THE CLEARING (15 page)

Chapter Twenty Seven

*

‘Quick, hide,’ I hissed.

‘What?’ Luc replied.

‘Hide.’

He and Denzil followed me to a clump of bushes where we crouched down out of sight of the wall.

‘Riley, what is it?’ Denzil asked.

‘Last time we were here, the Cathedral guards came out of the walls. They’re hollow. The walls are hollow. Don’t you remember, Luc?’

‘Yes. God yes. Can’t believe I forgot that.’

‘Hollow walls?’ Denzil said. ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’

I crept to the edge of the bush and stared at a section of wall, but I couldn’t see what I was looking for. ‘When we were here before, there were bricks missing in parts of the wall.’

‘And?’ Denzil said.

‘They’re kind of peep holes. The guards are inside the walls and use the missing bricks to spy out of so they can spot anyone approaching the walls.’

‘I can’t see any bricks missing,’ Denzil said, using his binoculars to scan the walls.

I peered out and stared hard. As far as I could see, he was right. ‘This part of the wall must be different,’ I said with relief. ‘I think it’s okay.’

‘That’s good information to know anyway,’ Denzil said. ‘We’ll just have to pay extra attention as we go, that’s all. Come on.’

We crept out of our hiding place and ran across to the towering brick wall which stretched off into the distance in both directions. Denzil went first, then me, then Luc. We stayed close to the wall, hunched down low and followed it around to the left. There was a barbed wire fence up ahead, separating this field from the next, but Denzil pulled at the wire and I saw it had been cut, so there was a gap for us to slip through.

‘My handiwork from earlier this evening,’ Denzil said, with a wink. ‘Useful tip – always carry a pair of wire cutters.’

I eased my way through, careful not to get caught on the barbs.

‘Not far now,’ he said.

Scanning the grey bricks, I kept imagining I could see missing ones, but it was only my eyes playing tricks on me. Ivy clung to this section of the wall and Denzil slowed down.

‘Here it is,’ he said.

There in front of us, a small arched wooden door was set into the wall.

‘Connor said he’d let us in here,’ Denzil said. ‘Called it the tradesman’s entrance.’

‘Is it safe to wait here,’ Luc said.

‘No, we can’t risk it,’ Denzil replied. ‘There’s a track at the edge of the field. We’ll wait over there, out of sight.’

We sat off to the side of the track, under a couple of sturdy trees. I could clearly see the door in the wall, but we were less exposed here. It was a good place to wait. The leaves whispered and an owl hooted.

‘We should try and sleep,’ Luc said. ‘I’ll keep first watch.’

‘I won’t argue with that,’ Denzil said. ‘Keep your eyes on that door, Luc. Wake me if you see anything.’ He lay on his side using his backpack as a pillow, closed his eyes and was almost instantly asleep.

How had he managed to do that? I knew it would take me ages to feel relaxed enough to sleep out here.

‘Go on, Riley,’ Luc said. ‘Get some kip. I’ll wake you if anything happens.’

I shuffled back against one of the trees and closed my eyes. I was aware of every little sound. Every rustle and twig snap, every breath of wind and distant fox bark. I was also conscious of Luc, sitting near me, leaning against the other tree. I opened one eye. He was staring at the wall. I closed my eye again and despite my earlier claim of not being able to sleep out here, I soon drifted off.

Through the night we took turns keeping watch, but the door in the wall remained closed. I admitted to myself that I was worried about Connor. I knew I’d said I didn’t care about him. That Pa would always be my father. But I realised that part of me did want to see this man again; my biological father. I still didn’t know what I would say, but that didn’t matter. I only wanted to see him. To see him without shock clouding my judgement this time. To examine his features and maybe get a sense of who he was. Perhaps see if we were in any way similar.

The sky was lightening. I stood and stretched. It had been hours and there was still no sign of Connor. No sign of anyone.

‘This isn’t good,’ Luc said.

‘What should we do?’ I asked.

‘All we can do is wait,’ Denzil said. ‘We’ve got two more days until Charlie Duke leaves. And if this door in the wall doesn’t open, we’ll have to go back to the copter.’

That’s not an option, I thought to myself.

‘A lot can happen in two days,’ Luc said.

‘Too true,’ Denzil replied. ‘Let’s have some brekkie.’

We waited another day and another night. We spoke little. There was nothing we could do or say to make a difference, to ease the impotence we felt. All we could do was hope. But I was starting to think that something really bad must have happened to Connor.

* * *

Liss opened her eyes, her body rigid with terror. A man loomed over her. He seemed to be staring at her neck, but as her eyes opened his stare moved to her face. She tried to open her mouth to scream but to her horror, her mouth had been taped closed. He slid his hands beneath her back and lifted her out of bed. She thrashed her body but he had tied her wrists and ankles. She was being taken. It was happening again! She wouldn’t,
couldn’t
let it happen again.

