At 6:30am he woke everyone up again and ignored the groans of protect and insisted they start up again. "We must get as far as possible," said Bill. "We still don't know where we are."

"I'm so hungry," said Jack as his stomach gave a rumble. "Doesn't anyone have anything to eat? All I have are Kiki's sunflower seeds." The others felt inside their pockets and Lucy-Ann produced some barley sugar and Bill had a little packet of toffees, but that was all.

"Let's all suck a toffee," said Bill. "Save your barley sugar for later, Lucy-Ann." He didn't like to tell the others that he didn't know how long they would be lost in these woods. They started walking again and found it easier in the morning light, than in the dark. They all talked freely, sure they were out of danger and happy to be all together again. After yet another two hours of walking they heard the sound of a car in the distance.

"We might be able to find out where we are from the driver," said Bill. "Come on everyone, run." The all ran towards the sound of the approaching car and as they rounded a corner in the woods they came in sight of a big building and the ground became smoother. The sound of the car became louder and then all started to run forward again, but Bill put out a hand and stopped them.

"Bill, what's the matter?" asked Philip. "Let's go and ask the driver where we are."

"Shhh, get back into the trees," whispered Bill, gesturing behind him. Mystified the others followed him back into the trees. Jack noticed that Bill looked worried.

"Bill, what on earth's the matter?" asked Dinah. "Why aren't we finding out where we are?"

"I know where we are," said Bill gravely.

"Really, where?" asked Philip surprised.

"Shhhh, talk in whispers," said Bill, looking all around. "I know where we are because we are exactly where we were 12 hours ago!"

"What?"

"We must have walked round in one big circle," said Bill looking distressed. "We couldn't see where we were going in the dark. I've only put us into even more danger." The others looked at each other shocked. Lucy-Ann looked scared and took Bills hand.

"Now what do we do?" she asked timidly.

"Let me just go and have a quick scan and assess the situation," said Bill moving cautiously back towards the house.

"Be careful, Bill," called out Philip in a whisper. They watched as he sneaked up to the house and peered around the edge. He was back in less than a minute and looked even more upset and worried than before. He led them all further into the woods before talking.

"Things are now even more serious," said Bill, starting to pace the ground. "I am afraid I have put you all in great danger."

"What do you mean Bill?" asked Jack, eyeing Bill with concern, he now looked really distressed.

"That car we heard," said Bill, stopping to look at them all. "It was Big Charlie's car. He's just arrived!"

Everyone exchanged worried glances. Weren't they ever going to get away? And who was Big Charlie?

"They will be looking for us soon," said Bill. "I don't fancy trying to out run them in these woods. We found out last night how easy it is to go round in circles. I wish I could see what was going on."

"I'll go and spy for you," said Jack hopefully, but Bill gave him such a fierce look that he felt almost scared.

"Don't be ridiculous. If they caught even a glimpse of us it would be very serious indeed."

Philip was peering through the trees at what could still be seen of the house. Suddenly he turned. "Bill! I think I can see a sort of outbuilding attached to the house. And I've just had an idea!"

"What is it?" asked Dinah.

"Well, the last place the men would expect us to be is beside the house!" said Philip. "We could perhaps hide in there, and they will go off and search the woods."

"It's certainly an idea, Philip," said Bill, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "We don't know what is in the outbuilding though."

"I'll go and have a look," Philip said.

Bill hesitated. "I know I just glared at Jack for suggesting he go back to the house, but I think it's a good idea. Very well, Philip, but be very careful. Stay out of sight of the house windows."

Philip crept off, keeping low in the undergrowth. He made it to the wooden outbuilding under the cover of trees, and then disappeared around the corner. The rest of the company held their breath anxiously, but he was soon back.

"It's got a lot of old, rusting farm machinery in it, and hay," he said, panting. "There's a rickety old ladder that leads to a second story, a sort of platform in the rafters. It's empty."

