the path with a gravelly crunch.
Theo had dressed up for the ambush, wearing a blue martial arts suit over his red CHERUB shirt and with the towelling belt from a bathrobe knotted around his head.
‘That was so cool!’ Theo giggled, as he pointed at Ryan. ‘I bet you’ve got skidmarks!’
Theo was a cute kid, with the same dark hair and olive complexion as Ryan, but Ryan had always been slim, whereas Theo was stockier.
Theo lunged playfully, going head first into Ryan’s belly.
‘Stop acting up,’ Ryan said. He always tried to sound parental, but Theo never took any notice.
A more effective technique was to lift Theo up, tickle him briefly under the ribcage and dump him on the verge of the path with a boot heel pinning him gently to the grass.
‘You big bully!’ Theo protested, only half serious. ‘You wait till I’m grown up.’
‘If I let you up, will you be sensible?’ Ryan asked.
‘Kiss my butt!’ Theo said.
Ryan wriggled two fingers, indicating that he was going to tickle Theo again.
‘OK, I’ll be good,’ Theo shrieked, as he curled up.
‘This is Amy,’ Ryan said, as he offered Theo a hand.
Theo spoke in an absurd robotic voice. ‘Hello Amy. It is very, very, nice to meet you.’
‘I see the family resemblance,’ Amy said.
‘I don’t look like him ,’ Theo said, shaking his head. ‘I’m beautiful. He looks worse than he smells.’
‘Theo’s showing off because he thinks you’re cute,’ Ryan explained, as he put an arm around Theo’s neck and mock-strangled him.
‘Shut your face!’ Theo said. ‘You love Amy, not me!’
‘Why aren’t you in lessons, anyway?’ Ryan asked.
‘Going to meet Leon and Daniel coming out of training. Same as you, dumbo.’
Ryan laughed. ‘You can’t stand the twins.’
Theo smiled. ‘Gets me out of maths. And the twins are OK, except when they gang up on me.’
Amy laughed as they walked on, with Theo acting like a madman, launching himself into bushes and pretending to strangle himself with the towelling belt.
‘Your brother’s adorable ,’ Amy said quietly.
Ryan raised an eyebrow. ‘In small doses. But see if you still feel that way after he’s been jumping on your bed for three hours.’
Theo sprinted the last hundred metres to the gates of the training compound, but the exertion was wasted because the instructors were keeping CHERUB’s three newest grey shirts back while they gave the training area a final scrub and tidied all their kit away ready for the next batch of trainees.
‘Fart heads!’ Theo shouted, when Leon and Daniel finally emerged from the training dorm and started walking towards the gate with Ning a few steps behind. The trio had all showered and dressed in neatly ironed combat trousers, with brand new boots to go with hard-earned grey T-shirts.
The trainees had been allowed to keep one ripped, stained and unwashed blue training shirt as a memento of their hundred days and Leon immediately draped his over Theo’s head. Theo thought this was funny and pretended he was blind as he hugged his two older brothers.
Ryan didn’t often feel proud of his brothers, but a tear welled up as the quartet hugged. He thought about how his dead mum would have liked to see them all mucking about together in the sunshine.
‘Can’t believe only three trainees made it and you dweebs are two of ’em,’ Ryan said.
Daniel eyed Theo as they broke apart. ‘Two and a bit years, Theo. You’d better be scared!’
‘I’m not scared of basic training,’ Theo replied.
A couple of metres away, Amy was hugging Ning and congratulating her, but Ning looked disappointed.
‘It got so that half the kids on campus were skiving off every time basic training finished,’ Ryan explained. ‘So now only relatives are allowed out of lessons. You’ll see Grace and Chloe and everyone at lunchtime.’
‘Cool,’ Ning said.
‘And now we get to do the fun bit,’ Ryan said, as he pulled three keys from his trouser pocket and
Theo had dressed up for the ambush, wearing a blue martial arts suit over his red CHERUB shirt and with the towelling belt from a bathrobe knotted around his head.
‘That was so cool!’ Theo giggled, as he pointed at Ryan. ‘I bet you’ve got skidmarks!’
Theo was a cute kid, with the same dark hair and olive complexion as Ryan, but Ryan had always been slim, whereas Theo was stockier.
Theo lunged playfully, going head first into Ryan’s belly.
‘Stop acting up,’ Ryan said. He always tried to sound parental, but Theo never took any notice.
A more effective technique was to lift Theo up, tickle him briefly under the ribcage and dump him on the verge of the path with a boot heel pinning him gently to the grass.
‘You big bully!’ Theo protested, only half serious. ‘You wait till I’m grown up.’
‘If I let you up, will you be sensible?’ Ryan asked.
‘Kiss my butt!’ Theo said.
Ryan wriggled two fingers, indicating that he was going to tickle Theo again.
‘OK, I’ll be good,’ Theo shrieked, as he curled up.
‘This is Amy,’ Ryan said, as he offered Theo a hand.
Theo spoke in an absurd robotic voice. ‘Hello Amy. It is very, very, nice to meet you.’
‘I see the family resemblance,’ Amy said.
‘I don’t look like him ,’ Theo said, shaking his head. ‘I’m beautiful. He looks worse than he smells.’
‘Theo’s showing off because he thinks you’re cute,’ Ryan explained, as he put an arm around Theo’s neck and mock-strangled him.
‘Shut your face!’ Theo said. ‘You love Amy, not me!’
‘Why aren’t you in lessons, anyway?’ Ryan asked.
‘Going to meet Leon and Daniel coming out of training. Same as you, dumbo.’
Ryan laughed. ‘You can’t stand the twins.’
Theo smiled. ‘Gets me out of maths. And the twins are OK, except when they gang up on me.’
Amy laughed as they walked on, with Theo acting like a madman, launching himself into bushes and pretending to strangle himself with the towelling belt.
‘Your brother’s adorable ,’ Amy said quietly.
Ryan raised an eyebrow. ‘In small doses. But see if you still feel that way after he’s been jumping on your bed for three hours.’
Theo sprinted the last hundred metres to the gates of the training compound, but the exertion was wasted because the instructors were keeping CHERUB’s three newest grey shirts back while they gave the training area a final scrub and tidied all their kit away ready for the next batch of trainees.
‘Fart heads!’ Theo shouted, when Leon and Daniel finally emerged from the training dorm and started walking towards the gate with Ning a few steps behind. The trio had all showered and dressed in neatly ironed combat trousers, with brand new boots to go with hard-earned grey T-shirts.
The trainees had been allowed to keep one ripped, stained and unwashed blue training shirt as a memento of their hundred days and Leon immediately draped his over Theo’s head. Theo thought this was funny and pretended he was blind as he hugged his two older brothers.
Ryan didn’t often feel proud of his brothers, but a tear welled up as the quartet hugged. He thought about how his dead mum would have liked to see them all mucking about together in the sunshine.
‘Can’t believe only three trainees made it and you dweebs are two of ’em,’ Ryan said.
Daniel eyed Theo as they broke apart. ‘Two and a bit years, Theo. You’d better be scared!’
‘I’m not scared of basic training,’ Theo replied.
A couple of metres away, Amy was hugging Ning and congratulating her, but Ning looked disappointed.
‘It got so that half the kids on campus were skiving off every time basic training finished,’ Ryan explained. ‘So now only relatives are allowed out of lessons. You’ll see Grace and Chloe and everyone at lunchtime.’
‘Cool,’ Ning said.
‘And now we get to do the fun bit,’ Ryan said, as he pulled three keys from his trouser pocket and
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