Faster Than Lightning (8 page)

Turning away from his friends, Angus picked up the phone again and rang his father. This time it answered after two rings. Angus couldn’t stop the moan in his voice. Hannah, sensing that he wanted to be alone, steered the others outside.

‘Dad, they’ve taken King. I’ve looked everywhere. Jack’s been looking as well. King’s gone. They’ve stolen him.’

‘What are you talking about, Angus?’ His dad’s voice was curt. ‘He’s a good horse but he’s too old to race. No one would steal him.’

‘It’s a warning.’ Angus took a deep breath and told his father how they’d gone back to look at the farm. He didn’t tell him the real reason. ‘We just went to look at the horses again.’

‘That shouldn’t have been a problem.’

‘We did it at night. Their security system went off.’

His father was quiet for a moment. ‘That wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I hardly think they’d take your horse just for that.’

‘Can you go and see, Dad? Just in case.’

‘You’ve already told the police: they’ll search where they think they should.’

In the back of Angus’s mind, getting the police to search the stud didn’t seem like a good move. If anything were happening there that shouldn’t be, security would be doubled. It would be even harder to find out what was going on. But if they didn’t check the farm and King was there, it would be a disaster. What would they do to his horse? Getting King back was the most important thing.

‘I’m coming home now, Angus. Wait there. We’ll find him.’

Angus put the phone down and waited in the silence, letting his gaze drift around the room. A picture of his mother was propped up on the window sill. It was fading in the strong sunlight, but in Angus’s mind her image was as strong as ever. Someone had said to him that after a while he wouldn’t remember exactly what she looked like, that memories fade like photos. He didn’t believe it. He could picture every bit of his
mum’s face, right down to the faint scar on her cheek where a mole had been removed.

A loud scrabble of noise forced him to sit up. Voices were coming down the driveway. His friends made their way to the back door and barged in without knocking. A stormy looking Gabby and a worried Ling stopped in front of him. Behind them were E.D., Hannah and Sean. E.D. rolled his eyes at Angus. ‘Hannah thought we needed all hands on deck.’

‘If you’d rung earlier, we could’ve helped look for King as well.’ Gabby tossed her hair back so it swept across E.D.’s face. He wiped it away with exaggerated swipes.

‘We’ll help now.’ Ling stepped past her cousin and went to stand next to Angus.

Angus looked at his friends crowding around him. ‘Thanks. We haven’t been up to McCann’s yet.’

‘That’s where he’ll be,’ said Hannah. ‘Those scumbags have got him.’

‘I hope they don’t hurt him!’ said Sean. His sister clamped her hand over his mouth.

‘He’ll be fine,’ she said, pulling Sean to the back of the kitchen to give him an earful.

Mr Mac’s red horse truck flew down the drive. Angus raced out to see his father but knew
straight away from the look on the older man’s face what had happened.

‘I went to the police and they did a search for us. They couldn’t find him, Angus. He’s not at the farm. They went out there and asked the woman in charge. They said she was very cooperative, showed them all the horses that were there, but none matched King’s description.’

He handed a piece of paper to his son. ‘This is the name of the lady they spoke to. I’m sorry. He must have got out of his paddock. He’ll turn up—maybe at feeding time.’ He put the truck into first gear. ‘I’ve got to go to the track for a bit. Don’t worry, son. King will be fine.’

Angus closed his fist around the paper. ‘Let me have a look at that,’ Gabby said, taking the note from him.

‘Natasha Miller,’ she read. Nobody spoke. ‘What’s your problem, Hannah?’

Hannah had gone completely still. Slowly, her face drained of colour. She looked at Angus. ‘Natasha Miller is Mum’s friend. It’s Tash.’

‘This is ridiculous.’ Gabby looked at Angus sternly. ‘You’re out of your depth, Angus MacDonald. Look at you. You too, Hannah. It’s time we handed this all over.’

‘She’s right.’ Hannah sighed. ‘Natasha Miller! I knew she was a creep.’

‘What? What about Tash?’ Sean tugged at his sister’s sleeve.

Hannah looked at Sean without really seeing him. ‘I should have realised.’

‘Hang on a minute,’ E.D. said, raising his voice and pointing a finger at Gabby. ‘Don’t you go telling us when it’s time to give up. We’re on to something.’

‘It isn’t that simple,’ Ling said, surprising everyone with her firm voice. ‘Let me get this
straight. King has been stolen by the people who work up at McCann’s old farm.’

