Taking the Chequered Flag (9 page)

‘This has to be the noisiest motorbike race day I’ve ever been to.’ Gabby covered her ears with her hands.

‘That’s because it’s the most exciting you’ve ever been to,’ said Hannah, pulling her friend’s hands away. ‘E.D.’s race is coming up soon. You want to hear that, I suppose.’

‘It’ll be strange without Teagan and Jack around,’ said Angus.

‘Well, better get used to it,’ said Hannah. ‘Now that Mr Proctor has withdrawn them—or should I say, Jack—from racing, there’ll be a whole new list of winners. Maybe even E.D.’

‘Do you think we should have told the officials about Teagan’s substitution? Jack’s won a heap of races in her name.’ Gabby fiddled with her camcorder, getting the focus ready.

‘I think that’s up to the Proctors. I wouldn’t be surprised if Teagan tells.’ Hannah took the recorder from Gabby and took the lens cap off before handing it back.

‘It won’t be Jack. He got away with being Peter’s helper—so he’ll think he’s got away with this, too.’

‘We don’t know for sure that he caused Tony’s accident,’ said Angus. ‘Tony doesn’t seem to think so. He reckons he just lost control of his bike. Nothing to do with Jack.’

‘It’s funny, isn’t it, that Mr Proctor didn’t know anything about the smuggling,’ said Gabby. ‘I bet he checks those crates out better next time he gets one.’

‘The GPS systems were in a false floor. Teagan told me.’ Angus caught Hannah’s eye and turned away.

‘Talking to Teagan again, eh?’ Hannah teased.

‘She came to see King,’ Angus said, still not looking at Hannah. ‘I told her he was slowly getting better. The vet said I’ll be able to start riding him next month.’

‘That’s good,’ said Gabby. ‘Hey, I think they’re lining up.’

Angus stood up to get a better view. The line of 12 bikes was difficult to see through the dust, but he knew which one was E.D. ‘Check it out,’ he said to the girls.

‘I can’t see E.D.,’ said Gabby, frowning.

Angus smiled. ‘Look harder. Next to the red bike.’

‘That can’t be E.D.,’ said Hannah. ‘That’s a blue bike. A new blue bike. E.D. hasn’t got a new blue motorbike.’

‘He hasn’t,’ Angus agreed, ‘but Tony has.’

‘E.D. is riding Tony’s bike?’ Gabby’s voice was shrill. ‘I hope he asked Tony.’

E.D. hadn’t asked Tony; Tony had asked him.

‘Ride my bike for me, Emilio.’

‘In your dreams, Tony.’

‘No, I mean it. I won’t be riding it for a while. You’re a good rider—a natural. Better than I’ll ever be. I want you to ride it. For me.’

E.D. remembered Tony’s words as he sat at the starter’s line. He grinned to himself. Tony was walking better on his crutches and his leg was starting to look more like a leg and less like a
chunk of bruised meat. And he had really wanted E.D. to ride his bike.

So do I, thought E.D.

The starter signalled go and the roar of 12 bikes filled the grounds.

‘Look!’ said Gabby.

‘What?’ said Hannah.

‘Who is it?’ yelled Angus.

A lime-green bike had shot out of nowhere, joining the 12 other bikes racing around the course. Officials were going mad, chasing after the bike with fists raised in the air. None of the other riders seemed to notice. They kept going and soon the new bike was in the middle, away from any officials.

‘They’ll have to stop the race,’ said Gabby.

‘No, I don’t think they will,’ said Angus. ‘They aren’t signalling. It looks like they’ve decided to keep the race going and deal with it later.’

Now they were watching two bikes—a new blue one and the lime-green one—edging to the front.

E.D. was in the front group as they hit the first corner and took it easily. He’d been practising—boy, had he been practising—and Tony’s bike
was big but a lot easier to handle than his own patched one.

He stayed at the back of the first group for the first lap. Somewhere after the first berm of the second lap, a flashy red and yellow bike swept past. E.D. couldn’t help himself. He went to the inside of the gleaming bike, took a risk and accelerated through. The red and yellow machine was left behind.

It was easy after that—except for that lime-green bike. It was able to maintain its break on E.D. through almost the entire race. Every time he thought he had a passing line, the green bike managed to find an extra burst of speed, holding off E.D. There was nothing illegal about its movements; it was simply great tactical riding.

Angus was watching the battle closely from his position high up in the stands.