"Okay, let's go before the men come looking for us," decided Bill. "They must have told Charlie by now that we've escaped." As quickly yet as safely as they could, they headed one by one for the wooden building, Bill coming last. He was satisfied with the hiding place.

"I think we should all climb up to the platform," he said. "There's not really anywhere to hide in here but they shouldn't come looking."

Up on the platform, they made themselves comfortable in the hay. Bill's eyes were soon drooping, as he had had very little sleep the night before. Soon Dinah and Lucy-Ann were asleep as well.

"I'm so hungry!" groaned Jack in a whisper to Philip. "Do you think we could get back into the house and find some?"

"Don't be absurd," Philip said. "Though the idea is very appealing I must say. But it would be much too dangerous, and Bill would never forgive us if we did a stupid thing like that."

"Oh, I know," said Jack. "I wouldn't have done it. But we've hardly eaten in the last twenty four hours!"

"Just try to doze for a bit," suggested Philip. "Bill will think of something when he wakes."

They settled down in the hay, which was warm after the cold night they had spent outside. Whiskers emerged from Philip's pocket and sniffed around in the hay for a while, but soon decided it was warmer beside Philip. Eventually they drifted off into a light sleep.

A couple of hours later, Jack awoke suddenly. He wondered what had disturbed him, then he heard a car door slamming. He looked around at the others, but they were still fast asleep. He heard voices too, and so he climbed carefully down the ladder and put his ear to the door.

"You idiots!" an unfamiliar voice was shouting. "I'm going to be back in two hours with the latest shipment. You had better have found him by then."

Jack found a crack in the wood of the old door and squinted through it. Big Charlie was standing by his car. He was a tall man with black hair, and well built, but not fat. He had huge muscles and looked a very formidable figure. Gavin, Ian and Luke stood nearby, looking nervous and chastised.

Big Charlie pointed at them. "I want all of you, even you Ian - I don't care if your leg is injured - in those woods, searching. If he's not here in two hours when I come back, I'm taking the entire shipment with me, and none of you will get paid. You hear?"

The three men murmured something Jack couldn't hear, but it was obvious that the prospect of not getting paid was not appealing. He watched as Big Charlie gave a derisory wave of his hand and got into his car. The engine started and the car disappeared with a squeal of tires that sent up clouds of dust. The men exchanged scowling looks. "Don't know about you, but I want money after all this trouble," said Ian, indicating his bandaged foot. "Let's get going."

"He could be miles away by now!" snorted Luke. "How are we ever gonna find him?"

"Well, we're not going to find him by not looking," snapped Ian. "You both got your guns? Let's get going then."

Jack watched as they rounded the edge of the house. They were walking towards the woods at the back, a path that led them straight past the outbuilding. Jack held his breath as they walked nearer, his heart pounding with a sudden fear that they might decide to check the shed first. Thankfully, however, they walked on into the trees, and Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jack?" a voice called softly.

Jack turned around and saw Bill looking at him questioningly over the edge of the platform. He climbed back up. The others were all stirring awake, and quickly Jack told them what he had heard. "So we have two hours!" he said. "Maybe we can find a phone."

"Good news, Jack," said Bill, smiling for the first time in many hours. "I knew we didn't have much time before Big Charlie took the shipment and disappeared and I didn't know how we were going to do anything about it. Now we have a chance."

"How did you know that, Bill?" asked Dinah curiously.

"The coded message," Bill said. He looked at their interested faces, and decided that he ought to tell them a bit more of what was going on. "That's how Big Charlie communicates with his gang about sensitive material, and how they communicate with who they sell on to. My team and I have intercepted some of these coded messages before, like I said, and we had managed to crack the code, so I could read that message Philip found quite easily."

He paused and looked around at them. "I don't want to frighten you," he said gravely. "But that last message was informing the gang that the police, meaning me, were getting too close. The orders were that the last shipment was going to be processed tomorrow, and that all evidence was to be destroyed, and everyone was to disappear. Big Charlie was going to take care of the leader."

Lucy-Ann looked confused. "The leader?" she asked.

"It means me," said Bill.