Taking the Chequered Flag (7 page)

Angus tore his eyes away from the tiny screen of Gabby’s mobile phone and turned to E.D. who was sitting in the corner of Gabby’s bedroom, angrily flicking paperclips off her desk and onto the floor. His wet hair dripped onto her carpet.

‘E.D., come and look at this. It’s incredible.’

‘I can’t believe you
did
that, Gabby.’ E.D. shook his head so that water sprayed everywhere.

‘Oh, get over it, E.D. You’re just jealous,’ Gabby said.

‘Jealous?’ E.D. shouted, standing up suddenly.

‘E.D.’ Hannah stood up too and walked towards him. ‘Tony would have told you. He was just trying to protect you. He knows you better than any of us. There’s no way he’d want you
heading up to Croft’s Cement and discovering this secret room.’

E.D. slowly lifted his head and stared at Hannah. ‘What room?’

‘The room we’re looking at on the mobile, idiot,’ Angus said. ‘That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.’ The screen Angus and the others were looking at went grey, and then black.

‘Is that it?’ asked Hannah.

‘Yes. It stopped there when I watched it before too.’ Gabby pressed a button on her phone, trying to ignore the wet patch on her floor.

‘Why don’t we download it onto a hard drive and watch it on a big monitor?’

Angus looked at Hannah. ‘Good thinking.’

‘Which monitor, guys?’ Gabby said. ‘Mine’s big, but it’s not as big as Dad’s.’

‘The biggest, Gab!’ E.D. said, smiling. ‘And sorry about the water. I guess it’ll dry.’

Gabby shrugged and led the way to her father’s study. A few minutes later, Hannah had transferred the file onto the hard drive.

‘Is that a computer screen or a TV?’ Angus asked, whistling softly.

‘Both,’ E.D. muttered. ‘Come on.’ He was impatient now. Later on he would deal with Gabby and Tony.

The image was blurry and grainy. For the first few seconds it stayed fixed on a nondescript grey wall. Then a shadowy figure appeared. The light brightened as another person loomed into the shot, holding a torch.

‘That place looks familiar,’ E.D. said, leaning in closer.

‘It’s that big tunnel near the empty railway truck we found,’ said Angus.

‘Look!’ Gabby pointed. The wall of the tunnel had somehow opened up, revealing a passage. A single railway line vanished into the darkness.

The two men entered. The camera shook as it followed them into a small room.

‘Geez, your brother was brave to do this,’ Hannah whispered. The camera panned around the walls of the room then suddenly they were looking at the dark roof of the building.

‘I think the men must have heard Tony then,’ Gabby said. There were a few more seconds of wild jerky film as Tony’s mobile phone swung crazily.

‘He’s running away,’ Angus said.

‘Sprinting more like,’ added Hannah. The monitor screen went black. ‘This is when he must have been caught,’ she continued.

‘Yeah, he did well to hide his mobile phone.’ E.D. shook his head slowly.

‘What I want to know is how that wall suddenly turned into an opening.’ Gabby leaned forward and pressed the play button again.

‘That’s easy,’ said Hannah. ‘The guy pressed something on the wall. I saw him.’

‘Are you sure?’ Angus said.

‘Yeah, look.’ Hannah leaned forward, waited a moment, then just as the second man appeared with the torch, pressed the pause button.

‘You’re right,’ said Gabby. Like everyone else, her attention had been focused on the second man approaching with the torch.

They watched the footage twice more.

‘Biscuit anyone?’ Gabby passed around the container Mrs D had given her.

‘I say we go and check it out.’ E.D. stood up, brushing the biscuit crumbs to the floor.

‘I say I like your thinking,’ said Gabby, clapping her hands.

‘Guys, this isn’t some little kindergarten mystery,’ Hannah said seriously. ‘This is big time.’

‘Hey, come on, Han. Where’s your sense of adventure? We’re a team. We can do this. What do you say, Angus?’ Gabby turned to look at him.

‘The first sign of trouble we’re out of there, okay? And if there’s anyone about, we don’t go in. Deal?’

‘Deal!’ E.D. had already left the room.

‘Geez, what a dump,’ said Hannah, gazing around the desolate area outside the front of the cement works. The place was littered with rubbish, pieces of cement, sheets of rusted corrugated metal, broken glass and piles of dirt. There was an old yellow couch leaning against a fence and other items of broken office furniture scattered about.

