I Spy

Chapter 11

The three days passed quickly.  They were actually really great.  We slept in until eleven, ate a late breakfast, walked around the town until about three when we would go back to our hotel, order room service and study maps while we talked through exactly what would happen.  We had afternoon naps for an hour and then woke up, went for more walking and then grabbed an early supper.  We had fish and chips the first night, pizzas the second night and burgers the third night.  By the time we went to sleep on the third day we had our plan perfected. 

We woke up on Saturday morning and I could see Ant was as nervous as I was.  I laid my head on his chest while he squeezed my shoulders.  I closed my eyes again and wished I could go back to sleep instead of facing whatever that day had planned, but Ant shook me awake and we got up. 

We ate a big breakfast and started packing our bags.  Since we had practically nothing there, we each had a rucksack, which we had bought, and a few other things we had gotten.  We ran through the plan once more with the map and then set out. 

It was only one when we left the hotel room so we still had four hours before the fair started.  We wondered around the town, noted the one man following us, and then sat on a bench looking over the sea.  Hours passed quickly and soon we could hear a loud noise coming from behind us. 

“Okay, are you ready?” Ant asked, standing up.  I shook my head and he smiled sympathetically. 

“Me neither,” he said.  He leaned down and kissed me slowly.  “I’ll see you soon, okay?” 

“See you soon,” I said softly.  He nodded briskly before he turned and started walking quickly down a road.  I took a deep breath and started my side of the mission.  

Our plan was simple.  We had sourced the guys who were apparently seen with my dad and we knew where they lived.  We had spent a couple of hours following them and after that we had a few possible houses where we thought my dad could be.  While I was at the street fair looking for the guys or even my dad, Ant was going to parade around the streets next to the houses and he would keep an eye out for them if they left or if they arrived.  Once one of us saw them we would call the other one and let them know, and then Ant would get into the houses and check them out.  The part that I was most worried about was that we had no back up, no idea who the people were and we didn’t even know if my dad was in the houses, let alone the country. 

I wondered around the fair for a while and didn’t spot the guys.  However, as I wondered down an empty street and I noticed that two people were following me.  I suddenly felt the need to have people around me so that nothing would happen, so I walked quickly back to the fair.  When an hour passed and I had still seen no one, Ant called me. 

“Marley?  Where are you?” he asked. I heard a rhythmical stomping in the background and heard Ant pant and I knew something bad had happened. 

“I’m at the fete,” I said softly. 

“Get out of there, now,” he said.  “There’s a train leaving the station in five minutes and we have to be on it.  I don’t care if people stare, get there now.” 

“Where are you?” I asked, starting to run in the direction of the station. 

“I’m two minutes away.  Buy two tickets and if I’m not there in time then leave.” 

“Ant, I’m not-” Before I could finish my sentence, the phone went dead. 

I stuffed it in my jacket pocket and sprinted to the station.  Sure enough, people were getting onto a train.  There was no one in the queue so I got the tickets and stood waiting for Ant.  My head was spinning and aching from my sprint, but I tried not to think about it too much.  The horn went that signalled it was leaving in a minute and that’s when Ant rushed through the door.  He grabbed my arm and we raced to the train, not caring where we got on.  We got on just before the doors closed.