Black Tide (15 page)

Sylvie, Jamie and Katie were hauled across the dark yard, while the Captain dragged Toby back towards the guardhouse.

“You better pray that your mates’ medicine works, else you’re up for the high jump, too!” barked the Captain, pulling Toby down a flight of steps to a small wooden door. He unlocked it and threw Toby inside.

Toby waited until the Captain’s footsteps disappeared into the night, and then pulled out his torch. Giving it a quick wind-up, he shone it round the dank smelly cell in which he found himself.

“Hello?” he called out. There in the corner lay slumped a figure dressed in dirty jeans and an “Edinburgh Rocks” sweatshirt. The figure groaned and moved.

It couldn’t be Dad, could it?

“Dad?” Toby crouched and put his hand out.

“I’m not your dad. It’s Captain Bill Gallagher to you, son,” croaked a voice.

“Bill? From the bunker? What are you doing here? I thought you were leading an attack?”

“Well, I didn’t get very far, did I?”

“What happened?” In the excitement of finding
Sylvie and the others, Toby had forgotten all about the impending attack by the soldiers.

“I got given away by some stupid dog that was hanging around the cemetery. It was following me – wanted to play! When I tried to shoo it off, it started yelping and the guards heard it.”

Strange – a friendly dog? Couldn’t be one of Cerberus’s pack, then.

“Are you hurt?” asked Toby. He could see that the soldier was lying at a funny angle.

“My leg – must have twisted it when those guys jumped me. I was supposed to give a signal to the others once I had got in. My mission was to open the back gates for them. There’s no chance of that now.”

Toby pulled his rucksack from under his jacket where he had been hiding it.

“I might have something in my bag to help with that,” he nodded towards Bill’s leg. He set the torch down so that it shone on the rucksack, and started to empty it.

“What’s this?” he exclaimed, pulling out a battered, dirty brown teddy bear.

“Ha!” scoffed Bill. “That’s going to be a lot of use, isn’t it?”

Toby could feel himself going red.

“Hang on, that’s not my teddy. This can’t be my bag. This is Tash’s rucksack. They must have got muddled up somehow at the bunker.”

Toby threw all the contents onto the floor and rummaged around. Tash’s bag had all sorts of stuff in it. He picked up the penknife and the hacksaw. Maybe
those would be useful? Could he file the lock off the door?”

“YES!” he cried out, unearthing a bunch of metal key-like objects from under a tin of tuna. “Tash’s skeleton keys! I’d forgotten she had these!”

“Hush!” whispered Bill. “And where did you get those from? They’re really rare.”

“Never mind that, let’s get out of here, now,” whispered Toby. He pocketed the penknife and the hacksaw and made for the door. Bill pulled himself up slowly.

“I think I’ve broken my ankle. You’ll have to go without me. What’s the plan?”

Toby thought for a moment. He didn’t have a plan, he just wanted to find his dad and get them all out of there.

“Em… I’ll go and get Jamie and Katie, then I’ll… I’ll think about it as I go along,” he stammered. This didn’t look good. Bill must think he was an idiot. “I know, why don’t I first go and open the back gates and give the signal, then at least
your
plan can be put into action? I can go back after that for the others.”

“You? You open the back gates? How are you going to manage that? You’re just a scrawny wee kid.”

“I don’t know, but we haven’t got much choice have we?”

Just a kid? I’ll show him who’s just a kid.

“Ok, you’re right there,” sighed Bill. “We haven’t got many options at the moment, have we? So, take a right out of here and go through the north gate – it’s like a tunnel that comes out into an area called the ‘nether bailey’. You’ll go by a row of old buildings
on your left. Head straight across the grass, keeping the north wall on your right and you’ll come to a metal gate in the wall. It used to be blocked up but the raiders have opened it so the workers have easy access to the fields.”

“Workers? You mean the people they’ve kidnapped, don’t you?” cried Toby.