‘Yeah. Now called Bentley’s Stud Farm. And—’

Ling held a hand up and narrowed her eyes at E.D., who surprised himself by pausing mid-sentence.

‘We now know that Natasha Miller, Hannah’s mum’s friend Tash, who is an expert involved in genetics, is also involved with these people. Even without Natasha, we have reason to believe that the people at Bentley’s Stud Farm are doing something suspicious. They’ve got a scientific laboratory at a horse stud.’

‘Reason one to be suspicious,’ Hannah said, ticking off on her fingers.

Ling continued. ‘They’re very suspicious and angry when Angus goes on his little visit.’

‘Two.’ Sean was also counting.

‘We know that Lightning Strikes is the same as Gale Force. He’s a clone.’

‘Which means there could be lots more Lightning Strikes there,’ Hannah added.

‘There are,’ Angus said. ‘I saw a little black foal.’

‘Is that three or four?’ Sean asked, looking at his fingers.

‘Okay, let’s get up there and find King before
he’s turned into dog meat.’ E.D. turned to make for the door.

‘And get ourselves killed in the process. Don’t be such an idiot, E.D.’ Gabby’s eyes blazed.

For a moment no one spoke.

‘Okay, we’ll vote,’ Angus said, finally. ‘We make a circle. We close our eyes. If you think we should go up one more time and really find out for sure—’

‘Well, we all know what you think, Angus.’ Gabby’s hollow laugh wasn’t convincing.

He ignored her. ‘Put out your hand into the middle of the circle. Majority wins, okay?’

‘Sounds fair to me,’ Hannah said. Gabby shrugged. Sean looked excited. E.D. rubbed his dirty hands together.

‘Right, move in close until your shoulders are touching someone else’s.’

A tight circle was formed, Gabby the last to join. She had placed herself between Hannah and Angus. Sean was on the other side of Angus, then Ling and E.D.

‘Eyes closed!’ Angus called. ‘Reach a hand out into the middle of the circle if you think we should go. Otherwise stay still.’

No one moved. It was as if each was waiting for someone else to make the first move. Angus
had promised himself he wouldn’t be the first, hoping that E.D. would take the plunge straight away.

‘Ten seconds,’ he whispered.

Angus felt a movement. Someone had reached out a hand. Slowly, he moved his into the circle and found someone else’s. He felt soft, smooth fingers. Ling? Quickly another one joined, resting on his own. E.D.? It felt rough enough.

He waited a few moments. ‘Okay, all done?’ he said. ‘Can we open our eyes now?’ Sean asked.

‘No one move when I say “Open”. Got it?’ Angus said, before counting silently to three.

‘Open!’

Six pairs of eyes saw five hands connected.

‘Typical,’ said Gabby, moving away. ‘That was so dumb.’

‘Gabby,’ Hannah said sharply, ‘you’re with us or you’re out. For good. Right now. Make your call.’

The others watched her. Gabby opened her mouth, then closed it again. Inside, she felt slightly ill. She looked first at Hannah, then at Ling, and lastly at Angus. ‘When do we go?’ she asked, her heart racing. Angus smiled. She smiled back nervously.

‘Right, I’ve got a plan,’ E.D. said. ‘The same one I was about to tell you ten minutes ago.’ He squatted down. ‘We take the Ghost.’

‘The Ghost?’ Gabby frowned.

‘White and as silent as the grave,’ E.D. said dramatically.

Sean shivered. ‘Cool. Where is it?’

‘What
is it?’ asked Hannah.

E.D. smiled. ‘It’s my car, hidden away in the old garage at home. It’s a work in progress. And my brother’s got the ute.’ He shrugged. ‘The Ghost will get us there.’

It took them twenty minutes to get organised. Gabby stood by the open gate, staring at each of them in turn.

‘Okay, we’ve explained everyone’s role. Sean,’ Hannah said, frowning, ‘you’ve got to go back home.’

‘But you—’

‘No! We need you at home, in case someone turns up.’ Sean’s bottom lip started to shake. ‘Don’t go crying on me, Sean, not now. Go home.’ She turned to the others. ‘Come on, let’s go.’

‘Are you sure this is the right thing to do?’ asked Gabby. ‘Do you think I should go home and change?’

‘There’s no time. Come on,’ Angus said, exasperated.

‘Well then, can we just stop by at my place so I can get my mobile phone? Unless you’ve got yours, Hannah.’

‘Well, of course I’ve got mine.’ Hannah reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone. ‘See? Oh. I’ve got
a
phone. The broken one. I must’ve picked up the wrong one. E.D., have you got yours?’

