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Back The Enemy Save as PDF
Chapters (69)
  1. Table of Contents
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
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  69. 68

The two tallest boys talked quietly to each other before one of them broke away and came over. He took off his helmet. He had a face that would have been handsome if it weren’t for a long scar down one cheek that pulled his face out of shape. He smiled and the scar twisted his mouth into a grimace. His eyes were kind, though. Soft and brown.

He knelt down in front of Sam and the Kid. “How old are you two?”

“Nine,” they both said together.

“And you’ve made it all the way here from north London?”

“The shrimp did,” said the Kid. “I been living around about Spitalfields, but I got into the tunnels and I was sore lost and—”

“Whoa, hold on, not so fast,” said the older boy. “So you’ve been in Spitalfields? Who’s been looking after you?”

The Kid shrugged. “No one. There was some other kids with me one time, but they’re all dead now, you can count on it. It was only me. But then I found the hobbit. We been helping each other. We’re pals.”

The boy with the scar shook his head and let out a snort of laughter through his nose.

“And here we were thinking we were pretty clever living in the Tower, pretty tough. You two kids have shown us up as a bunch of wimps.”

“Is it safe there?” said Sam.

“In the Tower?” The boy nodded slowly. “Safe enough.”

“You sure?” said Sam.

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

Sam nodded.

“Well, it’s as safe as anywhere, I guess. Safer than out here on the streets. Safer than down in the tube tunnels, that’s for sure.”

“Will you take us there?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“And we’ll really be safe? It’s just you? Just kids?”

“There’s sixty-seven of us living there,” said the older boy. “All kids. All ages. It’s not the greatest life in the world. But it’s a life. You’re safe now, mate.”

Sam burst into tears, and the Kid joined him. The boy opened his arms and pulled them to his chest, holding them there until they stopped sobbing. Then he picked them up so that they sat against his hips, and carried them toward the Tower.

60

Ben and Bernie were eating a late supper in the Dining Room. Most of the other kids had eaten earlier, and the food was cold. They’d been out of the way all evening, tinkering with a gas generator they’d discovered in a storeroom in the utility area of the palace. They hadn’t wanted to watch the fight, and had kept as far away as possible.