“It’s well sweet,” said Alfie. “I didn’t expect anything like this.”
Maggie stepped off the ladder to join them and then immediately covered her ears. John and Happy arrived moments later. They were all inside now.
Fifteen feet underground in the middle of nowhere.
“We have to shut off that noise,” moaned Maggie. The lids beneath her eyes had gone an unhealthy charcoal, and her luscious lips appeared dry. Perhaps she really did have a headache. She certainly looked ill all of a sudden.
The ladder down which they had climbed was not against the rear wall of the container, and there was, in fact, space behind it. Cheryl’s ears told her the alarm was coming from that alcove.
“So what have you found?” John asked as he slipped his flatcap off his head and stuffed it into one of his jacket’s oversized pockets. His brown hair was unkempt and slightly sweaty as he patted it down.
“I switched the lights on here.” Monty tapped a lever on the wall and shoved it upwards. The lights went out. Darkness smothered them. Cheryl swallowed a lump in her throat and wished she’d eaten more for breakfast. Yet, despite the darkness, she wasn’t completely blind. A single, luminous word floated in the shadows. It read: PULL.
The lights flicked back on. Monty still had his hand on the lever, but now it was in the down position. “That word was the only thing I could see when I got down here,” he explained, “so I felt around until I found this lever. Soon as the lights came on that clock started ticking down.”
They all looked at where Monty was pointing. On the opposite wall was a large digital clock with bright red numbers.
86:45
86:44
86:43
Cheryl groaned, feeling a thousand pounds slipping away from her second by second. “We have less than an hour-and-a-half to escape.”
Tick. Tick. Tick.
“But we could escape right now,” said Leo, pointing up at the square opening fifteen feet above their heads. He moved in front of the ladder and placed his hands on either side. “Aren’t we supposed to be locked-in? I mean, we could just climb right back—” He stepped onto the first rung and a whole section of the ladder came away from its moorings. He let out a cry and staggered backwards as the entire lower length fell apart. The pieces clattered against the steel floor and everyone had to back up against the wall to keep from being struck. Alfie got hit on the shin and hissed. “What the effin hell!”
Maggie growled and pressed her fingers against her temples over her wooly hat. “This is ridiculous.”
Everyone stared at the broken ladder, then at each other. What had just happened? Did something go wrong? Had it been an accident?
Leo gawked at the disembodied section of ladder still in his hands. “I could’ve cracked my bloody head open.”
Cheryl stared up at the hatch. It was suddenly much further away than fifteen feet. Only the top few rungs of the ladder remained in place, the other pieces all scattered across the floor. A thick steel cable swung in the air just out of reach. Had it been holding the ladder together? She looked back at the clock and wondered if it had been rigged to a timer or set to self-destruct as soon as someone tried to climb back up it. Maybe it was just shoddy maintenance.
“Well, it looks like we’re good and trapped now,” said John, glaring at Leo. “Nice going.”
“You’re going to blame me for that?”
“It was clumsy.”
“Yeah, excuse me for being a clumsy ladder climber.”
“It’s part of the game,” said Happy, trying to keep the peace like he always did. “The ladder was obviously designed to collapse, but what you said is right, John. We’re trapped. The game has begun.”
“Can we please shut off that car alarm?” Maggie begged, still clutching her head. “I can’t take it anymore. I can’t take another second.”
“Don’t get hysterical,” John chided.
“Screw you, John!”
He whirled on her, a flash of anger on his face. Happy put a hand up before any more words were spoken. “Come on, you two. We’re here to have fun.”
Cheryl avoided the tension by moving to the space where the ladder had been. “I think the alarm is coming from back here,” she said. “I’ll take a look.”
Everyone stood by while she investigated the alcove. A curtain hung from a rail, and she slid it aside to discover the front half of a bright red sports car. The headlights flashed to life and made the paintwork appear even brighter. The alarm was definitely coming from somewhere beneath the car’s sleek metal bonnet. “Wow!” she said. “That’s an expensive prop. Is it a Ferrari?”
“A TVR,” said Alfie, then glanced at Monty.
“Oh, well, it’s beautiful. Don’t think I’ll ever get to drive one. I’m still saving up for a Mini.”
“Honesty is the key to peace,” said Leo, and when everyone looked at him quizzically, he pointed to a sign on the wall above the driver’s side. The sign read, in bold typeface: HONESTY IS THE KEY TO PEACE.
“What d’you think it means?” Leo asked.
“It’s another riddle,” said Happy. “Any ideas?”
Cheryl wracked her brain but nothing came immediately to mind, so she searched for further clues. After a moment, she was forced to shout at the others over the din of the alarm. “Come on, you lot. Get looking. Time is money.”
Everyone snapped to attention and joined the search. Cheryl peered beneath the car but saw only smooth cement. The two front tyres were flat, but she could find nothing strange about them. She had no clue what she was looking for, and the noise of the alarm was making it difficult to think.
“Open the bonnet,” said Maggie. “Disconnect that alarm, for the love of God!”
Leo nodded. “Maybe that’s what we’re supposed to do.”
“I don’t care what we’re supposed to do, just do it!”
“Okay, Mag, jeez! What’s wrong with you today?”
“Nothing! I’m just getting a migraine.”
John frowned. “You don’t get migraines.”
“I do today.”
“The horn is usually a wire attached to the battery,” said Happy. He stepped forward and tugged at the lip of the bonnet. It popped up easily on an automatic hinge and an impressive-looking engine glared back at them. Blue pipework and thick wires streaked back and forth above a thick slab of metal. Cheryl knew nothing of engines, but she could tell this one was a beast. The odd thing about it was the tablet device affixed to the top.
The rectangular screen flashed to life and displayed a message. Cheryl read it aloud with a chuckle, for it was a mildly cheeky question. “What is the combined age of your group?”
“Ooh,” said Alfie. “No blagging, you lot.”
“I’m twenty-five,” said Monty with a shrug.
“Fifty-three,” said Happy.
Alfie grinned. “Young, free, and nineteen, innit?”
“Twenty-four,” said Leo before adding, “and a half.”
Cheryl gave her answer without embarrassment. She was at a convenient age where she felt neither too young nor too old. “Twenty-three.”
That left John and Maggie, both of which looked at one another awkwardly. “Well, um,” John began, peeling off his leather driving gloves and placing them in his pocket as he spoke. “I hope I don’t look it, but I’m forty-four.”