Free Thief! by Malorie Blackman Page B

That almost made the footsteps worse than the car that was rapidly gaining on them. If only her arm would stop throbbing. If only her lungs would stop aching. If only she could stop for just a second . . .
    ‘Come on!’ Fran urged.
    The pain in Lydia’s arm grew worse with each step she took. She clutched her left arm and gulped for air as she ran. They ran through a wrecked house and out into what must have once been a back garden. Except now it was just a mound of earth and dirt and more rubbish. Darting between the obstacles, Fran pointed to what looked like a narrow storm drain, its entrance strewn with bricks and rubble.
    ‘In here!’ Fran ordered.
    Lydia ducked down and scrambled after Fran into a dark tunnel that led steeply downhill. The tunnel was so low that the top of it pressed down relentlessly on her back. Lydia moved as fast as she could which wasn’t fast at all because she was almost bent double.
    ‘Get down,’ Fran urged.
    With a grimace, Lydia dropped down flat. Only just in time. Another laser beam flashed over their heads. Lydia wanted to freeze all this. She wanted a PAUSE button to press which would stop all this confusion and bring back the real world. She wanted something, anything , that would stop her arm from hurting so much.
    ‘Come on.’ Fran started crawling forward on her stomach, with Lydia close behind her. The front of Lydia’s jacket immediately felt wet. They were crawling through about three centimetres of water – at least Lydia fervently hoped it was water!
    ‘Turn right,’ Fran commanded.
    Lydia followed Fran to the right, then the left, then the left again as they snaked along. Lydia used her knees and only one hand to push herself forward, her other arm lying useless at her side. The small tunnel was now no more than fifty centimetres high. Lydia’s arm throbbed painfully but it was just about bearable.
    ‘We can stand up now,’ Fran whispered after a long while.
    Lydia looked around but everything was shrouded in pitch blackness. She couldn’t even see Fran who was right in front of her.
    ‘How can you tell?’ Lydia asked.
    ‘I know these tunnels like I know my own house,’ Fran replied. ‘Hang on a minute though.’
    And then unexpectedly there was light. Fran sprang to her feet and moved her wrist around. The light was coming from the watch she wore. Lydia stood up slowly. They were now standing in what looked like a large, gloomy cave with more tunnels than Lydia could count leading off in all directions. Some of the tunnels were more than twice Lydia’s height, some were so small that a mouse would have had trouble getting through them. A thirty-centimetre ledge circled the cavern but beyond that there was a drop into dark nothingness. Lydia moved forward and peered down warily. She couldn’t see to the bottom of the pit. She straightened up and clutched her left arm tighter. Now that they’d stopped moving, her arm was beginning to hurt worse.
    ‘This way.’ Fran began to edge her way along the ledge. Lydia looked over the edge again. She didn’t like what she saw – not one little bit. She was tired. Her left arm throbbed painfully and her whole body felt horribly cool and sticky.
    ‘Can’t we stop now?’ Lydia asked.
    ‘No way. It’s not safe. They’re still after us.’
    ‘Who are they?’
    ‘The Night Guards.’
    ‘But why?’ Lydia was totally confused. ‘Why’re they chasing us?’
    Fran turned to face Lydia. ‘Why d’you think?’ she snapped.
    Lydia didn’t answer.
    ‘To kill us, of course,’ Fran said stonily.

Chapter Eleven

Hensonville
    ‘In every town I know about, the Night Guards are ordered to shoot to kill after curfew. Don’t you know that?’
    Even in the dim torchlight, Lydia could see the suspicion on Fran’s face.
    ‘I thought you said you were from London?’ Fran questioned.
    ‘I am from London,’ Lydia replied.
    Silence.
    ‘I don’t feel well.’ Lydia’s mouth kept filling with saliva. She had to