We walked the horses west a hundred yards, and Pervis began to tie them to a sad-looking, broken-down tree.
“That might not be such a good idea, unless you want them to be stuck out here,” I said.
Pervis held the reins and seemed ready to protest before offering a quiet response.
“We’re not coming back this way, are we?” he said.
“I’m afraid not,” I told him. “We must try to rescue Yipes tonight. After that, we’ll be racing for the Sly Field.”
Nicolas took both the reins from Pervis in one hand and patted the horses on their noses.
“They know the way home to Lunenburg,” Nicolas said. “I’m quite sure they’ll find their way by morning.” To both horses, he warned, “Stay together now; don’t run off in different directions.” Then he came around to the side of the larger of the two, and whispered, “She’ll follow you.” He slapped the horse and off it ran, the smaller one racing behind in the direction of Lunenburg.
As we stood looking into the maze of tunnels that remained in the brush, a thought occurred to me. It was the strangest thing that I hadn’t thought of it at all and no one had mentioned it all day.
“Where’s my father?” I asked, suddenly concerned for him.
An awkward silence filled the air while Pervis and Nicolas looked at each other as if to decide who would answer my question.
“He was sure you’d return to Bridewell,” Pervis finally said. “I tried to make him leave, but he wouldn’t.”I pictured ogres climbing over the walls, finding my father alone and helpless.
“You can’t have left him there to die?” I pleaded.
Pervis seemed to liven up at my comment.
“You vastly underestimate your father, Alexa. He’s not only resourceful, but he knows Bridewell and all its secret places quite well. When we left he was already belowground in the secret tunnels, awaiting your arrival. I told him I’d never bring you back here with those monsters around the place, but he was quite sure you would return whether I liked it or not.”
“Did anyone stay with him, or is he all alone?” I asked.
“I’m afraid he’s alone, Alexa. He was very persuasive about making sure all my guards were sent away. This was his decision, and he didn’t want anyone else put in harm’s way.”
For the first time I felt regret for my actions. I’d put him in terrible danger.
Nicolas spoke as if he’d read my mind.
“There are some things you have yet to understand, Alexa — things that I think will become clear in the coming days. But you can be sure of one thing: James Daley is doing exactly what he should be doing right now, as are the rest of us, including you.”
Murphy jumped into my arms and said to me, “Just think, Alexa. You’ll see your father again on this very night!”
Pervis seemed very interested in Murphy, and he walked closer.
“I’ve been listening to the two of you all day. Is it really true what I’ve been told? Can you understand what this little creature is saying with all his squeaks and sounds?”
Murphy twitched and jumped and carried on in my arms.
“He says he was digging around in your bag earlier and spied a bag of nuts,” I said. “He wants to have some and asks if you might kindly hand them over.”
Pervis looked on in astonishment, removed the bag of nuts, and pulled out a nice large one.
“Here you go, little fellow,” he said. “That ought to keep you busy for a while.” As Murphy chomped away, Pervis shook his head. “Amazing. I thought Nicolas was making a grand joke with me. You really can talk to animals, then.”
“Let’s keep that a secret between just the few of us, shall we?” I said.
Pervis nodded as he crunched on a handful of nuts.
“I can’t wait to get to Bridewell,” I said, thinking only of my father and Yipes. “Another hour and we can safely move in the dark.”
I looked at Armon. His hulking presence cast a shadow big enough for us all to stand in. I knew there was still the black swarm to contend with. I looked into the sky, listening instinctively for the sound of leathery wings on the wind, but there was nothing to be heard.
The hour before dark passed with the making of plans as we sat in a circle eating and drinking, gaining strength for the long night ahead. Nicolas had brought bread and fresh-cooked meat along with a small leather bag full of hard candies — something I hadn’t enjoyed in quite a while. It was especially pleasing to watch Murphy eat the candy, his eyes bulging with delight, the sugar sending him into a fit of talking and darting about.
“Is he always like this?” asked Pervis.
We watched as Murphy sniffed and dashed all around us in a fit of activity, then ran up the side of Armon and darted between his shoulders.
“Not always, but most of the time, yes,” said Armon, a pleasant air of affection in his voice.
It was decided that Armon was too big to hide or fit into the tunnels as we went about our business in Bridewell. He would travel around in secret and meet us at a place I knew of in the forest. It was somewhere from my past, on the other side of Bridewell — the meadow cast with moonlight where Ander the bear made his home and the forest council met. Armon said he knew how to find it. I only hoped we’d rescue Yipes so he could help me remember how to get there.
I watched Armon as he walked away, sliding back into the darkness from where he’d come to save us only days before. I hadn’t realized how comforting his presence was, and a terrible emptiness filled my heart as he disappeared. I wished then that we’d come up with some other plan in which he could stay with us.
“We must be getting on,” said Odessa. “We’ve been resting here long enough.”
She strode into the tunnel before us, and the rest of us followed. It wasn’t long before Murphy was well in front, scampering from side to side down the pathway.
“He’s a good scout,” I said. “He’ll tell us if danger is lurking ahead.”
