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cautious.
“Not the house. Unless you want to wake up with someone’s gun to
your head.”
    There was a small hayloft above the barn. Rich was lucky to find the
ladder up to it in the dark. The only light was from his mobile phone, and
the battery wouldn’t last much longer. He needed to preserve it till he
could get a signal and call for help. They climbed up the rickety wooden
ladder, pulling it up behind them.
    It didn’t seem that the hayloft was used any more. But there was
enough straw and old sacking to gather together into three makeshift
mattresses. They positioned themselves so they had a good view down over
the farm machinery below. The rain was hammering on the bare tiles just
above them. Water trickled in where the roof needed mending.
    â€œWhat if they come back?” said Jade.
    â€œStay hidden,” said McCain. “There’s no way they
can know where we are. When it’s light, and we can see what we’re doing,
we’ll make a break for it. Maybe flagdown a car in the lane outside. But
I don’t fancy trying to find civilisation in this.” His words were
punctuated by another flash of lightning.
    â€œThe farmhouse is being renovated,” said Rich.
“There must be builders, workmen, someone to look after those
chickens if nothing else.”
    â€œAnd if they come back and do find us?” Jade insisted.
    Rich pointed to the combine harvester below. “We’ll use that.
It’s a step up from a tractor, and we can give them a damned good
threshing!”
    Jade stifled a smile. “Let’s hope they don’t come back then, if
bad jokes are all we’ve got going for us.”
    â€œWe should get some sleep,” said McCain. “I’ve a
feeling it’s going to be a busy and tiring day tomorrow.”
    Despite the situation, Rich managed to doze. He woke with straw
poking painfully into his ear, and the first light of day creeping through
the holes in the roof where the water had come through during the night.
The rain had stopped and the morning was bright and clear.
    Rich’s phone still had no signal, but there was enough light to get a
decent picture with the camera.So he pulled out the photograph of Dad, Dex Halford, Ferdy McCain and
the other soldier, and smoothed it out. The rain hadn’t been kind to it,
and the edges were ragged. But he managed to get a decent photo of the
snapshot on his phone camera.
    Then he wrote a quick text message to Dex Halford and sent it
together with the photo: “jade & me with mccain big trouble
help!” Of course, it didn’t get sent as there was no signal. But as
soon as there was, he knew it would go. Not that it would do much good if
he couldn’t talk to Halford, but with luck Halford would call him back and
the call would get through. Although Rich had no idea where they were, so
asking for help might not be so useful…
    McCain was already awake, sitting behind a bale of hay looking out
down into the barn. As Rich joined him, he put his finger to his lips and
pointed down into the barn. Rich could see the silhouette of a man against
the open doors, the low morning sunlight streaming past him.
    â€œFarmer?” Rich whispered.
    McCain shook his head. The figure moved slightly, looking round the
barn, and Rich could see now that he was holding a handgun.
    â€œPerhaps he’s out shooting rabbits,” Jade’s voice
whispered in Rich’s ear. She took shelter behind the hay bale with Rich
and McCain, and together they watched the man making his way slowly
through the maze of farm machinery.
    He moved with practised ease, gun at the ready. His movements were
slow and measured, with sudden bursts of speed as he checked each and
every possible hiding place methodically and with professional care.
    At one point, as he stepped back from inspecting the combine
harvester, the man glanced up. Rich was pretty sure they were hidden in
the shadows, but even so