that lay beneath the stagnant, thigh-high water. As his feet settled, James rested his palm against the clayish soil of the embankment to steady himself.
By this time, the girls stood atop the embankment and Bethany looked flustered.
Maybe we shouldn't,?she said anxiously.
James rose to the tantalising possibility of Laurent hair-brained scheme being called off.
Maybe you're right,?he said, perhaps a little too eagerly. This is risky and the instructors are bound to punish Jake and Rat as well if we're caught.?
Te didn't come this far to quit,?Lauren said stiffly.
Bethany nodded apprehensively. Laurent right ?I always get the jitters.?
Lauren scowled at James. And don't you encourage her.?
James stared gloomily at the water as the two girls held hands and slipped down the embankment together. Bethany looked a touch wobbly as she took her first steps, but Lauren had months of wading experience under her belt and led off at a pace James and Bethany struggled to cope with.
It was less than ten metres from the spot where the path met the ditch to the tangle of barbed wire at the back of the training compound, but James?thighs already ached from pushing his legs through the swirling mud.
Lauren flipped on her head lamp to inspect the zigzagging strands of barbed wire. She tried pushing them, but they were taut.
Theyre reinforced it since I was down here on punishment,?Lauren whispered anxiously. T hoped wer be able to push the wires down and make a gap big enough to step through, but weEl need to cut it.?
James turned his back to Lauren so she could unzip his pack and grab the chunky set of wire cutters from inside.
Tou know this is vandalism of CHERUB property??James said. Tf they catch us, we're in serious trouble.?
Lauren sounded annoyed. Etop moaning, James. I'll trying to think.?
James watched as his sister artfully cut a single strand of wire. It left a gap of about half a metre at one corner of the ditch, right next to the embankment.
TeEl get a bit muddy, but we can squeeze through,?Lauren said.
She snipped off the loose strand of wire, before bending it up and hurling it into the trees. Sobody comes out here unless one of the ditches dams up, they won't miss one strand of wire.?
James agreed with his sistert logic, but wasn't in any mood to go around throwing compliments at her.
Squeezing under the wire was a palaver that involved going through one at a time and feeding their packs through afterwards. James was broader than the two girls and ended up with mud streaked across the back of his tracksuit.
Once they were through, it would have been quicker to climb out of the ditch and run along the embankment, but they didn't want to risk being caught on video so they carried on wading, keeping as low as possible with the white of their faces shielded by baseball caps.
Seventy metres beyond the wire, Lauren leaned against the embankment and quickly flashed the powerful beam of her head lamp. It caught one side of a concrete shed before she ducked down again.
Barty time,?Lauren grinned.
The ditch here was shallower than where theyr dropped in. The three youngsters stepped out and set off at a run towards the shed, with globs of mud sliding down the outside of their waders. When they reached the shed wall, Lauren and Bethany pushed the straps holding the waders up off their shoulders.
Aet them off and put your trainers back on, James,?Lauren ordered.
Thatt the point??James asked. Tere got to go back the way we came.?
So we don't,?Lauren explained. Theret only ever one training instructor on duty at night. As soon as they see that the cameras have stopped working, theyEl come down here. WeEl run in the other direction to the main training building. We can hand the packages across to the trainees, then weEl sprint out via the front gate.?
That about the alarm??James asked.
Doesn't matter,?Bethany said. TheyEl find out that it went off eventually, but the instructor won't be anywhere near the control room to hear it.?
Doesn't it sound anywhere else, like the security console on the main gate??
Lauren shrugged. Sot as far as we know.?
James shook his head as he kicked the waders away and went into the pack for his trainers. Tou mean you don't know for sure??
Ttt pretty unlikely, James. I mean, why would anyone on the main gate need to know if an alarm went off at the training compound??
But you're not sure,?James hissed furiously. Tou guaranteed that we wouldn't get caught!?
Teah,?Lauren shrugged,