He means all those poor women and children in that hall, and the men. But where are they keeping the men? And is Dad with them?

“More or less… But listen carefully, once you have managed to unlock those gates you need to get somewhere high up and use your torch to flash the signal to the west. An SOS will do. You know how to do that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I’ll stay here in case they check on us. You’d better lock the door behind you, and I’ll use my jacket to make a pile in the corner. Hopefully in the dark they’ll think it’s you.”

“Ok, I’ll come back for you soon. Don’t worry,” said Toby, in what he hoped was a calm voice.

“I hope so,” said Bill. “And Toby, good luck. You’re a brave lad.”

Toby fumbled with the strange stick-like keys in the lock, eventually fiddling it open. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he swung the creaking door closed behind him and locked it. He crept out and up the steps, keeping an eye out for any raiders.

Maybe it’ll be like Tash said at Fort George – maybe they’ll be drunk by now.

He followed Bill’s instructions, sliding down the slippery cobbled lane through a low tunnel that came out onto a large terrace. He tiptoed past the cottages on his left, in case there were any sleeping raiders inside. Then he set off fast across the knee-high grass, keeping low. Though the moon was on the wane, there was still enough light in the cloudless sky to illuminate the huge wall that wrapped around the castle. Toby headed towards it, searching for the gate.

Oh no! There are two sentries there. Capturing Bill must have put the raiders on alert.

He could see the stooping outlines of two men leaning against the wall, hiding from the cruel north wind in the lee of a buttress.

If I swing wide of them and approach from the south side, they won’t see me or will they?

Toby silently encircled the gateway, keeping out of the men’s line of sight. They were busy drinking from a bottle of something. When he reached the gate, his hands were shaking so much that he could hardly hold the skeleton keys.

Come on! Quick, before they see me!

The enormous padlock clicked open. Then he frantically tried to remove the chain without making a noise, but it was new and shiny and clinked and clanked against the iron gate.

“What’s that?” shouted a surly voice. Toby froze.

“Ah, go away with yer. It’s nothing but the ghosties rattling their chains in the graveyard!” yelled another. “Ha! You’re a bit twitchy tonight, aren’t you?”

Toby didn’t hear the reply as the sentries turned their backs to him and snuggled further into the buttress to get out of the wind. He let out a deep breath: that was close. Luckily they seemed to be more interested in getting drunk then guarding the gate.

Having opened the gate for the soldiers to get in, he had to send the signal to let them know it was open. The best place would be up on the wall near the gate. Tom’s soldiers must be waiting somewhere on the other side. He slunk into the far corner of the nether bailey and assessed the wall. It soared above him: twenty feet of greasy mossy stone. He would have to climb it freestyle, without ropes or protection. Toby tried to remember what his dad had taught him when they used to go climbing on the sea cliffs together.

Find a handhold first, then somewhere to put my foot, then another handhold…

Toby worked his way slowly up the imposing fortifications, stroking the stones to find crannies in which to push his hands and then pull himself up. He wriggled his foot to the right trying to find a foot-hold, slipping over the icy wet masonry.

I’m glad it’s dark – can’t see how far it is to the ground.

“Ouch!” He raked his frozen bare hand across the jagged stone, drawing blood.

Slowly but surely he scaled the ramparts, eventually heaving himself over the slimy edge at the top of the wall. It was surprisingly wide and had a line of battlements facing outwards. Toby stood up and turned on his torch. Using his body to shield the light from the castle side, he flicked it on and off in the SOS
signal: dash, dash, dash, dot, dot, dot. He scanned the dark searching for an answering light.

They must be out there somewhere. Surely they’ll send a signal back?

Over and over he signalled, bracing himself against the bitter wind and icy spindrift that blasted his face.

Come on! Where are you? I can’t stay up here forever.

Just as he thought his finger was going to drop off, Toby spotted a flash of light twinkle in the depths of the valley below.

Hope they’re not sending me a message – I won’t be able to understand it. I only know the SOS in Morse code.

