Eye of the Storm (28 page)

‘Then their days could be numbered,’ Callum replied. ‘If there’s one thing that history has shown, it’s that ruling a population by fear will often result in a
revolution.’

‘I’ll say it again, lad: among humans that might be true,’ Nathan said, shaking his head. ‘But the Imperium has controlled raptor society for centuries. The iron fist
style of government seems to suit the raptor mentality. There have been no revolts. The Imperium is accepted and the Council is the unquestioned law.’

‘So what about these guys?’ Callum asked, pointing at Newton and Crick. ‘What do you think they’re doing? I’d call them rebels. A small stone can sometimes trigger
an avalanche, you know.’

‘Don’t presume to preach at me, boy,’ Nathan growled. ‘I’ve been living among raptors for over twenty years. You think I don’t know what I’m talking
about? Since Claire came along and organised us, we’ve been a thorn in the side of the Imperium – yes. But it would take more than us few to take them down.’

Edison suddenly gave a loud grunt from over near the cave entrance. He followed it with a loud sequence of clicks and growls.

‘Damn!’ Nathan swore. ‘That’s all I need!’ He picked up his gun again and ran across the stepping stones, his weariness apparent in his gait.

‘What is it?’ Callum asked. ‘What’s going on?’

‘We’ve got company,’ Sherri told him. ‘Edison says there’s a large party of raptors approaching along the base of the valley.’

‘You were followed?’

‘Must have been,’ she replied through gritted teeth. ‘But how they did it, I’ve no idea. Nathan’s pretty good at throwing off pursuit and he used every trick going
today. How a group could be that close behind us without our detecting them, I really don’t know. Grab a weapon and as much ammunition as you can carry. You too, David. Get up, Sam!
We’re going to need everyone who can hold a weapon.’

Callum ran to where the small stack of rifles was leaning against the wall, grabbed one and scooped several pre-loaded magazines from the open box next to them. By the time he got across the
stepping stones, only David and Sam were behind him. He reached the cave entrance and jostled for a position where he could see out.

The valley below was dark, but the darker shadows moving alongside the stream towards them were unmistakable.

‘Blimey! There’s loads of them!’ Callum breathed.

‘At least a hundred, boy,’ Nathan growled. ‘And we’re in no state to run again. I guess this is it – the last stand. Anyone who feels up to it had better leave now,
but I’m tired of running and hiding. I’m gonna take down as many as I can before they get up here. Who’s with me?’

Staring at the entrance to the visitor centre at Woodhill High Security Prison, Niamh had mixed feelings about going inside. She felt both scared and excited at the same time,
and the mixture of emotions was playing havoc with her stomach, which felt as though it was churning and turning inside her like a bag of live eels.

‘Why do I feel like a bad person just being here?’ she asked aloud.

‘Perhaps because mu— mother would have a fit if she knew we were here,’ Archie suggested.

‘No, I don’t mean that. Just being here somehow makes me feel as if anyone looking at me will think that I’m a criminal.’

‘Well, technically you are, Niamh. You did steal a boat after all.’

‘You’re not helping, Archie.’

‘No. Sorry.’

‘Don’t you feel it?’

Archie thought for a moment. ‘Actually, no,’ he said eventually, giving her a nervous smile. ‘I just think today has been amazing so far. I’ve never done anything like
this before. And we’re going to see inside a high security prison. I can’t wait to tell Rupert about this.’

Niamh shook her head and sighed. Archie had shown aspects of himself in the past twenty-four hours that Niamh would never have believed possible had she not seen it with her own eyes. It
transpired he was both a remarkably efficient organiser and a convincing liar. She had been amazed to see him deceive his mother without hesitation.

Archie had anticipated Niamh’s plan, phoned the prison, altered her booking and had memorised the entire visiting procedure. Where Niamh would have met with a brick wall on arrival by
coming without an adult, Archie had not taken any chances.

He rang Ben Jacobs, a local eighteen-year-old who had been working part-time as a gardener for his mother, and offered to pay him if he would accompany them for the day. Archie’s money
bought Ben’s cooperation with ease. Given the choice between a day of hard labour and taking a paid trip to Milton Keynes was a no-brainer as far as Ben was concerned. He had spent all summer
taking on all manner of work so that he could save some money before starting university in the autumn. He was not going to turn down a cushy job like this. Niamh nearly choked when Archie told her
he’d booked Ben in as their guardian.

Archie also planned their journey in detail. Having looked at buses and trains, he had come to the same conclusion as Niamh that the easiest way to Milton Keynes was by train, changing at
Coventry where they would pick up a London-bound train that stopped at Milton Keynes. Niamh had been more than a little impressed. Annoying geek or not, Archie had proved his worth today.

When Archie had given a stellar performance, pretending to arrange a meeting with his friend Rupert at the shopping centre in Banbury, his mother had not so much as raised an eyebrow. Niamh had
no doubt that when Aunt Aggie dropped them in town, she was completely in the dark about their true plans.

‘Have you got your passport?’ Archie asked, taking his from his inside jacket pocket.

‘Yes, Archie,’ she sighed. ‘For the
third
time, I’ve got my passport. Look.’

Niamh fished through her handbag, pulled out her passport and waved it under his nose. No sooner had she done it than she felt bad. Although the irritation factor of his talking at her
incessantly since they left Banbury was high, she knew she could not have done this without his help.

‘Just checking,’ he mumbled, putting his passport back in his pocket. ‘We won’t get in without the correct ID, you know.’

‘I know, Archie. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just a bit nervous, that’s all.’

‘That’s OK. I know how you feel. I’ve never
seen
a prison before, let alone gone inside one.’

