Rat-Catcher (12 page)

'You see, mastiffs are not naturally aggressive, as my two pets have just demonstrated. They have to be trained to hunt, to attack. My dog-handler and I have trained these dogs to attack by teaching them to associate a particular noise with a great deal of pain. For months they wore special collars, which gave them strong electric shocks every time they heard this noise and now . . . Now they will hunt down and attack the source of that noise without mercy. When I flick the switch on this box here, your bracelets will make that noise. It is too high for the human ear to register, but you will know when your bracelets are active because a red light will flash inside the glass bubble. And, of course--' the general laughed - 'the dogs will attack you without mercy.'

Inside the circle, the Quechua Indian had just finished attaching the bracelet to Eliza's ankle, when she reached out and laid a trembling hand on the top of his head. He looked up into her eyes with a startled expression.

'Help me, Grandfather,' she said in Quechua. The man was not really her grandfather - she was simply using the name all Quechua children used for older men, as a sign of respect.

A spasm of emotion crossed the Quechua man's face like a ripple in a pond. He reached up and gave her hand a squeeze, then he stood up. 'I cannot help you, little one,' he replied gently. Then he turned and left the training room, closing the door softly behind him. Paulo and Eliza backed up against the glass screen, watching the dogs warily.

Behind the screen the general reached for the switch on the box, just as Amber worked out what it was he had been saying. Her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened. 'Don't!' she cried, but she was too late. He had already flicked the switch.

An instant later, the two dogs in the training circle turned into snarling monsters.

S
EVENTEEN

The dogs lunged for Paulo and Eliza, pushing off with their powerful haunches and rearing into the air. The chains brought them up short when they were centimetres away. Eliza screamed and curled up in a ball in the sawdust. Paulo squashed himself against the glass as one of the dogs snapped at the air in front of his face. The whites of its eyes were red with fury and strings of thick spittle flew from its snarling muzzle. Again and again the maddened dogs lunged to the limit of their chains, until Paulo thought the rings would surely be pulled away from the wall. Then, suddenly, the huge animals stopped and retreated to the far wall, panting and whining and looking around them in bewilderment.

Paulo looked down at his bracelet and saw that the red light had stopped flashing inside the glass bubble. The Quechua Indian returned, stony-faced, and led the dogs from the room. Paulo sagged against the glass and a silence fell over the training circle.

'Magnificent, weren't they?' said the general softly. He straightened and clapped his hands together. 'And now, it is time for the hunt!'

The thin-faced man stepped forward and pulled four more steel bracelets from his pockets. Amber, Hex, Alex and Li struggled as hard as they could, but a few minutes later they were each wearing one of the bracelets and their handcuffs had been removed. The thin-faced man opened a door in the glass wall and pushed them through into the training circle. Li ran to Paulo and hugged him hard. He winced at the pain but encircled her in his arms and hugged her back.

'So touching,' said the general through the intercom. 'Now, this will be interesting. I have never hunted more than two at once before, and there are six of you. Of course, one of you is small and one is - shall we say? - not in the best of health, so that will slow you down, but even so I think I shall be using all ten dogs today. Will loyalty keep you together? Or will you split up? I wonder. That way some of you might have a chance. Although I must tell you that no-one has managed to escape the dogs so far.'

The general rubbed his hands, observing them through the glass as though they were a particularly pleasing species of animal. They glowered back at him silently. 'Nothing to say?' said the general. 'No pleading for your lives? Yes, this will be interesting! We are right in the middle of my land here. The grounds stretch for many miles all around. There are no rules. You can choose to go where you like. I should tell you that you will not be able to remove or break the bracelets. They are too strong. You will not be able to muffle the sound, whatever you do. The dogs can pick this sound up even when the bracelet is held underwater. Of course, you are welcome to waste your time trying all these things, but if I were you, I would use your time to get as far away from the dogs as possible. You have a twenty-minute start, then I will activate the bracelets and let the dogs loose. Good luck.'

The general turned on his heel and left the building, followed by the thin-faced man. A few seconds later a pair of large double doors on the far side of the training circle swung silently open and sunshine flooded into the dark room.

'Quick!' gasped Amber, heading for the doors. 'We have to start running!'

'Wait a minute, Amber,' called Alex, stripping off his fleece jacket. 'We can't just dash off without a plan. We'd never make it.'

Amber turned back, near to panic. 'What? What do we do?'

'First, we need to strip off some of these clothes. We'll be far too hot otherwise.'

