Above their heads, they heard footsteps clatter back and forth, the tinny chatter of a radio. A boiler groaned and pipes shuddered.

The kids soon lost track of how long they had been down here. It could have been hours or days. The last thing the man did before he slammed shut the heavy wooden door was demand they give him their watches, and there were no windows so no natural light penetrated the cellar to tell them if it was day or night.

He had marched them inside, roaring at them to move, move, move, poking and jabbing the knife and ordering them down the stairs. As soon as they were all inside, the door slammed.

A lock snapped on the other side.

‘Someone will come and find us,’ Simon said as they huddled together to soak warmth and comfort from each other. ‘The police will know we’re gone, they’ll be looking for us.’

‘But what if they don’t?’ whispered Michelle. ‘What if they can’t find us!’

‘This ain’t good,’ said Paul, pacing. ‘I’ve got to get home.’

Karin didn’t know Paul very well. He was immature for his age, a bit of a joker, and consumed by a frenetic energy – always fighting, running, playing, putting on silly voices, making silly faces – but his bottom lip quivered now.

‘You don’t understand,’ he said anxiously. ‘I’ve got to get back.’

‘Maybe the man is nice and it’s all been a big mistake!’ said Lydia.

‘He said he’d kill us!’ Michelle snapped.

For a long moment, all Karin could hear was their laboured breathing in that cold room underground.

Lydia turned to Simon. ‘What do we do?’

Karin wanted to know what he was going to say, everybody did. If anybody knew what to do, it would be Simon. He was tall and powerful for his age, a rugby player, with that quiet confidence that posh people had, and really clever. But Simon didn’t look too good. His face was pale, his eyes flicked restlessly across the bare brick, and his mumbled answer didn’t make them feel better.

‘We’ve just got to… sit tight. They’ll come for us, probably.’

Lydia said, ‘I’m hungry.’

‘Is that all you’re worried about?’ Michelle asked, incredulous. ‘That you’re hungry?’

‘Leave me alone!’

Paul said, ‘I’ve got to get home.’

‘We’ve all got to get home, idiot!’ shouted Michelle. ‘We’re all scared!’

Paul burst into tears. ‘I’m not scared!’

‘I am,’ Becky told them quietly. ‘And it’s alright to be scared, it’s only natural, because we’re in big trouble here, really big. But do you know what?’ She looked at each of them in turn, and Karin took strength from the fact that Becky turned to her first. ‘We’re all going to get out of here, isn’t that right, Simon?’

He blinked. ‘Yeah.’