‘Come on,’ Angus said, nervously. ‘This place still gives me the creeps.’

‘If that room inside the tunnel isn’t locked we can just take some photos then get out of here.’ Hannah marched towards the main entrance. Angus sighed and followed.

‘Don’t worry, Angus. We’ll be out of here in five minutes,’ said E.D., clapping him on the back.

Gabby pulled out her phone and viewed the footage Tony had filmed. ‘This way,’ she called, heading away to the far right corner of the enormous opening. They walked over three railway lines; two of them stopped close to the
back wall, but the third continued, gently curving away and disappearing literally into the wall to the right.

‘Weird,’ E.D. muttered, getting down on his hands and knees and looking closely at the place where the tracks disappeared. ‘This wall must have been put in later.’ He felt with his hands. ‘Hannah, you got that torch?’

‘It was over here that the guy touched the wall,’ Gabby said, reaching up with her hands and slapping the dust-covered wall.

‘I’m going back to keep watch,’ Angus called. Was that the sound of a motorbike he’d heard, or was it just his imagination?

‘Good idea, Angus.’ Hannah joined Gabby at the wall, feeling along the rough bricks.

‘Hang on. What’s this?’

No one got a chance to answer Gabby. There was a clanking and grinding sound then suddenly the entire cement wall in front of them rose slowly.

‘I found a lever,’ Gabby said, almost dropping her phone in shock.

In a flash, E.D. was on his hands and knees, crawling through the widening gap. ‘It’s a tunnel,’ he shouted. Gabby put the phone back in her pocket, and followed him. In front of them
was a narrow passage, just wide enough for a single train track. Ahead, Hannah could see that the track dropped away into darkness. She shivered, turning back to the opening behind her.

‘Are you coming?’ Gabby asked, glancing back at Hannah. ‘C’mon.’ She grabbed Hannah’s hand and ran into the opening. ‘This is where Tony went in. That room must be in here somewhere.’

‘Somewhere is right here.’

E.D’s voice came from the left. Hannah and Gabby ran to where he was—a cold brick room built into the side of the tunnel. Shelves lined the walls and boxes were piled on the shelves. E.D. held up a box that he’d opened. ‘Guess what? Loads of those GPS gadgets. Not broken this time.’

‘Got it!’ Hannah slapped the side of her head. ‘How could I have been so stupid? It’s obvious.’

‘It is?’ said E.D.

Hannah nodded her head impatiently. ‘Those GPSs have been brought into the country illegally! I bet they’re being sold for heaps of money. That’s what Tony discovered, that’s why they threatened to bury him—he discovered a smuggling racket.’

From the front of the enormous opening Angus froze. It was a motorbike; no, two of them.

‘Oh no,’ he groaned, turning and rushing into the monstrous concrete cave. ‘Guys!’ he yelled, ‘they’re coming!’

E.D. heard Angus’ faint cry from the depths of the tunnel.

‘I’ll be back in a tick,’ he said to the girls. He turned and ran back to the opening.

‘I heard bikes,’ Angus said, pointing at some dust clouds that were getting closer.

‘God, you’re right,’ E.D. said, running back to the lever on the wall and pulling on it. Angus followed.

‘What about the others?’ Angus yelled, pointing at the wall, which was now slowly descending.

‘We’ll come back in a minute. C’mon!’ E.D. started sprinting for the exit.

‘But Hannah and Gabby are trapped! What if these dudes decide to go in?’

‘We ring the police. But they might not go in. Hurry!’

They ran outside. E.D. swung left, heading for a run-down office.

‘Now what?’ Angus gasped, turning to look along the road. The motorbikes were getting
closer. He had his phone out but Gabby wasn’t answering. Maybe there was no reception inside the building.

E.D. picked up an old cushion and pushed it against the window. The glass shattered. He punched away the remaining pieces, tossed the cushion aside and clambered into the office.

‘You coming?’ he called. Angus followed him into the dingy room. It stank. They crouched down beneath the window and waited. The noise of the bikes gradually increased. Carefully, E.D. raised his eyes to the level of the window and peered out.

‘What?’ Angus hissed.

‘It’s the same two guys who were unpacking boxes at Proctor’s,’ E.D. muttered, watching as the two bikies cruised into the main opening.

‘And it’s the same two guys that I met in the laneway—Teagan and Jack’s Uncle Peter and his mate.’

E.D. swore softly.