As it turned out, we had no trouble along the pathway and before long arrived at a clearing, the walls of Bridewell visible by the firelight from the lookouts. There was a stench in the air, a rotten smell rising on the wind. There was a little more than a half-moon in the sky, and I could make out the shape of something large standing on the nearest tower on the wall. One of the remaining ogres was keeping watch.
“The underground tunnel we must enter is that way.” I pointed to my right. In the faint moonlight I could see where it was, only a hundred feet away.
“We’ll have to go slowly, in the open, to reach it,” I continued. “But there’s something I didn’t tell you before.”
Pervis and Nicolas looked at each other as if they might have expected me to say such a thing.
“The two of you will have to wait here with Odessa,” I told them. “The entrance to the tunnel is very small. Only Murphy and I will fit.”
“I won’t allow it,” said Pervis, suddenly acting as though I’d tricked him into bringing me to this spot. “I promised your father I wouldn’t let you return here, so I’m already in trouble. I can’t let you go alone, Alexa. If something happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself.”
I had expected this response and had planned my answer carefully as we walked through the night. I was about to tell a truly awful lie, one that I thought might be my undoing. But I knew of no other way to rescue Yipes than to sneak back into Bridewell through the tiny opening he and I had used to escape on our way to Castalia.
“Do you know what’s inside this pouch?” I asked Pervis, holding the hidden Jocasta out to him.
“Only that what you carry is very important, and that you alone must carry it,” he answered.
“This is the very last Jocasta. It’s what makes it possible for me to understand what Murphy and Odessa say — and it’s also what makes it possible for me to hear another voice as well, a voice on the wind.”
“Elyon?” Pervis whispered in disbelief. I nodded, and then I told my lie.
&
nbsp; “Elyon has told me to enter the city through a hole Yipes and I used to sneak away. As I said before, it’s too small for any of us but Murphy and me. So I must leave the rest of you behind.”
“What?” whispered Pervis, a bit louder than he should have. We all crouched down in the bushes and watched the tower, but nothing seemed to stir near the flame on the wall.
“I’m sorry, Pervis. I really am — but we have to do this the way I’ve been told.”
He shook his head back and forth and looked to Nicolas for support, but it seemed as though I’d convinced Warvold’s son that this was the only way.
“James will be down there waiting for her,” said Nicolas. “He’ll be angry with you, but Alexa will have him for protection. I’m just glad Grindall knows nothing of the tunnels below the city.”
“Couldn’t I fit in that hole?” asked Pervis. “I’m not that much bigger than you are, Alexa.”
This was something I hadn’t thought of, and it got me to wondering.
“I don’t think you’ll fit, but I can’t be completely sure about it.”
“I’m going with you. I want to at least try.”
I knew by looking at Nicolas that he would never fit, and Odessa was such a large wolf I couldn’t imagine her making it inside. But Pervis was a small man, and he was very determined to protect me. It was unlikely, but I had to allow him an attempt.
“You wait here,” Pervis ordered Nicolas and Odessa. “If I can’t make it in I’ll be back in a few minutes. If I fit inside …” Pervis paused, thinking. “Well, I suppose you ought to wait here and see if we return with James and Yipes or not.”
It seemed that the planning might go on for a while — and we didn’t have any time to be sitting in the Dark Hills figuring things out. I started walking quietly toward the hole. Murphy jumped out in front, darting from side to side. Pervis whispered my name, but I kept going, and sure enough he was right behind me by the time I reached the hole and looked down inside.
“There it is,” I said. “I’m going in first. If you get wedged like a cork I don’t want to be stuck out here trying to get you out.” It was a modest little joke, but it made Murphy laugh and laugh. I was reminded again that I must never give him sweets.
I followed Murphy into the small hole in the ground and slithered down to the bottom where the boards had been replaced. I listened carefully and, hearing nothing, pushed out the boards with my hands and dropped into the room. There was no one in the room, and it was pitch dark. I realized too late that I’d made a grave error. There was no light, and I’d brought none with me.
“Pervis!” I whispered, afraid that Grindall or one of the ogres might have discovered this place. It would be hard for an ogre to get around in the tunnels, but not impossible if they’d found another way in.
I groped around the room and listened as Pervis struggled to make his way down the narrow tunnel. I was too late, since he’d already begun his descent down into the room. If he got stuck it would be a long, dark night trying to get him out.
“Oh, dear.” It was Pervis, and I had the distinct feeling that he’d gotten himself lodged in the tunnel. I put my arms in and tried to grasp for his hands. I was able to touch his fingers but only barely, so I couldn’t pull him into the room. He was indeed trapped.
I turned and sat against the wall, where Murphy jumped on my lap. I couldn’t see him — I couldn’t see anything. Pervis was stuck in the hole, and I couldn’t help him or find my way around. Things weren’t going very well, and as I sat there wondering what to do, things managed to get even worse.
From somewhere down a distant tunnel, a light was coming my way, flickering and bobbing back and forth as if whatever carried it were clumsily racing through. Had Grindall known of this place all along and expected my arrival?
It was so dark that I couldn’t see Murphy as he dashed from my lap and sniffed the air.
“We’d better hide,” he said. “Something smells terrible … and it’s coming this way.”
