Black Tide (16 page)

As the van’s headlights picked up the huddle of farm steadings at the end of the bumpy track, Toby caught sight of swiftly moving shadows circling the perimeter fencing.

The dogs are here! Or is it the wolves?

“One of us will have to get out and open the gate,” he said, glancing at Jamie’s white face and clenched knuckles.

“I’ll do it,” whispered Jamie hoarsely.

“Ok – but you need to be quick! Leave the door open and I’ll keep moving.” Toby hoped that Jamie wouldn’t lose his nerve.

He slowed the van down while Jamie flung open the door and jumped out, racing for the tall wire-mesh gates. Toby revved the van engine, hoping the noise would frighten off the dogs.

Hurry! Hurry Jamie!

How many dogs were there, lurking in the darkness? Toby tried not to stare past the beam of the lights. Instead, he kept his attention on Jamie struggling with the heavy bolts on the gates in front of the van.

Jamie finally managed to push the gates slowly open. Toby didn’t wait, using the van to ram them.

“Close them, Jamie! Quick!” he bellowed, leaning across to shout out of the passenger door. He could see Jamie in the wing mirror, battling with both gates to bring them together. On the other side of the wire mesh, Toby could see something approaching, slinking low to the ground: shapes started to converge on Jamie.

“Jamie! The dogs! Come on! Leave the gates!” he shrieked. He could now see the glint of the dogs’ eyes and the gleam of their fangs, which looked blood-red, bathed in the brake lights of the van.

“JAMIE!”

Jamie leapt at the gates and with one final effort slammed closed the bolts on the inside, just as a large dog jumped up.

“GET LOST!” Jamie shouted, as its muzzle bounced off the wire. He sprinted for the open van door, throwing himself through it. Before he was even half in, Toby sped off, one hand clutching Jamie’s jacket.

“Did you see that? It nearly had me!” gasped Jamie, incredulously. “It was HUGE! Do you think they are Cerberus’s followers?”

“Probably!” cried Toby. “They don’t look friendly, that’s for sure.”

They sped down the track. The large sheds stood smartly in rows in a massive new yard complete with silos and open-sided stores full of farm machinery. There were combines, tractors, diggers, fork-lift trucks, harrows, seed drills, and slurry carts. All of them were parked silently in lines, waiting for fuel.

Wow – this place is enormous. It’s a huge industrial-farm complex. So this is what the General has been building! And
look at the equipment he’s got – he must have been collecting it from all over Scotland.

“Look at all this gear!” he cried out to Jamie. “Why wasn’t he using that instead of making you do the hard work?”

“He’s a mad man, Toby!” yelled back Jamie. “He enjoyed watching us slaving in the fields. And anyway, my mum thought he was getting paranoid about running out of fuel. That’s why he was so keen to find an engineer. He had this crazy idea of converting all these vehicles to electricity once he’d found a way to generate some.”

Maybe not so crazy – there did used to be electric cars. Why not electric tractors?

“There!” Toby cried, spotting a large concrete barn with double doors. In front of the doors the snow and ice were rutted and marked with fresh footprints and machinery tracks. He veered to a halt and braked hard. He and Jamie sprang out of the van and sprinted to the doors.

“Anyone in there?” Toby banged on the doors with his fists. A muffled shout could be heard from within. “Help me, Jamie!” Toby yanked at the chain and padlock that held the doors fast. The skeleton keys would be no good here: the padlock was too small and modern.

Where’s that hacksaw?

His hands shaking, Toby rummaged in his pockets and pulled out the hacksaw. He started sawing at the padlock. More shouts could be heard, and someone thumped on the metal barn door.

“We’re coming!” yelled Jamie. “We’re here to rescue you. Hold on, we’ve just got to saw off the lock! Get a move on, Toby, those dogs looked like they meant business. I don’t think that gate will hold them for long.”

What does he think I’m doing? Making jam? Honestly, Jamie!

It seemed to Toby to take an age, with him sawing as hard as he could at the padlock. But eventually the chain fell loose to the ground.

