The boy gulped but he’d been with Sally long enough to do as he was told. He found it more difficult than Gabriel to lower himself but, after a few attempts and some nervous tugging at the rope ladder, he managed it. Once he was halfway down, I walked back to Becky. She was still clutching Ange’s hand as if she were afraid to let go in case her mother disappeared again.
I addressed them both in a low voice. ‘We can’t let the goblins get the Stone. Not the Filits and not the Gneiss. We have to find it first. If I can search for it then I might be able to do something about it.’ I met Ange’s eyes. ‘You’ve seen what I really am. You know I’m capable of this.’
Ange looked back at me fearfully. If she hadn’t worked out what I was when I’d approached her in her Tolbooth cell, then she had to know by now. She’d been watching from the fisherman’s shed when I’d spoken to the other wraith. To her credit, she hadn’t yet mentioned it – but I’d seen the look she gave me after we’d left the area.
‘I’m not like the others you’ve heard of, Ange,’ I said, praying she’d believe me.
She licked her lips and swallowed before finding her voice. ‘I know,’ she whispered. She knelt down beside Becky. ‘Tell Saiya where you hid Daddy’s box.’
Becky didn’t hesitate. ‘Five doors to the left from Sally’s house. In the garden in a hole in a big tree.’
‘Thank you.’ I glanced at Ange. ‘Do you know what’s in it?’
She shook her head. ‘Not a clue. And I was telling the truth before. I really can’t open it. What lies inside might lead to the Stone. Then again, it might not. I couldn’t say for sure.’
Except her ex-husband had believed it would. He’d probably never gone after it himself because he couldn’t open the box. Maybe the goblins would be in the same position but they believed in its contents as well. If I was going to trust in the existence of an alternative, true version of the Stone of Scone then I ought to believe in everything else attached to it.
There was a muffled shout from the tunnel. I smiled down at Becky. ‘It’s your turn.’
Her hand tightened round Ange’s and her face went white. ‘Okay.’
I gave her an approving nod. Her knees were knocking together in terror but she wasn’t going to be the one to hold us back.
‘I’ll be right behind you, sweetheart,’ Ange promised.
I gently propelled Becky over the edge.
Sally pushed herself up out of the wheelchair and gazed down dubiously.
‘How are you doing, Sal?’ I asked.
She didn’t look at me. ‘I’ve got an egg-shaped bump on my noggin and I have to go down a hole on a rope ladder which probably won’t hold my weight because I need to cuff the ear of the damn boy who gave me the bump in the first place.’
I breathed out. ‘Good.’
Her voice lowered a fraction. ‘The bang on the head has done me some good. Apparently it really is time to cut and run. Despite what appearances may suggest, I don’t have a death wish, Saiya.’ She raised her eyes to mine. ‘Do you?’
I didn’t bother answering. Instead, I manoeuvred into position so I was hanging from the rope ladder with one hand and used my free hand to beckon over Becky. ‘I’ll go first,’ I told her. ‘You’ll be right behind me. That way, if you fall I’ll be able to catch you. But you won’t fall. I’ll guide you all the way.’
‘Okay.’ There was a pause. ‘Saiya?’
‘Yes?’
‘Thank you. You saved my mum. She’d be dead if you hadn’t helped us.’
That wasn’t entirely true; there were others who had aided her escape both deliberately and inadvertently. And we weren’t out of the woods yet; Ange was still in danger. Even so, I took Becky’s words in the spirit in which they were given and smiled. ‘You’re welcome.’
Becky turned and edged her way down. I waited until her feet were on the rung directly above my head and stepped down. ‘That’s it,’ I said. ‘Lift your right foot and bring it down. Another inch. The next rung is right there.’
Becky gasped, her knuckles white with the strain of gripping the rope. The further down we went, however, the more she grew in confidence. By the time we reached the bottom, where Gabriel and Martin were waiting, she was climbing like a monkey.
‘I did it!’ The flicker of the torch lit up her face, showing her delight.
Gabriel grinned at her. ‘You were amazing.’ He glanced at me. ‘You were amazing too,’ he added. ‘You have a way with children.’
