Locked In (9 page)

‘OK. Felix, I'll leave you to sort out a diversion,' Saffy ordered.

Felix was too busy sucking on his asthma puffer to answer.

‘See you at midnight. At Light Tower 4.' And with that, Saffy folded the map neatly and left.

All afternoon, Jasper was excited about their plans. He remembered Stenka sneering that there was no escape from the school. But they'd show her.

He charged down the corridor with his workbooks piled high in his arms. As he spun around the corner, he crashed straight into one of the prefects. It was Bruno's second-in-charge, Craig. He was even bigger than Bruno, but Jasper caught him off balance and they were both knocked to the ground.

‘Sorry, sorry – oh, man ... I'm really sorry,' Jasper said as sincerely as he could manage.

Craig glowered as he grabbed his two-way radio from where it had fallen. ‘You will be,' he snarled.

The alarm on Jasper's watch beeped. Jasper quickly switched it off and was on his feet in seconds. He pulled on his tracksuit over his pyjamas. Felix lay sleeping a few beds away.

Jasper reached out a hand and softly shook Felix awake. Felix's arm shot up and, without quite knowing how, Jasper found himself lying on the floor.

‘What are you doing?' Jasper hissed.

‘Oh. It's you,' Felix said sleepily. He gave Jasper a hand up.

‘If we meet the Bogglemorph, you can do your Karate Kid thing while I run,' Jasper muttered, rubbing the back of his head where a lump was already growing.

Felix looked at Jasper. ‘What do you mean, “meet the Bogglemorph”? You weren't serious about doing a runner, were you? I thought you guys were just messing about,' he whispered.

‘But we have a plan!' Jasper grinned.

Felix shook his head. ‘A helicopter waiting outside to fly us home is a plan. Cutting through a fence and running into a forest is just stupid. And anyway, no-one knows where this place is! Not even my brothers – and they were all here for three years! We could be on top of a mountain, on an island, in some weird underground, snowy, dungeon-world ...'

Jasper shrugged. ‘Up to you, but I'm out of here.' He swung his backpack onto his shoulders and headed out of the sleep hall.

He hadn't even reached the door before Felix caught up with him.

15

It was exactly midnight. Something yowled in the distance. Jasper could feel a buzz of excitement tingling its way through his body. He could already taste freedom. He could smell it. The boys could just make out Saffy's shadowy figure under Light Tower 4. Jasper motioned for Felix to be quiet as he crept up behind Saffy.

‘RAAAR!' he growled in her ear as he grabbed her shoulders. Jasper felt something thump painfully into his stomach, and found himself splayed in the snow.

Light Tower 4

‘What the –?' Jasper gasped as Saffy stood over him, her hands on her hips.

‘Oh, it's you,' she said.

‘Of course it's me! And what was
that?
'

Saffy sniffed. ‘Kickboxing.'

Jasper was stunned. ‘Am I the
only
one here who doesn't have some secret fighting skill?' he muttered as he pulled himself up.

Saffy and Felix glanced at each other.

‘If you want to play stupid jokes and sneak up on people, I suggest you don't do it in the middle of the night when a monster is on the – '

‘Pssst.
'

Saffy stopped mid-sentence. They all stood frozen to the spot.

‘
Don't attack,
' the voice hissed from the shadows.

‘Who's there?' Felix asked suspiciously.

A small figure emerged from the darkness.

It was Bertie, the small kid who sat near them in the food hall. ‘I'm coming too,' he said bravely. ‘That is – if you'll let me?'

Saffy pulled Felix and Jasper aside. ‘There's no way he's coming,' she hissed. ‘He's too much of a risk. I've got a plan and he's not part of it.'

‘Come on, Saffy. He's just trying to get out of here, like us,' said Jasper.

They both turned to look at Felix. ‘Safety in numbers?' Felix suggested.

Saffy looked exasperated. ‘All right. Two against one. But he'd better pull his weight.'

They turned to face Bertie. Jasper had never seen anyone look so miserable – or scared.