“It’s off!” he cried, tugging at the handles. Someone on the other side was pulling and pushing, and the doors slid creakily open. There stood a dishevelled group of men, blinking into the headlights of the van. They were wearing filthy blue boiler suits, some had bushy beards and matted hair, some had old grey bandages wrapped around their hands. All of them were scarily thin.

Jamie grabbed Toby’s arm. “They look terrible!” he whispered. Toby nodded.

Better get them to safety – they don’t look like they could knock the skin off a rice pudding, never mind fight off the dogs.

“Open the back doors, and let’s hope they’ll all get in,” he said quietly.

One of them strode forward. He looked healthier than the others.

“Hello, I’m Dan. We’re glad to see you! But how on earth did two young lads get through all the raiders’ defences? And where did —”

“I’ll explain later,” interrupted Toby. “We really need to get going. Things are kicking off big style. Can we get all these people in the van?”

Toby could see that Dan was looking strangely at him, not knowing whether to trust this wild-eyed boy who was dishing out orders. Then he nodded and began to help usher the rest of the men into the van while Jamie hovered nervously, jumping from one foot to the next.

“Come on! Don’t want to stay here any longer… We’ve got to move fast!”

Toby slammed the van doors shut. Dan appeared next to him.

“I’ll drive if you like,” said Dan. “I used to be a rally driver before —”

“That’s great!” exclaimed Toby. “The roads are dead slippy, and then there are the dogs to get past.”

“Dogs? What dogs?” asked Dan, leaping into the driver’s seat. As he backed the van away from the barn, Toby explained to him about the dogs.

“Well, they’d better not get in my way, ’cause I’m not stopping!” cried Dan. “Watch this!” He put his foot down hard and the van spun round and headed for the tall wire-mesh gates.

SMASH!

The gates buckled and bent under the impact from the van blasting through them. They burst open, knocking sideways a couple of dogs that had been barking ferociously at the approaching vehicle. Toby and Jamie clung onto the front seat as the vehicle careered up the rutted farm track and back onto the lane. Toby, yelling over the roar of the engine, told Dan about the SAS team having captured the raiders and their leader.

“Nasty piece of work, that General,” Dan remarked, crashing the gears as he went round a bend. “I’ve not been here as long as the other guys, but from what I’ve seen he’s not to be messed with. Seems he’s very intelligent, though. He came up with this New Caledonia idea all by himself. And he’s managed to organise this private army of his. Apparently they’re planning to take over the whole of Scotland.”

“Well, hopefully he won’t be organising anyone after tonight,” sighed Toby.

As they swung into the castle car park, Toby could see a haze of smoke hanging over the outer courtyard.

Are they still fighting? Or have all the raiders surrendered? Where are Tom and his men now?

“We’d better go straight to the Palace Hall. That’s where they’re keeping all the women and children,” said Toby, as the van screeched to a halt in front of the main archway. “Keep an eye open for raiders, and dogs.”

The men crawled out of the back of the van and made their way cautiously through the gateways and into the inner courtyard. Toby and Jamie kept an anxious watch. There was no sign of any people or any dogs. Dan and some of the men closed the heavy inner door, and bolted it shut.

“In here,” instructed Toby, pushing open the door to the Palace Hall. “Bring everyone over to the Great Hall opposite as soon as you can get them all together.”

Toby and Jamie left Dan and hurried across the courtyard. Toby checked his watch: they had been gone for over an hour. What had happened in their absence?

Inside the Great Hall it was dark. The flames from the candles had died leaving the cavernous interior lit only by small pools of light from the shielded torches of the SAS team. They were stood guarding a group of raiders who were sat on the floor with their hands bound. The General, still snoring, lay propped up against a pillar. Toby and Jamie entered hesitantly, unsure of how they’d be received.

“Ah! The wandering hero returns!” remarked Tom sarcastically. “And where have you been, Toby?”

“Me and Jamie have been rescuing the men, women and children, like YOU should have been!” Toby was defiant.

