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I looked at Matilda. ‘I know this is your secret place but we need to make sure the mean men can’t come back.’

She folded her arms and looked at me. ‘No mean men.’

‘I know. We don’t want them to come back either, but they wantthismine as well as the other one.’

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘This Matilda’s. Other mine not as tasty.’ She frowned and clicked her metal nails.

I was starting to learn her tells. The nail clicking was when her mood was elevated in some way – not angry, not stressed, just getting there. I honestly didn’t want to see hertrulyangry; she might call me a friend but she was scary as hell.

‘Can we use your secret place for a short time longer?’ I asked.

‘You won’t eat sugar snack?’

I smiled. ‘No, it’s all yours! Plus, I’ll bring you more doughnuts.’

She gave me a huge metallic grin. ‘Matilda share secret place.’

‘Thank you, Matilda. I’m glad I’m your friend.’ And I was, as long as she stayed away from my skull.

It wasn’t long until Sidnee and Thomas returned. ‘We might need help sealing the entrance because it looks like it can be opened by remote. Short of bombing it, there isn’t an easy way,’ Thomas confirmed. ‘And if the town hears any more explosions, we’ll cause mass hysteria.’

I looked at Matilda and grinned. ‘I have an idea.’

Chapter 43

Matilda was a powerful earth elemental and as such she had power over metal, since it was an earth element. The entrance to the bunker was solid iron so it would be easy for her to manipulate.

I convinced her to follow Thomas, Sidnee and me through the man-made tunnel and we wound our way back to the bunker entrance under the tractor. When we arrived, we looked up at the iron lid. From this direction, you only needed to twist a wheel to free it by retracting the eight bars that locked it into the concrete surrounding it. No way could Connor have lifted it even if he’d been Superman.

There were electronics surrounding the exit point indicating some kind of remote access from above. I understood the issue immediately: if we didn’t seal it forever, the Knight Stalkers would be back and we’d have to do it all over again. That wasn’t a Groundhog Day I’d be keen to repeat. Getting shot hurts, even if it doesn’t kill.

‘Matilda, could you make it so that the hatch will never open again? That way we can keep the mean men from coming back.’

Clicking her nails, she studied it; she was obviously agitated. ‘Matilda make whole tunnel go away,’ she growled.

That would work for me, but I hoped she’d wait until we were back in the bunker. ‘Okay, we’ll go back,’ I said hastily. ‘When we’re safe in the main bunker, you can make the tunnel and access shaft go away.’

We hauled ass because none of us were sure how much time Matilda would give us. Behind us, her cackle rang in the air, then suddenly the pressure increased as the tunnel collapsed.

Matilda was standing behind us. ‘Is done,’ she said happily. ‘Mean men gone from Matilda secret place forever.’

‘We are so happy for you,’ I murmured.

Sidnee and Thomas nodded. We all wanted to remain on Matilda’s good side.

‘Will you open the way here for us sometime if we need to look at their computers again?’ I asked.

A calculating look slid across the hag’s face. ‘Bring sugar snack?’

‘Yes,’ I said smothering my annoyance. I resisted the urge to tell her that sugar may be tasty but it wasn’t good to consume it in vast quantities; little and often was the way forward. Still, giving dietary advice to a head-stealing hag probably wasn’t a great idea.

‘Matilda open again,’ she promised.

‘Thank you.’ I smiled. ‘I appreciate that.’

We collected as much data as we could then, exhausted, we all headed out of the tunnel that Matilda had made for us when we’d first come in, collapsing it as we went. Without some serious digging equipment no one was ever getting into the bunker again unless Matilda helped them. I smiled at the thought.Take that Knight Stalkers!

Matilda halted at the tunnel’s exit. ‘Will find you,’ she grunted to me. ‘Find more mean men.’