Inferencing · Level 2

The children craned their necks and looked eagerly into the distance. When they heard the first sounds of the band they knew that, at last, the Santa parade was not far away and coming closer. A small boy at the front seemed not to notice. Eventually his friends tugged on his shirt and pointed in the direction of the approaching parade. As he turned, his eyes lit up.

I was out in the garden with Jan when the phone rang. She quickly ran in and picked it up.

"Hello," she said breathlessly. Then, "NO. it is not. You have the…Huh! Some people."

She came back outside.

"Another order for Chinese takeaways." she muttered.

Mark and Patsy assumed that they were allowed to look around. They drove in through the open gates. They knew about the now abandoned airstrips that were built during the war and were keen to see for themselves. They tried to imagine the activity that may have taken place here all those years ago, when enemy attack was on people's minds.

The strip itself was in surprisingly good repair. If they hadn't been talking so much, they might have found this suspicious.

They went on. Now they could see some buildings shimmering in the heat across the runway. They drove towards them and then decided to tum and drive down the runway. "We'll check out those old buildings later," said Mark. "I want to see just how long this runway is."

They were about two thirds of the way along it, when Patsy became aware of a flashing light out to her left. As it approached their car, she could see with surprise that it was a military patrol vehicle. The officer who ordered them from their car hardly listened to their protests. eyed them with obvious suspicion as they explained that they were 'only having a look - just wanted to see. '

He was about to say something. when out of the corner of his eye. he caught a slight movement in the back of their car. His hand moved quickly to the gun on his hip, and then he relaxed as he saw the baby, stirring as she woke in the growing heat.

"Okay," he said to the pair. "On your way. But remember, this place is off limits to all but the military."