No Safe Place by Deborah Ellis Read Free Book Online

Gypsy, got a nail file?”
    Rosalia ignored him.
    Abdul secured the oars, reached into his shirt and unwrapped the knife.
    â€œYou’re going to kill me for my words?”
    Abdul didn’t answer. He bent to one of the floorboards and started attacking it with the knife.
    â€œYou’ve never used a knife before, have you?” Cheslav taunted. “The boat is made of wood, not cake.”
    Abdul swung his arms up so the knife point was at Cheslav’s throat.
    â€œI stabbed a security officer. I’m not afraid to stab you.”
    â€œGo ahead and try,” Cheslav urged. “You want to be king of the boat? Try. You don’t know me.”
    Abdul lowered the knife and went back to attacking the board. It started to loosen. The boat tipped precariously as they all leaned in to look.
    Jonah was the one who reached in and grabbed the two packets.
    Wrapped in heavy, clear plastic, each was about the size of a deck of cards.
    â€œHeroin?” Abdul asked. “Cocaine?”
    â€œIt’s heroin,” Jonah said. “I heard them saying.”
    â€œHow many are there?”
    Jonah showed them the spots. “Three hiding places.”
    Abdul didn’t know how much money was involved, but he knew it was a lot. “We should throw it away.”
    â€œAre you crazy?” Cheslav asked. “Before this, we had nothing. Now we are rich. And, if we’re caught, we have something to bargain with.”
    â€œIf we’re caught with drugs, we’ll go to prison,” said Abdul.
    â€œI will not get caught,” Cheslav said. “I will turn this into money. When I have money, it will be easy to do what I want to do.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œNone of your business.”
    Abdul was already tired of the Russian. He handed Cheslav his knife. “You want to work instead of talk?”
    Cheslav took the knife and chopped at the places Jonah showed him. One by one, six heroin packets were uncovered.
    â€œAny more?” Cheslav asked.
    Jonah shook his head.
    Abdul took the knife back.
    â€œSo we have heroin,” he said. “So what? It’s not food, it’s not water. It won’t fix the motor or keep us dry. It’s useless.”
    â€œI’ll take your share, then,” Cheslav said.
    â€œYou can have it,” Abdul said. “I want nothing to do with it.”
    Cheslav grabbed Abdul’s share and tucked it along with his own into his waistband behind his back.
    Rosalia picked up one packet and put it down again.
    â€œI don’t like trouble,” she said.
    Jonah reached for a packet but Abdul stopped him.
    â€œLeave it in the boat. It’s not going anywhere.”
    â€œWhy should the boy get a share?” Cheslav asked. “His country will take care of him.”
    â€œIt belongs to him as much as to you,” Rosalia said, as she took up the oars and got them moving again.
    The sun climbed higher and the clouds began to drift away. The day warmed up. Abdul allowed his body to relax and his mind to drift.
    Cheslav was fooling himself if he thought the heroin would save him. Abdul would throw Jonah’s share overboard before he allowed the boy to leave the boat with it.
    Stop worrying about him, he told himself. He reminded himself that he had something to do. He had to get to England, and then he had to get to Liverpool. And he couldn’t let anything get in his way.

SEVEN
    Abdul woke up, and for a moment he didn’t know where he was.
    He’d been dreaming he was a small boy, visiting his grandparents in the Kurdistan countryside. He was chasing a baby goat, running over the rocky hills and laughing in the sunshine.
    But when he opened his eyes, the little farm was gone, the goat was gone, and the sun was gone. Everything was dark, and he was cold once again.
    He’d slept slumped over, and his back and neck ached. He yawned and stretched, then rubbed his eyes.
    He was