“Toby!” exclaimed his dad. “Don’t be so cheeky to Tom. He’s had his work cut out capturing this bunch. He doesn’t need any grief from you. You could have jeopardised the entire mission!”

You could at least stand up for me, Dad. And you’ve not seen the state the prisoners are in…

“Our main priority is to capture these men,” continued Tom. “We’ll load them into the vehicles and get on our way.”

“I don’t think you should do that!” rang out a loud voice. Toby jumped in surprise as Jamie’s mum stepped forward. “You can’t leave all the people here defenceless,” she continued. “What if the dogs get into the castle? What if some of the raiders come back after you’ve gone, and take over again?”

Yeah – go for it, Katie!

Toby edged over to stand next to her. She reminded him of his mum when she had got fired up over
something she cared about. Her cheeks were bright red and her eyes were all ablaze..

“I’m sorry, Mrs McTavish, but my orders were to capture these men and remove them.”

“But you said yourself you’re not a military unit anymore, so you don’t have to obey orders,” remarked Toby. “And anyway, whose orders were they?”

Tom shifted uncomfortably on his feet and looked at Simon.

“Actually, they were my own orders,” he said.

“So you can change them, can’t you?” demanded Toby.

“Yes,” said Katie, “there’s nothing to stop you making new orders, is there?”

“Wait —” started Tom, but before he could say more, the door opened and Dan walked in followed by all the men and women and children. Toby could see from Tom’s face that he was shocked by the state of them. As they limped in they looked as if all their spirit had been knocked out of them. The little ones were whimpering and crying, clutching onto their mums or trying to find their dads in the mêlée of adults that trooped into the hall.

Simon approached Tom and whispered urgently in his ear. Toby could see that some argument was taking place and finally Tom, with a resigned look, nodded.

“Ok, we’re agreed, we can’t leave these people here like this, but we can’t offer them permanent shelter either. If we take them back to the bunker and get them well and strong again, then they must agree to leave after that. How about that?”

“That’ll be fine!” called out Dan. “On behalf of everyone here, I think we will be happy to accept your offer. We’ll leave to start up a New Caledonia of our own as soon as we are able to. Who knows, we may come back here? The General has put some serious thought into organising this place – there are crops growing in the fields, and cows and sheep at pasture. There’s even fresh water and a sewerage system.”

“Ok, so that’s settled, then. I’ll send some of my men for vehicles. They’re just outside the castle walls on the west side,” said Tom, trying to look like he was still in control.

“Toby!” a small voice rang out and Sylvie dashed from behind her dad and grabbed Toby around his knees. “Toby, you’re so big and brave! You came back to save Dad and me! And look!” Sylvie opened the top of her jacket to show a small furry face peeking from within it.

“Ha! Henry!” laughed Toby. “You managed to save Henry. You’re brave, too, Sylvie.” Toby knelt down and hugged his little sister, being careful not to squash Henry. His dad was looking down at him.

“I’m so proud of you, Toby. I didn’t realise there were all these people in such a bad way. You saved them all. You’re a real hero, Toby,” said his dad, putting an arm around his son. “You’re my hero.”

“Thanks, Dad. It wasn’t just me, though – there was Tash and then Jamie… and if it hadn’t been for Tash’s great-grandma, who was a heroine in World War Two, I would never have been able to unlock the —” Toby stopped, he was starting to choke up with relief.

“It’s ok, Toby, it’s going to be all right now,” interrupted his dad. “We thought you had drowned when you jumped off the boat. I don’t know how you survived that. We never thought we’d see you again.”

Just then Toby heard something that made his blood freeze: a solitary howl resounded through the cold walls of the castle.

Cerberus? He sounds very close – are the dogs in the castle?

Then another howl rang out, but this one was different. It was a deeper, rougher howl, coming from the other direction.

The wolves?

“I think we should all leave immediately. There’s going to be trouble,” declared Toby, picking up Sylvie.

We must get out of here, now.

“We must go!” Toby cried. He lurched down the hall, holding tight to Sylvie, pushing his way through the throng of people. Panic was tightening its grip on him. He could feel the fear rising in his throat.