Niamh looked at her watch – twenty past one. Perfect. Their visit was booked for two o’clock and the prison website had said to allow at least half an hour for the check-in
procedure. She looked across at Ben and then at Archie. Ben was wearing scruffy jeans and a T-shirt, while Archie was in immaculate slacks, a collared shirt and a jacket. Would anyone really
believe he was Archie’s guardian?

‘Time to act like a grown-up,’ she announced, pulling the earphone of Ben’s iPod from his right ear and giving him a meaningful look. ‘I said. . .’

‘I heard,’ he interrupted, taking out the other earpiece. ‘Come on then. Let’s go inside.’

They went in through the door and up to the desk.

‘Hello. Who are you here to see today?’

The lady on the counter did give Ben a strange look when Archie did all the talking, but after confirming with her records that they were
expected, she directed them to take a seat. And so the procedure began. Niamh jumped when their names were called. First their ID was checked and the boys were photographed and had their index
fingerprints taken on an electronic scanner. Next they, and all of the other visitors in the group, were directed to put all of their belongings into a locker. Not so much as a scrap of loose paper
could be taken into the prison. The only things allowed were the locker key and loose change up to the value of twenty pounds.

A prison officer led them from the visitor centre and into the main prison building where they had to remove shoes, belts and jackets to be put through a scanner while another officer conducted
a wand search of each of them in turn. Once they were done, it was another wait in an enormous holding room before a door eventually opened into a corridor and everyone was ushered in. Only when
everyone was in the corridor did the door close behind them and a sequenced door opened ahead, allowing them to progress across a courtyard and into another gigantic room with lines of chairs
bolted to the floor, where they were asked to wait again.

Niamh was completely overawed by the experience. She passed through the entire procedure in a daze. When they were finally called to a table, she was on the point of tears. It was unthinkable
that her father was being held in this place. Prison officers dressed in black trousers, white shirts and black jumpers with black ties watched everything. The sheer greyness of the place was
overwhelming. All around the room were dozens of security cameras. Every possible angle was covered. There was no way anyone could so much as twitch without at least two cameras recording it.
Privacy was impossible. How could her dad stand it? Would he have changed? How could he not have been changed by a place like this?

Niamh folded her arms tightly across her chest as she waited to be called forward. Despite the room being at a comfortable temperature, her body felt tight and chilled through to the bone. There
was something about the bleak interior of the prison that seemed to emanate an unnerving coldness.

Again, Niamh started as she heard her name called. They were directed to a specific table where three blue chairs were solidly bolted to the floor on one side and a yellow chair was equally
secured on the other. The table between the chairs was barely thirty centimetres wide, with a raised section in the middle to prevent anything from being slid from one side to the other. Matthew
Cutler was led across the hall to them. He had a huge smile on his face. To her surprise, he was in his own clothing and he looked exactly as he always did.

‘Niamh!’

‘Dad!’

Without thought for the guards, or any rules she might be breaking, she ran to him and threw her arms round him in a huge hug. To her delight, the guards did not intervene, but allowed them
their moment of intimacy. The intensity of the meeting was immense and the floodgates burst. Before she realised she was doing it, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

‘Hey! Steady on there,’ Matt soothed, stroking her hair and holding her close. ‘There’s no need for all that. I’m fine. Everything’s OK. Come on. We can have
our hug for a moment, but then you’d better sit down. How come you’re here today? I nearly fell off my bunk with shock when they told me you were coming. Aggie told me she wasn’t
going to let you come and see me. I told her you’d be fine coming here, but she was very insistent. My sister can be a bit of a pain at times, but at least I knew you’d be safe with
her.’

Niamh laughed through her tears at her dad’s assessment of his sister. Archie laughed too.

‘Good to see you too, Archie. Thanks for coming today. I have to say I’m equally surprised to see you here given your mother’s feelings about the trouble I’m
in.’

‘It’s super to see you too, Uncle Matthew,’ Archie replied, reaching over and shaking his hand. ‘Don’t worry. I don’t believe for one second that you’re
guilty.’

‘That’s good to hear,’ Matt replied, giving him a warm smile. He eased Niamh loose from her bear hug. ‘The guards are twitching, Niamh. You’d better take a seat.
Now this must be Ben?’

‘That’s right.’

‘And you’re their
guardian,
I hear.’

Ben looked embarrassed. ‘Sort of,’ he said. ‘Guardian for the day, you might say.’

‘Agatha has no idea you’re here, does she?’ Matt asked, fixing first Niamh and then Archie with a reproving look.

Niamh and Archie looked at one another, their guilty glances saying it all.

‘She was never going to let us come,’ Niamh complained. ‘I wanted to see if you were all right, and there are some things I really need to talk to you about. So I decided to
come by myself. But Archie guessed what I was planning and asked to come along. Actually, Archie arranged the whole visit. He was brilliant.’

Archie flushed bright red.

‘Well, you’ve put me in a tricky position – both of you. I’m not going to tell you off for coming, because if truth be told, I’m delighted to see you. But you do
realise, Archie, that your mother will flip when she finds out.’

‘Are you going to tell on us, Uncle Matthew?’ Archie asked, looking at Matt with pleading eyes.

‘No, you don’t need to worry about that, but one way or another these things always seem to get found out eventually, and when they do. . .’ He left them to imagine the
consequences. ‘After the police took me in that day back on Summerland Key, they did keep me updated on some of your exploits, Niamh, and your aunt told me a little more. Tell me, did you
really steal Mitch’s boat?’

‘Steal’s a bit of a strong word, Dad,’ Niamh replied, suddenly unable to look him in the eye. ‘But I did sort of borrow it for a bit, yes.’

‘I can’t believe you’d be so irresponsible!’ he exclaimed, his tone full of reproof. ‘What were you thinking, Niamh? Anything could have happened to you. I thought
you were the sensible one. Did you ever stop to think how worried I’d be?’