We had struck lucky. I had been fairly sure we would; this was cycling country and Tring was a nice commuter belt town, probably with a cycling group and dedicated cyclists who spent weekends cruising up and down the canal and in and around the Chilterns. My main worry had been that the bikes would have all gone, but Taz reported that they were all still there.
When I got to the shop I understood why; they were chained to the racks with some sort of high strength security wire. I stopped, unsure what to do, but Jack set to work on the locks. I couldn’t see what he did, he was so fast, but one after the other, fifteen bikes were lowered off the walls and very quickly had new owners.
I was aware of time passing and wheeling my bike out of the shop, I called to the others. We rode off, quiet and purposeful, back to the canal. This time Alex took the lead, it was obvious he was super comfortable on a bike. Alisha and Jasmine were wobbling in the middle, receiving encouragement from Mark. The rest of us spread out as we cycled along the towpath for almost an hour, stopping every ten minutes or so to let the slower members catch up.
We rode along the towpath through the town of Berkhamsted and into Hemel Hempstead. A couple of times I glimpsed dogs in the distance, but our numbers kept away any unwanted company and there was no sign of pursuit. There were boats tied up along the riverbank but no signs of life inside. We passed a play area and stopped to rest; sitting on a concrete plinth around a stone sculpture, but the cold eventually forced us on.
Twenty minutes later, we reached the M25 where we collapsed in a huddle on the towpath, too tired to cycle any further. The massive concrete structure arched over us as we sat and ate lunch. After eating the sandwiches I had made, I pulled out my phone. I had had no signal for the six weeks I was inside the camp and was looking forward to getting back in touch with the outside world. I turned my phone on and let it load. WhatsApp messages from friends and family began to pop up along with email notifications; it felt immensely good to be connected again. Then a notification for a missed call appeared from an unrecognised number and a notification for voicemail. I dialled, there were eight new messages. I opened the first and heard Vik’s voice.
‘Hey Z, where are you? We’re at yours but it’s all locked up. Sorry we have been out of contact so long. It’s been quite an exciting time. Hope you are back soon. Bye’
They were alive! I felt such relief, but it was typical of Vic not to explain anything. Where had they been all this time? I listened to the other messages which got steadily more and more worried, the last one was from two days ago.
‘Hi Z, I don’t know if you are getting these, but I hope you are ok, we’re still with Catrina and Ben, please let us know if you are ok. Bye’
I was confused, they hadn’t said where they were staying; just that they were staying with some people called Catrina and Ben. I didn’t know who they were talking about but I immediately texted back, ‘Hi Vik, great to hear you guys are ok. I’ve been in an area without signal for the past six weeks, should be home soon. Zx’ Halfway through sending the message my phone died, but at least I knew they were ok.
I felt a surge of joy and gratefulness; my family was safe and we had reached the M25; the army didn’t venture inside, they had said so themselves. We were safe.
Chapter 16: Disaster
The kids were sitting around talking and eating, and I had the map out, trying to work out how far we had left to go, when, overhead on the motorway above us, we heard the throaty roar of motorbikes. We looked up, paralysed for a second by the unusual sound.
‘Scatter! meet at Carpenders Park.’ I yelled as I grabbed my bike and belted along the path. Some kids followed me, some went the other direction, and I noticed some scale the tall spiked metal fence beside us, up and over in a second. Then I was racing away, a bunch of us flying along the towpath.
I glanced behind just in time to see Leila and Taz bounce off the path and into the trees. There was a building up ahead; a lock, but the roar of engines was getting louder. The trees disappeared and glancing to my right, I saw something moving on the road parallel to us. I was too far to see individual vehicles, but close enough to see them veer of the road and cut across the field heading towards us. The others were pulling ahead of me, Alex and Alisha and Jasmine. ‘Wait,’ I yelled, but they were too far away.
I skidded to a stop in the shadow of the lockkeeper’s cottage and scrambled off my bike, not pausing to catch it as it fell into the water. I jumped up onto the wooden arms of the lock gates and ran over to the other side, grabbing at the white rail to keep my balance. I pushed through the bushes and then was running, slicing through brown grasses, panicked by the soldiers behind. Ahead, less than a hundred yards, I could see a line of trees, I plunged towards them, but before I could check, slipped down into waist high water into another canal.
The freezing water made me gasp and splash. I stopped moving almost immediately, petrified by fear. I listened intently at the sounds in the distance but heard nothing close by, no one had followed me; I was alone. The motorbike engines were moving north and south along the towpath. Shielded by the lockkeeper’s cottage, no-one had seen me cross the canal.
I ducked down in the water so I was hidden by the tall grasses, then rose up again, staring across the field despite myself. I could see the bikes racing along the towpath… they were going to be caught; Alex was in front, far behind, Jasmine and Alisha were peddling furiously. I held my breath as the soldiers gained quickly. When they got close, they didn’t do anything sophisticated, just shot straight past the bicycles on the outside knocking them into the canal. The kids had no chance and there was nothing I could do. I watched a couple of soldiers get off their motorbikes to fish Jasmine and Alisha out of the water whilst the other two sped after Alex. I turned to look for the motorbikes going south but they had disappeared out of sight behind a line of trees.
I looked around me, suddenly aware of the freezing cold. I was far enough away to be practically invisible, but if they started searching, I would be quickly found. I knew I had to get out of the water, already my teeth were chattering.
I scrambled up the bank and rolled into the trees, they were thin and leafless and beyond them was another field, open and exposed. I lay on my front, hidden in the thin dry stems of last year’s grass, shivering in fear and shock and cold. Ahead was a bank with a much thicker covering of vegetation. If I could get to it, I would have a much greater chance of staying hidden.
I pulled my backpack off my back and pushed it ahead of me crawling after it, but I couldn’t see where I was going and it was far too slow, I had to trust that they couldn’t see me through the thin vegetation lining the second canal. I scrambled to my feet, crouching, and ran through the grass towards the bank of brambles. I shoved my way up the bank then froze as I glanced back; I could see clear across the fields. How had they not seen me already? I could see them as clear as day. I almost fell in my haste to hide, and crouched down amongst the brambles and bushes. Looking out into the distance, I watched the soldiers milling around, rounding kids up into a line.
I watched as they began to spread out into the surrounding fields, searching. I had to move or I would also be caught. I began to inch backwards, slowly shifting my weight from leg to leg as I moved up the bank, shuddering with cold and fear. I stared out over the fields and willing them not to look my way. Eventually I reached the trees at the top and fell backwards onto gravel; I had stumbled onto the railway.
Standing I shook uncontrollably, my teeth chattering, and shudders of cold wracking my body. I looked up and down the track; I was completely hidden from view. I mentally gathered myself and began to run along the wooden sleepers, trying to put as much distance as possible between myself and any pursuers, I was wheezing and squelching with smelly canal water, tripping every few seconds over the sleepers. I stopped every couple of hundred yards to catch my breath, my legs shaking. I was almost completely spent but after ten minutes the tracks slipped down into a cutting and I could see a tunnel ahead.