THE SHOTS

'Leave the road,' I shouted and jumped into the grass again, dragging Mr. Potter along. Tolu scrambled after us and we ran through the grass blindly, moving away from the road. The grasses' sharp edges cut my arms and my face, and the ground got softer by the minute.

'We can't escape,' Tolu said behind us. 'They know we hadn't gone far.' 

I stopped and turned. Mr. Potter, walked like a wound-up toy, and he bumped into me and stopped; his eyes roamed over me with no recognition or understanding.

'Shh,' I whispered. 'Let's check which direction they are heading.' 

We heard no sound at first—except the sound of the wind dancing with the grasses—but the sound of the jeep soon overshadowed it. Then I heard the voices a little later, faint at first, but they grew louder and nearer. 

 'We have to go slowly,' I whispered. 'Running will give our position away.'

'Are we running to London?' Mr. Potter asked. 'Do you know the way to London?'

I turned to Tolu. 'Get us out of here; this is your town for God's sake.'

Tolu shook his head. 'I stay on the mainland and hardly come here. I don't know places on the Island.' 

'Shh,' I said, raising my hand up to silence him. The voices came closer and headed in our direction. 'They are coming this way. Let's keep going; we are bound to stumble on a road or a village.'

I turned and walked through the grass, moving as quiet as the grass allowed.

We reached the middle of the field and my leg suddenly submerged into the ground and I stopped. Mr. Potter, closed behind, bumped into me. I pulled my leg out of the hole and looked at it for a second; my brown shoes had turned black, covered in thick, black sediments. 

'Be careful,' I said. 'This place is marshy.'

Tolu nodded. 

Muffled voices flowed to us—carried by the wind—and they got clearer, nearer. I listened for a while, with my leg hanging in the air, not wanting to put it back into the marsh. I heard the sound of the grasses parting shuffling from behind us.

 'They are close,' I whispered, my voice baked with alarm. 'Let's keep moving.'

'Hey, where are we?' Mr. Potter said. 'What are we doing in this...in this swamp?'

I turned around. The dazed look and stupid smile on his face were gone. His eyes roamed from me to Tolu then they turned around on the grasses as if he was just seeing them.

'Where is this place?' he asked again, his voice loud. 

'Shh,' I whispered, pulling his hand. 'We escaped from the house Dracula and the gang held us. But they are after us; stay down and keep your voice down.' 

'We are in swamp!' Mr. Potter cried, pulling his hand away. 'I don't want to be bitten by a snake or to fall into the mouth of a waiting crocodile. Let's go back; what's the worst they can do us?'

'Keep your voice down,' I whispered, turning.

'Let's keep going!' Tolu said. 'They are very close!'

'They will kill us!' I said, my voice harsh but not above a whisper. 'They will kill us once they get the ransom.'

Mr. Potter did not move. 'Can I have my bag?'

I pulled the bag from my shoulder and handed it to him.

 'Let's keep moving,' I whispered again.

I turned and waddled forward, keeping away from the marshy surfaces. Mr. Potter stayed awhile, looking around, and then he followed me. Tolu came after him, his head turning now and then, looking behind. The shuffling sound I heard had moved away from our direction and I began to breathe a sigh of relief. 

The swamp led us to a river, and I looked at it and wondered if it was shallow or deep. There was no sound or sign of the gang for the past fifteen minutes or so and we had stopped looking over our shoulders for a while now.

'Can you swim?' Tolu asked. 

I shook my head. 

'It's easy,' he said. 'Flap your left leg and your right hand at the same time. Then do the same for your other leg and hand. Do that until you get to the other side.'

I turned to Mr. Potter. He was staring at the river.

'Can you swim?' I asked.

 He turned and smiled at me and then returned his eyes back to the river. He stared at the flowing river.

'He is having another attack,' Tolu whispered. 'Where is his drug?'

'Oh, God,' I said, 'not here, please. How do we cross with him?'

Mr. Potter dropped on his knees as if he understood what we said and brought the bag down from his shoulders. He opened it and pulled out the pack of drug. He dropped two capsules into his right hand and got up, waking to the edge of the river. He scooped water into his mouth and dropped the capsules in, shutting his eyes. 

We stared at him standing at the riverbank with his eyes still closed. I picked his bag and joined him. He opened his eyes at last and looked between Tolu and I. 

'I'm okay,' he said. 'Can we go now?'

He collected the bag from my hand and hooked it to his shoulder. 

'Mr. Potter,' I said. 'Can you swim—? '

I felt the sharp blow of hot air whizzed close to my head before I heard the blast of the gun. I swirled around and saw Joseph about fifty meters away, pointing his gun and running toward us.

'They are here!' Tolu screamed. 'They are here!'

I turned and jumped into the air; I heard the bang of another shot just before I hit the middle of the river.