Faster Than Lightning (9 page)

There was one computer left in the lab. Hannah knelt down beside it, pulling E.D. along, and started it with her nose. The screen ran through its start-up. Then a word appeared.

Password?

‘No good!’ muttered Hannah. ‘Can anyone see a phone?’

‘No,’ said E.D., twisting around and dragging Hannah with him.

‘Help!’ screamed Gabby suddenly.

‘Gab, that doesn’t help us!’ Hannah glared crossly at her friend.

‘Scared the wits out of me,’ said E.D. ‘Hey, I’ve found something.’

E.D. used his knee to open a desk drawer.

‘What?’

‘Pens, pencils, rubber, matches, teabags—’

‘Matches?’ Hannah tried to turn around.

‘Yeah. Matches. So?’

Hannah scanned the ceiling.

‘I’ve got an idea.’

‘Hold on!’ Angus yelled, giving the horse a kick. He felt Ling tighten her grip on his shirt.

‘Angus, I’m not sure this horse—’

Ling felt herself sliding off as it reared. Clutching Angus even more firmly, she tried to haul herself back up but the horse was flinging itself around its stall.

‘Angus!’ she screamed.

Gripping the horse’s mane tightly with his left hand, Angus swung round, just managing to catch Ling’s arm. He heaved her up onto the horse just as a four-wheel drive screeched to a stop outside the open shed door.

‘Easy,’ Angus called, his head bent low and his lips almost touching the horse’s neck. ‘Easy, boy.’

His calm voice seemed to be having an effect. The horse settled and for a moment all four hooves touched the ground. Angus reached forward and pushed the gate open. Then all hell broke loose.

A woman was calling out from the doorway. At the first sound of her voice the horse bolted.

It charged straight towards her. With the two children hanging on in desperation, Natasha Miller threw herself out of harm’s way as the horse careered past her and into the day.

They bolted haphazardly down the dirt road, in the opposite direction Angus and Ling had come from a few minutes before. Angus felt the horse tremble under him. Something was wrong. He glanced at his arms as the horse snorted, spraying something wet over the boy. Blood.

‘Whoa,’ he called, rubbing the horse’s neck.

‘Angus?’ Ling called. ‘What’s the matter?’

The horse’s hind legs suddenly buckled and Ling was flung off. She crashed to the ground, pain shooting through her left ankle. The horse staggered on a few more metres, then, almost in slow motion, wheeled around to the left, shaking and shuddering.

‘Steady!’ Angus cried, clutching the horse tightly, trying desperately to calm him. ‘Steady on.’

‘Get off him, Angus,’ called Ling, hauling herself up and turning at the sound of a car approaching.

The horse fell, Angus underneath its writhing neck. He felt the air being punched out of him.

Ignoring the pain in her leg, Ling lunged towards Angus, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him away from the horse trembling on the ground.

Angus fought to get the air into his lungs. For a sickening moment he thought it wouldn’t happen. Panic swept over him. He stared at Ling’s face, trying to focus on something. She smiled.

‘Just breathe, Angus. That’s all you’ve gotta do.’

He closed his eyes, concentrating on trying to inhale.

‘Breathe, Angus, breathe.’

He listened to Ling’s voice and took in a small amount of air. Shakily, he sat up.

The horse lay a few metres away, silent and still. Breathing more deeply, Angus stood up and went to it, kneeling at the horse’s head.

A four-wheel drive pulled up alongside them. Natasha jumped out and ran to where Angus and the horse were.

‘No!’ she said. ‘Not another one gone.’ She stood over him, wringing her hands. ‘Hang on, you’re Hannah Williams’ friend, aren’t you?’

‘You killed this horse,’ Angus lashed out, ignoring her question. ‘Cloning Gale Force. It’s wrong: it makes the horses sick. All the horses back there in that secret stable of yours, they’re all Lightning Strikes. You’ve made a whole army of them. But you stuffed up. Some of them are dying. S-some…some of them…’

‘Are dead?’ Natasha finished his sentence for him. ‘It’s sad, isn’t it? But it’s so exciting too! Do you see what we’re doing here? We’ve made history. We’ve made living things out of dead things.’

‘What do you mean?’

Natasha knelt down beside Angus and he pulled back, wary of the way her eyes were glittering. She reached out a hand and grasped his arm, long pink nails digging into his skin. ‘You know. We took a dead famous racehorse and brought him back to life.’ She waited expectantly and suddenly Angus realised what she meant.

‘You stole Gale Force from the exhibition at the museum?’

‘Not me, exactly. And not the whole of Gale Force. Just a piece of his skin.’

A phone rang. Natasha let Angus go and stood up. She pulled her mobile out and flipped
it open. Ling slipped in quietly beside Angus, putting a hand through his.

‘Tom, you better send Jim and Kevin around to clear up the mess here,’ Natasha said. She turned to the dead horse, bending down and looking behind its right ear. ‘24B6,’ she added. ‘That horse was due to be euthanased next week anyway, wasn’t it?’

Angus stared at Tash, dumbfounded.

