Free Rat-Catcher by Chris Ryan Page B

seats in the back of the van. Hex was clutching his palmtop close to his chest as he slept.
    Amber was the only one awake. She was sitting in front of the radio receiver, listening to Eliza's soft voice as it was picked up by the covert radio in Paulo's St Christopher medal. Amber's face was a picture of concentration as she translated the Spanish into English. It had been hard work to start with but now she found it was getting easier by the minute. Even so, she was always a few seconds behind.
    Suddenly, Amber sat up straight and pushed the headphones closer to her ear, as though that might help her understand more clearly. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in horror as she listened to Eliza's story. 'That poor, poor kid,' she said. 'She saw the Rat-catcher kill her big brother, Marco. It was all that Leo's fault - can you believe that . . .? He led this Rat-catcher guy right to them, then ran away.'
    Amber turned to look at the others, but they were all still fast asleep. She waved a dismissive hand at them and turned back to listen to the rest of Eliza's story. As she heard what happened next, her eyes filled with tears. The tears overflowed and dripped down onto the receiver, but Amber did not notice. She was too wrapped up in the story.
    Eliza felt her voice begin to wobble as she finished describing how Marco died. She stopped for a moment and Paulo gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
    'Leo came back later that night,' she continued. 'He had come to steal my brother's shoe-shine box. He found me and Toby there and he realized we had seen everything. That's when he said I had to pay him for protection. I begged him to leave the shoe-shine box, but he took it away. He had a buyer for it.' Eliza sighed. 'If I'd had the shoe-shine box, I could've earned enough to rent a room. I could've kept Toby with me. Instead, I had to leave him on the doorstep at Sister Catherine's House. He cried so much, but I had to leave him.'
    'But why didn't you stay there too, Eliza?'
    'No. Toby will be better off without me.' Eliza scrubbed the tears from her face and tried to smile. 'I think Toby will be adopted by now. He will be with a good family! He is light-skinned, you see, with curly blond hair. Not like me.'
    'Eliza, you're beautiful--'
    'No. I am morena. I am dark-skinned. The rich people who go to Sister Catherine's House looking for children to adopt, they do not want Indio children.'
    'Not everyone is so prejudiced, Eliza,' said Paulo.
    'I know that now,' said Eliza, a flicker of hope coming into her eyes. 'The adoption men who come looking for street children, they do not mind what colour our skin is!'
    'Adoption men?' asked Paulo, careful to keep the excitement out of his voice.
    'Yes. They come every two or three weeks. Everybody wants a chance to go with the adoption men, but each time they take only two lucky ones away with them. The adoption men have rich people queuing up to adopt street kids, even mestizos like me. The kids who go with the adoption men, they end up in a big house on a big estate.'
    Eliza turned her shining face up to Paulo and the hope in her eyes nearly broke his heart. 'One day,' she said, 'the adoption men will take me. Then my new family will help me to find Toby and we will be together again.'
    Eliza closed her eyes and snuggled against Paulo's chest as she imagined that wonderful day. Paulo nearly told her the truth about the adoption men, but he decided it could wait until the next morning. Instead, he held Eliza close and let her drift off to sleep with her dreams still intact. He had no idea how much he would later regret that decision.

T EN
    Paulo woke with a start as someone kicked the sole of his boot. His eyes snapped open but he shut them again almost immediately. A blinding light was shining straight into his face. 'Who's there?' he demanded.
    Eliza woke and sat up, instantly alert, like a cat.
    'I said I'd see you later,' said a soft, sinister voice behind the light. 'Well,