Tim turned and started to walk slowly away, watching over his shoulder as the balloon started to move across the clearing in his direction. The balloon sped up.

Tim sped up. It shot through the trees towards him faster than a real balloon could push through the air.

He sprinted.

The family crashed through the trees after him.

Tim ran, heaving breaths into his lungs. That seemed easier than it had been in the past, as if his body was on his side, breathing just as he wanted it to. He kicked his heels and leapt randomly from side to side as he ran, avoiding the silent blue beams that smashed foliage aside past him.

He ran to a fence and hurdled it, feeling the heat as it dissolved under him, disbelieving his luck. He was on the road now, the curving road which led up past the school gates. Without thinking, he turned automatically towards the school.

The ground was open here, though; they were going to be able to shoot him.

A horseless carriage puttered around the bend, the occupant squeezing its horn to tell Tim to get out of the way. It was Mr Condon who owned the Lyons tea house, who would often let boys going into town have an extra iced bun if they were well behaved.

Tim leapt up on to the running board of the car, much to Condon’s amazement.

‘Hey, you nut! What are you up to?’ called the moustachioed man.

‘Sir, it’s a matter of life and death! You must get me away, quickly!’

Condon yanked up a gear and tightened his gloves on the wheel. ‘When you say life and death, young man, I take it you do mean that, and not just a late essay or some such?’

‘I do, sir.’ Tim glanced over the rear seat of the vehicle and saw the roaring man running out on to the road, obscured in a second by the bend. ‘I do.’

Greeneye slapped his thigh. ‘A…’ he searched his memory for the term… ‘car! Come on, let’s get after them, we can catch up if we try.’

‘Don’t trouble yourself,’ said August. ‘He was wearing a uniform, that of an educational establishment, and I do believe⁠ —’ He clicked a few buttons on his scanner. ‘Yes, the map shows a suitable building near by. He doesn’t know why we’re after him. He’ll go back there.’

‘Good,’ hissed Serif. ‘If he does not think that he is followed, he will not hide the Pod.’

‘He’s a little trickster,’ muttered Greeneye. ‘Don’t you think he was moving a bit fast for a human? Don’t you think⁠ —’

‘He came from a school,’ Hoff interrupted. He smiled at Greeneye again. ‘Not a cattery.’