Toys

Chapter 62

When the ore ship finally landed-presumably in England, imagine that- I waited impatiently for the lid of our cargo unit to slide open and let us out. British allies would be there to meet us and take us on to London, a city I’d read about in countless books-books by Dickens, Austen, Amis, Smith, Maugham, Lodge.

I wasn’t expecting to be greeted with tea and crumpets-but I certainly wasn’t expecting what did happen.

The shipping unit was suddenly flipped upside down, dumping us into a mesh net, just as if we were a couple of fish.

Instantly, several threatening rifle barrels held by tight-lipped Brit soldiers were thrust in my face.

“What is this? What’s happening now?” I snapped at Lucy. “More lies?”

“Be calm, Hays. Be patient, please. No one is going to harm us.”

“Don’t even twitch, Baker,” one of the soldiers commanded in a crisp English accent.

Twitch? I was flooded with rage. How dare they treat Lucy and me in such a disrespectful manner!

“They’re just suspicious. They want to question you, but I couldn’t tell you that,” Lucy admitted. “I was afraid you’d-”

“Do something stupid?” I said. “Like maim several of them? Which I could do.”

The rifle barrels poked at my stomach and chest.

“You heard the major,” a sergeant growled. “Shut your mouth.”

“He said not to twitch,” I corrected the insolent soldier.

“Please, just go along,” Lucy urged. “I’m sorry, but there’s no way around it, Hays.” She really did seem apologetic, for what that was worth. Not very much.

“Come along, miss,” the major said to Lucy. “Sir Nigel wants to see you straight off.” He led her away, leaving me alone with my new group of pals.

“They tell us you’re some kind of poofter wonder boy,” the sergeant sneered. “We’ll have to see about that.”

“Let me guess-you have ways of making me talk,” I cracked. “And I’m supposed to come back with ‘Do your worst!’ Right?”

Clearly these lads were not chosen for their keen senses of humor. They stared at me stonily.

“Yeah, that’ll about cover it,” the sergeant said.