The Great Escape Read Online Free PDF Page B

on him.’
    ‘The surgery?’ asked Millie.
    ‘Yes, the surgery. They spoke to us all, and we all replied. It didn’t occur to us not to, you know, when we found we could talk. We wanted to ask them where we were, what
they’d done to us, when we could leave.’
    ‘And did you?’
    ‘Of course, but they never replied. Just told us to be quiet.’
    ‘How ironic.’
    ‘Quite. Anyway, Monty never replied to any of their questions, although I think he’d been through the same operation as the rest of us. They were very annoyed about it. They did more
tests on him than on all the rest of us put together. He just used to yowl at them, like a normal cat.’
    ‘And he
could
talk, he just wouldn’t?’
    ‘Yes.’ Max suddenly sounded tired.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ Millie said, ‘I know you probably don’t want to think about it very much.’
    ‘Quite the contrary. If it helps us to rescue my friends, I will think about it all day. What do
you
think was happening?’
    ‘I think they wanted to give you all voices. That must have been the plan. I just can’t think why.’

Chapter Eight
    Millie and Max spent the next hour online, trying to find out as much as they could. There were two sites in particular which interested them – the first was the initial
one they had looked at, which complained about Vakkson and its rodent testing, and had as its address
www.haverhamlabprotest.co.uk
. The
second Millie found by searching again, and it came up as
www.haverhamlabprotest.org
.
    ‘That’s weird,’ said Millie. ‘Why would there be another one?’
    Max had no sensible suggestions to make. He wasn’t much of an internet expert, he admitted, and didn’t really know what to make of it all. Millie clicked onto the link, and went to
look at the second site, which seemed fairly similar in content to the first. She combed through it, trying to see why someone had set up a second site. There was a diary page and she clicked onto
that.
    ‘Maybe this will help,’ she said, beginning to read. ‘Ah.’
    ‘Ah?’ said Max. He had been hoping for less reading and more action, and though he could see that Millie thought this was all useful research, he was getting a little bored.
He’d thought that perhaps they could just run to the lab and get the others out today, although he did admit that this plan lacked sophistication.
    ‘They’ve fallen out with each other,’ she explained, pointing to the screen. It appeared that the protesters had now formed two groups: one who did the placards and shouting,
and one who thought the first lot a bunch of wimps, and advocated ‘direct action’.
    ‘What do you think that means?’ asked Max.
    ‘Rescue missions?’ guessed Millie.
    ‘Really?’
    ‘No, probably not. Well, maybe. I think they do that sometimes. But usually I think they do things like hassle the people who work for the lab, and their families, and stuff. Try to
frighten them out of doing it.’
    ‘Seems fair,’ said Max.
    ‘Mmm,’ said Millie.
    ‘You don’t think so?’ he asked, surprised.
    ‘I don’t know,’ she replied. ‘I met some people last year who were campaigning against animal testing labs. And I wanted to join them, but some of them were really scary,
and Dad wouldn’t let me.’
    ‘What do you mean, scary?’
    ‘I mean, they would ring the people who worked at the lab in the middle of the night . . .’
    ‘That’s not so bad,’ said Max.
    ‘. . . and threaten to kill their children,’ she finished.
    ‘Oh. That’s not so good,’ he admitted. ‘Still, they started it, kidnapping cats.’
    ‘I know, but their kids aren’t to blame, are they?’
    ‘No. I suppose not.’ Max didn’t look entirely convinced.
    ‘Maybe we should get in touch with the first lot,’ said Millie.
    ‘But if we are going to try and rescue the others, that’s direct action, is it not?’ asked Max.
    ‘Yes. I guess so.’ Millie thought for a moment. ‘There aren’t any phone numbers or other contact