Caged Read online

  Spartacus dropped into a seat beside them. ‘When Tech’s finished the edit I’ll go out and post the fight on the Internet,’ he said.

  ‘I know you check the view numbers when you’re doing that,’ said Kai, ‘and give us feedback. But it’s a pity we aren’t able to watch the fights ourselves.’

  ‘Do you think I’m exaggerating about you guys being so popular? I wouldn’t lie to you,’ Spartacus said gently.

  ‘Of course not!’

  ‘We can’t have electronic communication going in and out of the tunnels. Tech’s a genius at filching the electricity we use from various sources but it’d be too risky to use any Internet connection.’

  ‘I get that,’ said Kai, ‘but it would be great for us to read the comments and find out how people are reacting.’

  ‘I suppose’ – Spartacus hesitated – ‘someone could go out to gather intel on it. Their report would help motivate everyone for the final matches.’

  ‘Are you saying that Kai may go up to the surface?’ Sarema asked him.

  Spartacus glanced at both girls, staring at Sarema for a moment longer before he turned and addressed Kai.

  ‘You can go topside and do a recce on the fight. But you’re not just going for a breath of air this time, so find somewhere you’ll blend in. Maybe student accommodation or an Internet café.’ He paused before adding, ‘You can take Raven with you if she wants to go.’

  ‘Thanks! Thanks so much!’ Kai stood up so quickly that he almost knocked his chair over.

  ‘Hold on.’ Spartacus stopped him. ‘Do you remember the rules for tunnel travelling and being outside?’

  ‘I do.’ Kai nodded eagerly. ‘I’m always super careful when you let me go topside. I’ll have my torch, follow the map lines and not draw attention to myself. Really, I will.’

  ‘You’d better be,’ Spartacus said half jokingly. ‘We’re almost there. This evening it’s the girls: Medusa against Boudicca, then the winner fighting Raven tomorrow night. Beowulf and Magog have their third place play-off earlier tomorrow – at midday. Three matches, Kai, and then it’s the build-up to the last match between you and Leo at noon on Saturday.’ He grinned at Kai and fake-punched him on his shoulder. ‘You’ll not let Leo catch you out again, will you?’

  ‘No way!’

  Spartacus stood up and spoke more quietly. ‘You need to keep your eye on Leo. He’s slippery. Says one thing, means another. Never really know what he’s plotting.’

  ‘Yeah!’ Kai agreed readily. ‘I’ll do that.’

  Spartacus smiled as Kai hurried off to get his torch and find Raven.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The door to Raven’s den was open and Kai could see her sitting cross-legged on the floor, braiding her hair. She glanced up as he approached and beckoned for him to come in.

  Raven had the same furniture as all the rest: a bed, a bucket, and a metal box to keep possessions. That was it. But Kai and the others had personalized theirs. Stuck up posters and pictures from the pile of magazines kept in the café. Sarema and Gita’s place was hung with an array of coloured scarves. Medusa and Beowulf even had family photographs pinned around. The walls of Raven’s den were bare.

  ‘Sure,’ Raven replied when Kai asked her if she wanted to go topside with him on a special recce to watch the fight. ‘There’s something I want to buy anyway.’

  Kai glanced out of the door. He could see Spartacus still standing beside the table in the café. He lowered his voice. ‘You should ask Spartacus about that. Normally if we go out he doesn’t like us doing anything other than walking about for a while or sitting in a park. This trip is for a special purpose.’

  Raven flapped her hand in a dismissive gesture. ‘He’d only tell me that totally everything is in the storeroom. That he spent weeks stocking up for this project. That it’ll show how desperate homeless young people are and no one must do anything to jeopardize it. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda.’

  Kai looked again in the direction of the café. He noticed that the twins had gone. They usually sat there in the afternoon and made tea and coffee for anyone who wanted it. Probably they’d left because of Spartacus. They knew Spartacus wasn’t keen on them being in the tunnels, but was it more than that? Sarema did sometimes ask awkward questions.

  ‘Hey, we’re going to do well out of this,’ Kai said to Raven. ‘A few thousand pounds each, so we should stick to his List of Rules. And…he has been good to us.’

