I nodded but didn’t say anything.
‘Are we still going?’ she asked.
‘Yes, let’s eat and then we’ll go as planned.’
‘What about him,’ she asked, motioning towards David.
‘We’ll leave him where he is, someone will find him eventually.’ I didn’t really care, as long as he couldn’t get out and raise the alarm.
I got up and checked the gaffer tape, but he was bound tight. There was no way he was either going to free his limbs or get the tape off his mouth. Even if he tipped over, it was a sturdy wooden chair and wouldn’t break. I still had the knife in my hand and I slowly slid it back into the block. Then for good measure, I took a tea towel and draped it over his head, covering his eyes. That would make doing anything a million times more difficult and he wouldn’t see where we went.
I looked around at the kids eating. I taught most of them and although I knew some better than others, they were all good kids. Apart from Ruth and Mark, there were five other students from the year 11 class: Alex, Freya, Leila and Taz, and Jack, a good-natured bright boy. There were four kids from the year below; Kai and Eddie; a pair of smiling boys who always had a cheeky greeting when I saw them on the way into school and Drew and Mateusz, who I knew less well. Ruth had also brought along Alisha and Jasmine who were inseparable twins from my year 7 class. Liam was the only one I didn’t teach; at only ten years old, he was in the primary school. I looked at Ruth as she introduced him. ‘He’s young, but sensible, he won’t hold us back,’ she said in response.
We moved into the garden and waited for the soldiers to pass on their circuit. Once they had gone, I opened the slats of the fence and slipped out into the alley. Using the pliers I started to unwind the wire, glancing left and right nervously. It seemed to take forever, but less than ten minutes later, everyone was through. We ran sideways along the fence to the hedge that bordered the school, then followed it north round the edge of the field until, there in front of us, was the canal.
‘Do we have to cross?’ whispered Drew, who, with his long legs, had arrived first. He had pushed his way between two bushes and was looking out over the canal. I could see the towpath on the other side, but the water looked dark and deep, with brown leaves and twigs floating on a dirty scum on top. It looked uninviting and it was far too cold to let people get wet.
‘No,’ I said, ‘there should be a crossing at the end of the field.’
Kai and Eddie immediately set off at the front and I followed, scrambling over the little hillocks of grass and trying not to get scratched by the arching stems of bramble that reached out from the mess of hedge plants that had grown up along the side of the canal.
I tried to move quietly, the only sounds the rustle of our coats and the quiet query of concern from Alisha, when Jasmine tripped and fell. I reached the end of the field and saw a wide path beyond. Mark and Drew pushed through the hedge, stepping up onto the path on the other side. Holding back some of the whippier branches they helped everyone through. There was a small footbridge over the canal; we crossed and then we were on the towpath.
Once on the flat gravel path I started running, I sent Drew and Freya up to the front to set the pace, Mark at the back. The kids seemed to be in good shape, I was the worst off, my attempts at building stamina at the gym had improved my ability slightly but I needed all of Marks silent encouragement to keep going. Ten minutes later we were in Halton, it was still very early, so we slowed to a silent walk and stole through, crossing the main road quickly and fearfully, before continuing on.
We continued alternating between jogging and walking for another mile until we could see, between the trees, that we had reached another urban area. Had we reached Tring? I stopped and spread out the map on the ground, I needed the break, and I wasn’t the only one. In this age of google maps it appeared that I was the only one that could reliably read an ordinance survey map, but it confirmed that we hadn’t yet reached the A41. Another ten minutes put us at the main road.
I took out the map again as we rested under the carriageway. It felt like a secure hiding place, but I could see that the others were still tense. If David got loose somehow and sent soldiers after us, they would catch us easily. The map showed a couple of options, we could follow the canal in a big loop around, north of the town or we could follow the side roads in and hope to find a bike shop.
‘Are there people in Tring?’ I asked as the year 11 students gathered around the map.
‘No,’ said Alex knowledgeable, ‘the survivors all moved to the settlement camp, we had some in our class.’
I looked at Ruth, ‘they didn’t come with us?’
‘No, they were rich kid survivors, with families, not city refugees like us.’
I had wondered how Ruth and Mark had picked the fourteen, now it was obvious; they had picked city kids without any ties to friends or family in Wendover. It must have been hard organising them all; persuading them to trust me, in retrospect, my job had been much easier.
‘Ok, we’re going into Tring,’ I said, ‘we need to leave the towpath.’
We walked the lanes to the big Tring junction and then followed the road into town, finally reaching the town centre. Everyone was tired and we needed a break. The shop fronts were all broken with the insides open to the elements, they appeared to be stripped clean but poking around ahead of us, Kia and Eddie found a cafe that had tables and chairs still inside.
We trooped inside and collapsed into the chairs, I paused a second and then stood up, ‘Where are you going?’ asked Mark.
‘We should have a lookout,’ I replied; I was still cautious, especially in an unknown town.
‘Good idea,’ said Ruth, ‘Jack, Liam, Freya…’ they quickly stood and ran out, Jack and Liam turning left out the door, Freya turning right as if they knew exactly what to do. Maybe they did, apart from how they behaved in school, I didn’t really know much about them. Freya had already surprised me with her athletic ability, she seemed tireless. I was relieved, the kids might not be tired, but I was exhausted. I hadn’t done so much running in my entire life.
Then Ruth unexpectedly asked, ‘where are we going?’
I looked at her confused, hadn’t I explained?… No, I was going to have discussed it over breakfast, but couldn’t because of the arrival of David. They had all been blindly following me ever since we had left, not knowing where we were going or what they would find there. I was touched by their trust.’
We’re following the Grand Union Canal all the way back to Watford,’ I said, ‘then walking down to where I used to live. I have a lot of food stashed and a food garden started. We can set up there, settle in, and hide. No one will find us. We’ll be safe and can craft some sort of life for ourselves.’
‘What are we doing here?’ she asked.
‘We need bikes,’ I said, ‘we’ll be much faster on a bike along the towpath. When we’ve had a couple of minutes rest, we can spread out and try and find a bike store or something.’
‘Great!’ said Alex immediately, looking much happier. Most of the others also seemed to perk up although Alisha and Jasmine looked nervous. Maybe they hadn’t ridden much before.
Leila and Taz immediately stood up and were off, running out of the cafe, ‘back in a sec…’ called Taz. The rest of the kids continued lolling on their chairs, tired from the fast pace we had set. Less than a minute later, the two girls were back.
‘There’s a bike store round the corner,’ Leila said, dancing in round the tables.
‘And it’s still full of bikes,’ said Taz, giving Leila an exuberant shove. Now they were out of the settlement they seemed to have suddenly come alive.