Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman (historical books to read TXT) 📕

I stopped rubbing my stomach at once, but I still didn’t turn around. Callum put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me round to face him.

‘Dinner.’

He thrust the plastic plate into my hands. I sat up and after firing a lasering look in his direction, I threw the plate across the room. It hit the wall with a thud and the plate fell first, followed by a brown sticky mess trickling its way down the wall towards the floor.

‘You shouldn’t’ve done that.’

I deliberately turned away from him and lay down again. Silence. But I wasn’t going to turn around to see what he was doing. After a short while, I heard him cross the room and leave, locking the door behind him.

He never forgot to lock the door.

ninety-eight. Callum

If I could just stop thinking for five seconds then I could get some shut-eye. But it wasn’t happening. And the sleeping bag seemed to twist in the opposite direction to whichever way I turned. I couldn’t get Sephy’s words out of my head.

One of you is going to kill me . . .

But we didn’t have to do that. OK so she’d seen us, but once her dad met our demands we could be long gone. But even as I thought it, I knew I was just deluding myself.

One of you is going to kill me . . .

‘You look like you could use some company.’ Leila’s voice above me was the last straw. I opened my eyes, giving up all pretence of trying to sleep.

‘Who’s guarding the front?’

‘I came in for a loo break – if that’s all right with you.’

I unzipped my bag and sat up. ‘No, it’s not OK with me. You want to take a leak, do it in the woods, but don’t leave the front of the cabin unmonitored.’

‘I’m not a man,’ Leila protested. ‘I can’t wee standing up.’

‘That’s no excuse.’

‘Callum, you’re mad as hell at something, but don’t take it out on me.’

I pulled on my T-shirt. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘You don’t have to get dressed on my account,’ Leila said silkily, running her hands lightly over my chest.

‘Go and guard the front like you’re supposed to,’ I told her.

Leila stood up. ‘Suit yourself. D’you know, I think that’s why I like you.’ At my puzzled look she explained. ‘You’re the only man I know who hasn’t tried to get on my good side in five seconds flat!’

I smiled. ‘Nothing personal, Leila.’

‘Thanks!’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘That makes it worse!’

I got to my feet as she left the room. Pulling on my boots, I decided to hunt down a beer and join Morgan out back. Without warning, there was a sudden commotion out front. I ran towards the front door when it burst open. For one split second, I thought we’d been rumbled, that the police had somehow tracked us down. But it wasn’t the police. It was Leila and a stranger. He was as tall as me, with blond hair tied back in a pony-tail. He wore a dark polo shirt and expensive brown trousers tucked into fancy boots. His long, dark trenchcoat had the collar turned up and flapped open like a cloak or a cape. The peculiar thing was, the stranger had Leila in an armlock, not the other way round. Morgan came running up behind me.

‘Who’s in charge here?’ the stranger asked.

Morgan looked at me. I didn’t take my eyes off the intruder. The stranger turned to me. ‘I see that you are. I believe you’ve been expecting me.’

‘Let me go!’ Leila hissed, trying to twist away from the man who held her.

The man pushed her forward – hard. She only just kept her balance. She spun around, arms raised, ready to take him out. The man raised one hand.

‘I wouldn’t if I were you,’ was all he said. But it was enough.

A second or two later, Leila dropped her hands.

‘So this is the famous Stiletto unit, is it?’ The man looked at each of us in turn. ‘So far, I’m not very impressed.’

‘We’ve been expecting you, have we?’ Morgan said.

‘That’s right.’

‘What’s the password then?’ I asked.

‘You first,’ the man ordered.

I regarded him. ‘I don’t think so. You’re the guest here, not us.’

I signalled to Morgan behind my back to get ready. We’d been caught on the hop but there were three of us and only one of him.

‘How about Gold Man?’ said the stranger.

‘Not even close.’ Morgan and I started forward.

‘Then how about Golden Man,’ the stranger laughed.

I regarded the man with undisguised venom. I didn’t like to be made a fool of and that was precisely what he was doing.

‘Hi. I’m Andrew Dorn.’ He held out his hand.

After a moment’s pause I took it, still on my guard.

‘You’re the General’s second-in-command?’ Morgan said sceptically.

‘Yeah. D’you want to make something of it?’ asked Andrew.

‘Only asking,’ Morgan shrugged. ‘Excuse me. I’m on guard duty.’

With a brief nod of his head, Morgan turned and headed for the back door. Leila followed his cue by heading out the front, still rubbing her upper arm where Andrew had twisted it behind her back.

‘Congratulations on the success of the first part of your mission,’ Andrew told me when the others had gone. ‘Let’s hope the rest runs as smoothly.’

‘No reason why it shouldn’t.’

‘No reason at all,’ Andrew agreed.

‘Want some coffee?’

‘Wouldn’t say no. Can I see the prisoner first?’

I opened my mouth to say that she was probably asleep, but I managed to snap it shut in time. We moved along the hall to the door. I dug into my trouser pocket for the key and unlocked it. Sephy was sitting up on her bed, facing the door. She regarded both Andrew and me without saying a word.

‘I hope for your sake that your father loves you very, very much,’ Andrew told her.

Sephy stared at him, frowning. I saw her glance down at Andrew’s boots, then start. I glanced down at Andrew’s boots myself. They were