14: Distance

218 5 0
                                    

The highway was on the near side of the town, so they waited until a break in the traffic and sprinted across, pausing briefly at the central reservation to let a truck blast past before continuing and hurdling the crash barrier on the far side.

"George," Letty said urgently as they paused for breath. "I saw that truck's license plate. I couldn't make it out properly but it looked like a Utah license."

"Huh? Like, American?"

"Yeah."

"I really hope we're in the US," George said, crossing his fingers. "We'll find out in a minute."

It turned out that they were in a town called Battle Mountain in the state of Nevada, USA. George considered kissing the sign, but Letty beat him to it.

"Do you know anything about Battle Mountain?" George asked her.

"I lived in the US until I was five. I have no idea," Letty said, shaking her head at his stupidity. "Anyway, a town of this size, probably nobody knows about it."

When they reached the streets they threw away their odd-looking cardboard hats and walked normally, looking for somewhere they could stop and ask for directions or help. A couple of people gave them odd looks, but they wanted someone with a car, preferably travelling on the highway, so they didn't say anything to them.

"Perfect," Letty said, pointing to the white frontage of a gas station. "People must stop here for gas then rejoin the highway."

"Plus there might be a shop that sells maps," George smiled. "If we can work out where the highway goes, we can ask for a lift."

Two ten-year-olds covered in dust from the desert and carrying military-style packs stood out in a sleepy town, so they cut through a scrubby patch instead of walking straight up to the gas station. George got down onto his stomach and poked his head out from behind some bushes.

"Hmm. Looks like there are a couple of cars there. There's a shop of some kind, looks big enough to have a map," he said. "If we wait until it's day time, we could probably sneak into a car and steal it, but when it's so dead here we've got no chance."

"I doubt if a tiny place like this ever gets busier," Letty said. "We've gotta chance it in the shop."

"You do the talking since you've got the accent. Stick to the backstory and say we got lost or something," George told her, pulling his head back and brushing dust off his shirt.

"Sure thing. You look for a map while I distract the clerk," Letty said, jumping to her feet and giving him a quick thumbs-up before strolling towards the gas station shop. George followed her a few moments later, wishing there wasn't so much sand in his boxers.

"Can I help?" the clerk asked as Letty pushed the door open. He was a middle-aged man, overweight, and George guessed that he probably owned the gas station. Letty walked up to the counter while he cut behind a rack of sweets and headed for a row of bright red road atlases.

"Um, we're on an adventure trip with our church group, but we've got separated from them and we're lost," Letty said, looking pitiful and faking a sob. "We've walked for ages."

The clerk seemed sympathetic and ran his eyes over the redness of Letty's arms and face. "Oh, that's too bad! Are you camping or something? You've got all the gear."

"Yeah, we're camping. Do you think anyone would be able to give us a ride?"

"Depends where you're going."

George grabbed the most prominent map and scanned it. There was a lot of desert, and it took him a few nervous seconds to find the tiny dot marked 'Battle Mountain', which had a petrol pump icon next to it, along with a bed which he assumed meant hotel. The highway ran east-west, a red line cutting across the entire map. George followed it east.

CHERUB: KnightWhere stories live. Discover now