inside a BMW. The wax-jacketed driver emerged, holding a leather bag of the type usually carried by doctors.
‘What is this, Lord Of The Flies?’ the man said, shaking his head as he surveyed the scene.
‘Are you a doctor?’ Rat asked.
‘A vet, I’m afraid,’ the man explained. He knelt over Mr Large and grabbed his wrist to take a pulse. ‘His heartbeat is extremely weak.’
‘Will he live?’ Rat asked.
‘Depends upon a lot of things,’ the vet said, as he reached into his pocket for his car keys and dangled them in front of Andy. ‘Two of you lads go around to the boot of my car. You’ll see a black oxygen cylinder and a box of disposable masks. It’s heavy, so lift it together. Pure oxygen will make his breathing easier and take some of the strain off his heart. Then we’ll lay him out over the back seat of my car and I’ll take him to Accident and Emergency.’
The presence of the vet was a great relief to the cherubs. Unfortunately, Lauren and Bethany still had the old woman on their hands.
‘I’m telling the police,’ the woman shouted, as she pointed accusingly at Lauren. ‘You’re car thieves, you … You tried to kidnap me.’
Lauren grasped the woman’s shoulder and spoke as gently as her adrenalin rush would let her. ‘Why don’t you take some deep breaths? We’ll make you a nice cup of tea and then you can drive home after you’ve calmed down.’
‘Criminals,’ the woman screamed again. She turned her head with surprising speed and bit on Lauren’s middle finger.
Lauren instinctively ripped her finger out of the woman’s mouth. Unfortunately, a denture came flying out with it and Lauren squealed in horror as the warm plastic teeth hit her in the face.
Meanwhile, Rat, Andy and the vet had settled Mr Large in the rear of the BMW and the vet had fitted him with an oxygen mask.
‘Have you got no other adults here?’ the vet asked the girls.
‘There’s one,’ Lauren nodded, as she clamped her bloody finger beneath her armpit. ‘But he’s gone into town to buy groceries. I expect he’ll be back pretty soon.’
‘Right,’ the vet nodded. ‘I’ll call the police and tell them you’re out here. I don’t like the thought of leaving you lot unsupervised for too long.’ Then he turned and looked at the old lady. ‘You look like you’ve had a bit of a turn, my dear. How about you take a ride to the hospital with me?’
‘Yes,’ the woman sobbed. ‘Get me away from these animals. This one attacked me, now she’s stolen my teeth.’
‘That’s not what happened,’ Lauren said defensively.
The vet gave Lauren a reassuring look. ‘OK, my dear,’ he said to the old woman as he put an arm around her back. ‘No hanging around; I’ve got a very sick man in the back seat.’
Bethany chased after the two adults and caught up just as they were getting in the BMW.
‘That’s her teeth,’ Bethany explained, as she handed them to the vet. ‘They’ve been in the grass, so you’d better rinse them off before they go back in her mouth.’
5. RAID
The electricity had gone off before James’ room had warmed up, so he’d carried his duvet and pillows through to the living-room and spent the evening snuggled up on the sofa, reading an out-of-date motorbike magazine by the dim glow of a portable gas lamp.
He’d been asleep for several hours when he woke with a jolt and an eerie sense that something was up.
‘The boy’s not in bed,’ a man shouted angrily.
The men were in the hallway just a few metres away; hard to say how many. James realised that the sound of them kicking the front door in had woken him up.
‘Check the living-room,’ Vladimir Obidin shouted fiercely.
James shuddered when he recognised the voice. This wasn’t a burglary. Something had gone seriously wrong at the meeting.
He threw off his duvet and spun towards the door that he knew would crash open at any second. The only light was a tiny glimmer through the curtains and James felt blindly along the sideboard, desperate for some kind of weapon. He stopped when his hand touched the base of Boris’ marble and glass cigar lighter.
‘Got him, boss,’ one of Obidin’s henchmen shouted, as he burst through the door and blasted powerful xenon torchlight in James’ face.
Boris and Isla were only supposed to be having a business meeting with Denis Obidin. Maybe their cover got blown, or … But James had to shut out