‘What do you mean,
euthanased?’

‘Didn’t you hear that shot before? That’s what I mean by euthanased.’ Natasha lowered her voice, said a few more words, then snapped her phone shut. ‘Come along, you two.’

She headed for the car, not bothering to check that they were following. Angus looked back up the track, but his stomach still hurt from being winded and Ling was limping. There was no running for it this time. They followed Natasha into the car. Angus leant back against the seat, closed his eyes and prayed that the others had had more success than he and Ling.

‘Someone’s coming,’ Gabby whispered. The door flew open. Angus and Ling were bundled into the laboratory.

‘What happened to you?’ E.D. said, looking from one to the other as the door slammed shut.

‘Don’t ask,’ Angus replied. ‘Are you guys okay?’

‘Fine. Having a ball.’ E.D. tried to lift his arms. ‘You’ve arrived just in time to join the party.’

‘Idiot,’ said Hannah. ‘Untie us, quickly.’

Angus struggled with the knots, finally pulling their hands free.

‘Thanks, mate,’ said E.D. He turned to Hannah, rubbing his wrists. ‘No offence, but I don’t want to get that close to you again.’

Hannah ignored him. ‘What’s that?’ she asked Angus, pointing to the ceiling.

‘A fire alarm?’ Angus said, after a moment.

‘Exactly. And what are they?’ Hannah continued.

Gabby was shaking the door.

‘It’s locked,’ she sighed, returning to the others.

‘Of course it is. What did you expect?’ E.D. sighed.

‘Angus?’ Hannah persisted.

‘Are they sprinklers?’ Angus said tiredly, looking up at the small metal devices spread evenly across the ceiling. ‘I should’ve let all those horses out,’ he added, turning to Ling.

‘Got it in one, Angus.’ Hannah was feeling better now that he’d joined them.

‘So what’s your plan, Hannah?’ Ling asked, speaking for the first time.

‘Watch,’ she said, pulling a rubbish bin filled with papers from under a table. ‘Matches?’

Gabby took the box of matches from the drawer and passed them to Hannah.

‘Are you sure this is going to work?’ E.D. said.

‘Of course I’m not sure it’s going to work, but have you got a better idea?’

E.D. looked over at the windows, frowning.

‘I’m sure we could smash our way out…’ he mumbled, heading over to the far side of the room again.

Hannah bent down and lit the papers. A thin trail of smoke spiralled towards the white tiled ceiling.

‘Move it a bit to the left,’ Angus said, giving the bin a gentle push with his foot. They backed away as the smoke got thicker.

In the distance, a bell started ringing.

‘A fire alarm?’ Ling asked, her face suddenly alive.

‘Yes! That will bring the fire brigade, and probably the Sarge too,’ said E.D.

Everyone looked up as a gurgling, whooshing sound came from above.

‘The sprinklers,’ Gabby gasped, her hands immediately covering her hair.

‘Quick, everyone. To the door,’ Hannah shouted.

A dozen sprinklers sprayed water all over the room and everything inside it. The fire in the bin got smokier as the water doused the flames.

Click.

Hannah grinned. ‘Emergency exit!’

‘Bloody brilliant,’ E.D. said, patting her on the back and charging to the opened door.

‘E.D.! Wait!’ she called.

He flung the door open and froze. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

‘They’ve shot King,’ Sean cried, then ran past E.D. and into the arms of his sister.

Only Ling saw how pale Angus went. The others were looking at Sean. His face was red and splotchy. Hannah knelt down in front of him. ‘How do you know that, Sean?’

‘I heard the gun. They said they were going to kill him and they have!’

‘Did you see anything?’

‘No. I only heard the gun.’

Hannah looked at Angus. ‘It was probably the same gunshot we heard.’

‘Come on,’ said Angus desperately. ‘We’ve got to find King.’

The fire bell was louder in the kitchen. Sprinklers went off as they ran through and burst outside.

‘Looks like we’ve caused real problems,’ shouted Hannah.

‘Not us,’ said E.D., looking at the stables. ‘Those dudes have gone crazy!’

There were fires everywhere. The roof of the stables was blazing. Stacked hay bales were smoking. In the distance, Angus saw Jim running around the edge of a shed, a lit stick in his hand. Further behind him, another man was dousing a tack room with something from a can.

‘They’re burning the evidence!’ screamed Hannah.

‘The horses!’ yelled Angus. ‘We have to let them out.’

‘What about the rabbits?’ Gabby had her hands in her hair and her face was twisted.

‘We’ll get the rabbits, Gabby.’ Hannah pushed her towards the house. ‘Quick, before they set the place on fire.’ They ran back inside.

‘Check the stables!’ shouted Angus, running to the burning building.

The stables were dark and smoky. Angus and E.D. went inside the doorway and stopped. All the gates were open. Despite the dark, they could both tell: the stables were empty.

‘They didn’t have to get rid of these ones,’ shouted Angus to E.D. ‘These horses were normal.’

‘They would’ve taken them out a long time ago.’