Amber, Li and Hex began stripping off their outer layers. Alex threw his waterproof jacket and trousers over to Paulo, followed by his knife. 'Do you think you can make some sort of a sling out of that, Paulo, so Hex and I can take turns at carrying Eliza on our backs?'

Paulo nodded and got to work.

'Aren't we even going to try getting these bracelets off?' asked Li.

Hex shook his head as he struggled out of his waterproof trousers. 'I think the general was telling the truth. They look pretty unbreakable to me.'

'I agree,' said Paulo.

'Whatever we do,' said Amber, 'I think we should stay together. That way we have more of a chance against the dogs when they catch up.'

Alex nodded absently. He was looking at the compass which was still hanging around Amber's neck. 'There is one way we have a chance to get out of this,' he said slowly.

'How?' asked Li.

'I saw a road when we came in on the plane. It runs from west to east along the northern boundary of the estate. If we use Amber's compass to keep us heading north - and if we run as hard as we can through whatever is in our way, we might just make it to the road before the dogs catch up. Then we can stop a car.'

'And what if there isn't a car?' asked Li.

'Do you have a better plan, Li?' retorted Hex.

'Here,' said Paulo, holding out an improvised, papoose-style carrier. 'It is done.'

'I'll take her first,' said Hex.

He brought the straps down over his shoulders and tied them to the straps coming around his waist, then Paulo gently lifted Eliza up and slipped her into the papoose.

'Which way, Amber?' asked Li.

Amber checked her compass, then pointed out of the doorway. 'That way, towards the forest,' she said.

'Will you be OK, Paulo?' asked Hex.

Paulo drew himself up and nodded determinedly. 'They are only bruises,' he said.

'Let's go then,' said Alex.

They raced out of the double doors and across the manicured circle of grass that surrounded the converted hut. There was no other building in sight and the area was totally deserted. The general was nowhere to be seen. Strangely, they found that more frightening than if he had been standing there waiting to see which way they went. He must have a lot of faith in the abilities of his dogs to let his intended prey wander off wherever it wanted to go.

'Remember,' panted Alex, 'we keep going north as straight as an arrow, through whatever we find in front of us. It's our only chance.'

They moved across the open space in a tight bunch, feeling very exposed in the bright sunshine. The grass gave way to a field full of corn and they crashed their way through the tall plants, ignoring the slicing cuts from the sharp-edged leaves.

'Five minutes gone,' panted Li, checking her watch when they emerged on the other side of the field.

They pounded on through a sloping meadow until they reached a lake. Alex launched himself from the bank into the murky green water without hesitation and began swimming strongly towards the other side. Amber and Li swam on either side of Paulo, ready to help him if his battered muscles gave out. Hex brought up the rear, swimming more slowly, with Eliza bobbing wide-eyed above his head and clutching at the back of his neck.

The slope was muddy on the other side, churned up by cattle coming down to drink. They crawled out onto the bank and clambered to their feet, covered in slime and mud and blood. Alex took over the task of carrying Eliza from a badly winded Hex and they struggled on, up the steepening slope.

'Twelve minutes gone,' gasped Li.

They had just reached the edge of the forest at the top of the long slope when Hex looked down at his bracelet and saw with a sinking heart that the red light had started to flash. Wordlessly he held his arm out to show the others. A second later they heard a deep, disturbing baying drifting across to them on the still air. They looked back and saw ten pale shapes burst from the training hut, followed by a man on a horse. The ten shapes arrowed straight towards them.

'Come on!' yelled Alex urgently.

They crashed into the forest, finding a fresh burst of speed from somewhere. The trees were well spaced, but there were many overhanging branches and tree roots to trip them up. They ran on as fast as they could, with Amber checking her compass and leading the way. Thorns snagged at their clothes and ripped their skin, adding to the cuts they had received in the cornfield. The slope of the ground grew steeper until they were virtually dragging themselves upwards, clinging onto tree roots and branches. And all the while, the maddened baying of the dogs grew louder and louder.

'How much further?' gasped Paulo, clutching at his side.

'Just keep running!' shouted Hex.

Suddenly a crashing sounded in the forest behind them. The dogs had reached the tree line.

Desperately, they pounded on as the baying behind them grew to an almost deafening level.

'I can see them!' shrieked Li. 'They're nearly on us!'

'It's lighter up ahead,' gasped Paulo.

He was right. The trees were thinning out. They crashed on through the undergrowth and suddenly the road appeared ahead of them through the trees. They tumbled out onto it and looked around them. It was little more than an unmade track, and it was deserted.

