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.‘What do you want me to do?’Marta pointed.‘Start running from over there.Try to get into a sprint going parallel to the pipe.When you’re moving as fast as you can, angle in sharply and jump.Lift up the board and try to hook the pipe.Here, hold the board like this.’ She helped Jess hook her arms through the leather straps.‘Okay, go on then.Have a try.’Jess looked nervously back at Simon.He didn’t look too happy but he forced a good luck smile.‘Well, here goes.’She backed up a few steps and then sprinted forward as Marta had instructed.About halfway along the pipe she darted inwards, leapt, hooked, and caught.She pulled her feet up off the ground, slid a few inches and stopped, hanging from the pipe like a bat in an old industrial factory.She looked back.‘Well?’Simon pouted.‘That was okay.I think you understand the basic concept but you probably need to work on your technique a bit.’Marta laughed.‘He’s just jealous because it took him about ten attempts on his first day.’‘It wasn’t ten,’ Simon said.‘It was more like, I don’t know.six?’‘Maybe you’re a natural,’ Paul said.Marta pointed back along the platform.‘Again,’ she said.‘Do it again.’Jess did, again landing safely on the pipe.Then, at Marta’s prompt, one more time and one more, until Jess had lost count.By the time Marta called a halt, Jess was out of breath and her arms ached but she was doing it smoothly, with barely a sound.‘Now, the dismount,’ Marta said.‘You’re not jumping off a pipe, you’re jumping off a train moving at anything up to sixty miles an hour.Get it wrong and you die, it’s as simple as that.’Jess looked shocked.She glared at Simon.‘You didn’t say people died.’He looked away, his cheeks reddening.‘I didn’t want to put you off.’She glared at him a moment and then shrugged.‘Try and stop me doing it, more like.’ She grinned.‘I guess you’re probably as likely to die crossing the streets these days.’Marta nodded.‘Like I said, there’s no pressure for you to do it for real.You can help Paul keep score if you like.’Jess glanced at Paul.Simon had told her they were the same age but Paul didn’t look like a man barely out of his teens.He could have passed for forty with his receding hair, glasses and middle-age spread.She hadn’t like to say so, but she couldn’t imagine him running, leaping out and then hanging off the side of a moving train.He wasn’t exactly athletic, but she supposed looks could be deceiving, sometimes intentionally so.‘Paul doesn’t ride?’ she asked.Paul looked sheepish.‘I hurt myself, and it’s difficult to ride now.’‘He hurt his mind,’ Simon said.‘The rest healed.It’s psychological.’‘Okay, enough,’ Marta said, scowling at him.She turned back to Jess.‘You all right? You want to have a break? I didn’t mean to turn into a boot camp sergeant or anything –’‘No, I’m good.Let’s nail this.’Jess hated the way a lot of people saw her as some frilly-dress Daddy’s girl.The neighbours all felt she was privileged, particularly with the home security system that made them the only family on the street who could sleep in peace, and she hated it.She felt a constant urge to prove herself, and now, in the presence of Simon’s friends, she felt the same desire.While she had been practicing, Switch had been riding alone over on the far platform.She’d seen him clinging to the side of the train like a bug on a tree branch and it looked exhilarating.She wanted to do it more than anything now, and she wanted to do it better than any of them.‘When you dismount,’ Marta said, ‘you have to brace your legs on the side of the train, and push your board in and up at the same time as you push upwards with your feet.You can’t just pull the board off.It’s caught on the rail, and the only way to unhook it is to push it in and flick it off in one motion.’‘Kind of like undoing a bra,’ Paul said.‘Didn’t realise you wore one,’ Simon scoffed.Paul grinned.Jess noticed how Marta watched them with a wry smile the way a mother might watch her kids.Marta was pretty, but the brief pang of jealousy Jess had felt when they first met had gone.The Tube Riders were more like a family, particularly with Switch playing the black sheep role.‘Try it on this pipe over here.It’s a little lower, but it’s nearer the wall so you can brace better.On a real train there’s only a slight curve on the outside of the carriage, so the rail you hang from is about the same level as your feet.This means you are leaning backwards, making the pressure on the clawboard greater.All of which means it’s easy to stay attached, but difficult to get off.’Jess hooked the pipe and braced her feet on the wall.‘Okay, so up and out.How do I land?’‘Usually on your back, but if there aren’t any breakfall mats there, you have to roll.’Jess stared.‘You’re joking, right?’Marta shook her head.‘I wish.If the train’s going slow enough it’s not a problem, but on a train going at speed, if you try to land on your feet you’re going to break something, or worse, damage your back with the impact.When you dismount, you have to turn your body in the direction the train is going and pull your clawboard into your body like a shield.Duck your head in to protect it.Keep your legs straight.If you do it right, it doesn’t hurt so much because your forward momentum is so great you just kind of touch down.Like a plane.’‘It hurts?’Marta looked pained.‘Always.But do it right and it won’t hurt too much.’‘It’s the reason we have the big stack of mattresses at the end of the platform,’ Simon said, pointing towards them.‘Something nice and soft to land on.’‘I’ll catch you the first time,’ Marta said, going to stand behind her.Jess grimaced.‘Okay, well here goes.’ She reached up and hooked the board over the second pipe, bracing her feet on the wall.She took a deep breath, then kicked up and pushed the board in and upwards as Marta had instructed her.She kicked a little hard though, and fell back into Marta.For a moment Marta had a hold of her – Jess marveled at how strong the other girl’s hands felt – then Marta lost her balance and they both landed in a heap on the floor.‘Ow!’ Jess muttered.‘I banged my bloody elbow.’Marta, who appeared to be unhurt, laughed as she stood up.‘Not bad for a first attempt.You don’t need to kick quite so hard, but it was good.’Simon helped Jess up.‘Are you all right?’Jess brushed herself down and nodded.‘I’ll live.’‘Do you want to rest for a bit? Watch us do a few rides?’Jess smiled.‘Nope.I want to ride with you.’‘Well, I don’t know that you’re ready yet.’Jess shrugged.‘Come on, let’s go see what –’She broke off at the sound of a shout and running feet in their direction.Switch was bolting along the platform towards them, his clawboard hung loose in one hand.‘Quick!’ he shouted.‘We’ve got a problem!’Chapter SevenConfrontation‘Hurry!’ Dreggo shouted, waving an arm forward towards the entrance of St.Cannerwells Underground station.Spread out across the park like a net ready to close, the Cross Jumpers responded, slinking between the trees and along the cracked tarmac paths, closing on the small brick building at the top of the hill.Her scouts had seen the Tube Riders go inside a couple of hours ago.They had looked around for other entrances but found none.All the Cross Jumpers had arrived and they had begun to close on the entrance when one of the Tube Riders had emerged at exactly the wrong time.With her keen eyesight she had spotted him from the other side of the park, stepping out from the station entrance, immediately tensing, his sixth sense alerting him to danger [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]