‘How far is it from the station to the farm?’ Kensy asked. There was a storm coming. She could smell it in the air and there was a bank of dark clouds rolling in from the south.
‘A couple of miles,’ Max said.
Kensy sighed and scrunched up her empty chip packet. ‘It’ll take ages to get there,’ she griped.
Max looked at the map on his phone. Even though he’d committed it to memory, this time he wanted to be doubly sure. ‘I have an idea,’ he said as the train pulled out of Moss Vale Station. By now they were the only ones left in the carriage. ‘Curtis, let’s see what equipment you have in that backpack of yours.’
There was a Swiss Army knife, his skeleton keys, a length of rope, a water bottle, something that may have been a brownie at some point but was now a squashed lump in clingwrap, a compass, binoculars and a magnifying glass. Max took the knife and, using the longest blade, prised open the carriage door.
‘What are you doing?’ Curtis whispered. He looked around to make sure no one was watching.
‘We’re getting off,’ Max replied.
Kensy wrinkled her nose. ‘Are you serious?’
Curtis’s jaw fell open, horrified at the thought. ‘But the train’s moving, and it’s going way too fast. We’ll be killed!’
‘Not when I apply the emergency brake. I’m going to do it here, on the bend.’ Max showed Kensy and Curtis the map on his phone. ‘The train will have slowed already and, with the brake on, it should almost come to a stop.’
‘You never said that we were going to jump off a moving train,’ Curtis said, biting his lip.
Kensy turned to him. ‘You don’t have to come. You can move to another carriage and pretend you don’t know us. Although I’m not sure what sort of secret agent you can call yourself if you’re not prepared to take the leap of faith,’ she said, knowing full well that Curtis would hate her saying that.
The boy licked his lips nervously. He knew watching all those martial arts videos online would come in handy. Just last week he’d been practising his commando rolls at the park. The children watched as the ground sped past them.
‘I’ll do it,’ Curtis said with a gulp.
Kensy smiled and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. ‘Good man.’
‘Almost there,’ Max said as the three of them stood by the door. At least it looked like they would be landing on soft ground – there hadn’t been too many rocks since Moss Vale. Max pulled the lever and the brakes screeched. ‘Now!’
Kensy leapt off first. She tumbled along the grass and dirt, then scrabbled to her feet. ‘Come on, Curtis!’ she yelled.
‘I can’t believe I’m doing this, but here goes!’ The boy clamped his eyes shut and jumped out of the train. He rolled over and over, coming to a stop in a clump of wet manure. Thankfully, he didn’t take too long to catch his breath, but his mother would be none too pleased with the stain on his jacket.
‘Max, go!’ Kensy shouted as she spied a guard running through from the carriage behind.
Max backed up, then put his head down and sprinted towards the door, his arms spinning like windmills in the air, before he landed with a thud on his feet.
‘I’m calling the police, you little brats!’ the guard shouted above the squealing brakes. The train had almost completely stopped, but Kensy, Max and Curtis had already set off through the thick stand of trees and into the fading light. A loud crack of thunder rumbled overhead and lightning split the sky. The children ran on, their feet flying over the dry ground. Kensy was gladder than ever that she’d worn her boots instead of those silly pumps Song had wanted her to buy.
‘There, Max! There’s the shed,’ she said as they drew closer. The building was surrounded by a high hedge and hidden below was a fence topped with barbed wire.
‘What is this place?’ Curtis asked.
‘I told you – no questions,’ Kensy said. ‘Just trust us and do as we say.’
Kensy and Max decided to scout the perimeter. They rounded the corner and spotted Dash’s car and a white ute.
‘How are we going to get in?’ Max said.
But it was Curtis who saw it first. There was a gate in the fence and it was open. The door to the shed was too. ‘Not as hard as you thought, maybe,’ the boy said.
‘You stay here,’ Kensy ordered. ‘If we’re not back in half an hour, go to the nearest house – no, not the nearest one, the next one after that and call the police.’
Curtis nodded. He still had no idea what the Greys were up to, but if that was his role, that’s what he would do. ‘Max, take this,’ he said, offering his backpack.
Max grinned tightly. ‘Thanks.’
Thick, fat drops rained down from the sky as thunder rumbled louder and closer until it collided with a lightning strike that shook the ground. Curtis jumped into the air, then ran and hid behind Dash Chalmers’ car, out of sight.
Kensy and Max entered the building. There were a couple of tractors and various machines at one end, and at the other was what looked to be an office. The twins scurried towards it. Max poked his head around the open door and was surprised to see a heavy metal trapdoor in the floor. He tried to lift it by the handle, but it was firmly secured.
‘It’s a bunker,’ Kensy whispered. ‘There must be a ventilation shaft somewhere.’
Max nodded. He crept back to the main part of the shed and shone Curtis’s torch under the largest of the tractors before he found what he was looking for. ‘There!’
But the vent was covered by a grate. Fortunately, Curtis’s Swiss Army knife had myriad screwdrivers, and within a few minutes the children had prised it free. Max shone the torch into the cylinder. It looked to go straight for a little way then turned at an angle. They needed the rope.
Kensy secured the end to the tractor suspension and dropped it into the hole, then lowered herself down. Max took a deep breath and followed suit. Outside, thunder boomed and lightning crashed.
Above the noise, Curtis heard a car approaching. He stole a peek and recognised it as the silver Mazda he’d taken down the numberplates for the other day. The driver was the man who’d been snapping pictures of Van and Ellery. There was a woman with him too, but all Curtis could make out was her blonde hair. They parked behind a tree but didn’t get out. Curtis had no idea what they were doing there, but he wasn’t about to show himself. He needed to stay focused – if whatever the twins were doing went horribly wrong, someone had to be able to get help.