“Toby?” cried his dad, racing after him. “What is it? Toby, you’re scaring Sylvie. Slow down!”

She’ll be a lot more scared if she sees those dogs. Got to get her out of here fast.

He staggered to the main door, feeling his legs turning to jelly as he fought for breath.

“Toby!” shouted Tom. “Stop!” The command rang across the hall. Toby collapsed into a heap, letting Sylvie slip slowly from his arms. Tom strode towards him and helped him to his feet.

“We’re not going to let the dogs do any harm, don’t worry,” said Tom reassuringly. “I take your concerns seriously. I know that these are no ordinary dogs. We’ll get you all into the vehicles and go.” He put his arm around Toby and led him to a bench. Toby sat with his head in his hands, shaking violently.

As he felt the panic slowly subsiding, Toby lifted his head and looked around. There were adults standing talking quietly in anxious groups.

Tash’s parents should be here somewhere. At least, I really hope they are.

Toby suddenly remembered something. Stuffed in the bottom of his jeans pocket were the photographs he and Tash had taken at Christmas at the Kingshouse Hotel. He fished out a screwed-up print and tried to smooth the creases. From the crumpled paper smiled Tash, her jet-black hair framing her face and a wide smile showing her pearly white teeth.

Toby got to his feet and wandered over to some of the adults.

“Do you know this girl?” he asked. “Her name is Natasha, but her friends call her Tash.” The weary folk shook their heads.

Toby approached a couple sitting on the floor near the door. The grave-looking man was talking quietly in a foreign language to a small frail woman with a brightly coloured silk scarf covering her head. As he got near, Toby could see she had black hair streaked with white poking out from under the scarf.

“You must be Tash’s parents?” he cried, shoving the photo in front of them. The woman took it in trembling hands and burst into tears, babbling something incoherently to her husband.

“You know our Natasha?” said the man, incredulously. “Where did you get this photo?”

“Yes!” cried Toby. “I know Tash, she’s my friend. We travelled from Fort George together. She’s safe, don’t worry. She’s at the bunker where Tom is taking us. You’ll see her soon.”

Tash’s dad wrapped his arms around Toby, smothering him in a huge hug. Her mum stood up and joined in, squeezing Toby in an enveloping embrace.

“We never thought we see our Natasha again…” sobbed her dad. “Her mother says you must be brave boy to save her. We see her soon, yes?”

Toby nodded and gulped hard. He could feel all the emotion of the day starting to well up inside of him.

“Yes,” he cried. “You see her soon!” The three of them burst out laughing, as they stood holding onto each other.

Toby’s dad came over with Sylvie and Toby introduced them to Tash’s parents. The five of them sat in a small huddle, shaking hands and trying to chat calmly about how they came to be there.

Just then the main doors swung open and a balaclava-clad soldier stood waving his rifle in the air, signalling them all to move.

“Come on, everybody!” shouted Tom. “Let’s get loaded up as quickly as possible.”

The sun was dappling the courtyard in a sharp bright light as Toby stepped, blinking, outside. A new day had started while they had been hiding in the Great Hall, and a cold dry wind chased across the turreted walls. In the courtyard the raiders and the General were being thrown unceremoniously into the back of the white van, their faces dark with anger and frustration. Next to the van was parked a fleet of army trucks, their engines running and their doors open.

“Tom?” asked Toby, “can I ride shotgun up front in the cab?”

“Yes, sure. You really want to? Might be a bit scary.”

“Huh! I’m not scared, really,” replied Toby. Tom smiled and shrugged.

“Ok. Go with Simon in that one.”

Toby watched as his dad and Sylvie got into the back of one of the trucks, along with Tash’s parents, Jamie, and Jamie’s mum. He then climbed into the front with Simon.

“Let’s get this show on the road!” cried Simon, driving out of the yard, under the archway and into the inner courtyard. Travelling fast over the outer bridges, they were soon in the huge car park. Simon pulled over to the left to miss the smashed security barrier. As he did so, Toby could see over the embattlements, down to the valley beneath them.

