That afternoon, Richard was surprised to find that Rikki fell asleep.
They’d been given a number of painful injections, always in the neck. Whatever cocktail Rikki had received had knocked him out completely. Dr Warren came by, but didn’t say anything – he just looked, and winked at Richard. Richard found that his second head lay heavy on the pillow, and nothing could rouse it.
Then, at four o’clock, as Rikki snored, Jeff, Eric and Mark appeared with a school bag full of gifts.
‘Special permission!’ said the duty nurse, drawing curtains round the bed. ‘We don’t usually have non-family at the Institute.’
‘You guys know me,’ said Eric. ‘I’m harmless.’
‘You’d better be.’
‘I know everyone round here,’ said Eric. ‘I know the secret corridors too! You’ve got a pets’ corner, haven’t you? – for experiments . . .’
‘You know a lot more than I do, Eric. You can have twenty minutes – no longer.’
‘What?’ said Jeff. ‘It took us two hours to get here . . .’
The boys sat up on the bed and laid out their presents. There was a comic, some action figures, a carton of chocolates and a small plastic puzzle. Eric was soon busy with the puzzle. They’d all come straight from school, and Eric wore his tie round his head, Native American-style. He’d put in an earring as well, which was against the rules, and he was finding it hard to keep still. The nurse returned with a tray of drinks, and they were soon enjoying a party.
‘There’s big news,’ said Eric. ‘Salome’s been busted. Kicked out of school.’
‘No!’ said Richard.
‘We don’t know for sure,’ said Jeff. ‘Not yet.’
‘She won’t come back,’ said Mark. ‘Bra-low’s sad, but the head was furious.’
‘It’s true,’ said Jeff. ‘He told us that whatever words Rikki used – however insulting he got – she should have controlled herself.’
Mark nodded sadly. ‘It’s a shame, though, huh?’ he said. ‘She was funny. Is he really asleep by the way – or just pretending?’
‘Asleep, as far as I know,’ said Richard. He noticed how Mark’s wrists stuck out of his shirt-cuffs, and how his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat.
The boy smiled at him, eyes bulging. ‘He’s going to get you in trouble, isn’t he, huh?’
‘He’s ace,’ said Eric. ‘It was about the most hilarious thing, you’ve got to admit that – you went flying, man! That girl’s got one hell of a punch.’
‘I don’t know what I’m going to do,’ said Richard. ‘He’s just smashed up the counsellor’s office.’
‘No! Doctor Warren’s? I like him even more . . .’
‘The thing is though,’ said Mark, sniffing and wiping his nose, ‘you can do just about anything, huh? You can get away with murder now.’
Eric laughed. ‘We were talking this over. You can blame anything that goes wrong on him. You can cheat, steal – bully the little kids. Puke on your homework, and if anyone complains, you just say it was Rikki.’
‘I don’t want to do those things,’ said Richard. ‘I like doing homework, and I want to get that scholarship to the grammar.’
‘You should rob a bank!’ said Mark, grinning. ‘They can’t put you both in prison, can they?’
‘Hey!’ said Eric. ‘Do you have extra talents now, like a superhero? Can you do things you couldn’t do before, like hear through walls?’
‘I can do less than I could before,’ said Richard.
‘Why, though?’
‘Because he’s always with me, butting in. This is the first quiet conversation I’ve had in weeks.’
‘So knock him out,’ said Eric. ‘Hire Salome – she’s got time on her hands, now.’
‘What if he knocks me out?’
Eric slapped his knee and laughed again. ‘That would be worth seeing, man. Rikki without you to restrain him! I’d pay money to see that.’
‘This isn’t why we came,’ said Jeff, noticing that Richard was about to get cross. ‘We came to give you some good news, Richard. Bra-low’s doing the Year Six trip again, OK? But he’s changed where we’re going, and you are going to love it.’
‘Where are we going?’