  ‘Yeah, but I’m not going to be so grovelling grateful that I let him boss every aspect of my life,’ said Raven.

  ‘We get our cash the day after tomorrow, so I reckon it’s worth doing what he says. What do you want that isn’t in the storeroom? Spartacus has got everything anyone might need in there.’

  ‘Apart from the special fluorescent wild-orange nail varnish Leo likes to wear,’ said Raven. ‘He borrowed it from me originally, but I only brought one bottle of that colour with me. And Leo’s told me it’s run out.’

  ‘When did he tell you that?’ asked Kai.

  ‘We were chatting, and he mentioned that there wasn’t much of the orange nail varnish left.’ She wrapped the plait of hair around her head, fastened it with a clasp, and stood up. ‘Let’s go and get some more so he can pretty himself up for your last fight.’

  ‘Did Leo come to your den?’ Kai persisted.

  Raven frowned. ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘I was wondering when he asked you about the nail varnish.’ Kai strove to keep his voice offhand. ‘Did you visit him in his den, or—’

  ‘Stop it!’ Raven snapped. ‘I’ll talk to whoever I like, whenever I like.’ She snatched up her hoodie and flounced out of the door.

  ‘Sorry. Sorry.’ Kai trailed after her as she marched angrily ahead of him towards the Main Tunnel, his thoughts tumbling over each other. Had Leo called by to speak to Raven? Or had she gone to his den?

  He couldn’t believe they’d met by chance. Leo never did anything by chance. All the rest of them had been recruited directly by Spartacus. But Leo had heard a rumour on the street that someone was seeking out young teenagers to take part in unofficial boxing matches. He’d asked around until he found Spartacus and approached him for a place.

  ‘Spartacus stuck a note on the bulletin board saying for us not to go near the old Langsdaine Station until further notice.’ Raven slowed to let Kai catch her up. ‘Been a roof fall in the tunnel leading to the bricked-up wall. And he said that when Sarema was on monitor duty she spotted some activity on Tech’s camera outside the station. Workers clearing a birds’ nest from the wall – which is fine – but that there was also a woman hanging about the closed-off entrance.’

  ‘Police? Social worker?’

  Raven shook her head. ‘Dunno. From Sarema’s descrip­tion the person seemed more like a journo looking for a story.’

  ‘Sounds like a spy. We’ve got time to scope it out before the fight goes up on the Internet.’ Kai’s spirits lifted. Obviously Raven had forgiven him for quizzing her earlier. She had a hair-trigger temper, but she didn’t hold onto her anger for long. ‘We can go north on the lines of our emergency exit, but branch off at the Workers Tunnel and come out at the manhole cover on the other side of the road in Langsdaine Park. It’s a good place to watch the station entrance and we can see without being seen.’

  ‘’Cos it’s near Bakerloo doesn’t mean you’re Sherlock Holmes,’ Raven teased him. She turned on her torch as they entered the dim archway. ‘I always hate this bit, when we leave our lit area.’ She shivered. ‘I’m not convinced that we’re the only people down here.’

  ‘We’re not.’ Kai spoke in a spooky voice. He stuck his own torch under his chin and switched it on. ‘I’m a vampire!’

  Raven feinted a punch at his face. Kai ducked his head and laughed. They walked on together.

  As the darkness enfolded them Kai focused on a mental image of the map of the tunnels. For the first part of this journey they were following the path of their designated escape route. Their torc
hes shed a brilliant light, but…supposing it was an emergency evacuation and he forgot his torch? Kai closed his eyes for a second. With no light to guide them, could he find his way?

  North on Main Tunnel (green) and down Access Chute Ladder 4 (blue)…

  Kai began to count his steps. He’d taken three hundred and twenty before he saw the blue blob of paint that Tech had painted on Access Chute 4. Kai shut his eyes. In complete darkness he wouldn’t see that blue colour. He shone the torch onto the walls and the ceiling.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Raven was already squeezing into the access chute.

  ‘Nothing much,’ said Kai. He’d found what he wanted. Access Chute 4 was on the left-hand side of the tunnel. On the left-hand side of the chute opening, at shoulder height, a cragged piece of stone stood out from the wall. Kai put his hand on it.

  ‘Come on!’ Raven called to him.