E.D. went red. ‘Yeah, I’ve got it. It’s just not working at the moment. I ran over it on the bike.’ He shrugged. ‘Probably better to go out past Gabby’s, anyway,’ he said. ‘The same way that we went in the ute before.’

‘I’ll just leave a note for Dad,’ Angus said, heading inside. The others gathered by the front door.

‘Where’s Sean?’ Angus asked as he came back out of the house. Hannah looked around.

‘I guess he’s gone off home.’

‘Lucky him,’ Gabby said.

‘Okay, who wants to ride with me? The rest of you will have to walk to my place. Angus, take ’em the short cut by Phil’s, okay?’

‘I’m game,’ Ling said, stepping forward to take the helmet E.D. was offering. Gabby gasped.

‘Ling, are you sure?’

‘C’mon, Gabby,’ Hannah called, racing off after Angus.

Ten minutes later, the five of them were staring at E.D.’s treasured Ghost—a rusting, flaking, off-white relic of a ute, covered in old drop sheets and housed in the meanest and dirtiest of the three spaces reserved for all the vehicles E.D. tinkered with in the old garage behind his house. Only E.D. knew that it actually went. Not even his brothers had seen it run.

‘We just have to make a quiet getaway,’ he said, pulling open the wooden shutters at the far end of the garage. A stream of sunlight burst in from the lane.

‘The Ghost?’ Gabby choked, the dust and smell catching in her throat. She covered her mouth and nose.

‘Let’s do it,’ Hannah said.

‘Maybe you can just drop me home after all, E.D.,’ Gabby said, watching the others climb in.

‘Good idea,’ Hannah said, pushing herself up alongside Angus. Gabby glared at her.

‘Just so I can pop in and get the phone,’ she added smugly.

They waited at the bottom of the long driveway to Gabby’s house, the Ghost rumbling and growling, as she ran towards the front door.

‘Two minutes!’ Hannah called. Gabby didn’t acknowledge her.

She reappeared exactly two minutes later, her designer label white T-shirt exchanged for a darker one.

‘What?’ she said, noticing the others staring. ‘The white one would have just got dirty.’

‘You got the phone?’ Hannah asked. Gabby held a bright pink mobile up for all to see, then squeezed herself in next to Hannah. E.D. revved the engine and cranked the gear stick. The car spluttered and leapt forward.

Mindful of his passengers, E.D. didn’t go beyond third gear. The track was rough, dusty and full of potholes that caused the car to shake and vibrate. It ran along the edge of a series of paddocks, a forest of gum trees to the right. Apart from the odd black crow and a flock of white cockatoos, nothing moved except the cloud of dust that slowly settled in the car’s wake.

‘E.D., stay to the left!’ Gabby shouted.

‘Bloody back-seat drivers,’ E.D. muttered, deliberately moving to the right and crashing
over an especially large pothole. Angus’s head banged against the roof.

‘Nearly there,’ he called, rubbing his head. ‘Pull over here.’ Angus pointed to a line of trees beside an enormous gate. The gate was closed.

‘Okay, let’s stick together,’ Angus said, creeping towards a large stone wall that ran either side of the gate. E.D. scaled the wall, took a quick look over the top, and then gave the others the thumbs-up sign.

Gabby groaned.

Sean counted to sixty, then to forty, just in case. His whole body was aching. He’d run so fast to get to the ute before the others that his legs had felt like jelly. And he’d only just made it. Carefully he lifted the rubber tarpaulin that covered the back of E.D.’s ute, and peered out. There was no one in sight. He unhooked one of the ties and lowered himself down onto the ground. It felt good to be standing up again. The rough ride had left him bruised and battered.

He looked around, then slowly walked up to the enormous wooden gates. Just as his hand touched the handle, he heard a loud crack of
gunfire. Birds screeched overhead. Sean yelped and ran back to the ute. He squeezed himself into the small space in the back and dragged the tarp over his head. He lay quietly, shivering despite the warm, still air around him.

Angus had already decided that this time they’d approach from a different direction.

‘Follow me,’ he whispered, as he led them the long way around to the back of the building. In the gloom of late morning, with dark, heavy clouds closing in from the west, they could see a wide verandah, dimly lit by two overhead lights. There was no noise or movement coming from inside.

‘Sssh! What was that?’

Ling had stopped and the others froze.

‘Horses,’ Angus said. ‘And they sound agitated. C’mon.’

Quickening his pace, he sprinted across to the cover of a huge oak tree, the others joining him a moment later.

‘Stressed,’ he muttered under his breath, listening to the horses’ anxious neighs.

