The worst part- the worst part of the first few minutes, anyway- was when they came to the corner of the street they were on.  Mr Miacca had taken the boy in the story from the corner of his street.  As soon as they stepped away from the corner and crossed the road, they’d be in Mr Miacca’s territory.  This was their last chance to turn back and wait for Andrea like she’d told them to.

It wouldn’t be so bad… began a nervous voice in Natalie’s head, before she blocked it out, took hold of Stephanie’s hand, and led her across the road.  You couldn’t hesitate.  If they just strode forward and acted like they owned the place, they might just get away with what they were doing.

They made it to the other side, and kept on walking.  What they needed to do, Natalie decided, was go back the way they’d come and get back to the church.  They could find their way home from there a whole lot easier than they could from a dark, unfamiliar street where someone might jump out at them at any moment.  If they were really lucky, someone might still be there- the Captain or the Lieutenant, maybe, putting the chairs up and locking the equipment cupboard- and maybe that someone would be able to call their mum at work, so they wouldn’t have to walk through Mr Miacca’s territory after dark.  Maybe.  But they had to find it first.

Across the road, there was a thin fence that looked as if it was made out of cardboard, and on the fence, there were words written in white paint.  KEEP OUT.  KEEP OUT.  DANGER.  But what kind of danger?  What was behind that fence that you needed to keep away from?  And how was a fence as flimsy as that going to keep it from escaping?  Natalie moved as far as she could away from the road.  If it escaped, there were bushes they could duck behind.  There were trees they could climb.  They’d be able to get away from it.

“Why isn’t Andrea coming with us?” asked Steph.  She didn’t even sound worried.  This was just a new, interesting thing that had happened in her day.

“Because she wants to watch a film with her friends,” said Natalie, trying to keep her voice level.  Part of her wanted Stephanie to be more alert, to be on the lookout for Mr Miacca so he wouldn’t get her, but in another way, it was good to hear her sounding calm and happy.  As if Natalie needed reminding that people could still be calm and happy.  It was easy to forget, at the moment.

“Oh.”  Steph went quiet, apparently satisfied.  Natalie squeezed her hand, to make sure she was still holding it.  Her own hand had gone numb.

They walked on, quick enough to look confident, but slow enough to keep a proper eye on their surroundings.  Natalie kept looking back at the fence with the writing on it.  It still hadn’t escaped, whatever it was, but she wished they didn’t have their backs to it.  Maybe it was the kind of thing that could sneak up behind you.

Stephanie had a thought.  “Maybe…  Maybe we’ll get home, and Andrea will already be there!”  She smiled in sheer wonder.

“Mm.  Maybe.”  It was too dark here.  The sun was all the way down now, and there were too many trees on this road, blocking out the moon and the stars and anything else that might have given off light.  It made Natalie think of another book she’d read, about a girl who met an evil green troll in the middle of the forest.  Those trees could hide anything.

But then, those trees could also hide Natalie and Steph, if they needed them to.  They’d make it easier for Mr Miacca to sneak up on them, but if they saw him coming first, then the trees could help them.

In fact, now that she thought about it, the safest thing of all might be for her and Steph to climb to the top of one of them and stay there until their Mum came looking for them.  As far as she knew, Mr Miacca couldn’t climb trees.  For a moment, Natalie looked at the trunk of the nearest tree, considering it, but then she heard a noise from one of the nearby houses and hurried on.  It was too risky.  What if they were in the middle of climbing it when Mr Miacca came along?  He’d be able to pick them off the side like they were leaves.

Now that Natalie came to think of it, there were a lot of noises coming from the nearby houses.  Raised voices, from this one, like a mum and dad arguing, or telling their kids off.  It echoed out into the street, as if Natalie and Steph were being told off, too.  For not being good and waiting for their big sister like she’d told them to, even if it meant that Mr Miacca would come and get them.

Natalie saw a street sign, and wished she hadn’t.  “Butcher’s Corner.”  A butcher was just a shop on the high street that sold bacon and lamb chops, but butchering was what Mr Miacca and his wife did to the children he brought home.  That was exactly the kind of name that Mr Miacca’s street would have.

They had to get out of here.  And no sooner had Natalie thought that, than she saw a fork in the road, just up ahead.

Now, which way had they come?  Which way had they come?

Natalie felt like crying.  There was one road that went forward, and another one that went right, and she couldn’t remember which one took them back to Girls’ Brigade.  It was coming closer and closer as they walked, and she still couldn’t remember.  And she couldn’t stop to work it out.  She couldn’t hesitate for a second, or Mr Miacca would seize his chance and…

They crossed the road, and went right.

It looked familiar.  Bits of it, anyway.  Natalie went on, gripping Stephanie’s hand in hers, and left Butcher’s Corner behind.