Read Online One Shot Kill by Robert Muchamore - Free Book Online
Authors: Robert Muchamore
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see a tunnel. It’s actually fun once you get used to it.’
Rosie didn’t see the appeal as she hunted blindly for her water and blinked the grit out of her eye. Then she remembered Edith and turned anxiously to see what the tunnel had done to her.
‘Did your friend fall off the horse or something?’ Justin asked.
Rosie couldn’t tell whether the dust had affected Edith. But she was starting to realise that Justin might be more than an irritation.
‘So where do you get off the train?’ Rosie asked.
‘She needs a doctor,’ Justin said, as he went down on one knee and studied Edith more closely.
‘I know she does.’
‘You’ve got a gun,’ Justin said. ‘She’s got whip marks on her arms, and that looks like a cigarette burn on her neck. Did you kidnap her?’
Rosie sounded irritated. ‘Answer my question. Where do you get off the train?’
Justin smirked. ‘You’re not answering my questions either.’
Rosie put her hand on the gun. ‘That’s because I’ve got this and you haven’t.’
‘I suppose that’s true,’ Justin said, as he sat down on the platform cross-legged. ‘I get off the train near my house. There’s a water tower where the train has to stop and fill up. I live right by it.’
‘She’s going to die if I don’t get her to a doctor quickly. Is there a doctor near where you live?’
‘You can walk to the doctor in town.’
‘She doesn’t have documents,’ Rosie said. ‘Are there checkpoints?’
Justin backed up a little, scared, impressed and confused all at once. ‘You’re on the run from the Boche, aren’t you? Tunnel coming up in a second!’
This time Rosie put a wet rag over Edith’s nose and mouth before pulling her jacket up over her face. This tunnel was longer than the first and when they emerged there was a blacked-out town silhouetted in a valley below the tracks.
‘I can pay if you help me find a doctor,’ Rosie said, as she showed a ten-franc note.
Justin looked offended. ‘You think I’d take money for helping a sick person?’
‘And is your doctor a good person? Can we trust him?’
‘Her,’ Justin said, as he shrugged. ‘I think she’s OK. I went once when I went deaf and had to get my ear syringed. Mum was broke, but the doctor said pay something when you can. Have you ever had your ear syringed? It’s so loud, cos they’re shooting water right in your lughole.’
Justin’s mix of street-smarts and boyishness lightened Rosie’s mood after bleak hours with nothing but dark thoughts for company. She reached into her backpack and passed over a stick of high-energy chocolate.
‘Suck it or it’ll break your teeth,’ Rosie said. ‘It’s survival rations. Like they give to RAF pilots, in case they get shot down.’
Justin beamed as he peeled the foil off the chocolate and tried biting a corner off.
‘Bloody hell,’ Justin said, before bursting out laughing. ‘Tunnel!’
CHAPTER TEN
Apart from nightly rides on the coal train, Justin didn’t travel much. When Rosie quizzed him about where they’d be getting off he gave the name of somewhere that wasn’t on her map and said that the local farmers sold goods at a market in Rennes. But he’d never been there himself, so he wasn’t sure how long the journey took.
Still, anywhere near Rennes was well out of the military zone. Rosie had to take a punt on finding Edith a doctor who wouldn’t report her to the Gestapo wherever she wound up, which made sticking with Justin at least as good a choice as any other.
It was near dawn as the train left its single track and merged into the regular railway. Rosie hoped they’d soon pass a station, which would give her a better fix on her location, but within a minute the wagons shuddered to a halt and the brawny steam engine began refilling its water tank.
‘You’ve gotta run in case there’s railway cops,’ Justin explained quietly. ‘Go down the embankment. I’ll meet you at the bottom.’
Water gushed from the tower
Rosie didn’t see the appeal as she hunted blindly for her water and blinked the grit out of her eye. Then she remembered Edith and turned anxiously to see what the tunnel had done to her.
‘Did your friend fall off the horse or something?’ Justin asked.
Rosie couldn’t tell whether the dust had affected Edith. But she was starting to realise that Justin might be more than an irritation.
‘So where do you get off the train?’ Rosie asked.
‘She needs a doctor,’ Justin said, as he went down on one knee and studied Edith more closely.
‘I know she does.’
‘You’ve got a gun,’ Justin said. ‘She’s got whip marks on her arms, and that looks like a cigarette burn on her neck. Did you kidnap her?’
Rosie sounded irritated. ‘Answer my question. Where do you get off the train?’
Justin smirked. ‘You’re not answering my questions either.’
Rosie put her hand on the gun. ‘That’s because I’ve got this and you haven’t.’
‘I suppose that’s true,’ Justin said, as he sat down on the platform cross-legged. ‘I get off the train near my house. There’s a water tower where the train has to stop and fill up. I live right by it.’
‘She’s going to die if I don’t get her to a doctor quickly. Is there a doctor near where you live?’
‘You can walk to the doctor in town.’
‘She doesn’t have documents,’ Rosie said. ‘Are there checkpoints?’
Justin backed up a little, scared, impressed and confused all at once. ‘You’re on the run from the Boche, aren’t you? Tunnel coming up in a second!’
This time Rosie put a wet rag over Edith’s nose and mouth before pulling her jacket up over her face. This tunnel was longer than the first and when they emerged there was a blacked-out town silhouetted in a valley below the tracks.
‘I can pay if you help me find a doctor,’ Rosie said, as she showed a ten-franc note.
Justin looked offended. ‘You think I’d take money for helping a sick person?’
‘And is your doctor a good person? Can we trust him?’
‘Her,’ Justin said, as he shrugged. ‘I think she’s OK. I went once when I went deaf and had to get my ear syringed. Mum was broke, but the doctor said pay something when you can. Have you ever had your ear syringed? It’s so loud, cos they’re shooting water right in your lughole.’
Justin’s mix of street-smarts and boyishness lightened Rosie’s mood after bleak hours with nothing but dark thoughts for company. She reached into her backpack and passed over a stick of high-energy chocolate.
‘Suck it or it’ll break your teeth,’ Rosie said. ‘It’s survival rations. Like they give to RAF pilots, in case they get shot down.’
Justin beamed as he peeled the foil off the chocolate and tried biting a corner off.
‘Bloody hell,’ Justin said, before bursting out laughing. ‘Tunnel!’
CHAPTER TEN
Apart from nightly rides on the coal train, Justin didn’t travel much. When Rosie quizzed him about where they’d be getting off he gave the name of somewhere that wasn’t on her map and said that the local farmers sold goods at a market in Rennes. But he’d never been there himself, so he wasn’t sure how long the journey took.
Still, anywhere near Rennes was well out of the military zone. Rosie had to take a punt on finding Edith a doctor who wouldn’t report her to the Gestapo wherever she wound up, which made sticking with Justin at least as good a choice as any other.
It was near dawn as the train left its single track and merged into the regular railway. Rosie hoped they’d soon pass a station, which would give her a better fix on her location, but within a minute the wagons shuddered to a halt and the brawny steam engine began refilling its water tank.
‘You’ve gotta run in case there’s railway cops,’ Justin explained quietly. ‘Go down the embankment. I’ll meet you at the bottom.’
Water gushed from the tower
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