Launched! by J A Mawter Read Free Book Online Page A

Darcy.
    Bryce cursed himself for telling them his old tag. Was it going to plague him for the rest of his life? ‘It wasn’t me. Honest. Why would I bomb The Van?’ he implored. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’ He started to jiggle up and down, his thoughts tumbling around as he tried to make sense of this mess.
    ‘That’s twice we’ve seen it,’ said Mio. ‘The word “PHREE”.’
    ‘Three times,’ corrected Clem. ‘I also saw it at the station, on the wall.’
    Bryce looked up at his friends. He saw questioning in Mio’s eyes, simmering distrust in Darcy’s and hurt in Clem’s, but it was the look on Tong’s face that clawed at him the most. He saw pity, the look you see just before someone turns away from you, unable to watch your humiliation a moment longer.
    ‘I’m going to say this, and I’m only going to say it once,’ said Bryce, his words peppering like gunshot. ‘Don’t believe me if you want, I really don’t care, and this is my final word on the subject… I did not do it .’
    The light returned to Mio’s eyes. A smile seeped into the corners of her mouth. Tong said nothing for a very long time. He studied Bryce, his eyes boring through him as though he was examining Bryce’s soul. Then he exhaled and bowed deeply.
    Bryce felt a king tide of relief. But what about the others? He stepped towards Clem. She looked at him, then screwed up her nose and inched back, saying, ‘Sorry Bryce. I just don’t know!’
    ‘I do,’ said Darcy. ‘I know.’
    ‘The sad fact of the matter is…’ said Bryce, his words ringing out strong, ‘you don’t know what you don’t know.’ This was the wisdom of Mr Lark.
    And Darcy knew it. He ground down hard on his pedal, pushing off with his free foot on theground. ‘Come on,’ he called over his shoulder, ‘we’ve wasted enough time.’
    A few moments later Clem followed, then Tong, Bryce and Mio, but the gracefulness of their line was broken and shadows fell across their path.

Chapter Seven
    The afternoon went from bad to worse. As soon as the kids pulled up at the unused train siding, they were confronted by uniformed men. Despite the fact that it was a uniform he did not recognise, Bryce froze. What if it was some new branch of the police? What if he got in trouble again?
    ‘We’ve had reports of trespass,’ said one man. ‘Railway’s hired us as extra security.’
    Private security guards! For the second time that afternoon Bryce melted with relief.
    ‘You’re going to have to move along.’
    ‘It’s a bit heavy-handed, don’t you think?’ said Clem. ‘Hiring security guards for a few kids.’
    The security guard was about to answer when a crackle emanated from his walkie-talkie.‘Foxtrot Charlie. Foxtrot Oscar. Do you copy? Over.’
    Clem started to giggle. There was something about these men playing at being truckies with CB radios, or commandos in the army, that tickled her sense of humour. Why couldn’t they just say, ‘Hello’?
    ‘Roger Oscar.’ Why couldn’t they just say, ‘Yes’? Clem giggled again, scoring a blistering look from the guards.
    ‘Anklebiters at haircut palace. I repeat, anklebiters at haircut palace. Over.’
    ‘Copy Oscar. We’ll highball to the high rise and meet you there. Over.’
    ‘Roger. Over and out.’
    As the two guards took off on foot Mio asked, ‘What was that all about?’
    Bryce gave a non-committal shrug. ‘Haircut palace means a low bridge. Some kids at a bridge as far as I can tell. Probably the High Road overpass. It’s the only one round here.’
    ‘Let’s go watch,’ said Clem. She turned and asked, ‘Hey, Tong. Want to come?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Maybe we shouldn’t.’ Mio sounded unsure. ‘We might get in the way.’
    ‘No, we won’t,’ said Darcy. ‘We’ll keep our distance.’ Before Mio could protest again Darcychased after the guards, with Clem his shadow and Tong not far behind.
    ‘Come, Mio. We ride.’ Tong took off, all the while looking back at Mio,