‘What’s happening?’ Hannah asked.

The panic in the air was real. A man shouted and suddenly there was the sound of thundering hooves. Angus had moved forward in front of the tree; the others were a few steps behind. To their right, a horse neighed in terror, charging towards them.

‘Back!’ Angus cried, darting behind the safety of the tree.

An enormous black beast sped past them, Angus noticing a flash of a white nose and the gleam of the horse’s bared teeth, its mouth covered in white spittle and foam.

He threw a hand over Gabby’s mouth to stop her screaming. He stared at her, slowly shaking his head, then took his hand away.

‘W-was that Lightning Strikes?’ Gabby trembled.

No one answered. The horse had quickly disappeared and the morning was now eerily quiet.

‘Angus, this is ridiculous,’ Hannah said firmly. ‘We can’t do this alone. We have to call the police.’

A sudden crack, like the sound of a gunshot, shattered the silence. They jumped. Angus ran
off in the direction the black horse had come from.

‘I’ll go with him,’ Ling said. Before anyone could speak, she had raced off after him.

Hannah grabbed Gabby’s arm. ‘Head back out to the road and ring the police. Ask for Sergeant Malroy. Tell them where we are.’

‘But—’

‘And hurry! E.D., you go with her. I’ll help Angus keep looking for King.’

Gabby nodded, pulling the phone out of her pocket, then shrieked in terror as it started to ring. The jingly ring-tone pierced the morning gloom. A horse neighed loudly.

‘Shut the bloody phone up,’ E.D. hissed.

‘Hello?’ Gabby said timidly, pressing the phone against her head. ‘Sarah? Oh, hi. I can’t talk now.’ She looked across at Hannah.

‘Who’s there?’ a harsh voice called. Jim, Hannah realised, as a large man in a blue singlet strode towards them. He was carrying a stock whip and a bridle.

‘The phone!’ Hannah hissed, moving to shield Gabby from his view.

Gabby stared wide-eyed at Jim standing in front of them. She slipped the phone into her pocket, followed by her hand. Then her other hand.

Don’t make it so bloody obvious, thought E.D. He cringed, unable to drag his eyes away from Gabby’s jeans. Jim had also noticed.

‘What the hell’s going on?’ he growled. He took a step forward. ‘And what’s in your pocket, girlie? Here.’ He held out an open palm to Gabby. She started to tremble. The man took another step closer.
‘Now!’
he bellowed.

‘No,’ said Gabby, lifting her chin. She started dialling 000.

‘Why, you little—’ The man grabbed for the phone.

‘Leave her alone,’ said E.D., surprising himself. He had no idea what he was going to do to stop the man, but he threw himself at him. Suddenly, Hannah made a lunge for the phone. The man pushed her and E.D. aside and snatched the phone from Gabby’s shaking hand. The smaller man appeared, the one with the tattoos.

‘Bloody pests.’ He snatched the leather whip out of Jim’s hand and deftly tied E.D. and Hannah together using lengths of hayband.

‘You start running, girl, and I’ll bleedin’ flog you,’ he snarled at Gabby.

‘Take ’em up to the lab where they can be locked in,’ Jim said. ‘Ain’t nothing they can do in there now.’

The short man dragged them up to the house. Gabby stumbled along a step behind, the man’s vice-like grip on her wrist making sure she couldn’t get away. She was determined not to cry out in pain.

They were bundled into the laboratory and the man tied Gabby to a sturdy metal table leg. The door clicked behind them. Gabby looked from Hannah to E.D. They were tied together to another table. ‘I’m sorry. I am—’

‘Forget it,’ Hannah said. ‘It wasn’t your fault.’

‘What do you mean,
wasn’t her fault?’
E.D. kicked at the locked door.

‘Shut up, E.D. It was just bad luck that the phone rang then.’ Hannah looked at Gabby. ‘You were really brave back there.’

‘Thanks,’ said Gabby. She smiled at Hannah.

‘Well, we’ve got to get out of here,’ Hannah said. She took a deep breath. ‘Think, guys. There must be a way out of here. If only we weren’t tied up.’ She pulled at the ties in frustration.

‘Hey,’ said E.D., ‘I’m attached to that.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Look at those rabbits,’ said Gabby softly.

E.D. and Hannah shuffled around to see what Gabby was looking at. On the bench above their heads were cages and cages of rabbits. Black
rabbits with white patches that all looked the same. Black and white
cloned
rabbits.

Outside, horses neighed and voices shouted.