‘What?’

‘They’re heading for the back wall.’

Angus groaned. ‘Now what?’

‘Before this gets out of hand, it’s time to ring the cops,’ E.D. said.

‘Hannah, the big door’s closing!’ Gabby shrieked, turning at the sound of the enormous cement wall slowly sliding back down. By the time she’d raced back it had fully closed. ‘E.D.! Angus! Let us out!’

‘It’s okay, Gabby,’ Hannah said, joining her a few seconds later. She hoped her voice was calmer than she felt. ‘They know we’re in here. They would have closed it for a reason. They’ll be back in a minute.’

‘If it was them who closed it.’ Hannah watched Gabby punching the keys on her mobile.

‘I can’t reach them on my phone.’ Gabby banged the phone against her leg. ‘There’s no signal down here.’

Together they searched the walls and surrounding area for some sort of device that would open the wall. All they found was a light switch.

‘Well, at least we can see now,’ said Gabby, gazing around the dimly lit area.

‘This is hopeless,’ Hannah said. ‘I think we should head back to that room. Sit it out. The police will arrive; I’m sure E.D. and Angus will ring them.’

Gabby followed Hannah back into the room. Hannah picked up the box E.D. had opened and pulled out a plastic bag.

‘I read about these in
Electronics Weekly.
NASA made the first ones. Someone in Japan bought the patent. They are
really
expensive.’

‘Hannah, you really ought to read some better magazines,’ Gabby said, shaking her head at her friend. ‘How about I loan you some of my fashion mags?’

Hannah looked up to see whether Gabby was joking. She wasn’t. Hannah waved a hand impatiently. ‘But don’t you see, Gab? People in Australia don’t have this type of system yet. It’s too advanced and they haven’t been put on the open market.’ She looked around at the dusty shelves lined with boxes.

Gabby shivered. ‘Han, that means we’re in big trouble. If those guys turn up and we’re trapped in here, they aren’t going to like it.’ She tried her phone again. ‘No signal! And
this
was expensive, too. I’ll have to get another one. What’s your phone like?’

Hannah put her hand in her pocket. She knew her phone wouldn’t work; it was models behind Gabby’s. Her hand touched something else. Slowly, she pulled it out. ‘Of course!’ she said. ‘God, I’m stupid.’

‘What, Han?’ Gabby was looking at her anxiously.

‘This ear-piece that you found, Gabby. It isn’t an ordinary one. I took it home and studied it. It’s a type of communication system that tunes in to any frequency you like. We can use it instead of a phone.’ Hannah turned the ear-piece over. ‘Gab, have you got something sharp?’

‘You can thank E.D. for this. I picked them up on the way out of my place.’ Gabby took a paperclip from her pocket and passed it over to Hannah. Deftly, Hannah opened it out and inserted the sharp end into a tiny hole at the rear of the device.

‘Perfect,’ she said. There was a clicking sound and Hannah pulled out a tiny panel.

‘What are you doing?’

‘This is great,’ Hannah said. ‘I’ve got the microphone and speaker on. Now we just need to tune in to someone who’s listening.’ She pressed a button on the panel and a small digital screen lit up with numbers. ‘That’s the frequency.’ She paused it at 778.

They all froze as a tiny voice suddenly filled the room.

‘And I’ll tell you another thing, Carol. At the party last week, you know, over at Barbara’s. That nice boy David was there and you’ll never guess who he was dancing with?’

‘What?’ Gabby started laughing.

‘We’ve picked up someone’s phone conversation,’ Hannah said. ‘But I don’t think they can hear us.’ She tried another number. A light in the corner of the panel glowed a soft green.

‘Does green mean we can talk?’

Hannah put the device to her ear. ‘Hello?’ she said. ‘Is there anyone there?’

She almost died of fright when a voice suddenly answered.

Teagan was on her motorbike, riding in small furious circles around the backyard. She’d worn a
groove in the dirt from all the other times she’d ridden here and was trying to cut it as deep as she could. When the voice came over the ear-piece she had in her ear, she almost lost control. She stopped the bike and activated the microphone attached to her helmet. ‘Angus, is that you?’

‘No. We’re friends of Angus’. Who are you?’

‘Teagan Proctor. Have you got Jack’s ear-piece?’

‘So it
was
his. Yes, we have. And we’re stuck in the tunnel at the cement yard.’

