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going to be worried sick about us.’ He turned to Asilah. ‘Why is
it that getting to school always involves these . . . diversions? Whenever we split up, that’s when the trouble happens. If we stay together, we’ll be safe.’
    ‘I say we just go with the flow,’ said Eric. ‘They’ll find us soon enough.’
    ‘They’ll be round the next bend,’ said Miles. He laughed. ‘This is our last few minutes of freedom, guys, we might as well enjoy it. I’ve been here before, by the
way. I’m sure of it.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ said Millie. ‘When?’
    ‘I don’t know. It’s just familiar.’
    ‘We can’t be that far from school,’ said Asilah. ‘We’d driven for hours and I saw a sign to Ribblemoor.’
    ‘Did you see the faces of those policemen?’ said Vijay, grinning.
    Eric laughed. ‘The ones by the river? They were not happy getting their shoes wet.’
    ‘There’s going to be a lot of angry people back there,’ said Millie, and there were murmurs of agreement. ‘We’ll be on the news again. I think we’re best off
getting as far away as possible – hiding out, even. I mean, how much does a plane cost? We smashed it to bits.’
    ‘And a bus. And two police cars. You think we killed anyone?’
    ‘I don’t think so,’ said Sanchez.
    ‘Fine,’ said Imagio. ‘Let’s just keep going and see where we end up. If we see a house or a bridge or something, we can stop and make a phonecall.’
    ‘It’s a very pretty river,’ said Sam. ‘I just saw a kingfisher.’

Chapter Six
    After another half-hour, the river divided for the third time.
    ‘How far do you think we’ve come?’ said Sanchez.
    ‘A long way,’ said Tomaz. ‘It’s a maze, isn’t it? They’re never going to find us – and there’s still no one about.’
    ‘Hold on, that’s not a field,’ said Ruskin. ‘Look to the right – look how flat the grass is.’
    ‘That’s a cricket pitch,’ said Asilah.
    ‘There’s one on the left, as well.’
    Miles was staring, screwing up his eyes. ‘I have been here before!’ he said. ‘I thought I recognised it, way back. I know this place, I’m sure of it.’
    ‘You are such an attention-seeker,’ said Millie. ‘When have you been floating on a river?’
    ‘It’s The Priory,’ said Miles. ‘On the edge of the moor – The Priory School. These are the playing fields.’ He stood up and went to the prow.
    Sanjay said, ‘There’s a sign coming up.’
    ‘
Private property
,’ read Israel. ‘How can you make a river private?’
    ‘There’s something written under it.’
    They came closer and peered at a line of smaller letters.
    ‘Miles is right,’ said Vijay. ‘It’s just what he says:
Property of The Priory
. I guess they mean the land’s private and they don’t want trespassers.
Oh, and look at that.’ He read carefully. ‘
These premises are patrolled by Stillwater Security Sytems. SSS.
’
    ‘You think they’re guarding the fish?’ said Anjoli.
    ‘You think they’re watching us?’ said Sam.
    Miles was still gazing around him. ‘It’s my old school,’ he said, quietly.
    ‘Which one?’ said Millie.
    Miles ignored her. ‘You can see the pavilion. And the chapel, on the other side of those trees – can you see the spire? This is the worst school in the world.’
    ‘It looks quite grand,’ said Ruskin. ‘Do you think they’d help us?’
    Sure enough, some formidably grey school buildings were emerging, the windows blank and black. The river bent to the right and took the children closer, under a line of willows. There
wasn’t a pupil or teacher in sight, and still nothing but birdsong.
    ‘You really went here?’ said Israel. ‘You must be loaded.’
    ‘When was it?’ said Tomaz.
    ‘Two years ago. I was eleven.’
    ‘Is it as posh as it looks?’ said Sam.
    ‘Oh yes,’ said Miles. ‘The poshest, snobbiest place I’ve ever been. I got kicked out and went up to some dump in Scotland. Then I went to Canada.’
    ‘It certainly