Sharp Shot Read Online Free PDF Page B

“How?”
    â€œTractor!” she yelled back at him.
    It would be close, she could tell. But they could make it to the
tractor before the car reached them. The car was moving slowly,
cautiously, skidding across the muddy field. The driver must be afraid
he’d lose control. And he could see Jade, Rich and McCain running towards
him. He must think they were coming to surrender.
    â€œHope the keys are in it,” said Rich. He was gasping for
breath as they ran.
    â€œYou should get some exercise,” Jade told him.
    â€œWhat do you think I’m doing?”
    The tractor was a dark silhouette against the lights from the
approaching car. Jade leaped up on to it, Rich close behind. McCain was
round the driver’s side. He heaved himself up into the cab. It was tight,
but they all just managed to squeeze in. Jade and Rich had to stand,
squashed behind the driver’s seat.
    â€œThe keys there?” asked Jade.
    â€œWho needs keys?” McCain was fumbling under the steering
wheel, ripping out wires and twisting them back together. The engine
spluttered into life.
    The lights were bright—dazzling Jade when she looked back at the
car. She could just see the dark shape of someone leaning out of the
passenger window.
    â€œDown!” she yelled.
    Bullets smashed through the glass of the cab, as the tractor started
to move. The car hurtled towards it now as the driver accelerated. The
lights disappeared, below the level of the tractor cab and too close for
Jade to see.
    But she felt the impact as the car smashed into the back of the
tractor.
    â€œThat won’t do them any good,” said McCain grimly.
    The tractor was moving faster now, its massive tyres gripping easily
in the muddy ground while the car slewed off to one side. It had lost a
headlight and the bonnet was crumpled.
    More gunfire. But it went wide. The car was out of control, sliding
across the muddy field.
    The tractor bumped down the bank to the river, its huge wheels
managing what the lorry couldn’t. When they passed the shattered remains
of the lorry Jade was surprised they’d even got out of the broken cab, let
alone without serious injuries. But even as she thought it, she could feel
her shoulder throbbing. There was blood on her hands, and she realised she
must be bleeding—cut by the glass from the windscreen. Great.
    McCain took the tractor slowly through the river.“It’s wide, but is it deep?” he wondered.
    â€œWe’ll soon find out,” said Rich. His voice was muffled
and Jade saw he was eating a bread roll.
    â€œWhere did you get that?” she demanded.
    He pointed back at the crashed lorry.
    â€œIt’s not yours,” she told him.
    â€œMight be. I ordered some.” He shrugged. “Anyway,
no one else will want it now.”
    Further discussion was cut off by more gunfire. The water either side
of the tractor was chewed up by bullets. Several pinged off the tractor’s
side.
    â€œHold on!” McCain shouted.
    The roar of the engine deepened. Water washed across the floor of the
tractor’s cab. Jade didn’t like to think what would happen if it reached
the engine.
    Then they were climbing, up and out of the river and into the field
on the other side.
    â€œWe made it!” said Rich. “They must be awful
shots.”
    Jade laughed with relief.
    â€œStill got to get out of the field,” McCain warned them.
    â€œWho are those people, and why are they after you?”
asked Jade.
    Ahead of them, the tractor’s headlights picked out another gate.
McCain stopped the tractor.
    â€œI’ll tell you once we know we’re in the clear.” He
nodded at the gate. “Maybe we should open this one.”
    â€œI’ll get it,” said Rich. He pushed open the door,
though he could probably have climbed through the empty space where the
glass had been.
    A minute later they were driving along a country lane with steep
hedges either