I felt the goose bumps rising on my scrawny arms. I yelped quietly as Murphy brushed against my legs and scampered back into my lap. We were trapped, and we couldn’t even see to hide. All we could make out was the light bouncing miserably on the walls in the distance, coming closer.
CHAPTER 9
OUT OF THE
DARKNESS
“Pervis,” I whispered, “you’ve got to get out! You’ve got to go back.”
As the light came closer I was able to see a little of the space around me. The board we’d pushed out into the room lay next to me. Seeing it, I realized there was only one place we could go that might hide us from whatever was coming our way.
“I’m really stuck, Alexa.” It was Pervis, whispering from the hole.
“It’s all right; just stay quiet. We’re coming in with you.”
“What?”
There was no time to answer him as I picked up the board and stood it up next to the hole. Murphy jumped in first.
“Come on, Alexa, hurry!” Murphy squeaked.
I got down on my hands and knees with my feet facing the hole. It was awkward, but I was able to back myself inside, feet first. Then, lying there, I picked up the board and pulled it back into place over the hole just as the light reached the room.
Pervis was so close that my feet were right in his face, and I had the feeling that I was probably pushing my heel into his nose. Murphy was doing his best to stay still down near my legs, but sitting still was very hard for him. His twitches tickled the backs of my knees, and I had to struggle not to move my legs in response.
I couldn’t see anything in the room with the board back in place, and I began to worry as my grip on the board lessened and I slid forward little by little toward the room. Murphy squeezed up onto my back and made his way up next to my head, where he sniffed.
“No worries,” he whispered into my ear. He leaned into the board and pushed it free into the room. I slid halfway out of the hole, staring at the ground in front of me, waiting for an ogre to attack.
Two arms grabbed hold of me by the middle and lifted me out of the hole and into the air. I opened my eyes and stared in disbelief.
It was my father, a big grin on his face. He pulled me into a warm embrace.
“Father!” I said. But that was all I could muster. I simply felt around his large arms and pulled free to look at him once more. It was really him, looking at me with wonder in his eyes, so happy to find that I was safe and unharmed.
“It’s so very good to see you, Alexa,” he said as he set me down and bent on one knee. “I’ve been thinking the most terrible thoughts these past days. But you’re all right after all.”
“At least for the moment I am,” I said. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was afraid there was quite a lot more for me to do before I’d consider myself safe again.
“What would be the odds of someone helping me get free?” It was Pervis, still struggling to remove himself from where he was wedged solidly in the hole.
“It’s Pervis — he’s stuck in there.” I pointed to the hole, and my father got up and poked his head inside the dark opening.
“Is that you in there, Pervis? All those extra helpings of potatoes finally got the best of you.”
“Very funny,” answered Pervis.
“I really ought to leave you in there, since you deliberately disobeyed my order not to bring Alexa back here.”
“She made me do it!” he yelled desperately.
My father looked over at me. “It’s true she can be very persuasive. Still, I think I’ll leave you there awhile. Maybe it will harden your resolve in case you’re tempted to disobey me again.”
My father was clowning with him. I began to feel sorry for Pervis, all wedged in there as he was.
“Father, Yipes is in Bridewell. He is a prisoner of Grindall, and we’ve come to save him. That’s the only reason we’ve come back.”
This remark seemed to sober my father’s playfulness. He immediately
put his arms into the hole, took hold of Pervis’s hands, and pulled hard.
“Ooooowww!” Pervis yelled.
My father let him go and peered into the hole.
“You really are stuck, aren’t you?”
“I think I moved a little when you pulled just then,” Pervis answered. “Try it again.”
My father grabbed Pervis by the hands once more and pulled with all his might. Pervis yelped as he came tumbling out of the hole and landed on top of my father, the two of them covered in dirt on the floor of the tunnel.
“Thank you! I’ll never disobey you again.”
“Get off me, Pervis,” ordered my father.
Pervis was quick to jump free of my father and of fer to help him up. They both brushed off, and the three of us stood there in the weak light of the tunnel with Murphy skittering around the room.
“How did that squirrel get in here?” asked my father.
Murphy squeaked and squeaked. He was apologizing, saying he’d smelled something that wasn’t right and thought it was an ogre. As it turns out it was just my father, who hadn’t washed in many days and smelled a bit ripe himself.
“It’s all right, Murphy. I might have made the same mistake myself,” I said.
“Why are you talking to that rodent?” said my father.
“It’s a long story, but he says you smell bad and you need to take a bath.”
My father bent down and looked into Murphy’s face.
“Can we talk about it later, please?” I begged. “We need to find Yipes before it’s too late.”
My father seemed to take this as a reasonable suggestion, though he remained wary of Murphy and curious about what was going on.
“Fine, then. Have your fun if you want to, but you’re not going up there. It’s far too dangerous with those ogres around the place. I’ll go.”
I wasn’t sure what I should do. I couldn’t let him get anywhere near Victor Grindall. It was far too dangerous.
He’ll go by way of the courtyard. You must let him.
It was the voice, once again telling me something I didn’t want to hear. How could I send my own father into a place where monsters waited — monsters that had already taken John Christopher from me?