Arthur Quinn and Hell's Keeper by Alan Early

Meanwhile, the Garda was in the middle lane, gradually closing the gap between them. He overtook a car in the inside lane and was rapidly catching up to the next car in his lane – a white Nissan. Arthur could see the driver: an elderly woman hunched over the wheel and squinting over her hands. She was just staring straight ahead, taking her time, and didn’t notice the squad car coming up behind her. A massively long lorry rumbled along next to her in the right-hand lane, which meant that the Garda was stuck behind the slow elderly driver and the truck was preventing him overtaking. Suddenly, the squad car accelerated more and moved into the left-hand lane. But as it did, the woman steered her car to the left, heading for a turn-off. She didn’t bother signalling and didn’t hear the furious horn-honks of the Garda as he had to break suddenly to avoid a crash. He fell behind and, for a brief moment, Arthur hoped it would stay that way. But once the Nissan was off the motorway, the squad car sped up once more, moving rapidly towards them.
    Meanwhile, Garda Eddie McKean could feel his face reddening with anger. This was not turning out to be his evening.
    â€˜Faster, Ex!’ urged Arthur. ‘He’s right behind us! Go faster!’
    â€˜I’m going as fast as I can,’ Ex muttered through gritted teeth. ‘This is an old car. We’ll never outrun him.’
    The squad car came up alongside them on the right-hand side. Arthur could see the Garda inside gesticulating frantically at them with one arm. Although Arthur couldn’t hear what he was shouting, he knew it was ‘Pull over now!’ Spittle flew out of the Garda’s mouth and Arthur even noticed a blue vein pop out on his forehead, throbbing rapidly.
    But before McKean could overtake them – and force them to stop the car – Ex swerved suddenly to the right. The Garda just managed to avoid the Beetle, braking and falling behind it. He punched his fist on the wheel and the horn blared angrily. He pushed the car into gear and accelerated again. He was coming up on their left-hand side now, gesturing wildly through the window at Ellie. The blue light lit up her face rhythmically.
    â€˜What do we do?’ she said, staring back at the Garda with wide eyes.
    â€˜We can’t stop,’ answered Arthur. ‘Whatever happens, we have to get to Farranfore.’
    â€˜But he’s going to keep going until he catches us,’ said Ash. ‘He’ll radio for help if we don’t stop.’
    â€˜ Grnk! ’ grunted Eirik from the passenger seat. ‘ Nwk qus gwnkl! ’
    The others looked at each other, none of them understanding what he’d been trying to say. When he saw the looks of confusion, he rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner. He reached out to Arthur and took his hand.
    â€˜Ar-khur,’ he said before letting go. Then, without any warning, he unhooked his seat belt, flung open the passenger door and leaped out of the speeding car.
    A shocked silence filled the Beetle as Eirik sailed towards the squad car. Ex swerved in his surprise but quickly brought the car back under control, the momentum causing the door to slam shut. As the others watched, Eirik landed with a thump on the bonnet of the Garda’s car. He gripped it, digging his fingers under the small lip around the edge. Garda Eddie McKean cried out at the appearance of a centuries-old Viking on the hood of his car. He veered to the left and straight onto the grassy slope at the side of the motorway. Mud and earth sprayed into the air as Eirik was thrown off the car onto his back. The car itself came to a crunching halt as the bonnet hit the bottom of the incline at speed.
    As Ex sped further away from the crash site, the others looked out through the back window. The front end of the squad car was embedded in the earth and the back wheels were spinning uselessly in mid-air. Eirik had managed to get into a sitting