‘The tunnel?’ Teagan paused for so long Hannah thought they’d lost her.

‘Teagan?’

‘I’m coming.’

She revved her bike, sped out the gate and swerved around two rubbish bins, narrowly missing her brother Jack as she went into the lane.

‘Teagan, where the hell do you think you’re going?’ Alan Proctor was in the shop’s yard. ‘Jack, get the hell after her. Stop her from doing anything stupid. If she comes off that bike, she might hurt herself again. She isn’t meant to go anywhere without me watching her.’

It only took Jack a moment to get his own helmet on and soon he was in the laneway too, speeding after his sister.

Mr Proctor watched him go, a worried expression on his face.

‘What can you see?’ Angus whispered. E.D. was standing by the window, holding aside a torn and shredded curtain. Angus was huddled down near an old desk.

‘Trouble with a big T,’ E.D. groaned, looking around for an escape. ‘Let’s go.’ He darted for the door, Angus close on his heels. The boys entered a narrow corridor, with openings on either side. E.D. sprinted down its length, coming to another entrance at the end of the passage. He tried the handle.

‘Locked,’ he gasped, turning.

Suddenly the door behind him crashed open and a huge black motorbike appeared in its frame, the engine throbbing menacingly. The rider cranked the accelerator and sped through the gap. E.D. and Angus hurled themselves to one side as the bike sped past them, its back wheel just missing Angus’ foot.

‘Did you ring the cops?’ E.D. yelled, trying to kick open the door in front of him. It didn’t budge.

‘What?’ Angus shouted, glancing at the bike. It had turned and was now facing them again.

‘The front door,’ E.D. screamed, making a dash for the broken door. But he pulled up short. Another bike had just arrived and was idling right outside.

Slowly the rider slipped off his helmet.

‘So, it’s you,’ Peter Proctor said, kicking the rest of the door off its hinges and striding into the passageway. ‘Give me that,’ he yelled, snatching the phone out of Angus’ hands. He threw it to the ground and crushed it beneath his powerful black boot.

‘What did you do that for?’ yelled Angus.

Peter glared at him. ‘We don’t need kids hanging around. You boys don’t belong here. I think it’s time you went home.’

‘W-we like it here,’ Angus said, staring at the pieces of phone scattered all over the floor. The other rider turned off his engine and sauntered into the small office where Angus and E.D. had been hiding.

‘We got company, Pete,’ he called, stepping back outside.

‘Who is it, Joe?’ Peter demanded.

‘Your nephew and niece.’

‘We don’t want them to know we’re here!’ growled Peter. ‘They might be with their father and we certainly don’t want my brother to know anything about what we’re doing. We wouldn’t be able to use his crates, then.’

‘Teagan! Jack!’ Angus yelled, as loud as he could, his hands cupped around his mouth. ‘In here!’

‘Shut up,’ Joe snarled, stepping forward and swinging his arm across Angus’ head. The boy reeled back into the wall behind him and sank to the floor.

‘Leave him alone,’ E.D. said, stepping forward. Peter moved quickly and pushed him against the wall.

‘Watch them,’ Joe grumbled, moving into the side office.

‘Angus?’ A girl’s voice called from the front door. As quick as a flash Peter’s arm wrapped around E.D.’s mouth, preventing him from calling out. He glared at Angus, drawing a finger slowly across his throat. Angus knew what he meant.

‘Angus, is that you?’ Teagan’s voice called from outside the shattered front door. Joe appeared suddenly and he and Peter quietly dragged E.D. and Angus towards the little office room.

‘Ow!’ Peter yelled suddenly, wrenching his arm away from E.D., who’d managed to bite the fleshy part of his forearm. Glaring at E.D., he stood up and walked out into the corridor.

‘Teagan, what are you doing here?’ they heard Peter call.

‘Hello, Uncle Peter,’ Teagan said warily, stepping into the corridor. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I just asked you the same thing. Your dad doesn’t like you anywhere near the Graveyard.’

Teagan was quiet for a moment. ‘I thought I heard Angus,’ she eventually said.

‘Angus? That friend of yours we met near the shop? Yeah,’ Peter laughed. ‘He and his mates were here but they’ve gone. They were making a bit of a nuisance of themselves up here so we sent them on their way.’

‘Oh,’ she said.

‘You’d better go,’ said Peter. ‘You don’t want your father to find out you were here. Come on.’

Their footsteps faded.