Paulo bent over, trying to catch his breath. Amber and Li clung together, sobbing. Alex untied the straps on the papoose and lowered Eliza to the ground. She jumped up and hurried over to Paulo. Hex found two stout branches and handed one to Alex. Their plan had failed, but they were not going to die without a fight. They could see the dogs now. Huge, pale shapes crashing through the trees with their red eyes glowing.

Then an open-topped off-roader careered around the corner and screeched to a halt beside them. The Quechua Indian jumped out, leaving the engine running. He grabbed Eliza and threw her up into the back of the vehicle, motioning to the others to climb up after her. As they scrambled in, the man slipped a chain from around his neck and grasped Eliza's ankle. There was a small key hanging from the chain and he deftly slotted it into the lock on her bracelet. The steel hinge sprang open and he pulled the bracelet from her leg.

'There, little one,' he said in Quechua.

'They're here!' yelled Alex as the huge mastiffs launched themselves from the forest onto the road.

The Quechua threw the key at Amber, then ran for the driver's seat, still clutching Eliza's bracelet. He never made it. Three of the dogs grabbed him by the arms and throat, bringing him crashing to the ground and the others piled in, snarling and tearing at him. The man began to scream, then the screams died into a wet, gurgling noise as his throat was ripped out. Paulo grabbed Eliza and turned her face to his chest so that she would not see what was happening to her friend.

'Do something!' begged Li.

Alex and Hex leaned over the side of the truck and began beating at the pack with the branches they had picked up. The maddened dogs ignored them.

General Manteca urged his horse out of the trees onto the road. He took in the situation with one glance, then reached into his pocket and pulled out the little metal box. He flicked the switch and the red flashing lights on their bracelets blinked out. The dogs stopped snarling and pulled away from the body of the Quechua Indian. Some of them wandered about on the road as though they weren't quite sure how they got there, while others nudged at the tattered remains of their master and whined softly.

The general looked down at the body of his dog-trainer, then turned his cold eyes on the five of them where they huddled together in the back of the off-roader. He got down from his horse and tied the reins to a tree, then he pulled a high-powered rifle from the saddle bag and took aim at the back of the off-roader, trying to decide who to shoot first.

Alex bowed his head and waited for the bullets to hit. They never came. Suddenly, half a dozen men in camouflage gear materialized out of the trees, with their weapons trained on the general. One of the men was his father. Alex grinned as a huge wave of astonished relief swept over him.

'Lower your rifle, Luis,' instructed Alex's father in a cold voice.

The general stared in shock at the six men surrounding him, then glanced towards the trees, judging his chances.

'You won't make it,' Alex's father went on, in the same cold voice.

The general slowly lowered his rifle, then laid it on the ground. Two of the men hurried forward and collected the rifle, then frisked the general. Alex recognized one of the men as Mike. They removed the little metal box and a cellphone from his pockets, then stepped back.

Alex's father hurried over to the off-roader and Alex opened his mouth to speak, but his father only glanced without recognition at the group of mud-, slime- and blood-covered kids in the back before reaching in and turning off the ignition.
'No se mueva,'
he ordered, before turning all his attention back to the general.
He thinks we're street kids,
thought Alex, watching his father in open fascination. He was seeing a completely different side of him. A side that had always been off-limits to Alex.

'When did you get back?' asked the general, as though he had merely bumped into Alex's father in the street.

'Last night. Guayaquil was a dead-end, but of course you knew that.'

'How did you find out . . .?'

'About you? A street kid came and found me. Leo, he was called.'

In the back of the off-roader, Amber raised her eyes to the sky. Leo! She had forgotten all about him. She sent a silent thank-you to Leo for doing as she had asked.

'Leo?' The general shook his head. 'Don't know him.'

'No, of course you don't,' said Alex's dad. 'The only street kids you know are dead ones. Leo knew you, though. He told me all about you.'

'And how did you find this place?' asked the general.

'That was easy,' said Alex's dad, holding up the cellphone that Mike had passed to him. 'I sent a text message from Paris this morning.'

'Ah,' smiled the general. 'Very clever. Then you pinpointed the location of the signal.'

'We were in the woods, moving in to reconnoitre the house, when all hell broke loose.'

'A man has to have some hobbies,' said the general. 'I always love to hunt on a beautiful day like this.'

'You won't be doing any more hunting today. I'm taking you back to Quito to face charges of murder and the manufacture and smuggling of cocaine.'

'You can try, my friend, but it won't work. You can't do anything to me in my own country. I am too powerful here. Too many people owe me a favour.'