Unicorn Riders - Pinch (English)

Chapter 14: Retreat!

There was but one way: Forward. But Vera didn't want to. Breathless she was stuck in the tunnel, hoping that Whitmore wouldn't discover her and listening to the events taking place in the cave. She would have given anything to be able to intervene and help the children right at this moment...

Of course Whitmore had not come alone. Over all the commotion and the screams of the children trying to escape from the criminals Vera found out that at least Sykes was there, too. She was able to hear some quick movement and the sound of steel brushing over cloth that sent cold shivers down her back. All those sounds she perceived made her imagine quite well what was going on. It sounded like Vanna and Thor were putting up a fight. Taylor on the other hand yelling all the time that Jenny was not to be touched wouldn't be such a serious obstacle to overcome for the criminals. Shortly after that it got awfully quiet in the cave, apart from silent moaning of the children. Vera imagined what happened now: Johnson had entered the cave.

"Look here, boss!" Whitmore called out with his droning voice. "Can it be that this is the brat we know?"

He must have caught Vanna, Vera thought by herself, biting her lip. He ought to have noticed the similarity between her and Vanna, too.  But after a brief moment of silence Johnson answered: "You need to get your eyes checked, Whitmore. That's in no way the girl from last night."

"She's not?" Whitmore asked disbelieving. But Sykes' scoffing snort showed that she had realized it, too, that it wasn't Vera. Or she just agreed with her leader. "I could've sworn..."

"Let's look at it this way: She has been here" Johnson cut him off. "You, girl, what's your name?"

"Vanna" she answered sullenly, confirming Vera's assumption.

Again there was silence, and Vera wouldn't dare to move. She had arrived at a turn in the tunnel, so with a little bit of luck she wouldn't be spotted even if someone looked directly into it. On the other hand, Vera's luck had been unreliable lately in her opinion.

"Vanna, you look similar to a girl we are missing" Johnson explained in that calm and down-to-earth voice that Vera knew of him. "Maybe you know of her or have even seen her."

It was quiet again for some time. Unbearably quiet, as Vera felt. Her heart was beating so loudly that she feared it could be heard outside the tunnel. "No" Vanna answered eventually. "I've seen no one."

Vera took a breath in relief. But this relief was short-lived. "I know that you're lying, Vanna." Johnson's voice had not changed a bit from the calmness. But now she felt this undercurrent of a thread again that she had felt during her first encounter with him. "That's not a noble attitude. And you know how I can tell?" There was no answer until he talked again after several seconds. "Those candy bars and ration packs... and the bottle of fruit juice on your table. I have seen all these things before."

"We found those things" Vanna defended herself and tried to sound as innocent as possible.

"Found them?" Johnson's voice now carried a hint of sarcasm. "How fortunate. But you haven't come across a twelve year old girl carrying these things, have you? How about you, young man?"

It was impossible to know whom Johnson was talking to. Vera hoped that it was not Thor. After the fight she had had with him she wasn't sure at all that he would keep quiet. And Taylor... He would do anything to protect his sister. As soon as they threatened Jenny he would spill everything.

It was Thor who finally gave the answer. An answer that surprised Vera immensely: "No, we haven't. We only found some backpack standing around out there. We took everything we could carry from it and ran, leaving the rest. We don't know whose it is."