A young man ran over the bleak moor, his feet breaking the thin layers of ice that formed over puddles, leaving the swampy peat exposed to the cold winter air. The young prisoner stooped to catch his breath, he didn't know where to go, the area was unfamiliar to him. The sound of bloodhounds echoed between the stone tors. The lad looked behind him. They were chasing him down with hounds. He racked his brain, what did the other street boys tell him about hounds again? No time to waste, he had to come up with a plan when running.
He came across a shallow gully. He had no choice but to wade through. The icy water stole away his breath. As he climbed over the bank he felt his mind go hazy with the cold.
What was it the other street urchins had taught him about sniffing dogs? A father had managed to escape from police dogs by running in a certain way.
His soggy shoes scraped against his skin.
The man had boasted about it a lot at the pub. "I can tell ya that I thought school was just a load of tosh, but it was arithme'ic that saved me arse." Arithmetic… arithmetic… counting, multiplying… figures! That's it the man had made his way in the shape of certain numbers. The dogs got confused when they tried to follow his tracks as they doubled up on themselves and had crossed each other. What he had to do was to do exactly the same.
He sunk into deep thoughts. Which numbers fitted the bill, and what was the least amount of figures he had to remember?
Under his breath he mumbled to himself. "One and nil are definitely not right as the one is just a straight line and with the nil I'll keep running in a circle. The same goes for the seven and eight. No the numbers should be a bit more open shaped."
Suddenly he stood still, his face split by a mischievous grin. "That's it! I only need two figures to run in. The four fitted the bill perfectly as did the six and nine. However, the six and nine were basically the same number, only upside down."
The escapee turned and looked at the direction he came from. He could already see the lights of his pursuers' torches shining over the fell. But he didn't fear them anymore.
"They look a bit dim." he said to himself. A strange light shone from his eyes. "How about a little puzzle to brighten their mind?"