‘What about Justin’s offer to join us?’ Jester asked. ‘I thought the kids at the museum wanted to form an alliance of some sort?’

‘They’d like to,’ said David. ‘Sure. But I’m not interested. I want to teach them a lesson. I want to break them, Jester, make them suffer for what they did to me. Then, and only then, when they know who’s boss, once they come crawling to me on their scabby knees, will I let them join us. But to do that I need more fighters.’

He banged his fists on the stone balustrade of the balcony.

‘Sun’s going down,’ said Jester. ‘It’ll be dinner soon. We need to go and get ready.’

‘You and I,’ said David, straightening up, ‘will have to work really hard tonight. We have to be as charming as we can. Butter these stupid new arrivals up. We should dig out some of that wine as well, get them drunk. We have to persuade them to stay at least until you come back. I’ll give you a week.’

Jester laughed. ‘You’ve got a devious mind, David,’ he said as the two of them went back inside.

‘I’ve got the mind of a leader, Jester. And that’s what the children of London need, a powerful, decisive, ruthless and clever leader.’

Yeah, thought Jester, powerful, decisive, ruthless, clever and more than a little bit nuts.

17

If only David and Jester had been standing at the back of the building at that moment and not the front, they would have seen DogNut and the boat crew slipping out of the palace and hurrying across the terrace towards the gardens.

They darted across the small patch of surviving lawn, between the vegetable beds and into the trees, heading for the spot in the north-east corner of the garden where the secret way in and out was.

In the end DogNut had had to force Andy to show him exactly where the spot on the wall was and how to get over. Poor Andy hadn’t wanted to say at first, but DogNut had threatened him, said he’d tell David everything, and Andy had cracked.

The boat crew ran as fast as they could through the trees until they hit the wall, then followed it round, looking for the old compost bin that marked the way out. The only one of them who was missing was Al. He’d chosen to stay here with his sister, Maria.

It was Maria who had told them that David had been lying to them. She’d talked to DogNut and Courtney in one of the staterooms as she got a long table ready for supper, their conversation masked by the clatter and bang of plates and cutlery.

‘He knows exactly where Brooke is. Has done for ages. And he’s been trying to cause problems for her ever since. He’s even talked of attacking her base, apparently, he hates her so much.’

Maria knew all this because her boyfriend, Pod, was one of David’s generals, and he told her stuff he shouldn’t to try to impress her.

‘So where is she based then?’ DogNut had asked.

‘She’s in the Natural History Museum with a load of other kids. They’ve got a good set-up there as far as I can tell, though they’ve got a problem finding enough food.’

‘Is that far from here then, the Natural History Museum?’

‘Not sure. A couple of miles, I think. I’ll get someone to draw you a map …’

They reached the compost bin and DogNut pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket. The map was pretty basic, little more than a straight line linking the palace with the museum, with a few crude markers along the way.

Two miles. Half an hour maybe, if they were quick. It had been a long and tiring day, but they were all anxious to get going again. There was a feeling that if they didn’t get away now they might never leave, and the thought that they might find Brooke on their first day out, and be with her by nightfall, gave DogNut a powerful urge to keep moving.

But night was coming fast.

Marco stood on the old compost bin and Felix scrambled up on to his shoulders so that he could reach the barbed wire, being careful not to impale himself on Marco’s spiked helmet.

Just as Andy had said, the wire had been cut at one of the supports and then loosely fixed back in place. It only took Felix a few minutes to untangle it and push it to one side, then he pulled himself up using the steel spikes on the bar that ran along the top of the wall as hand holds. This section of spikes had been blunted and jammed in place so that they didn’t turn, but it was still tricky getting over them and dropping down on to the roof of the van that had been parked on the pavement on the other side.

One by one they made it, though, until only DogNut, Finn and Jessica were left. As DogNut made ready to help Jessica up, she put a hand on his arm.

‘I don’t want to go.’

‘What? You’re joking. Why?’

‘I don’t know that my friends are with Brooke and that. They could be anywhere.’

‘But they’re not here, Jessica.’

‘No, I know … Only, I’m scared, Doggo. Being chased by them sickos today, fighting them off, it freaked me out. I ain’t used to this. I ain’t never properly left the Tower before, not since we first arrived. I can’t deal with what might be out there. I can’t handle it. I only really left the Tower cos I was pissed off with Brendan.’

‘We should stick together, Jess.’

‘No, DogNut, I made up my mind. I ain’t going.’ She gripped his arm tighter. ‘If you hear anything, though, if you find them, you’ll tell them I’m here?’

‘Yeah. Course. It’s all right, babes, I get it.’

‘And maybe someone here might know something if I ask around, and then that Jester guy might go out and –’

‘That is a stupid name,’ said DogNut. ‘How can anyone go around being called Jester?’

Jessica laughed. ‘But you’re called DogNut!’

‘DogNut is a cool name.’ DogNut kissed Jessica and hopped up on to the bin. He didn’t want to waste any more time. If David realized they were gone, he might come after them and try to stop them.

‘Spin them some crap, Jess, won’t you?’ he called down to Jessica as he helped Finn up on to the compost bin. ‘Throw them off of our scent.’

‘I will. And Doggo …?’

‘What?’

‘Be careful, won’t you?’

‘Nah. I ain’t never been careful. See ya!’

DogNut made a stirrup with his hands and hoisted Finn up so that he could use his good hand to grab a spike. With DogNut pushing from below and Finn pulling he was soon up and Marco and Felix helped him over and down the other side. Then DogNut quickly scrambled up the wall, made sure Finn was clear and dropped down on to the top of the van. He helped Felix fix the wire back in place and then he stood up there a moment longer, looking at the outside world.

The sun was dipping below the tops of the buildings to the west, making it some time between seven and eight o’clock. It was a chilly evening. It had been a cloudless day so the heat was draining away fast. Summer was coming, and as far as DogNut was concerned it couldn’t come fast enough.

A dog chased a rat across the road.

There was still just enough light left to see that it was a different world out here compared to the palace gardens. The streets were strewn with rubbish. Weeds grew in the cracks between paving slabs. Cars sat where they’d been abandoned. DogNut remembered how shocked everyone had been at how quickly the petrol had run out once people started getting ill. And now London was a ghost town.

It was a harsh jolt back to reality. Being in the palace had been like staying in an enchanted secret sanctuary. Like the boring bits in The Lord of the Rings when the fellowship stayed with the elves. DogNut smiled, picturing David with pointy ears and silly long hair.

Elrond.

He slithered down off the van. They were at the roundabout by Hyde Park Corner. In the middle of it was a white triumphal arch with a statue on the top of some kind of giant angel standing in a chariot waving some flowers about.

A chariot would be useful right now.