‘What does the kid on the green bike think he’s doing? Just because he wasn’t allowed to race.’ He stopped suddenly as E.D. raced low into a tight corner. ‘He’s going to fall!’ Angus shouted, standing up and watching. But E.D. somehow managed to keep the bike balanced as he careered around the inside of the berm, before streaking past the green bike. ‘Woo hoo!’ he yelled, raising his fists in the air.

But the gap that had quickly opened up vanished equally rapidly as the green bike attacked the next corner as aggressively as E.D. had the last one.

The two bikes sped away as one, careering down the final straight towards the finish line. First the green bike nosed ahead then it was E.D. edging in front.

‘It’s going to be a dead heat!’ Hannah gasped. The entire crowd were on their feet yelling and screaming as the two bikes zoomed down the final straight.

Then suddenly the green bike slowed and E.D. raced ahead, crossing the line ten metres ahead.

‘What happened?’ Gabby asked. ‘Did he run out of petrol?’

‘I knew it!’ Angus said. ‘A lime-green bike. It’s got to be Jack.’

Angus watched as the two bikes came together again. They slowed then finally came to a stop. He raised his father’s binoculars to his eyes and saw E.D. lifting his helmet from his head and extending his arm out to the other rider. It took a moment but finally a hand came out to meet E.D.’s. At the same time, the rider removed her helmet.

Angus stared hard through the binoculars.

The rider looked back at the stream of angry officials coming towards them, slammed the helmet back on, revved the bike—and was gone.

‘Wow,’ said Angus, shaking his head.

The winners’ ceremony was held straight after the last race of the day. Mario had loaded Tony’s bike on the trailer and stood with the rest of them while E.D. accepted his trophy.

‘Go, Emilio!’ yelled his brother, whistling loudly from the back.

E.D. raised the trophy and yelled, ‘This one’s for Tony!’ The crowd cheered.

On the way home, cramped together in Mario’s car, Gabby couldn’t stop talking. ‘That was great. Wow. I got it all on my camera. I’ll do a tape for you, E.D., and you can show your mum. And Tony.’

‘Yeah, great, Gab. Thanks.’ E.D. leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

Gabby looked at him huffily. ‘You don’t seem very excited, E.D. You realise you’ve just won the Inter Club race? The most important race in your career?’

‘Yeah, I realise.’

‘And that this could lead to bigger and better things? State championships? Nationals?’

‘And so what about the Proctors?’ Hannah
asked, breaking the silence. ‘What’s going to happen to them?’

E.D. sighed. ‘Mr Proctor had no idea about the smuggling.’

‘But that was his brother,’ Hannah said. ‘How could he not know?’

‘No, it wasn’t,’ E.D. explained, shaking his head. ‘Just a family friend that the kids came to call Uncle. Teagan doesn’t even know why.’

‘Weird,’ Gabby muttered. ‘But isn’t he going to be bankrupt now?’

E.D. smiled. ‘Nah. That was just Peter trying to bluff Teagan. Make her feel guilty so that she wouldn’t ring the cops. Maybe give him a chance to get away.’

‘Weird,’ Gabby said again. ‘Anyway, how do you know all this?’ Everyone turned to look at E.D.

‘I didn’t really win that race today, you know,’ E.D. said, finally. ‘The green bike lost it.’

‘Green bike,’ Angus said. ‘That was Teagan.’

‘Teagan?’ Gabby cried.

‘Teagan,’ whispered Hannah, shaking her head. ‘Does her father know she did that?’

E.D. shrugged. ‘I don’t know. She just said she wanted to prove to herself that she could still win.’

‘But there was a mechanical fault,’ Angus said. ‘I saw her slow down…’

E.D. shook his head.

‘She let you win?’

E.D. slowly nodded. ‘She was way better than me.’ Suddenly he was grinning. He sat up and looked at Gabby. ‘Anyway, Gab, you’ve missed the best thing. The thing that overrides all of that.’

Gabby glanced at Hannah, who shrugged. ‘What’s the best thing, then?’

E.D. leaned over to her. ‘My time.’

‘Time for what?’

‘My time for the Graveyard run.’ He grinned and leaned back again, putting his hands behind his head. ‘I did it in 13 minutes! Twelve minutes and 27 seconds to be precise. I paused it at the lift. Do you want to know what the temperature was down there? Or what my heart rate was?’ E.D. began fiddling with Tony’s watch.

‘NO!’ the others shouted, laughing at E.D.