Ceri’s parents had believed my terrible excuses for turning up at their house without warning. After they had supervised Ceri making the salad and made us both wash our hands several times, they had left us well alone so Ceri could interview me about my grandparents. It was – well, it was fun.
A loud whistle suddenly silenced the crowd, and we swung round. Miss Pewlish was stood beside a stone wall up ahead. The wall dropped down into a deep pit. It was just big enough for a child to look over, and was lined on every side with enormous red warning signs. Miss Pewlish fixed us with a beady eye.
‘We have been invited here today,’ she said, ‘for a
very important purpose.
It’s not often the Warden allows groups outside during an SW5! It is so that you childrencan understand the very real, and the very
frightening
threat of bear attacks once the tornado has landed.’
Miss Pewlish took a moment to clear her throat.
‘During a storm,’ she said, ‘when whole houses are ripped from the ground and villages destroyed, you’d think that bears would want to hide in their caves for safety … but you’d be wrong. You see, the tornadoes scatter all their other sources of food. The starving bears are forced to roam the valleys even more than usual. And when this happens, their primary source of food is reckless young children, wandering the streets at night on their own.’
Callum shuffled his feet nervously beside me.
‘That is why,’ Miss Pewlish declared, ‘while the valleys are under SW5, it is
even more
important that you stick to the rules of the curfew. Barrow might be the safest village in the valleys, but the stormtraps won’t stop a hungry bear from waiting outside your bedroom window! Would
you
like to turn a corner and find this waiting for you?’
Miss Pewlish stepped aside, and a gasp escaped the crowd. In the centre of the enclosure, in amongst the tufts of grass and stagnant blocks of still water, a single bear lay slumped asleep. It was very old. Its brown fur was shedding and patched with grey, and its huge chest billowed weakly with grunting breaths you could onlyjust hear over the terrified whispers around us. It didn’t matter that the bear was old, or asleep. It didn’t even matter that there was a wall between us. It was a bear, the greatest threat in the valleys. No one felt safe.
‘Everyone line up!’ Miss Pewlish barked. ‘Each child will take turns looking at the bear! By order of the Warden!’
I felt a sudden tug on my wrist. Callum was heaving at the rope linking us, his face turned away from me.
‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘This is boring.’
‘We can’t leave,’ I said. ‘Don’t you remember what Miss Pewlish said on the bus? We can’t leave the crowd or …’
‘She’s an idiot,’ said Callum, his voice suddenly striking a higher pitch than normal. ‘Come on, I need to talk to you. It’s important.’
I frowned. ‘About what?’
Callum groaned. ‘What do you think?
The gang,
stupid.’
I beamed.
The gang.
I was actually in a gang, for the first time in my life. I wasn’t exactly thrilled that it was with Callum, but that didn’t really matter. I was finally going to be a daredevil – just like my grandparents. And climbing trees was
nothing
compared to what we had planned.
Callum dragged me to a secluded spot at the back of the crowd, and leant in to whisper.
‘So, here’s what I was thinking,’ he said. ‘We’re going to need a hideout. A top-secret one. My mum and dad are away almost all the time so the house is pretty empty, but then my babysit … er, I mean, my
cleaner
’s always there looking after me. And we can’t go to yours because your parents are clearly mental.’
I blinked. ‘They are?’
‘But get this,’ said Callum excitedly. ‘I’ve got a storm shelter in my back garden! A proper one, made of metal – it’s underground and everything. It’d be perfect – no one would ever think to look down there! Not even Officer
A loud whistle suddenly silenced the crowd, and we swung round. Miss Pewlish was stood beside a stone wall up ahead. The wall dropped down into a deep pit. It was just big enough for a child to look over, and was lined on every side with enormous red warning signs. Miss Pewlish fixed us with a beady eye.
‘We have been invited here today,’ she said, ‘for a
very important purpose.
It’s not often the Warden allows groups outside during an SW5! It is so that you childrencan understand the very real, and the very
frightening
threat of bear attacks once the tornado has landed.’
Miss Pewlish took a moment to clear her throat.
‘During a storm,’ she said, ‘when whole houses are ripped from the ground and villages destroyed, you’d think that bears would want to hide in their caves for safety … but you’d be wrong. You see, the tornadoes scatter all their other sources of food. The starving bears are forced to roam the valleys even more than usual. And when this happens, their primary source of food is reckless young children, wandering the streets at night on their own.’
Callum shuffled his feet nervously beside me.
‘That is why,’ Miss Pewlish declared, ‘while the valleys are under SW5, it is
even more
important that you stick to the rules of the curfew. Barrow might be the safest village in the valleys, but the stormtraps won’t stop a hungry bear from waiting outside your bedroom window! Would
you
like to turn a corner and find this waiting for you?’
Miss Pewlish stepped aside, and a gasp escaped the crowd. In the centre of the enclosure, in amongst the tufts of grass and stagnant blocks of still water, a single bear lay slumped asleep. It was very old. Its brown fur was shedding and patched with grey, and its huge chest billowed weakly with grunting breaths you could onlyjust hear over the terrified whispers around us. It didn’t matter that the bear was old, or asleep. It didn’t even matter that there was a wall between us. It was a bear, the greatest threat in the valleys. No one felt safe.
‘Everyone line up!’ Miss Pewlish barked. ‘Each child will take turns looking at the bear! By order of the Warden!’
I felt a sudden tug on my wrist. Callum was heaving at the rope linking us, his face turned away from me.
‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘This is boring.’
‘We can’t leave,’ I said. ‘Don’t you remember what Miss Pewlish said on the bus? We can’t leave the crowd or …’
‘She’s an idiot,’ said Callum, his voice suddenly striking a higher pitch than normal. ‘Come on, I need to talk to you. It’s important.’
I frowned. ‘About what?’
Callum groaned. ‘What do you think?
The gang,
stupid.’
I beamed.
The gang.
I was actually in a gang, for the first time in my life. I wasn’t exactly thrilled that it was with Callum, but that didn’t really matter. I was finally going to be a daredevil – just like my grandparents. And climbing trees was
nothing
compared to what we had planned.
Callum dragged me to a secluded spot at the back of the crowd, and leant in to whisper.
‘So, here’s what I was thinking,’ he said. ‘We’re going to need a hideout. A top-secret one. My mum and dad are away almost all the time so the house is pretty empty, but then my babysit … er, I mean, my
cleaner
’s always there looking after me. And we can’t go to yours because your parents are clearly mental.’
I blinked. ‘They are?’
‘But get this,’ said Callum excitedly. ‘I’ve got a storm shelter in my back garden! A proper one, made of metal – it’s underground and everything. It’d be perfect – no one would ever think to look down there! Not even Officer
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