“STOP!” Toby shouted. “LOOK!” He signalled frantically for Simon to pull in.

Simon swerved to bring the truck to the edge of the esplanade so they could see the whole plain spread out below them for miles and miles. From the castle perched high on the rocky ridge, the land spilled higgledy-piggledy down, spanning out at the bottom into rich flat farmland. Toby saw the work that had been done by the prisoners: square fields of neat, black, ploughed earth, plots of vegetables, lines of sown cereals and paddocks full of cows and sheep grazing. Surrounding all the acres of land was a huge fence made of wood and barbed wire with a wooden watchtower at every corner.

But it wasn’t any of this that had caught Toby’s attention. As he had glanced across the vista he saw
the pattern of light changing, dappling the fields below, as something moved at speed over the land. It was something dark and disturbing.

Like a black tide. It’s a black tide of dogs!

Out in front of the wave upon wave of sleek black dogs, a solitary animal was racing along, his head held high, his stubby tail erect.

Cerberus!

“LOOK!” cried Simon, pointing to the far left of the castle. From the other side of the Carse of Stirling came another flow of movement. Toby strained to see what was moving: it was another tide of animals and it was heading straight for Cerberus and his pack. These beasts were bigger and rangier, with mottledgrey hairy coats. Out at their front, galloping towards Cerberus, sped a huge grey wolf.

There’s going to be a battle – the dogs against the wolves! Cerberus must be mad if he thinks he can win – they look even scarier than him and his pack.

“I think we should go quickly. We don’t want to get caught up in this,” said Simon. “They might decide to unite against their common enemy: humans.”

Toby nodded speechlessly, not able to take his eyes off the appalling scene unfolding in the valley. As the two dark shadows converged towards each other, the cows and sheep took fright and fled towards the hills in blind panic.

Simon reversed back onto the road and joined the line of trucks that was zooming out of the car park.

“WAIT!” Toby shrieked again. “Let me out! I’ve just seen something!”

Simon braked hard, slewing the truck across the snowy gravel, as Toby flung the truck door open.

“What are you doing?” cried Simon. “We’ve got to travel in convoy, we mustn’t lose the others.” But Toby didn’t hear him; he was pelting across the tarmac. He had seen a shadowy white shape moving fast through the cemetery that ran alongside the car park.

“Belle! Belle! Come here!” he shouted. Jamie’s big, white, fluffy dog was bounding towards him. “Belle – it’s Toby – come – good girl!” She bounced up to him, jumping around and wagging her tail furiously, her large pink tongue licking at his face and hands. She was so happy to see him.

“And I’m happy to see you, too, Belle. Come on, let’s go and find Katie and Jamie!”

The two of them sprinted back to the truck, Belle almost knocking Toby over in her excitement. Toby pulled open the back door.

“Look who I’ve found!” he yelled, as Belle leapt in.

“BELLE!” cried Jamie and his mum, simultaneously.

“Hurry up, Toby!” screamed Simon from the front. “We’ve got to get going!”

Toby climbed back into the truck, a huge grin on his face. He couldn’t believe that Belle had managed to survive so long on her own, despite the wild dogs and the wolves. It must have been Belle trying to play with Bill in the graveyard when he’d tried to sneak into the castle. Only Belle would be daft enough to want to play ball with a stranger in the middle of the night.

“You’re mad, you are,” said Simon, though he was smiling, too.

“I know. Just what we need, eh? Another dog!”

The convoy of trucks tore along the lanes leading from the castle, bumped over the cobbled streets of Stirling, then swung right out of the town centre to avoid the Carse where the dogs and wolves were doing battle.

As the truck sped along country lanes heading away from Stirling, Toby settled down in his seat. He felt the adrenalin that had been coursing so fast through his veins start to ebb away, leaving him drained and his limbs heavy. He was beginning to feel very very tired.

“How long will it take to get to the bunker?” he asked Simon, yawning.

But before he heard the answer he was fast asleep.