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woman.
    ‘Roshanne’s inside,’ said India. ‘She’s OK. We’re all OK. What are you all doing here?’
    The constable wiped his fingers on the seat of his trousers and drew himself up to his full height.
    ‘We’ve come for the southsiders. Two of the boys found their
machine
.’ He pointed to the motorbike which lay overturned in the shallow waters at the bottom of the hill.
‘Now we’re going to teach them a lesson once and for all.’ The crowd grumbled and pressed forward. From the corner of her eye India saw Calculus shift his position slightly.
    ‘Wait, Mehmet, these people aren’t southsiders. They’re from Trans-Siberian Mining, where Dad used to work.’
    ‘Then why did they sneak into our village at night unannounced?’ He jabbed a finger towards Calculus. ‘With a military droid?’
    ‘It’s true what India says,’ said Verity, coming to her side. ‘We’re here on business. We just want some information, that’s all.’
    ‘We don’t give information to strangers,’ said a young man with a face full of ripe pimples. He yanked out an ancient pistol that was thick with rust. ‘A raiding party
took my sister last year,’ he said, pointing the gun at Verity. ‘So now I’m going to shoot me a southsider.’
    India flinched. But before she could speak, a blur of motion rushed past her. Something impacted heavily with the boy, who went flying backwards. India blinked; a moment earlier, Calculus had
been standing ten feet behind her, but now he was crouching over the boy, who was groaning and clutching his chest.
    The crowd pushed forward aggressively and a man at the front swung an axe at Calculus. He side-stepped it with ease and swept the man off his feet. A rock sailed over the heads of the crowd and
thumped on to the path beside India.
    ‘Stop it, stop it!’ she cried. But her voice was carried away on a tide of anger.
    ‘Come on, India,’ said Verity, pulling India away. ‘Let’s go – quickly, before someone gets badly hurt.’
    ‘See, I told you you’d be going on a journey, India,’ laughed Cromerty. She began waving a handkerchief in a gesture of farewell.
    ‘Calculus!’ Verity called out as they retreated. ‘Hold them off – but no fatalities, please.’ She dragged India back to the house and pulled her into the doorway,
out of sight of the crowd.
    ‘Will Calculus be all right?’ said India. ‘Shouldn’t we help him?’
    ‘Never mind about him,’ said Verity. ‘I’ve put you in danger by coming here. The sooner we leave, the better for all of you. Can you help me get to my bike?’
    India’s mind raced. ‘What about Dad’s journals? That’s what you came for, isn’t it?’
    ‘You’d give them to me?’ said Verity cautiously.
    ‘I might, but you’d need to do something for me in return.’ India took a deep breath. ‘I want to come with you, I want to get away from here and go to Siberia to find my
dad.’
    Verity shook her head. ‘Sorry, India, I don’t take passengers. I can see what’s going on here, but believe me, there’s far worse things that could happen to you than
marrying Mr Clench. At least here you’ll be safe.’
    ‘You don’t understand,’ said India. ‘Nobody knows what happened to my dad and nobody seems to care except me.’
    ‘Put it out of your head, India,’ said Verity firmly. ‘Siberia is the most hostile place on Earth and I’m afraid Mrs Bentley was right: your dad is probably
dead.’
    ‘Everybody says that! But you don’t know my dad – he’s smart and he knows how to survive. Besides, I made him a promise that if he was ever lost, I’d come and find
him.’ She stopped. For the second time that evening she had said more than she meant to. ‘All right then,’ she bargained. ‘If you won’t help me find my dad, how about
you just take me as far as Angel Town? I’ll give you the journals in return for a cut of the money and then you’ll never have to see me again. But if you don’t take me,