  Kai gripped the stone in his palm.

  Memorizing the shape.

  Placing a marker in his mind.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ‘Listen!’

  Raven paused so that Kai caught up with her.

  ‘Can you hear?’ Raven asked him. ‘The pulse of the city.’

  Above their heads rumbled the never-ending London traffic.

  ‘We’re near the surface now,’ said Kai. In his eagerness to be there he moved ahead of her onto the ladder leading up to the manhole cover. ‘We could stay in the park for a bit before finding somewhere to watch the fight.’

  It was springtime, but the clump of trees and bushes where the manhole was located were evergreen. And they were tangled together so thickly that Kai’s head was concealed as he raised the cover and clambered out to the surface.

  Through a gap he squinted up at the sky. Gun-metal grey. It didn’t matter to him that it wasn’t the bright blue of a summer afternoon. He was happy with his feet on the earth and the vast vault of the sky above him.

  None of the others bothered much about going up to ground level. The twins definitely didn’t want to be on the streets. Sarema said that, after coming underground, it was the first time in weeks they’d been able to sleep properly. Before then, one would sleep while the other kept watch. And the rest of the Cage Fighters were prepared to focus on the training and put up with staying in the tunnels for a couple of months. But Kai hated the confined spaces and, anyway, he had less need of training sessions. He was much fitter than any of them.

  He did feel safe underground, safer than he’d done for ages – no unexpected thump on his shoulder, no need to cower in fear of angry fists – but he missed the sight of the sky when he hadn’t seen it for several days. Just being outside made him feel better. The background ache in his head receded. He breathed in to the very depth of his lungs, relaxing as the warmth of the air dispelled the dank smell that clung to his skin and hair. He smiled as he heard the faint burble and plash of water from the fountain in the park.

  He’d be glad come Saturday when the fights were over. He should have enough money to pay for a rented room and food for a year. That’s what Spartacus had reckoned.

  ‘It will give you a clean start,’ he’d said to the group. ‘The rest is up to you.’

  Kai was hoping to find a place on an island – somewhere surrounded by sea and sky. He offered his hand to help Raven climb out. Maybe she’d come with him. He’d wait to ask her.

  Raven looked at Kai’s outstretched hand and sniffed. ‘I can manage on my own, thanks.’ She swung herself up and landed on a pile of branches. They were careful not to move these or anything else there. On their previous expedition Kai had been tempted by a really good pair of trainers lying abandoned and apart, but Raven had advised him against taking them:

  ‘Someone’s hidden them there to come back later and collect them. Might be a shoplifter’s stash. If they see that their loot’s gone it’ll make them investigate in this area. We don’t want anybody discovering our tunnels.’

  The trainers were still there, now placed neatly side by side among the roots of a tree. They walked through the park to find an empty seat. There was a tramp on a bench, sleeping. He was making noises, shaking and snorting.

  Raven looked at him with pity. ‘Bad enough his reality is a nightmare without having to fall asleep and have awful dreams too.’

  Kai said nothing. He’d plenty of awful dreams of his own.

  His eyes roved on. At the gates of the park a girl was feeding the birds. Setting out bread and then kneeling down to photograph them. Pretty. Long blonde hair scrunched up into a ponytail. She was making bird calls to bring them to her. Not that London pigeons needed any encouragement. There were dozens of them flocking in, greedily pecking at the crumbs. Opposite the park gates was the disused Langsdaine Underground Station.

  Kai and Raven wandered around and came back to sit on a seat near the park gates where they could watch the bricked-up entrance. Kai draped his arm along the back of the bench. Should he wait a minute and then let it drop, casually, onto Raven’s shoulder?

  Raven shifted her position slightly. Kai hesitated. Had Raven moved closer to him or further away? He glanced around. Park gates – Bird Girl still cooing and clucking as she crept towards the birds. Old Underground station – all quiet.

  Then.

  A flicker of movement.

  In the gap between two of the bricks – a blur of white.

  Kai pointed. ‘Look!’

  At the same moment Bird Girl stood up and fired off a dozen or so shots.

  ‘She’s the spy!’ Raven yelped.

