Doctor Who_ Warchild - Andrew Cartmel [53]
She landed on her feet inside, lifting the Styer AUG into a bayonet-ready position.
But it was all over. Mrs Woodcott was helping Redmond squirm out from under the corpse of the dog she’d just shot.
There was blood all over the dog and all over Redmond and all over the interior of the armoured car.
‘My god, what happened?’ said Roz. But she realized that Redmond couldn’t speak. He was holding his hand over some kind of wound in his throat. Roz immediately punched open the first-aid locker and dug out a combat dressing.
Mrs Woodcott got out of her way as she moved into the front of the vehicle.
‘Secure the hatch,’ Roz said as she stripped the sterile wrapping off the dressing. ‘We don’t want any more unofficial passengers getting in.’ She could see that Redmond was going to be all right and with the rush of relief came a feeling of irritation. It had been careless to let a dog get into the armoured car.
As Mrs Woodcott secured the hatch, Roz applied the dressing to Redmond’s throat. He gasped with relief as the pressure-dressing sealed the wound. Roz gave him a shot and handed him a pad of disinfectant so he could clean himself up; then she settled herself into the driver’s seat.
On the main screen she could see the trail of destruction the armoured car had left on its path across the council estate.
‘Lousy driving, Redmond,’ she said.
‘You try driving this thing with a bloody dog chewing on one arm while you’re trying to stick a knife between his ribs with the other, in between trying to stop yourself bleeding to death.’
Chapter 20
It felt very weird to be in school but not be part of the activity.
Ricky shifted uncomfortably on the bench. He was sitting in the corridor outside the principal’s office. This bench was generally used by those who’d been summoned to see the principal for disciplinary reasons, so no great thought had been given to the users’ comfort. It was a plain hard wooden bench set in a recess between two long banks of lockers.
Ricky looked up as his mother came back down the corridor, looking sweaty and angry in her best summer suit.
She was leading his little sister, Eve, by her hand.
‘Thanks for all your help,’ she said to Ricky as she walked past. She said it in a tight, angry, sarcastic voice.
‘Oh, come on, mom.’
‘Oh, come on?’ Justine was walking towards the principal’s office, but now she did a sudden U-turn and stalked towards the bench where Ricky sat.
Ricky looked hastily around. Luckily this corner of the school was quiet. Although it was the lunch hour he’d seen few kids and most of the passers-by were harassed-looking teachers hurrying to take refuge in the staffroom.
Fortunately there was no one at all around at the moment. No one to hear him have an argument with his mother. Ricky squirmed with embarrassment on the bench as Justine stood over him, eyes blazing.
‘I am here begging with this man to get you a place in this school,’ she hissed, ‘and you can’t even be bothered to help me out.’
‘How could I, mom?’ Ricky pleaded.
‘What do you mean, how could you? All I asked you to do was take your little sister to the bathroom. Is that so difficult?’
Absolutely impossible, thought Ricky. If any other kids saw him taking his little sister to the can he would never live it down at this school. He was going to have to come to this dump every day. If they accepted him. He was going to have to try and fit in with these kids. And that was going to be hard enough as it was.
Wisely, Ricky didn’t say any of this. He just sat with his head down, looking at his feet and the grey stone floor, as Justine stood over him with her eyes blazing.
After a moment she made a sound of disgust and strode off, tugging Eve along with her. She stepped back into Mr Pangbourne’s office, marching past his secretary, the fat bitch who could have helped her by taking Eve to the bathroom for her, but who had politely declined to assist.
Justine went on into Pangbourne’s office, leaving Eve sitting out with the secretary.
With a bit of luck