Tunnels

antechamber with boxes stacked on either side and a further door set into its far wall. But this was no ordinary door — it was made of heavy iron studded with rivets, and there was a handle by its side to crank it open.

'It's airtight — keps the germules out.'

There was an inspection porthole at head height, but no light was visible through the clouded glass.

'Get going on that while I find the breathing apparatus,' Will ordered Chester, pointing at the crank. His friend leaned on the handle, and there was a loud hiss as the thick rubber seal at the base of the door lifted from the ground. Will found the masks Tam had said would be left there, old canvas hoods with black rubber pipes attached to cylinders. They resembled some sort of ancient diving equipment.

Then, from the dark outside, Will heard a plaintive mew. He knew what it was even before he'd turned around.

'Bartleby!' The cat scampered in through the hallway. His paws scratched scrabbling excitedly in the dust, he went straight to the secret door, shoving his muzzle into the gap and sniffing inquisitively.

'What is that? ' Chester was so flabbergasted by the vision of the oversized cat that he let go of the crank handle. It spun freely as the door trundled down on its runners and slammed shut. Bartleby leaped back.

'For heavens sake, Chester, just get that door open!' Will shouted.

Chester nodded and began again.

'Need a hand?' Cal asked, moving into view.

'No! Not you, too! What the heck are you doing here?' Will gasped.

'Coming with you,' Cal replied, taken aback by his brother's reaction.

Chester stopped turning the crank and glanced rapidly from one brother to the other and back again. 'He looks just like you!'

Will had reached a point at which the whole situation had taken on an insanity all its own, a random and hopeless insanity. Tam's plan was falling apart before his very eyes, and he had the most awful feeling that they were all going to be caught. He had to get things back on track… somehow… and quickly.

'FOR GOODNESS' SAKE, GET THAT DOOR OPEN, WILL YOU!' he bawled at the top of his voice, and Chester meekly resumed the cranking. The door was now a foot and a half off the ground, and Bartleby stuck his head under for an exploratory look, dropped low, and then slid through the opening, disappearing from sight altogether.

'Tam doesn't know you're here, does he?' Will grabbed his brother by his coat collar.

'Of course not. I decided it was time to go Topsoil, like you and Mother.'

'You're not coming,' Will snarled through gritted teeth. Then, as he saw the hurt in his brother's face, he let go of his coat and softened his voice. 'Really, you can't… Uncle Tam would kill you for being here. Go home right—' Will never finished the sentence. Both he and Cal had smelled the strong pulses of ammonia rippling through the air.

'The alarm!' Cal said, with panic-stricken eyes.

They heard a commotion outside, some shouting, and then the crash of breaking glass. They ran to the kitchen window and peered through the cracked panes.

' Styx!' Cal gasped.

Will estimated there were at least thirty of them drawn up in a semicircle in front of the house, and those were just the ones he could see from his limited vantage point. How many there were in total, he shuddered to think. He ducked down and shot a glance at Chester, who was frenziedly cranking the door, the opening now high enough for them to get through.

Will looked at his brother and knew there was only one thing to do. He couldn't leave him at the mercy of the Styx.

'Go on! Get under the door,' he whispered urgently.

Cal 's face lit up and he started to thank Will, who shoved the breathing apparatus into his hands and propelled him toward the door.

As Cal slithered through the gap, Will turned back to the window to see the Styx advancing on the house. That was enough — he launched himself at the door, frantically shouting at Chester to grab a mask and follow him. As he heard the front door to the house smash open, he knew there was just enough time for them both to get away.

Then one of those terrible things happened.

One of those events that, afterward, you replay in your mind over and over again… but you know, deep down, there was nothing you could have done.

That was when they heard it.

A voice they both knew.

29

'Same old Will,' she said, rooting them to the spot.

Will was halfway under the door, his hand gripping Chester 's forearm, ready to pull him in, when he glanced at the kitchen entrance and froze.

A young girl walked into the room, two Styx flanking her.

'Rebecca?' Will gasped, and shook his head as if his eyes were deceiving him.

'Rebecca!' he said again, incredulously.

'Where are we going, then?' she said coolly. The two Styx edged forward a fraction, but she held up her hand and they halted.

Was this some trick? She was wearing their clothes, their uniform — the black coat with the stark white shirt. And her jet-black hair was different — it was raked back tightly over her head.

'What are you…' was all Will managed to say before words failed him.

She'd been captured. That must be it. Brainwashed, or held hostage.

'Why do we keep doing these things?' She sighed theatrically, raising one eyebrow. She looked relaxed and in control. Something wasn't right here: something jarred.

No

She was one of them.

'You're…' he gasped.

Rebecca laughed. 'Quick, isn't he?'

Behind her, more Styx were entering the kitchen. Will's mind reeled, his memories playing back at breakneck speed as he tried to reconcile Rebecca, his sister, with this Styx girl before him. Were there signs, any clues he'd missed?

'How?' he cried.

Reveling in his confusion, Rebecca spoke. 'It's really very simple. I was placed in your family when I was two. It's the way with us… to rub shoulders with the Heathen… It's the training for the elite.'

She took a step forward.

'Don't!' Will said, his mind starting to work again, and his hand surreptitiously reaching inside his coat pocket. 'I can't believe it!'

'Hard to accept, isn't it? I was put there to keep an eye on you — and, if we were lucky, flush your mother into the open… your real mother.'

'It's not true.'

'It doesn't matter what you believe,' she replied curtly. 'My job had run its course, so here I am, back home again. No more role-playing.'

'No!' Will stuttered as he closed his hand around the little cloth package that Tam had given him.

'Come on, it's over,' Rebecca said impatiently. With a barely perceptible nod of her head, the Styx on either side of her lurched forward, but Will was ready. He slung the node stone across the kitchen with all his might. It soared between the two advancing Styx and struck the dirty white tiles, breaking into a tiny snowstorm of