The warmth that had been spreading inside me chilled. ‘Great,’ I muttered. I craned my neck. ‘Hang on, Ange!’ I called. ‘I’m coming back up to help the rest of you get down.’ Without looking at the Dark Elf, I sprang upwards again, away from him.
Back up top, Pat was starting to look nervous. Keeping my senses alert for any sounds of goblins, I checked on him. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘You lot are very slow,’ he said. ‘This is taking a long time. Longer than it should.’
I gestured at the front of the school. ‘Is anyone there?’
‘No.’
‘Then stop whining. This isn’t a bunch of soldiers, they are children and women who’ve been tortured for days in the damn Tolbooth. If nobody’s out there, we’re still clear. We can take our time.’
Pat pointed at Sally. Rymark, it appeared, was already halfway down. ‘How is she going to manage it? She’ll get stuck.’
As if. I rolled my eyes at him. Sally took a different approach. Carefully wheeling her chair over, she gave him a sweet smile then she swung it upwards and smacked it into the side of his head. Pat sprang away just in the nick of time. ‘You bitch!’ he howled. ‘I’m on your side!’
She sniffed. ‘You could have fooled me.’
‘How’d you get to be so fat, anyway? Everyone else around here is starving and you…’
Sally reached for the wheelchair again. She only had to raise it slightly in the air for Pat to back off. ‘Screw the lot of you,’ he snarled. ‘I’ve done what Marrock wanted and brought you here. From now on, you’re on your own.’ He whirled away and stomped off, like a toddler denied his favourite sweeties.
As he disappeared, Sally breathed out. ‘I thought he was never going to leave. He can’t be trusted, you know. You can see it in his eyes. It’s important that he believes we’ve all used the tunnel to escape. We don’t want him knowing that you’ve stayed behind.’ She chuckled at my look. ‘You’re not as good at keeping secrets as you think you are, little Saiya.’ She patted my arm. ‘Use the shadows. You can do this. If anyone can find the Stone, you can.’
Without another word, Sally turned to the hole. Raising her eyes to the heavens and making the sign of the cross, she turned round to start her descent.
‘Wait a minute,’ Gabriel said. ‘I’m coming out.’ He braced his hands on either side of the hole and deftly leapt out, dusting himself off and offering me an arch smile.
I frowned. ‘What are you doing? I can help Sally get down. You don’t need to be here – stay with the others and make sure they’re alright.’
‘Saiya.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘You’re beautiful and intelligent and beyond brave. You’re also ridiculously naïve if you think that I don’t know what you’re planning.’
I put my hands on my hips. ‘I’m planning to get everyone out of here. Then you can take Ange to your Prime Minister mate and she can explain about the Stone and the goblins and what’s really going on.’
‘Rymark will do that.’
‘You need to keep Ange safe!’
‘I trust Rymark completely. He’s more than capable and he acts in my name. He’ll gain entrance to Holyrood and Prime Minister James just as fast as I would. I’m going to stay here so that you and I can search for the Stone of Scone.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘That is what you’re planning to do? I have excellent hearing, you know. I heard every word you said to Ange about the little box. I’m disappointed you didn’t bring it up before but at least we have a decent clue to start with. I doubt this box is so complicated that I won’t be able to open it.’
His confidence was irritating and I was annoyed that he’d heard our conversation. I was getting sloppy – and sloppiness could cost me dearly. ‘You’re a Dark Elf!’ I exclaimed. ‘You’re the government’s Envoy! You need to get out of here and keep yourself safe.’
His expression remained calm. ‘You’re my Fior Ghal. I need to keep you safe. If that means traipsing around a besieged city while fending off hordes of goblins and searching for a slab of sandstone that has been missing for almost a thousand years, then so be it. I go where destiny leads me.’ For a moment amusement flickered in his eyes. ‘And you, Saiya, are my destiny.’
‘You don’t have a bloody clue who I really am! If you knew the truth, you wouldn’t be so complacent.’ I glared at him, about to snap that I was a wraith and as far from his destiny as anyone could be, but Sally let out a high-pitched squeak.