The Sacrifice Read Free Page A

other stuff had gone as
     well.’
    He took out a piece of paper from his pocket
     and showed it to General Hordern.
    ‘I’ve written it all down. Do
     you want me to read it out?’
    ‘No, just give it to the clerks
     afterwards.’
    ‘OK, so anyway, Captain Reynolds got
     his team to check much more carefully every morning and evening. It was soon obvious
     that stuff was being nicked nearly every night.Just small amounts –
     the thief probably thought that it wouldn’t be noticeable. I told you about it a
     week ago.’ This was addressed to Jordan, who nodded. ‘And you told me to put
     a special watch on the stores. We built a hiding place and took it in turns to stake
     them out. We saw Bren come in just after midnight last night – he had his own key – and
     we saw him take three cans of peaches away in a backpack. We followed him back to his
     room in the Casemates and arrested him.’
    ‘All right, all right. This is
     boring,’ said Bren. ‘Three cans of peaches. I admit it.’
    ‘Once we’d locked Bren up we
     searched his room,’ Tomoki went on. ‘And we found all this.’
    Tomoki paused as three kids brought in boxes
     packed with food. The murmuring started up again. Someone whistled. Bren’s head
     drooped and he looked ashamed.
    ‘Do you admit that you stole all this
     as well?’ Jordan asked.
    ‘Yes,’ said Bren quietly.
    ‘Were you working alone?’
    Bren nodded and Jordan asked Tomoki if he
     agreed.
    ‘We don’t think there was anyone
     else in on it. That’s why we followed him, to make sure.’
    ‘Do you want to say anything else,
     Bren?’ asked Jordan. ‘I can’t really see the point, but if you want
     to.’
    ‘No. I don’t want to say
     anything. Just … I’m sorry, I suppose. It was stupid.’
    ‘Saying you’re sorry won’t
     change what you done,’ said Jordan. ‘You’re a coward, Brendan.
     Stealing off of other kids. You’re a traitor. You don’t care about anyone
     except yourself.’
    ‘Yeah, all right,’ said Brendan.
     ‘I said I’m sorry.’
    ‘OK,’ said Jordan. ‘So if
     nobody has any objections then I reckon you’re guilty.’
    ‘Yeah, OK. I’m
     guilty.’
    Tomoki sat down. ‘So what’s the
     sentence then?’ he asked.
    ‘As I said.’ Jordan stared at
     Brendan. ‘I think stealing food from other kids is as bad as murder. So the
     sentence is death.’

2
    ‘Nooooo!’ Brendan launched
     himself across the table at Jordan and the whole place went crazy. Kids were jumping up
     out of their seats, all shouting at once. This had taken them totally by surprise.
     Brendan, who was screaming a torrent of filthy abuse at Jordan, tried to wrestle him to
     the ground. He wasn’t getting anywhere. Jordan was immensely strong and managed to
     throw off his attacker, seemingly without any effort at all. He rolled Brendan on to his
     front and pinned him to the ground, pulling his arm up behind his back. He held him
     there, increasing the pressure on his arm until Brendan begged him to stop.
    Dusty and bedraggled, with dirt clinging to
     the tears on his cheeks, Brendan stood up. There was snot streaming from his nose and
     his eyes were so raw and swollen it looked like they’d been punched.
    ‘Take him outside,’ said Jordan,
     no hint of emotion in his voice.
    Jordan headed for the doors and the guards
     who had brought Brendan in retied his hands and dragged him along behind. The other kids
     were still in turmoil, milling around, talking excitedly to each other, eyes wide,
     waving their hands, not quite believing that this was happening.
    Sam sat there, a concerned expression on his
     face, tooyoung to understand his feelings. He didn’t know the
     boy, Brendan, but he was shocked by what had happened.
    ‘Heavy-duty,’ said The Kid.
     ‘Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition.’
    ‘Do you think they’ll really do
     it?’ said Sam.
    ‘Don’t ask me,’ said The
     Kid. ‘I’m a stranger here myself. But strangers have