Freak had announced that he was organizing a football match. He’d found a silver cup in a trophy cabinet and had renamed it the ‘Arran Memorial Cup’. Now most of the kids were outside, playing, but not this six. From Waitrose there were Maxie, Ollie and Achilleus. From Morrisons, Blue, Whitney and Lewis. They were alone apart from two of the uniformed boys who were standing guard on either side of the door through to the next room.

Blue was itchy about the whole thing. Convinced that David was trying to knock him back. He’d been wanting to talk to Jester about it since dinner last night, but hadn’t seen anything of him. Now the six of them had been left standing around like mugs for the best part of an hour. There had been rain in the night but the day was fine and bright, and the thought of just sitting out in the sun unwinding was very enticing.

The Holloway kids were bored and restless and didn’t like being made to feel second-best, but Ollie was urging them to be cautious and trying to calm them down, even though he knew all too well that David wasn’t telling them the whole truth. Ollie wanted David to play all his cards before he played any of his own. He’d long ago worked out that it was best to work behind the scenes. A quiet word here, a suggestion there, was always better than blundering in with all guns blazing. He recognized Jester as someone very similar to himself. Which was probably why he’d never trusted him.

‘If nothing happens in the next five minutes, I’m off,’ said Blue. ‘They’re having a laugh.’

‘Blue’s right,’ drawled Lewis. ‘We don’t want them to think we’ll do whatever they say. We don’t want to look like pussies.’

‘All the same,’ said Ollie. ‘Don’t you want to see what this is all about?’

‘I’ll tell you what it’s all about,’ said Blue. ‘Respect.’

‘Blue’s right,’ said Maxie. ‘I’ve had enough of this. Let’s go.’

‘Remember we’re guests here,’ said Ollie. ‘They can kick us all out if they want.’

‘Why go to all the trouble of sending Jester to find other kids if they’re just going to kick us out?’ said Achilleus. ‘They want something from us. That’s for sure.’

‘There’s a couple of sweet-looking girls want my body,’ said Lewis sleepily.

‘Who’d want your scraggy body?’ said Whitney. ‘There’s some nang guys here. Guys that don’t reek.’

Some of the kids had had baths last night but there hadn’t been enough hot water for everyone, so they were using the bathroom on a rota system. They’d made up a timetable and the girls were going first.

‘Come on,’ said Achilleus. ‘Nothing’s happening here. Let’s go.’

‘Yeah.’

Just as they were turning to leave, the doors to the next room opened a crack and a boy came through.

‘I’m really sorry, guys,’ he said. ‘Didn’t mean to leave you hanging around so long. I’m Pod, by the way.’

Pod was big and handsome with a thick thatch of fair hair streaked with blond highlights. He wore jeans with a rugby shirt, the collar turned up. He seemed like the type who went skiing and played rugby and met up with his mates in Cornwall every year to party and go surfing.

The others grumbled hellos, making sure he noticed how hacked off they all were.

‘We wanted everything to be ready for you, yeah,’ said Pod. ‘It’s taken us a smidgeon longer than we thought. Our fault. Sorry, guys. Now, I didn’t get the chance to say hello last night. I was out on patrol with the lads. I’m sort of in charge of security. Though I gather from my mate Jester that you lot could show me a thing or two about scrapping. I’m really looking forward to working with you.’

‘What exactly are you getting ready in there?’ Whitney asked. ‘You baking a cake or something?’

‘You’ll see. We wanted it to be a surprise.’

‘I don’t like surprises,’ said Blue.

‘It’ll be worth it,’ said Pod. ‘Trust me.’

‘Don’t know you,’ said Blue. ‘So don’t trust you.’

‘Fair enough,’ said Pod. ‘Yeah, good philosophy, I like it. Now, listen, I know you’ve all been through a lot. But just remember – we’re the good guys, yeah?’

The door opened again. This time it was Jester.

‘Do you want to come on through?’ he said, standing aside to clear the way.

‘Why not?’ said Achilleus.

None of them quite knew what they were expecting, and it certainly wasn’t this.

The next room was long and red, with several massive chandeliers, though the only light was coming through floor-to-ceiling windows down one side. At the far end was a row of thrones set out on a dais beneath a long plush red drape that hung from a gold canopy.

Sat on the thrones were seven people in various stages of decay. The youngest looked to be about sixteen, the oldest at least sixty. They were dressed in formal clothing that included robes and sashes, tiaras and medals. Diamond jewellery sparkled on the women while the men feebly held on to ceremonial swords. They looked like they didn’t have a clue what was going on and were very sick indeed. Their clothes hung loosely on them, and their scrawny necks poked out of the top like vultures. They had sunken cheeks and waxy, sweaty skin marred by spreading sores and boils. But they were quiet; just sitting, staring with big blank, uncomprehending eyes.

Four boys in uniform stood near the thrones, rifles at their sides. David was standing off to one side with Franny and another girl in a white nurse’s uniform. Maxie assumed this must be the Rose Maeve had told her about. Two more girls in nurse’s uniforms stood a little behind her. Jester and Pod went over to join them.

‘Welcome to the Throne Room,’ said David.

Maxie was staring at the grown-ups. ‘Who are they?’ she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

‘They’re all that’s left of the Royal Family,’ said Jester. ‘We found them here when we arrived. Hiding. None of the big names. Not the Queen, or anything. But they’re still royal.’

‘They’re a mess,’ said Lewis.

‘Well, they’re sick but not too sick,’ said David. ‘Who knows, maybe it’s their royal blood, their blue blood. Maybe it’s protected them from the worst.’

An old lady lifted her hand; on it was a grubby white glove. She seemed to be trying to say something. She gave up.

‘At first they weren’t so bad,’ said Jester. ‘They could talk and move about. I must admit they’ve got worse, though. Now they just sit there, slowly rotting. Two of them have died. I guess this lot won’t live that much longer.’

‘That’s why we need to move quickly,’ said David. ‘We need to set ourselves up in London before it’s too late. If I can say I’m putting the Royal Family back on the throne, it’ll make everything easier.’

‘Whoa, hang on,’ said Maxie. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I’m talking about sorting London out. Putting everything right. We need to take control, and people will be much more likely to look up to us, to follow us, if we have some sort of authority.’

‘What people?’ said Maxie. ‘I’m still not following you.’

‘Ordinary people. They need things like this; things from the past, to reassure them.’

‘This lot wouldn’t reassure anyone,’ said Whitney.

‘This is the Royal Family,’ said David importantly. ‘Legitimate rulers of England.’

‘No way, man,’ said Blue. ‘It’s a joke.’

‘The kids out there don’t have to know how bad they are.’

‘They’re grown-ups,’ said Lewis. ‘Everyone knows how bad grown-ups are.’

‘We’ll lie. Say they’re special. Show them on the balcony now and then. From a distance they’ll look fine.’

A man flopped to the floor and started to crawl off the dais towards the kids, saliva dripping from his open mouth. Two of the guards picked him up and put him back on his throne.

‘Don’t worry, they’re completely harmless,’ said David. ‘But in the right hands, they can be a powerful weapon. Other children out there will –’

‘Wait a minute?’ said Achilleus. ‘You keep talking about other kids. What other kids? I thought this was it.’