She looked down the main street and started walking. Midway down the street she saw a blue timber statue of a dog out on the pavement and smiled. It was cute—someone had put a lot of work into. A man stood at the café entrance. His hair was light brown and short. His jeans looked too big for him and his brown wintery jumper made him look like a grizzly bear. Isabella was just about to pass him and walk into the café when she heard her name called. She turned. It was the grizzly at the entrance.

“Isabella . . . right? Your granddad sent me to get you. My name is Lucas.”

“You’re not an angel, are you?” This appeared to catch the man off guard.

“Umm . . . do you mean not a good person?”

Why was he looking down the street? He’s acting like she would. “No, sorry. It’s hard to explain.”

“It’s okay. I’ve parked the car out the back. Just need to go through the café.”

There was a message alert on Isabella’s watch. She looked at it. You can trust him.

It was her granddad’s car out the back. It wasn’t locked, so they both climbed in. The man started the car. Crunch. His gear changing was not good. Crunch. Out of the car park now, Isabella looked back—a man was hurrying out of the café, looking at their car and on the phone. Another man stood in the background—the man with a long beard from the bus.

“You haven’t stolen gramps’s car, have you? Or forgotten to pay a bill?”

“No, why?”

“There appears to be men wanting to catch up with you.” She watched as Lucas took a quick look behind them.

“Could be a number of things, Isabella. I think they’re after your gramps, most probably an outstanding fine or fines.”

“Nah, my gramps is a safe driver. Besides, this thing wouldn’t go very fast.”

“You’ll be surprised. Wait til we get out in the open road and I’ll show you.”

“Should we go back then?”

“Can’t do that. Gramps is dying to see you.”

14 – Old cars, new cars

STARKEY TRUSTED LUCAS TO NOT MAKE A GETAWAY. So Lucas repaid the trust by retrieving his granddaughter for him.

Lucas didn’t quite know what to think when he first saw the car. Starkey referred to it as the jalopy and Lucas could see why. It was a red Ford Fusion with some kind of paint disease. Almost like it was sunburnt and now peeling. Lucas had walked around the car when he first saw it to make sure it was all fitted together.

“Has this car been in a war zone or something?” Lucas had asked.

Starkey laughed. “It’s not as bad as it looks, Lucas. I’ve been tinkering with it for years. It’s got power, so don’t press the pedal down too hard or you’ll be left behind. Remember, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.”

Lucas wasn’t used to driving with manual transmission, and hadn’t driven a car for a long time. He pointed this out to Starkey but in the end they both decided it was the best thing to do, especially when Starkey confessed that Isabella had never visited him before. Their communication had been using devices with scrambler software—something the authorities couldn’t monitor or trace. Starkey also mentioned that the last time he drove the car, he'd driven on the wrong side of the road for a considerable distance. That puzzled Lucas.

A bump brought Lucas out of his reflective thinking. He had a quick sideways glance at the petite Isabella. Why do I have such a desire to protect her? Had some kind of hereditary protective gene kicked in? The car’s heater had picked up her scent and was now distributing it. Lucas had not smelled something as nice for a long time.

They had turned right into Furnston Lane and were about to turn right into Church Street.

“The man is running down the street talking on the phone. Why’s he doing that?”

“Do you know much about your granddad, Isabella?”

“No, not really. I just think he’s a nice man.”

“Well he is, but he’s also a famous scientist and some people appear to be trying to track him down. And you, maybe. You might be the pawn.”

“Ah, great, that’s all I need. I’ve come here for a rest.”

“Let’s be positive and have some fun. We need to watch out for whoever that man is talking to.”

They reached an intersection. Lucas looked down the street and saw a black car reversing out of a parking area. Intuition told him that was the enemy. “Hold on, Isabella.”

The gear changes were getting smoother. Lucas swung the car into River Street, and shot past the bowling club. He had a quick glance in his rear view mirror and saw the black car turn onto River Street. The accelerator was pushed down some more and he raised his eyebrows to Isabella. “See, it’s got some power.” The surge of power pushed Isabella into the seat.

“You seem pretty calm. What was your name again?”

“Lucas. Got to stay calm . . . hold on.” The car swerved and headed towards an intersection. “No cars, no cars, please.” There were cars but Lucas was able to shoot across before he had to give way. The black car was not so lucky.

“This does not look good up ahead, Lucas.”

Lucas slowed down. A policeman stood beside a police vehicle pointing to the side of the road, indicating for Lucas to pull over. This was a critical point. If he made a run for it, he’d lead them to the professor. Was that such a bad thing? Lucas really didn’t want to be on the run from the law. This was it.

“Isabella, call your granddad. Tell him he better make a run for it.”

She looked puzzled.

Lucas pulled over and watched as the black car drove past. Strange. If they were working with the police, they would’ve pulled over. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the window. Lucas wound down his window as the officer stood there unwrapping a tube from some plastic.

“Hello, sir. We are doing random breath testing. Had anything to drink or taken any drugs over the last few hours?”

“Nope.” Lucas followed the instructions given by the officer, who also looked at Isabella. She had just finished her call.

The officer looked down at the reading. “Looks all clear to me. Would you be able to show me your license, please.”

“Ah—"

Lucas saw another officer moving towards the car quickly. “Smithy, quick we got an urgent call.” She looked like Isabella. Lucas decided that his brain’s face processing facilities were rusty and it just picked up some similar face features.

Officer Smith raised his eyebrows and started heading back towards the police car. He turned back to Lucas. “You’re right, mate. Off ya go.”

“Quick. Ring back, tell him it’s okay.” Lucas wasn’t sure what to do regarding the black car. “And ask him what other direction we can go to get to his shack.”

Isabella looked puzzled, but called without questioning him.

Lucas turned the car around and drove off in the opposite direction from the black car. Back at the intersection he needed to give way to a few cars. He waited, then turned right as instructed by Isabella. There was still no sign of the black car.

“You’re pretty calm, Lucas. Are you a great bank robber or something?”

“No, sorry to disappoint you. I’m just an escaped convict.” He was sure she thought that was a joke.