‘I wonder what’s happened to Angus,’ Hannah said quietly.

‘And Ling,’ Gabby added. ‘What’s happened to my cousin?’

‘What now?’

Ling had caught up to Angus. They hid behind a small shed that backed onto the bush.

‘I heard the shot and thought of King. I just freaked.’

‘I know. What now?’ Ling oozed calm. Angus looked at her.

‘I just want to find King and get out of here.’

Shouts rang out across the yard. They ducked further behind the cover of the shed.

‘Someone’s coming,’ Ling whispered. ‘Time to move.’

Ling took Angus’s hand and they ran, keeping the wooden shed between them and the house, hunched over as though escaping spotlights. They scurried through dry bushland, desperately trying to avoid crunching the brittle sticks and branches that lay scattered about.

After twenty metres they arrived at a track.
Pausing a moment, they listened for the sounds of anyone following.

Angus looked along the track. No one was there, but in the distance a man called out.

‘This is taking us further away from the others,’ Angus sighed, looking helpless.

‘But maybe this track is taking us closer to the truth?’ Ling replied. ‘C’mon.’

There was something about her quiet ease and determination that gave Angus a sense of confidence. He took one more look behind him, then followed Ling deeper into the bush.

After a couple of minutes of jogging, they came to a sharp bend and a sudden drop. Angus stopped and reluctantly pulled his hand free of Ling’s. There was a familiar smell coming to him from down the track. He looked at Ling and she nodded.

Angus ran quietly on ahead of her. Suddenly he knew what was there. He could smell the rich aroma of horse stables. His pace quickened.

As soon as he saw the place Angus knew something wasn’t quite right. The stables were enormous, twice as big as any he’d ever seen. And modern. They were totally out of place in the bush.

Angus and Ling pressed their bodies against the warm wall and froze, straining their ears for sounds other than the soft whinnying of horses and the occasional screech of birds.

‘You reckon the little one’ll make it?’

Angus closed his eyes in disappointment as he heard a male voice call out. They waited for an answer.

‘And which little one would that be?’ Female.

‘I’ve got a plan,’ Ling whispered. She smiled and suddenly took off. After a moment’s hesitation, Angus followed.

‘Police! Police!’ Ling cried, waving her hands about. She had come around to the front of the building. Two startled faces looked over at her.

‘Boss told us to come down and warn you.’ Ling hoped they couldn’t hear the tremble in her voice.

‘What the hell?’ the male said, dropping the bucket he was holding.

Angus added to the confusion.

‘Hurry. Gotta let them out,’ he shouted, running over to the first stall with his heart pounding.

‘But why didn’t he ring us?’ the female asked, suddenly looking anxious.

‘Police have got everyone in the house bailed up,’ Ling said.

‘In the lab,’ added Angus.

The male swore. ‘C’mon. I knew we’d get caught one day.’ He darted over to a motorbike. The girl paused, staring at the two kids. She took a few steps towards Angus.

‘Hurry, let’s go,’ the guy said.

‘Who are you anyway?’ she asked.

‘Tom Bentley sent us,’ Angus lied.

The sound of a car engine made everyone turn. The girl took one last look at Angus, then spun around and ran over to the bike. It took off along a narrow dirt road.

Angus ran into the building. Stalls lined both sides of the laneway. Two horses looked over their gates at him. Angus stopped. The horses were absolutely identical. He stumbled back.

‘King?’ he called, moving along the stalls.

A third horse looked at him. Angus couldn’t believe it. All the horses were Lightning Strikes. They were all Gale Forces too. A horse that had died half a century ago.

‘King?’ he shouted again.

‘Angus! It’s time to go.’ Ling came in behind him, looking back at the approaching car.

‘King?’ Angus sobbed, rushing blindly from gate to gate. Every stable held the same horse. The same jet-black horse with two white-socked hind legs and white snip on its nose. There was something dreamlike about them. As though they weren’t quite real. Exact replicas, stall after stall. The only difference was size. And health.

Some of the horses lay in their stalls breathing shallowly. One stood with its head down, not even looking up when Angus rattled its gate. It was obvious that these horses were sick, really sick.

Angus had got to the third-last stall. This one held the largest of the horses so far. A huge beast with bulging veins pranced about, agitated. Angus stopped.

‘Angus!’ Ling shoved him from behind.

It was only then that he became aware of the car. It was slowing down as it got to the main door of the stables.

Ling whispered in Angus’s ear. Angus nodded, then moved slowly and expertly towards the horse. Was it
the
Lightning Strikes? Maybe they were about to find out.