‘And by allowing McCormick to go to New London,’ she finished, ‘I’m afraid that I might have added to the world’s ugliness.’

Chapter 15

Jack stood in the hallway of his new house – Spitfire’s Rise Mark 2, unless he could come up with a better name – and decided that, all things considered, it would be a suitable building. It didn’t have the fancy wallpaper or the nice furniture or the cleanliness that came from a year of being looked after, but there was a grandfather clock that looked nice and plenty of unexpired food in the cupboards.

It had taken them until midnight to choose an acceptable village, but by one in the morning Jack had already found a house there that would suit the Underdogs’ needs. He hadn’t expected success that quickly, or even by the end of the night.

Well,that was weird and unplanned, he thought as he nodded to himself in satisfaction. Just like me, I guess.

As predicted, Jack had done most of the work himself. Thomas had plenty of ideas but none that were practical, Gracie had shied away from contributing at all, and whereas Simon was not to be underestimated, he had seemed content to follow the group that night. Or more specifically, to follow Jack.

Jack marched back down the stairs and reopened the front door to the trio awaiting him in the front garden, their rucksacks and boxes of belongings rested on the driveway. Shannon, Lorraine and Mark would have more at comms, but even then it was a pitiful amount to have brought from home.

I just called Spitfire’s Rise ‘home’. Even now.

‘Guys,’ he said, ‘I think I just found us a new house.’

‘Are the beds comfy?’ asked Gracie.

‘Wasn’t testing them, oddly enough. Come on, let’s start unpacking.’

Gracie, Thomas and Simon in turn passed him, and walked into the building they were supposed to accept as their new hideout. But most of Jack’s brain was telling him to think of this as just another stop-off on the way to a mission, like Lemsford had been, and that after a night here they would be heading home tomorrow.

In fact, how the hell are we going to keep this place a secret like we did with Spitfire’s Rise ? I’ve already seen the name of this village. Even if I take down all the signs myself before anyone else sees them, the moment I get captured…

Jack shuddered. He pretended to himself that it was from the cold night breeze, rather than the memory of what Raj had done to himself to keep his knowledge a secret.