Johnny stood up.

‘All right,’ he said. ‘I can prove it. The next card … the next card you show me … the next card …’

Images filled his eyes. If this is how Mrs Tachyon sees the world, he thought, no wonder she never seems all there – because she’s everywhere.

Outside, there was the sound of someone trying to start a motorbike even harder.

‘… the next card … will be the five of diamonds.’

‘I don’t see why I should have to play games—’ The man glanced nervously at Kirsty, who had that effect on people.

‘Scared?’ she said.

He grabbed a card at random and held it up. ‘It’s the five of diamonds all right,’ said Yo-less. Johnny nodded. ‘The next one … the next one … the next one will be the knave of hearts.’

It was.

Outside, there was the sound of someone trying to start a motorbike very hard and swearing.

‘It’s a trick,’ said the man. ‘One of you messed around with the pack.’

‘Shuffle them all you like,’ said Johnny. ‘And the next one you show me will be … the ten of clubs.’

‘How did you do that?’ said Yo-less, as the boy turned the card over and stared at it.

‘Er …’ It had felt like memory, he told himself. ‘I remembered seeing it,’ said Johnny.

‘You remembered seeing it before you actually saw it?’ said Kirsty.

Outside, there was the sound of someone trying to start a motorbike very hard and swearing even harder.

‘Er … yes.’

‘Oh, wow,’ she said. ‘Precognition. You’re probably a natural medium.’

‘Er, I’m a size eleven,’ said Johnny, but they weren’t listening.

Kirsty had turned to Tom.

‘You see?’ she said. ‘Now do you believe us?’

‘I don’t like this. This isn’t right,’ he said. ‘Anyway … anyway, there’s no phone—’

The door burst open.

‘All right!’ roared Mr Hodder. ‘What did you kids do to my bike?’

‘It’s the carburettor,’ said Johnny. ‘I told you.’

‘Here, Arthur, you ought to listen to this, this boy knows things—’

Kirsty glanced at her watch.

‘Twenty minutes,’ she said. ‘It’s more than two miles down to the town. Even if we ran I’m not sure we could do it.’

‘What’re you talking about now?’ said Mr Hodder.

‘There must be some kind of code,’ said Kirsty. ‘If you have to ring up and tell them to sound the siren, what do you say?’

‘Don’t tell them!’ snapped Mr Hodder.

“‘This is station BD3”,’ said Johnny, his eyes looking unfocused.

‘How did you know that? Did he tell you? Did you tell them?’

‘No, Arthur!’

‘Come on,’ said Kirsty, hurrying towards the door. ‘I got a county medal in athletics!’

She elbowed the older man aside.

The thunder was growling away in the east. The storm had settled down to a steady, grey rain.

‘We’ll never make it,’ said Yo-less.

‘I thought you people were good at running,’ said Kirsty, stepping out.

‘People of my height, you mean?’