The Power of Five Oblivion

Jane pulled away I jumped back on board. The noise of the engine drowned out a little of the gunfire and even now I couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t hear, that they wouldn’t come after us. But if we had never been there, as Jamie had told them, how could we possibly be getting away?
    The canal turned a corner and suddenly we had left Little Moulsford behind us. Jamie was steering. The Traveller had slumped onto the deck, holding his shoulder in pain. But I knew we hadn’t escaped yet.
    “How long will it be before they realize?” I asked.
    “I don’t know,” Jamie said. “I’ve never done anything like that before. If it had been one person it would have been easier.” He shrugged. “Maybe an hour. Maybe two. You’d better see to the Traveller.”
    “I’m OK.”
    I found a torch and turned it on him. He wasn’t OK. He’d been hit in the shoulder and there was blood spreading through his shirt. “What can I do?” I asked.
    “Get me a cloth and some water.” He must have heard the panic in my voice. “Seriously, Holly. It’s not too bad.”
    I hurried into the galley and did as he asked. He poured water onto the cloth and pressed it against the wound, then he drank the rest. Finally, he looked back in the direction we had come. There was absolutely no sound now, even though the fighting was probably still going on. That was the thing about the canal. You only had to travel a short distance and you would be in a completely different world.
    “How do you think they found us?” I asked.
    “The police? Who knows? Maybe it was one of the villagers. Or the fly-soldiers. Or they could have worked out that we had a boat.”
    “They’ll come after us, won’t they?”
    The Traveller nodded. “Jamie bought us time and he got us out of there. But sooner or later they’re going to follow.” He forced himself to his feet. “I’ll call the Nexus and tell them to be ready for us.”
    “Call them?”
    “I have a radio, Holly. They already know we’re on our way.”
    “How far is it?” Jamie asked.
    “Five or six hours. If we can get to the Sheerwall Tunnel, we’ll be safe. I still have a couple of surprises up my sleeve.” He went into the galley and I wanted to follow him. I’d never seen a working radio. I thought the technology had vanished years ago. But I stayed with Jamie.
    “Five or six hours,” I muttered.
    “If we’re lucky…”
    Our single light picked out the way ahead. The darkness was pressing in all around.
    That night seemed endless. The canal continued in a dead straight line, penning us in with nowhere to hide. We couldn’t turn left or right. We couldn’t reverse without a lot of manoeuvring. I found myself staring at the dim circle of light as it slid across the oily water, wishing it would move faster, wondering who else might be seeing it. All the time I imagined someone jumping out of the darkness. It wouldn’t have been difficult because the canal had become so narrow that we were never far away from the bank. Would it be one of the policemen or perhaps Mrs Higham and some of her cannibal friends, clawing at us with snapping teeth and bloodshot eyes? I wasn’t even sure which of the two possibilities would have been worse.
    I had my gun and I was keeping it close. The Traveller was also on the aft deck. He might still have had a bullet in him but he had bandaged himself up, taken a shot of something – pills or alcohol – and if he was in pain he was doing his best not to show it. There was an automatic rifle cradled in his arms and I wondered just how many more weapons there were concealed on board the Lady Jane . He’d mentioned he had a surprise or two in store. I hoped it was a box of hand grenades or, better still, a long-range guided missile system.
    And so we stood there, the three of us, drifting through the night like statues or upright ghosts. It had become very chilly. Our breath was fogging … I could see mine against the reflecting light. A few tendrils of mist were reaching out over the water and the branches of the trees looked like steel. In a strange way it was the silence that scared me most. Of course there was the rumble of the engine beneath our feet, the one constant sound, travelling with us. But at the same time I was aware of the vast, empty countryside, the faint shadows of bushes and trees gliding past. It was like being trapped in a nightmare, unable to wake up.
    We didn’t speak. Although we were cold, none of us went