Thief on the Track by Ellie Robinson

Author:Ellie Robinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2023-04-13T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16 THAT IS LIFE

The bus was soon arriving on the athletes’ side of the stadium. It passed the scanners at the entrance to the Sportpark and followed the long loop round. When it reached the stadium, the driver turned right down a slope and into a tunnel.

‘There’s no way we could have found this ourselves!’ Seb whispered to the girls.

The bus stopped beside the pavement and Hannah smiled. ‘It’s literally a secret tunnel.’

Everybody began to file off the bus and the three friends followed closely behind, wanting to make sure they got into the stadium safely.

They followed a German athlete through some sliding doors and suddenly heard applause from the volunteers.

They’re cheering the athletes as they arrive! Hannah realized. She gave them a wave as she walked past, grinning. ‘I feel so important!’ she said to her friends.

Maria leaned over and squealed. ‘Damn, this makes me want to compete in a Games even more!’

‘Your second Games…’ Hannah winked.

‘Yes!’ Maria nodded. ‘Because I’m obviously competing here.’

They walked through another set of sliding doors and into a foyer. It was pretty empty with just a desk in the centre and some volunteers surrounding a whiteboard. In the far corner a media team was setting up a camera while a presenter rehearsed his lines. Hannah looked around to see where the other athletes were going. Most of them were heading left through another set of doors.

‘Hey, Maria,’ she said.

‘Yeah?’

‘What’s the time?’

‘One thirty-three.’

Hannah felt her chest tighten. ‘The shot put only has twenty-seven minutes left. We’re going to miss all of it!’

Seb looked around. ‘Okay, so… where are the stands… That way? Wait, no.’

Hannah turned to a bending corridor on her right and noticed a sign hanging from the ceiling. She ran her eyes down the list:

Call Room 1

Call Room 2

Technical Office

Athlete Stadium Seating

‘This way!’ They ran down the nearly empty corridor. As they passed each door, however, Hannah realized that the stadium was anything but calm.

Through the first door, she saw officials in white shirts huddled around a computer, and volunteers were dashing to and fro with sheets of paper. Athletes were lining up outside one room and there was a lot of shouting coming from another. Hannah caught a glimpse of something white and crumpled on the floor. It looked like a note folded into the shape of a crane. She picked it up to read it, but it was all in Japanese. She couldn’t see a bin nearby, so she stuffed it into her pocket.

She peered through the next door. Inside the room were volunteers all dressed in the same outfit – white slacks with baby-blue jackets. In front of them a woman with a headset was handing them each a cushion. Before Hannah could look any closer, a door on the other side swung open and a herd of people with cameras and microphones came flooding into the corridor.

Maria stepped back against the wall. ‘Who are all these people?’

‘Press?’ Hannah tried to catch a glimpse of the athlete amongst it all.

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