‘Joe, the police are coming,’ said E.D.

‘Bulldust.’ Joe spat the words out.

‘I made the call before my phone was smashed,’ Angus said.

‘If you wanna get away, you’d better go now,’ E.D. continued.

‘Shut up, both of you,’ Joe growled.

‘We’re going, Joe. Move it.’

Joe stood, gave E.D. one last, withering look and followed Peter out the doorway. Angus was about to speak, but E.D. held up his hand.

They heard the bikes start up. For a brief moment their raucous noise drowned out everything else but then it quickly faded as the bikes disappeared away to the east.

‘Are you sure they’ve gone?’ Angus asked, glancing out the window. The concrete yard was deserted.

‘Yep. Let’s go!’ E.D. shouted, sprinting down the corridor. They raced across the open space towards the rear of the holding bay.

‘Where was that lever?’ Angus yelled, running his palms along the left hand wall.

‘Got it!’ E.D. exclaimed, pulling it down. ‘Yeah!’ The two boys watched impatiently as the concrete wall slowly lifted.

‘About time,’ Gabby gasped, stooping low to manoeuvre herself under the wall. Hannah followed closely behind her.

They turned suddenly at the sound of handclapping, the noise echoing spookily around
the enormous concrete cavern. Angus groaned. Standing behind them, with his arms folded, was Peter. Next to him, Teagan stood holding her motorbike, looking shocked.

‘Give me that,’ Peter said, holding his arm out towards Gabby. ‘Anyone else here got a phone?’ Hannah pulled out hers. Peter took it. ‘You didn’t tell me that you had other friends here—other friends that discovered something they shouldn’t.’

‘I’m sorry, Hannah,’ Teagan said quietly. ‘He made me tell him.’

Everyone turned as a large van drove up to the entrance of the tunnel. Three men stepped out, Joe among them.

‘Oh my God,’ Gabby whispered. ‘W-who are they?’

‘Uncle Peter, what’s going on?’ Teagan asked, her face pale. Angus could see her lip trembling. ‘And where’s Jack?’

‘Never you mind.’ Peter stepped towards E.D. ‘The real question is what are we going to do now? You know things you shouldn’t. Maybe I should lock you in that tunnel after we’ve gone.’

‘That tunnel’s the start of the Graveyard course,’ said E.D. softly.

‘You know about the Graveyard, eh?’ Peter laughed harshly. ‘I bet you don’t know Teagan’s Graveyard story.’

‘What do you mean?’ Angus looked at Teagan, who stared down at the ground.

‘Tell them about the Graveyard, Teagan,’ Joe said. ‘It’s going to take the boys a couple of minutes to clear the room down there. I hope you little punks haven’t been fiddling with anything. You’ve got time to tell them the whole story about how dangerous it is here.’

Hannah brushed a hand through her hair, feeling the listening device tucked firmly behind her left ear. She glanced furtively at the man dressed in black leather, but he was looking at Teagan. Hannah bunched her hair up thickly around her ear to disguise the ear-piece.

‘I tried the Graveyard,’ Teagan whispered, nodding towards the tunnel. ‘Jack and I had a bet. And I broke my pelvis in there.’

‘Louder, Teagan. I don’t think they heard you.’

Teagan pursed her lips as the colour drained from her face.

‘I broke my pelvis and had to have my spleen removed because I was stupid enough to try the Graveyard.’

‘You were the kid that got hurt?’ said E.D.

‘And that’s why you aren’t allowed to race.’

Teagan looked up at Angus. ‘Dad’s scared that if I fall, I’ll hurt myself again. Jack’s been riding for me to get my points up for the season.’

‘Why?’ said E.D. ‘You could’ve just stopped.’

‘Because I’m going to race again before the
end
of the season. Dad said I could.’ She shook her head, looking down. ‘He promised.’

‘Winning isn’t everything,’ Gabby said. ‘It feels like it is when you’re racing, but it isn’t.’

Teagan looked at Gabby and blushed. ‘It means a lot in our family.’

Two of the men appeared with a stack of boxes, which they loaded into the van.

‘Got it all?’ Peter asked.

‘All loaded,’ one man replied, nodding.

‘We need time to get away now.’ Peter poked E.D. firmly in the ribs. ‘So you lot go back in the tunnel until we’re clear. And maybe we’ll ring someone to get you a bit later in the day. Or,’ he laughed, ‘maybe we won’t.’