Unexpected Turns: Fair Exchange

have lived. Kylie felt the same sense of futility rising inside her as she had felt the last time. Alicia was heading towards her death again.

"No!" shouted Kylie, "Don't go that way!"

The words in the book changed. Now the text said that Alicia stopped. The next sentence said that she looked back and saw the man. Now she understood the danger she was in she began to run. Kylie read in amazement. This wasn't in the last chapter the first time she read it? How did it get there? She read on, fascinated, and as she did so, she started to feel the wind against her face and the slap of pavement under her feet. The traffic on the street was louder, the smell of exhaust fumes filled her head, and the man behind her was gaining. She swung round a corner, collided with a woman in a heavy fur coat and dodged a man with a black briefcase. A taxi pulled in. She grabbed the door open and slammed it shut, locking it. She reached back and locked the door behind her. The driver looked at her, startled.

"What's the hurry?" he asked.

"I have to tell the police!" said Kylie, "There's a man . .. there! That one! He was one of the men who robbed that old lady!"

"You mean Dame Spenser?"

"Yes! It was in the paper!"

The man with the green umbrella turned and began to walk away.

"Follow him!" said Kylie. She suddenly realized she was in the car. Alicia was gone. The taxi pulled out into the traffic and cruised slowly, keeping a safe distance behind the man.

"What am I doing here?"

"Now listen girl, if this is some kind of joke ...?"

"This isn't real! Tell me I'm dreaming!"

The driver slowed.

"Do you want to get out? I've got better things to do than follow people along footpaths!"

"No!" said Kylie, "I can't. We've got to catch him!"

The taxi speeded up. Ahead of them, the man turned into a doorway and disappeared.

"He went in there!"