‘It’s amazing!’ said Mark. He dragged his legs up so they were crossed, and looked serious. ‘It’s a totally different place, thank God. ’Cos you remember last year? They got a week at “Lambs and Ponies”, and everyone said it was the lamest place in the world? Well, for us it’s going to be five days at an SAS Survival Camp!’
‘Show him the brochure,’ said Eric. ‘It’s unbelievable.’
‘We’ve got to get slips back fast,’ said Jeff. ‘You’ve got it, Eric – you show him.’
Eric searched in his pockets, but brought out only sweets and a toy car. Jeff searched his, and finally found a crumpled, multi-coloured leaflet. Unfolding it, Richard saw a picture of grinning children in bright red crash helmets. He struggled into a sitting position, Rikki lolling against his ear.
‘Wow,’ he said. ‘Is this serious?’
‘We go all the way to Wales,’ said Jeff. He pointed at one of the headings: Can You Handle a REAL Adventure?
‘Let him read,’ said Eric. He was finishing the chocolates.
Richard turned the paper over, and was bewitched in an instant. He didn’t know where to start, because the photographs were all so captivating. There were children abseiling down savage cliffs. There were children in a canoe, rolling under great sprays of white water. A boy was being belted into some kind of paraglider at the edge of a precipice, and under that there was a girl squeezing through a dark cave, a torch strapped to her forehead. On the back of the leaflet stood a whole crowd of children, in green camouflage dress, with painted faces. They were screaming with joy, some leaping – and they held aloft an enormous banner: ‘Who Dares Wins!’
‘This is incredible,’ said Richard.
‘We’ve got to get into groups of five,’ said Jeff. ‘You’re in our group: Tiger Team. It’s a whole week of activities, and we spent all this morning going through them.’
‘You sleep out in tents,’ said Eric. ‘They teach you how to read maps, and then one night they just dump you in the middle of a wood, no landmarks or anything. And you have to work out how to get back. Bra-low said you have to sign a form saying that if you die, your parents won’t sue.’
‘It was a joke,’ said Jeff. ‘But it does sound dangerous.’
‘You got to buy the kit first,’ said Mark, wiping his nose again. ‘You get basic provisions, and then you’re out all day – trapping animals, cooking them up. You learn how to skin rabbits—’
‘When is it?’ said Richard. His heart was thumping. ‘End of term,’ said Mark. ‘Two weeks before.’
Eric hauled the duvet up, and threw it over their heads. In a moment, the boys were cocooned in an igloo, the brochure between them.
‘Look at the picture there,’ said Eric, pointing. ‘That’s what I want to be!’
‘So cool,’ whispered Jeff.
They were looking at a soldier in full battle-dress. ‘The SAS train hard,’ said Eric, reading with difficulty. ‘Because they know. That who dares wins. They know that when. You’re up against it, it’s true. Survival skills that are necessary.’ He paused, and it was as if they were there, in a foxhole. They could almost hear the wind racing over the plain. ‘Clifden Adventure Centre,’ said Eric. ‘It’s been recommended. By the SAS. But are you tough enough? Will you survive?’
‘Oh God,’ said Richard. ‘We’ve got to get back!’
‘Will your parents let you go, though, huh?’ said Mark anxiously. ‘Will Rikki be OK? ’Cos if he screws up, wow . . .’
Richard’s mind was in a whirl, for he could see himself in every picture. He knew his parents would have to say yes: it was inconceivable that they wouldn’t, and he felt every nerve tingling with anticipation. Rikki’s head flopped against his, and he adjusted it gently.
‘Mr Bra-low is sound,’ he said. ‘I vote we call him Barlow from now on.’
‘I agree,’ said Jeff. ‘He’s the best teacher in the school. When are you out of here?’
‘Soon.’
‘It’d better be by Tuesday, man.’
‘What’s happening on Tuesday?’
‘Richard,’ said Eric, turning to him in disbelief, ‘I think your memory’s going. Tuesday’s football practice. It’s the cup match next week!’
‘You said you were ready,’ said Jeff. ‘We’re relying on you.’
‘Yeah,’ said Mark. ‘You’re part of that team too.’