Alfie was a very ordinary boy. And like any ordinary boy starting at a new school, he was a bit nervous as he walked from home that first morning of term. There didn’t seem to be any other local children walking to school. But he saw other children being taken to school by their parents.
A large, black car with little flags on the sides of the bonnet swept past Alfie. The windows were so dark he couldn’t see in, but a smudge on the glass might just have been a girl’s nose pressed hard against the window as she looked out. The smudge moved to keep track of Alfie as the car went by.
Further up the road, a helicopter passed over Alfie’s head then swooped noisily down and headed in the direction of Thunder Raker Manor School. Alfie could see it hovering over the grounds. Ropes dropped down from the open side of the helicopter and several dark figures slid down them to the roof.
Alfie was just turning into the road that led to the school when he heard the rumble of an engine. It grew louder, and Alfie saw with surprise that a huge armoured tank was driving up the road towards him. Poking up from the turret was the top half of a man in army uniform wearing thick goggles. The man saluted Alfie as the tank went past, the whole road shaking under its weight. Behind the tank the tarmac was churned up by its tracks.
“It’s the same every time term starts,” a voice said as the tank rumbled into the distance.
Alfie looked round and saw a little old lady standing by the gate of a small cottage set back from the road. Her white hair was tied up in a bun on the back of her head and she had smiling, friendly eyes.
“Noise and upset,” she said, shaking her head. “The council will have to resurface the road you know. Again.”
“Oh, dear,” Alfie said. He felt uncomfortable now the lady was talking to him. But he couldn’t just walk away.
“Not to worry,” she said. “I don’t mind the school too much. It’s nice to hear the sound of children playing nearby.”
From the direction of the school came the dull crump of an explosion.
“Reminds me of when I was young,” she said.
Alfie thought he could hear machine gun fire now. “I’m Alfie,” he said loudly, over the noise.
“Mrs Prendergast,” the old lady said. “Haven’t seen you go past before, have I?”
Mrs Prendergast nodded. “That’ll be why then. Usually it’s just those men in the black overalls and dark glasses hiding in the shrubbery and taking pictures of the school.” She sniffed. “I give them cups of tea, but they don’t seem very pleased. Oh, well, nice to talk to you. I must put the kettle on.”
On his way to the school’s big iron gates, Alfie was passed by several more large cars, an armoured personnel carrier and a girl in a pink helmet and goggles on roller skates.
The roller skates had jets of flame coming out of them and the girl shot past faster than the cars. She gave Alfie a wave as he jumped back out of the way. Then she wobbled and shot off even faster. The uniformed man dragged the gates open just in time for her to zoom through. Black smoke trailed after her.
Alfie emerged from the cloud of smoke to find himself at the gate. The guard looked down at him.
“I’m here for the start of school,” Alfie explained.
The guard was holding a clipboard and examined a piece of paper attached to it. “Name?” he demanded.
“Alfie.”
The guard’s frown turned into a smile. “Alfie—welcome to Thunder Raker.” He tucked the clipboard under his arm and shook the surprised Alfie by the hand. “I’m sure you’ll be very happy here, but anything you need—anything at all…” He winked at Alfie. “Just ask. Any problems, come to me. Sergeant Custer.”
“Thank you.”
Alfie wondered where he was supposed to go, but before he could summon the courage to ask, Sergeant Custer showed him the way to reception. “They’ll be waiting for you,” he assured Alfie. “Oh, and if you happen to be speaking to You-Know-Who…” He winked again, and tapped his nose.
Alfie didn’t know who You-Know-Who could be, and he felt confused and embarrassed.
“You know,” Sergeant Custer insisted. He leaned down and whispered a name in Alfie’s ear.
“But that’s my dad,” Alfie said in surprise.
Sergeant Custer looked surprised too. He straightened up quickly and saluted. “It’s all right,” he told Alfie, looking round quickly to check they couldn’t be overheard. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Alfie followed the drive up to the large, imposing house that was Thunder Raker Manor. The front door was standing open and an elderly man with a beaked nose introduced himself as Mr Trenchard the Head Teacher. He told Alfie he was very welcome, and that Alfie should spend his time at the school wisely. He should learn as much as he could, and then forget it all. For “security reasons”.
Alfie wasn’t quite sure how it would help to forget everything he learned, but he didn’t like to ask. At that moment a young woman arrived and introduced herself as his teacher, Miss Jones.
“Goodbye, Mr Trenchard,” Alfie said as he followed Miss Jones along to meet Class 3D.
“Goodbye, er, that boy,” Mr Trenchard called after him.
“He forgets everything,” Miss Jones told Alfie. “Makes a point of it.”
“Why?” Alfie asked.
“I don’t think he can remember,” Miss Jones replied. She had to shout to be heard over the roaring of some kind of engine. The noise got louder as she opened the door to the classroom. “Now, come in and meet the rest of your class.”