meet them as they leave the training compound??Jake asked.
Course,?James nodded.
i hope they passed training,?Jake said.
Cidnt Bethany call you or anything??James asked, surprised. i was out at a mission briefing, but there was a voicemail on my mobile when I got back. Lauren was in the terminal at Toronto airport, waiting for a flight to London. She said shet hurt her foot, but everyone had made it through.?
Tafe,?Jake grinned. i抣l race you.?
Jake belted off across the grass with his backpack rattling up and down. James jogged after him at a steady pace. There was no reason to run flat out; Mr Large would make the trainees pack up all their stuff and tidy the training compound before he let them go.
When Jake got a hundred metres ahead, he stopped running and turned back towards James with a wounded look. Ire you racing or not??he shouted.
James was looking forward to seeing his sister and Jakee enthusiasm was contagious. it just giving you a start,?he jeered, as he broke into a full sprint. Hou抣l need it.?
Jake squealed and started running again. It took James a couple of hundred metres to close the gap, by which time the two boys were running across a couple of muddy football pitches. The wire fence around the training compound was visible in the distance.
Instead of sprinting past, James decided it would be funny if he ran up behind Jake and gave him a friendly shove in the back. Jake stumbled forwards and ploughed into the soft ground.
Enjoy the mud, El-Squirto,?James hooted.
He started to think het overdone it when Jake made no attempt to get back up. He stopped running and walked back towards the little ball rolled up on the grass.
James leaned over nervously. Ire you OK??
i think you broke my arm,?Jake whimpered.
James felt a queasy sensation rise up from his guts. Theret be no easy way to talk himself out of hurting an eight-year-old, even though it was an accident. Jake might end up in hospital, het be in trouble and it would ruin Lauren and Bethanye return from training.
it sorry,?James said, gently rubbing Jakee shoulder. Can you move your arm at all? Do you really think ite broken??
Jakee expression changed to a grin as his muddy hand tightened around James?wrist. The eight-year-old yanked James?arm forward, while simultaneously hooking his foot around James?ankle and sweeping his boot from under him.
James overbalanced, ending up sprawled out on the soggy ground alongside Jake. The younger boy quickly scooped up a clod of mud, splatted it against James?cheek and then combed his mucky fingers upwards through James?blond hair.
While James lay on the floor, stunned by the icy brown water trickling down his neck, Jake exuberantly sprang to his feet.
it in so much pain,?Jake sneered. Tuck-ahhh.?
Jake jogged the last stretch towards the gates of the training compound, flailing his arms in the air and bowing to an imaginary crowd. James staggered to his feet and did the best he could to wipe the water out of his ear with a crinkled-up tissue.
Cheating little git,?James shouted bitterly, as it occurred to him that he should have known better: every kid at CHERUB did Karate and judo training and even little guys like Jake knew some smart moves.
James saw the funny side once the shock wore off. When he got up to the gate of the training compound, joining siblings and close friends of the other trainees, he pulled out the chocolate bar het been saving for morning break and gave Jake two squares to make it clear there were no hard feelings.
i抣l have to get you back for that,?James said.
Can try if you like,?Jake shrugged confidently, as he crammed the rectangle of chocolate into his mouth with his grubby fingers.
James got excited as soon as he saw the trainees in their grey T-shirts. The first four jogged down the concrete path from the compound, but Lauren was limping slightly. She had her bandaged foot in an unlaced trainer and Bethany loyally at her side.
James didnt like Bethany much. He was happy that Lauren had found a close friend, but when the two girls were together they drove him mad with their girlie talk and half-hour giggling fits over the lamest jokes.
Jake got scooped into his big sistere arms, as James wrapped Lauren in a tight hug and kissed her cheek. Lauren looked taller and her shoulders seemed more muscular than before. James felt a twinge of sadness at the passing of the chubby-faced little sister het had when their mum died