‘Angus!’ shouted Ling. ‘What about the other stables?’

‘We’ve got to get to them before they’re burnt!’

Angus ran, not caring whether anyone else was following. The thought of all those horses trapped in their stalls made him run as fast as he ever had in his life. Panic filled him. Where was King? Was he safe? From the bush ahead, smoke began to rise in a grey cloud.

The tractor was almost on his heels before he noticed it. ‘Hey, Angus!’ E.D. called from the driver’s seat. ‘Want a ride, dude?’

Angus ran beside the vehicle until he could get a clear jump. He made for the cabin and felt two hands grab him. ‘Got you,’ said Ling in his ear just before he lurched in, sprawling on top of her.

There was no time to be embarrassed about it.

‘How did you—?’

‘I got in with E.D.’ Ling grimaced. ‘Sort of wish I hadn’t now.’

E.D. was driving at his best—or worst—crashing along the track, taking out small trees on either side. He didn’t slow when the track
turned and went downhill. Ling and Angus were flung against the windscreen. ‘Lucky Paul showed me how to drive this thing,’ yelled E.D., a wide grin on his face. ‘Hang on, people!’

He stopped smiling when he saw the stables. They were blazing like the others, but this time it was clear they weren’t empty. The screams of terrified horses rose above the tractor noise.

Angus jumped out before the tractor had stopped and ran into the stables. Thick smoke choked him but he kept going, undoing each gate as he went past. On the other side of the laneway, he could just make out Ling doing the same thing. Horses galloped past them, making for the open air.

At the end of the stables, Angus turned to Ling. She was coughing and bent over. He grabbed her hand. ‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘We’ve done all we can.’

They ran together, heads low, up the laneway and out into the yard where E.D. had stopped the tractor and was trying to hose the stables down.

‘It’s okay,’ yelled Angus. ‘We got them all out.’

‘But I can still hear one.’ E.D. sprayed the hose along the roof. ‘Listen!’

The noise of the burning stable was loud. Angus strained to hear anything else. E.D. was right, though. A horse was neighing, a loud familiar sound.
‘King!’

‘He isn’t in the stables,’ Ling said, still holding Angus’s hand. ‘We know that.’

‘Did you check behind them?’ yelled E.D., waving his hose. ‘I think it’s coming from down there.’

Angus ran along the edge of the building. The bush had caught alight as well and trees dropped glowing gum leaves around him. Two cars and a horse float were parked nearby—a horse float with a broken window. Through the empty space, Angus could just make out a chestnut horse’s head flinging up and down in fright.

‘King!’

He ran to the back of the float and let it down with a thud. King wasn’t tied up and backed out straight away. Angus caught the lead rope in one hand and King pushed his nose into the boy. ‘You’re safe,’ said Angus, tears running down his face. ‘That’s the main thing.’

He led the horse out into the clearing, swung up on his broad back and rode to the front of the
stables. E.D. was in the tractor again. His hosing hadn’t done any good: the stables were now an inferno. Ling leaned out of the cabin next to him. ‘You found him!’

‘Yeah! He’s okay! Let’s get back to the others.’

King led the way up the track. The tractor revved and bounced behind him. Angus couldn’t help thinking that he had the more comfortable ride. They burst out of the bush and galloped towards the house.

The old homestead was alight as well. Orange flames shot into the sky, but Angus didn’t see them. He had his eyes on the police car and three fire trucks parked near the house. Angus pulled King up in the yard, looking around anxiously for Hannah and the others.

‘Angus!’ screamed Hannah, running over to him from the safety of the police car.

Angus noticed both Tom Bentley and Natasha being marched towards a dark, unmarked car further back from the others. So they hadn’t got away. Probably still trying to destroy evidence, he thought, satisfied.

‘Where are the others?’ he asked.

Hannah’s face crumpled. ‘Gabby’s in the car. But we don’t know where Sean is.’

Angus gasped. ‘What?’

‘I saw him when we’d got the rabbits out. I know he didn’t go with E.D. and Ling in the tractor. But then he just disappeared.’

Angus pushed King into a trot and headed towards the house. People were standing in groups, including a handcuffed Natasha and Tom. They were watching the fires and Natasha was crying. Not for the horses, thought Angus, just for the destruction of her experiments. He rode past, ignoring police officers who were waving and calling out to him, and swung around the stables, giving the fiery building a wide berth.

There were a lot of places a small boy could hide at the back of the property: sheds and cars and even old barrels left scattered about. ‘Sean!’ Angus called as he went. ‘Sean, where are you?’ His search took him further and further from the stables.

King noticed them first. He snorted and baulked. To Angus’s right, a small grubby boy stood with his arms around the neck of a lanky black foal.

‘Look, Angus,’ said Sean in a scratchy voice. ‘Look what I rescued.’

Angus slid from King’s back and put his
hand out to touch the white snip on the foal’s nose.

‘I did good, didn’t I, Angus?’ Sean was trembling, but there was no way he was letting the foal go.

Angus smiled at him. ‘You did
real
good.’