Even though he wore a cloak, her abductor did not look like someone from The Close. There was something about him that seemed more . . . alive. Was he a raider or a murderer come to kill her or worse? Why were her roommates still asleep? Why didn’t they wake and sound the alarm?

The man had now reached the landing. He used his elbow to edge the bedroom door closed.

‘Keep calm, I’m here to rescue you,’ he whispered. ‘I saw the birthmark on your neck. You’re Lissy aren’t you?’

Did she hear him correctly? Liss stopped struggling for an instant. No one called her Lissy except her parents and, once-upon-a-time, FJ.

‘Mmmphffff.’

‘Shhh,’ he murmured. ‘Stay calm. We’ll never get out of here if you wake them. Your parents sent me. Fred and Jessie. They’re desperate to see you.’

At his words, Liss felt herself go limp. The man stopped walking, sensing her confusion. He softened his expression. ‘Sorry about the tape, but I couldn’t take the chance that you’d scream.’

She nodded.

‘We need to find your brother, Freddie Junior. I promised them I’d get you both out.’

Liss shook her head vigorously.

‘Is he still alive?’

She nodded.

‘Is he here? In The Close?’

Again she nodded. The man had an unusual accent. Northern. A bit like Grey’s.

‘I’m going to peel back the tape,’ he said. ‘You won’t scream will you?’

She shook her head. Who was this stranger? As he pulled at the tape, she almost yelled out with the pain.

‘Sorry,’ he whispered. ‘That must’ve really hurt.’

‘I’m alright,’ she said.

The man carefully carried her all the way down the wooden staircase.

‘Where’s your brother?’ he asked as they reached the bottom.

‘He won’t come. Grey’s changed him. He’s lost his mind.’

‘Oh. I’m sorry.’ He set her down on the hall floor and cut through her ties. ‘And what about you? Do you want to leave this place?’ He reached out his hand to open the front door.

Her heart raced as she understood that she was finally being rescued. After dreaming about this moment for so long, it was actually happening. Liss stretched out her limbs and stood, her nightdress untwisting from her legs.

‘Lissy? Are you okay?’ he asked. ‘Do you want to come with me?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes of course.’

‘Good. Then we have to go quickly. I have some friends waiting outside.’ He handed her a cloak which had hung from the bannister. He helped drape it around her shoulders before opening the front door.

She fastened the cloak with trembling hands, felt the cold night air rush in and wrap itself around her ankles. ‘Won’t we get caught?’

He took her hand and led her out of the house. ‘I hope not. I think Grey’s guards are busy with other things at the moment.’ He jerked his head over towards the North Canonry and Liss gasped as she saw smoke and flames shooting up into the night sky.

‘My brother! FJ is in there! Did you do that?’ Much as she held little love for her brother anymore, she would not wish him harm.

‘Don’t worry. I piled up some dry wood against one of the empty outbuildings. The main house is safe.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. Now come on. We have to run before they realise it’s nothing.’

‘Wait,’ she hissed.

‘What?’

‘We can’t leave Annabelle.’

‘Who? We have to go, Lissy.’ He pulled at her hand.

‘No. I can’t go without her. She’s like a sister to me.’ Liss was panicking. She really wanted to go, but there was no way she could leave Anna behind. She would rather stay.

The man let go of her hand and turned again to look at her. She stared back, defiant. He let his shoulders drop.

‘Okay. Where is she?’

Relief made her feel less scared. ‘She’s in my room.’

He rolled his eyes.

‘I’ll run up and get her.’ She turned back to the front door and turned the knob, but nothing happened. ‘It must’ve locked behind us,’ she said. ‘Do you have a key?’

‘No, I broke a window round the back. This is madness. We don’t have time for this.’

Liss heard shouts from over at the main house.

‘Wait here,’ the man hissed ‘I’ll let you back in.’ He left her and headed down the side path to the back of the dwelling.

Liss felt exposed and scared, standing in the small front garden. She sidestepped to conceal herself behind the hedge, pressing herself right into the manicured leaves. She willed the man to hurry up. What was taking him so long? He should have opened the front door by now. Should she go around the back and see what was taking him so long?

The front door suddenly swung open. The man stood in the doorway, but Mary stood behind him, a gun trained up towards his head. His hands were raised, an expression of defeat and apology on his face.

Mary stepped around him and spoke to Liss. ‘It seems the Voice of the Father was right. He told me to watch you. And that’s what I have been doing. And
you
, his
sister
! You should be ashamed.’

Liss was seized from behind as robed guards swept into to the garden. She watched as they put the man in cuffs and then her arms too were roughly dragged behind her back, cold steel snapped around her wrists.

‘It wasn’t her fault,’ the man said calmly. ‘I was kidnapping her.’