The Power of Five Oblivion by Anthony Horowitz

appeared out of the darkness. I saw his hand rise to his shoulder and a second later, he had flicked on a torch which was strapped there, leaving him free to cradle the machine gun which was aimed at us. The powerful beam leapt out, dazzling us. The policeman had lost his helmet and visor but I still couldn’t make out much of his face. He was in total command. There was nothing the three of us could do. He could cut us down where we stood.
    “Stay where you are!” he grunted. A voice crackled somewhere inside his helmet and he spoke into a microphone that curved round in front of his lips. “I have them…”
    “Where are you?” It was the woman from the helicopter.
    “At the church,” Jamie said. It took me a moment to understand that it was he who had spoken. He was staring at the policeman. There was something strange about him that I had never seen before, although somehow, I knew what was happening. Jamie had powers. He had already told me that. Now he was using them.
    “They’re at the church,” the policeman said.
    He knew that he had lied. It hadn’t been what he wanted to say. He was struggling to break free of the spell or whatever it was that gripped him. His hand tightened on his weapon and I was certain he was going to shoot us right there. But then I heard a soft footfall, coming across the quay. Someone was rushing out of the darkness behind him and as the policeman became aware of the danger and turned, he was struck down from behind. The policeman fell. George was standing over him, holding the cricket bat he had just used to knock the man out. I had no idea how he had got there or if he had been waiting for us all along.
    “You have to go, Holly,” he said.
    “You’re coming with us, George.”
    “No. I can’t.”
    He looked down and I saw the dark stain on his shirt. He had been shot or he had been cut or maybe he’d been hit by shrapnel from one of the missiles. I had no idea how he’d managed to make his way down here and I was amazed he’d found the strength to save us in the way he just had. At the same time, I knew he didn’t have a lot of time left.
    “George…” I began and choked on his name. Tears were pouring down my cheeks and I was wondering how all this could have happened. Only a few days ago, I’d been picking apples and he’d been making bread.
    Then I heard the sound I dreaded most, the stamp of leather on concrete, and I knew that although Jamie had tried to trick them, there were more policemen on the way, running down the main road towards the quay. George slumped to his knees. He couldn’t stand up any more. At the same time, he swept the dead policeman’s machine gun into his hands and pressed it against his chest. I understood what he was going to do.
    “Go on, Holly,” he said. “Get out of here.”
    “George…” I couldn’t believe I was saying goodbye to him.
    The Traveller wasn’t waiting any longer. He grabbed my shoulders and dragged me in the direction he’d wanted to take. Jamie came with us. He looked sick, in shock. George stayed where he was and I didn’t look round.
    I felt a slight rise in the ground. I knew that we were following the towpath along the edge of the river. We ran for about five minutes – and there it was in front of us, a black bulk that had to be the Lady Jane , the Traveller’s home, stuck in the mud, where it had been for the last seven years. I allowed myself to be bundled on board. I felt the wooden deck beneath my feet and collapsed onto it. Behind us, on the quay, I heard machine-gun fire and knew that it was George, protecting me to the very end.
    I didn’t know what would happen next. I thought that we would hide here until it was all over. Perhaps the Traveller thought that the police would never look for us here. But then I heard the most extraordinary sound: a metallic cough followed by a rumble somewhere below. The entire boat began to vibrate and I realized that although the Lady Jane had been pulled