  For Bird Girl’s camera wasn’t aimed at the birds. It was directed at a face peering out from the bricked-up Underground station.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘We need to get her camera!’ Kai shouted.

  Raven was already running.

  So was the Bird Girl.

  ‘Come back!’ Raven cried out.

  Bird Girl glanced over her shoulder. Saw them. Began to run faster.

  In a fluster of wings and scattering leaves the birds rose, squawking, into the air.

  Bird Girl was legging it like a maniac towards the street underpass.

  Ignoring the blaring horns Kai and Raven crossed the street, dodging between the traffic. Instinctively they split up, heading for each side of the underpass. They were in the middle of the road when the sight of a blonde ponytail let them know she had exited the underpass. But they had her in a pincer movement! They reached the pavement. The girl was nowhere to be seen.

  Raven signalled to Kai to look in the row of shops as they walked towards each other. Kai slowed down. Gulped some air. Act unconcerned. ‘Pretend you’re looking for a mate,’ he told himself. It was a street of small shops, one or two of them mere kiosks. Nowhere for anybody to hide inside. Not if they were carrying a rucksack and a camera.

  A camera.

  What exactly had the girl photographed?

  The blur of white. It was a face. Definitely. It was reeling through Kai’s mind. But whose? Which member of the group would disobey Spartacus? It wasn’t that they were frightened of him. It was more that they had all agreed to keep to his Rules. Most of them had a good reason for not wanting anyone to find out where they were. It was beyond stupid to do such a thing. And yet there was no mistaking what he’d seen. A human face at the disused station.

  Kai popped his head round the shop doors. No sign of Bird Girl. He tensed as he got nearer the middle. Saw Raven hopping in and out of her line of shops. She wasn’t having any luck either. They converged on the last shop. Went inside.

  It was empty.

  Bird Girl had disappeared.

  Raven was frantic. ‘We must find her! We must!’

  Kai looked up and down the street.

  ‘There was an Internet café on my side,’ he said. ‘A couple of people in it. She wasn’t one of them.’

  ‘Maybe she was hiding under a table?’ said Raven.

  They hurried back and looked in the window, scanning under the seats.

  ‘
She’s not there!’ Raven was distraught. Chewing her lips and grinding her teeth. ‘If she’s a journo she’ll sell the story and it will be in the newspapers and then everything will be ruined. And me with it!’

  Kai had never seen her like this. He reached out his arm to comfort her but she shook him off.

  ‘You don’t understand. If they trace me I’ll be sent back to that vile hostel where I was living. The warden is a total creep. Seriously bad. He stalked me. And I don’t have family to back me up. None whatsoever. So there was nothing I could do…’

  ‘We’ve all got a lot to lose,’ Kai said. He cast around in despair. Where could the girl have gone? He went over it in his head. He and Raven had fanned out on either side to capture her between them. There was no lane or alley leading off this street. The offices were secure entries. Bird Girl wouldn’t have had time to punch in a key code and get inside. She must have ducked into a shop. But they’d checked each and every one.

  Kai looked again at the Internet café.

  ‘The toilets!’

  They moved as one. Kai nodded at the young man on duty as they went past the desk. ‘Buy a coffee in a minute. Need a pee.’

  ‘Me too,’ said Raven.

  The gents’ loo door was ajar. The ladies’ had the engaged sign up. Raven put her shoulder against the lock and broke it open.

  Bird Girl shrieked as Kai and Raven fell into the room, looking up in panic from where she was sitting on the toilet, laptop on her knees. The SD card from her camera was slotted into the machine.

  ‘Stop her!’ cried Raven.

  Kai went for the laptop. But Bird Girl slammed the lid down.

  ‘Too late,’ she said.

  ‘No,’ Raven spat. ‘Too late for you!’

  The girl let out a cry of pain and fear as Raven grabbed her ponytail, winding it tight into her fist.

  Kai stared in shock. Raven was wild. Beyond any normal fit of quick temper.

  ‘She’s ruined everything!’ Raven howled.

  Laptop clattering to the floor, Bird Girl stood up, turning round, trying to get free. Raven kicked viciously at her legs to make her fall on her knees. She wrenched Bird Girl’s head back, exposing her neck. A gleam of steel – and a knife appeared in Raven’s other hand.