Lone Wolf - Robert Muchamore Page 0,70
himself out from under the bed as he saw the spokes of a wheelchair coming towards him.
‘There’s a burglar in the boys’ room,’ the girl shouted.
Ryan was furious with himself. How could he have watched the flat all evening and not seen that Ash had a wheelchair-bound sister?
As he tried to get out from under the covers, the front wheels of the wheelchair hit Ryan’s legs, pinning them to a bedside cabinet. As he bucked and twisted, the girl raised a metal crutch up above her head and sank the rubber tip into Ryan’s stomach.
He moaned in pain, as he managed to twist around enough to get a proper look at the girl. She was only about twelve, but while her legs ended at the knee, her upper body was well muscled from playing sport.
Ryan braced his legs against the bedside cabinet as he took another whack from the crutch. He was trying to push the wheelchair back, but the brake was on and he only got free by hooking his foot inside the cabinet and violently kicking it over.
As Ash’s mum came into the room, Ryan had got all of his limbs free, but was still cornered by the wheelchair.
‘Sophia, be careful, he could have a knife,’ Ash’s mum warned.
But Ryan was on the wrong end of the crutch twice more before her mother wheeled a reluctant Sophia out of the way.
‘Go call the cops, sweetie. I’ll take charge of him.’
Ash’s mum grabbed the crutch off her daughter and held it up high over Ryan as he sat up.
‘You move a muscle and I’ll knock you for six,’ she warned.
Out in the hallway, Sophia was talking to the 999 operator. Her mother was a bulky lady, and Ryan hoped that would make her slow as he sprang up and scrambled on to Ash’s bunk. As he’d hoped, the swinging crutch hit the bed rather than him.
As a clonk rang through the metal bed frame, Ryan crawled up to the end of the bed. He threw a couple of pillows back at the woman and clutched the package to his chest with one hand as he slid off the end of the bed and stumbled out into the hallway.
Ryan went for the front door, but grabbing the handle didn’t help because it had been deadlocked. Sophia dropped the cordless phone in her lap and wheeled fearlessly towards Ryan. The chair’s front wheel skinned Ryan’s ankle, but the twelve-year-old made a much less formidable opponent without the crutch and Ryan managed to squeeze past and charge for the living-room.
Ryan ducked as Ash’s mum swung the crutch, but it caught the back of his leg, knocking him off balance and sending him stumbling towards a couch. The big woman swung again, but Ryan rolled across the couch as the crutch hit the sofa cushions with a whump that could have knocked him cold.
‘The cops are two minutes away,’ Sophia shouted from the hall.
Ryan’s leg buckled as he stumbled forward and somehow launched himself through the open window, going out the way he’d come in. Much to his own surprise, Ryan realised that he still had the package as he stumbled across a little patio and stepped over a low wall and on to the street.
At the same time, Sophia had got the front door open and began wheeling herself speedily towards the front gate. Ryan was hobbling, and Sophia was gaining on him as he set off down the street. He was relieved when Sophia’s mother yelled from the doorstep.
‘Sweetie, it’s not worth the risk. You get back here right now.’
Sophia looked dejected as she stopped pushing her chair and freewheeled to a gradual halt. Ryan felt relieved for about ten seconds, but just as he’d slowed down to a more comfortable jog his ears picked up the wail of police sirens.
36. DRIVE
Fay was a fast learner. She’d studied Ning and watched a bunch of YouTube videos about learning to drive, but getting the balance of clutch and accelerator pedals right was way harder than she’d imagined.
Frustration had whipped Fay into a fury when she finally got the right amount of pressure on the gas pedal and let the clutch up gently enough not to stall the engine. The van juddered, before setting off on the rutted gravel path between allotments.
As the engine raced, Fay pushed the clutch down and went for second gear. She hadn’t got a feel for the gearbox and by the time she’d found second, a bump had