‘Sure, come with us,' Jasper said. ‘You might need this.' He reached into his bag and pulled out spray cans full of whipped cream. It had taken him over an hour to find his way back to the records office – and even longer to find his way back. There was definitely something strange about those corridors.

Jasper handed a can to everyone. ‘There are more in my bag,' he said. ‘We're not taking any chances.'

Bertie's hand shook uncontrollably when Jasper offered him the can.

‘I'll hold yours,' Jasper said,stuffing it into the pocket of his hoodie. He wondered how old Bertie was – he barely looked older than eight or nine. It was hard to imagine that he had any good monster-hunting skills.

Saffy turned back and looked out over the field. ‘OK, time to get going,' she said, throwing the boy a rather uncertain look.

‘Did you get the bolt cutters?' she asked Jasper.

‘Nope,' he replied.

Saffy glared at him. She looked as though she was about to fire another kick his way.

‘But,' he added quickly, ‘I have something much better.' Jasper reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring of keys.

Even Felix stopped looking anxious long enough to be impressed. ‘Where did you get those?' he asked.

Jasper thought back to his run-in with Craig. It had been worth the punishment of cleaning the prefects' toilet block with a toothbrush.

‘I may not be able to knock someone out, but I
do
know how to pick pockets,' he grinned.

Saffy beamed. ‘I'm almost sorry I kicked you before.'

The searchlights scanned the snowy field.

‘It's nearly time,' whispered Saffy.

They waited until the two beams had crossed in front of them.

‘NOW!' she ordered and sprinted towards the fence.

Jasper's feet pounded through the snow. They reached the fence and dropped into the snow, a second before the searchlights swept behind them.

‘The gate is down there,' Jasper pointed.

A black-clad figure marched along the fence line on either side of the gate.

‘A thug,' Saffy whispered. ‘I thought so. Guard duty.' She peered into the darkness. ‘And is that a guard dog?'

‘It's a bit – small – isn't it?' said Jasper.

It looked like a golden cocker spaniel was pacing up and down beside the prefect.

‘Well, at least we're prepared. Right, Felix, what's the diversion?' Saffy whispered.

Felix looked guiltily between Jasper and Saffy. ‘Um, I – ah, thought you guys were just joking.'

Jasper put out a hand to stop Saffy as she started towards Felix. ‘Although I'm interested to find out just who would win a fight between karate boy and kickboxing girl, now's not the time,' Jasper whispered, and pointed to the guard. ‘Before we kill each other, let's take a closer look. We might be able to get past him – he's not even standing near the gate. And seriously, what's a spaniel going to do?'

They edged closer.

The prefect's muscles seemed to pop out of his camouflage suit. There was no way they'd be able to get past him.

‘A diversion would have been
perfect
right now ...' Jasper whispered to Felix, just not loudly enough for Saffy to hear.

A ghostly screech echoed through the night. The prefect's radio crackled to life and the spaniel took off, barking madly. The prefect jogged further down the fence line to investigate, talking intently into his radio.

‘There you go,' Felix said cheerfully, ‘a diversion.'

Saffy just glared at him. ‘Hurry up, before he comes back,' she ordered Jasper, shoving him towards the gate.

Jasper looked at the key ring. There were at least twenty keys on the thing. He shoved one unsuccessfully into the lock.

‘Come on, come on!' said Saffy. Jasper realised now why Saffy had escaped from all her other schools. Once she had her mind set, it was clear that nothing got in her way.

‘Oi!' a gruff voice yelled. Jasper turned around, the keys gripped tightly in his hand.

Well, almost nothing
.

The prefect was back.

16

‘Hey, I know you ... ' the prefect said, looking straight at Jasper. It was Craig, the same prefect Jasper had pick-pocketed. Then he saw the keys in Jasper's hand. He sneered, walking menacingly towards them. ‘Well, well, well. What do you three think you're doing?'

He's so dumb he can't even count,
thought Jasper.
We must be able to get out of this.

‘So, you think you're escaping? Ha!' Craig shook his head. ‘Not on my watch.' He pressed a button on his radio.

Jasper wondered how long it would take for backup to arrive.