Tunnels 01, Tunnels

have to wait as long to start tipping."
    Chester had begun to talk about how much faster the proceedings would be if they could do away with all this cloak-and-dagger subterfuge when Will mumbled something under his breath.
    "Didn't catch that, Will."
    "I said: Don't look now, but I think there's somebody following us."
    "You what?" Chester replied and, not being able to stop himself, immediately turned around to look behind.
    "Chester, you prat!" Will snapped.
    Sure enough, thirty feet or so behind them was a short, stocky man in a trilby, black glasses, and a dark, tentlike overcoat that reached almost to his ankles. His head was facing in their direction, although it was difficult to tell if he was actually looking at them.
    "Rats!" Chester whispered. "I think you're right. He's just like the ones your dad wrote about in his journal."
    Despite Will's previous instruction to Chester not to look at the man, he now couldn't stop himself from peering back for another glimpse.
    "A 'man-in-a-hat'?" Will said with a mixture of wonder and apprehension.
    "But he's not after us , is he?" Chester asked. "Why should he be?"
    "Let's slow down a little and see what he does," Will suggested.
    As they reduced their speed, the mysterious man did likewise. "OK," Will said, "how about if we cross the road?"
    Again the man mirrored their actions, and when they increased their pace again, he quickened his, to maintain the distance between them.
    "He's definitely following us," Chester said, the panic audible in his voice for the first time. "Why, though? What does he want? I don't like this -- I think we should take the next right and make a run for it."
    "I don't know," Will said, deep in thought. "I think we should confront him."
    "You've got to be joking! Your dad disappeared off the face of the planet not long after seeing these people and, for all we know, this man could be responsible. He might be part of the gang or something. I say we get out of here and call the police. Or get help from someone."
    They were silent for a moment as they looked around.
    "No, I've got a better idea," Will said. "What if we turn th tables? Trap him. If we split up, he can only follow one of us, and when he does, the other can come up behind him and..."
    "And what?"
    "Like a pincer movement -- sneak up from behind and nobble him." Will was getting well into his stride now as the plan of action firmed up in his mind.
    "He could be dangerous, totally postal for all we know. And what are we going to nobble him with? Our school bags?"
    "Come on, there's two of us and only one of him," Will said as the shops on
    Main Street
    came into view. "I'll distract him while you tackle him -- you can do that, can't you?"
    "Oh, great, thanks," Chester said, shaking his head. "He's freakin' huge -- he'll make hamburger meat of me!"
    Will looked into Chester's eyes and smiled mischievously.
    "All right, all right." Chester sighed. "The things I do...," he said as he looked quickly back and then made to cross the road.
    "Whoa! Scratch that," Will said. "I think they've got the jump on us!"
    "They?" Chester gasped as he rejoined his friend. "What do you mean, they? " he asked, following Will's gaze to a point farther up the street.
    There in front of them, some twenty paces ahead, was another of the men. He was almost identical to the first one, except that he sported a flat cap pulled down low over his forehead so that his dark glasses were only just visible under its peak. He also wore a long, voluminous coat, which was flapping gently in the wind as he stood in the middle of the sidewalk.
    There was now no question in Will's mind that these two men were after them.
    As Will and Chester drew level with the first of the shops on
    Main Street
    , they both stopped and peered around. On the opposite side of the street two old ladies were chatting to each other as they bundled along with their wicker shopping carts creaking on their wheels. One was dragging behind her a recalcitrant Scottish terrier decked out in a tartan dog coat. Apart from that, there were only a few people, off in the distance.
    Their minds were racing with thoughts of shouting for help or flagging down a car if one happened to pass by when the man in front started toward them. As the two men closed in, Will and Chester both realized they were rapidly running out of options.
    "This is too weird, we're well and truly snookered, who the heck are these guys?" Chester said, his words running into one