bruce said fiercely. ‘One … two …’

‘I can’t,’ Kevin whined.

‘Three,’ Bruce roared.

Bruce furiously hauled Kevin off the barrel. He splattered him face first into the mud and rested his boot against the side of his head.

‘What do you reckon, James?’ Bruce asked. ‘Time for something radical?’

‘The little wimp’s left us with no choice.’

‘You see that building over there?’ Bruce pointed at a flat-roofed shed used to store gardening equipment. ‘We’re gonna take you up there and throw you off the roof.’

‘No,’ Kevin sobbed desperately, as he curled up in a ball. ‘Don’t make me go up there.’

James grabbed him out of the dirt. ‘You’d better start putting some effort into this, sissy. We’re not going anywhere. You can cry and whine and fight with us all night long, but it doesn’t hurt us one little bit. We’re going to keep doing this, night after night until you show us some guts.’

Kevin tried to bargain as Bruce dragged him towards an aluminium ladder. ‘Let me try the barrel again.’

‘Nope,’ Bruce said, as Kevin tried to wriggle free. ‘We gave you three tries with the barrel. Now we’re throwing you off the roof.’

‘Please,’ Kevin howled.

He was kicking and screaming way too much to be forced into climbing the ladder, so Bruce climbed on to the roof and leaned over the side, then James held Kevin up so that Bruce could grab him. As Bruce dragged Kevin across the flat roof, James ran around the building to an area on the opposite side that had a crash mat beneath it.

‘Jump,’ Bruce shouted as he pushed Kevin up to the edge of the roof.

James stood on the edge of the crash mat with his arms spread out wide. ‘Come on, you little chicken. What the hell are you scared of?’

Bruce gave Kevin a shove that left him dangling over the edge. ‘Please,’ Kevin sobbed. ‘I think I’m gonna be sick.’

‘Oh give over, you little pussy,’ Bruce sneered. ‘Jump.’

But Kevin retched and violently spewed the contents of his stomach on to the crash mat. James stepped back, but didn’t get clear before some of the puke hit his outstretched arm. Bruce was so shocked that he let Kevin go.

The ten-year-old screamed as he flopped on to the crash mat, landing in a mixture of rainwater and his own vomit.

‘Nice landing, pansy,’ Bruce said.

Kevin rolled over, his vest and pyjama bottoms covered in his own sick. James felt really sorry for him, but he knew that this technique would only work if he showed no mercy.

‘I hope you’re proud of yourself, loser,’ James said. ‘Maybe next time we’ll throw you off where there’s no crash mat.’

‘Get stuffed,’ Kevin shouted. ‘I hate you both.’

‘Now all we need is for the baby to piss his pants,’ Bruce grinned, as he dangled his legs off the side of the roof and jumped down, carefully avoiding the crash mat.

‘Right,’ Kevin snarled, as he jumped to his feet. ‘I’ll show you two pricks.’

Kevin steamed away from the mat. For a second, James thought he was going to try running off again. But he headed for the ladder and started climbing up.

‘I’ll jump,’ Kevin screamed madly, as he ran across the roof and leapt off with such force that he almost cleared the landing mat.

‘Blimey,’ James said, resisting the temptation to say well done as he gave Kevin a hand up.

‘Not bad for a pansy boy,’ Bruce added.

‘You want me to do it again?’ Kevin snarled. ‘You want me to jump off the roof again?’

‘Once more,’ James said, trying not to show that he was delighted.

James and Bruce smiled and gave each other a high five as Kevin scaled the ladder.

‘Poor little sod,’ Bruce whispered.

Kevin took his second jump more cautiously, curling his toes over the edge of the roof and landing on his feet.

Bruce hitched Kevin up by his muddy vest and James eyeballed him.

‘Not bad,’ James sneered. ‘Wash yourself up and go back to bed. We’ll see you tomorrow after lessons, by the main obstacle.’

‘And don’t be late,’ Bruce added with a snarl.

21. BREAKFAST

It was past midnight by the time James had showered and climbed into bed. Unless he had to get up early for combat training, James always lay in for a few