factory in England. He said it was very hard for them to get staff. He asked if some of us girls wanted to work there, almost joking at first. But we kept asking him about it, practically begging him to fix us up with jobs in England when we were older.
‘It went on for ages. Mr Broushka laid it on thick, telling us how we’d live in nice houses and have lots of money in England. He said there were lots of English men who’d marry such beautiful girls and then we’d get citizenship. Then one night, he told us that his cousin was in town and that we could go and meet him if we wanted to.
‘There was me and eight other girls and we all broke curfew and got on a bus to the river front. When we arrived, Mr Broushka told all of us to get inside a truck. A couple of the older girls wanted to know what was going on, but there were other men there – gangsters – and when two of them tried to get away, the men started slapping and kicking them. They pulled baseball bats and bundled us all in the truck. They said we were going to be travelling for several days and that if any of us made a fuss we’d be …’
Anna stopped to sob and Lauren grabbed her hand.
‘The men said that they would rape us.’
*
James woke up at 6 a.m., to ice on his bedroom window and a severe weather warning on the radio. He peeked between the slats of his blind and was delighted to see the trees and lawns of CHERUB campus under a layer of white frost. This meant he could go back to bed for another hour and a half.
James grabbed his telephone and called the main campus switchboard. ‘Hi, I need to be put through to Kevin Sumner’s room in the junior block.’
After three rings, a young boy answered with a yawn and a hello.
‘Is Kevin there?’ James asked.
‘Nah, he’s had to go off to the training compound.’
‘Already?’ James moaned. ‘But I’m not supposed to be meeting him there for another forty-five minutes.’
‘Well he’s not here.’
‘Does he have a mobile?’
‘Yeah, but it’s here on the table.’
James shook his head and tutted. ‘Listen, if you do see Kevin tell him that it’s James and I’m cancelling his training session. It’s too dangerous to climb up the obstacle in this weather. It’ll be covered with ice.’
‘I’m telling you he’s already gone,’ the kid insisted.
‘OK, cheers. I’ll take my mobile with me, so if he does turn up, make sure he gives me a call so I don’t have to go all the way out there.’
After putting the phone down, James wondered if he’d got the time mixed up in his head. But he’d discussed it with Kevin on the walk back from the medical unit and he could distinctly remember saying 6:45.
‘Oh well,’ James muttered to himself. ‘You can stand out there and freeze your butt off for half an hour if you want.’
James listened to the news and sport on his radio as he used the toilet, got dressed and blasted some instant porridge in his microwave, all the while hoping for the call from Kevin that would mean he could get back in bed instead of going out into the cold.
When it didn’t come, he wrapped up warm in a CHERUB-issue green skiing jacket, thick gloves and a hat with ear flaps. He was in a foul mood as he jogged in the crisp morning air, knowing that he could have gone straight back to bed if Kevin hadn’t left the junior block so ridiculously early.
It took twelve minutes to reach the height obstacle, but there was no sign of Kevin. James figured that the cold might have got to Kevin’s bladder and made him disappear into the trees for a leak.
‘Hey?’ James shouted. ‘Kev, are you out there?’
‘Yoo-hoo,’ Kevin shouted, from up high.
James looked towards the sky and was shocked to see Kevin’s outline silhouetted against the rising sun. He’d made it across the scaffold poles to the second platform.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ James yelled.
‘What the hell does it look like I’m doing?’ Kevin yelled back.
‘Don’t move, you lunatic. It’s too icy.’
‘The scaffold poles were pretty hairy,’ Kevin grinned.
James noticed that the rescue rope he’d used the night before was still dangling down from the platform. ‘Come down on the rope,’ he called. ‘Seriously, it’s not safe up