Toby waited until the flash had repeated several times and then, with a horrible lurch of his stomach, realised that he had to get down off the wall.

Wait a minute, if there are battlements up here then there must be some way for soldiers to get up onto them. All I need to do is walk along until I find it.

Toby half ran and half stumbled his way along the battlements, desperately searching for a way off. He’d almost gone past them when he spotted some steep steps leading into a courtyard. He groped his way carefully down, his feet slipping and sliding on the glassy ice-topped stones, until he reached the bottom.

Where am I now?

He could make out the silhouettes of tall buildings in front of him. He seemed to be in a small quadrangle behind the main courtyards. A narrow gravel path led towards an archway. Toby looked cautiously around; all was quiet, apart for the low moan of wind sweeping snow in from the north.

First, I’ve got to get Sylvie, Jamie and Katie. I hope they’re not being guarded.

He swiftly made his way down the path and stood under the archway. He couldn’t see any guards but they might be sheltering from the cold just inside. He would have to risk it. Keeping to the edge of the courtyard he made his way round to the Palace Hall where the women and children prisoners were being kept. He quickly unlocked the door; he was getting good at choosing the right skeleton key from the large bunch. Sneaking into the pitch-black hall, he called out softly,

“Sylvie? Jamie? Katie? It’s Toby.”

“I knew you’d come back for us,” said a voice. Toby jumped. Sylvie was standing right beside him.

Gosh, she’s got a lot of confidence in me. Better not let her down.

“I’ve got to find where they are keeping Dad,” hissed Toby into the dark. A hand squeezed his arm; it was Jamie’s mum stood on the other side of him. Jamie appeared next to her.

“Thanks for coming back for us,” whispered Katie. “I think they’re keeping your dad in the Great Hall where the General was. There are some rooms at the back, up some stairs.”

Oh no. How are we supposed to get past him?

Toby heard someone stirring in their sleep, and then a cough and a snuffling noise.

“We need to get out of here before someone wakes up. We can’t take them all with us just now. We’ll have to come back for them later,” said Toby, grabbing hold
of Sylvie’s hand. “And we have to be very quiet, eh, Sylvie? Come on!”

The four of them crept out of the door, first checking the courtyard for signs of any men. They silently crossed over to the great golden-coloured hall on the other side, and took refuge in the grand porch.

“We’re so pleased you made it… it’s been awful…” cried Jamie.

“Yes, Jamie, I know. I’m sorry, but we need to keep moving. A crack team of ex-SAS soldiers is about to descend on us any minute, and I need to rescue Dad before that happens,” Toby explained as quickly as he could. “The soldiers are only after the General and his henchmen. I’ve left the door to the Palace Hall unlocked, so the people left behind have a chance to escape if they need to. We should try to let out the men prisoners, too, if we can.”

I hope this plan works. What if the SAS guys start a battle and there’s lots of shooting? We might not get out of here alive.

Toby crept into the Great Hall, with Sylvie and the other two slinking in behind him. The spluttering candles threw a crazy glimmering light up the walls and ceiling, making strange-shaped shadows leap into the gloom. The hall was empty apart from the large lump of the General lying on a gigantic wooden table at the top end. The lump rose and shuddered with each exhale of a loud snore.

“Do you think he’s drunk?” whispered Toby.

“More like he’s sleeping off the effect of those drugs I doped him with,” smiled Katie. “I gave him enough to knock out a horse. He won’t be bothering us for a while.”

“Really?” hissed Toby. “Wow! I knew you’d think of something. Was it the pachu berries?”

“There’s no such thing. They were just some dried raspberries I put in to hide the taste of the sedatives. Glad I kept those drugs now, I knew they’d come in handy someday. I used to put them in bait for the dogs so that I could study them closely.”

Cool! Jamie’s mum is so cool.

“So how do we get to these rooms then?” asked Toby.

Katie led them to the right of a huge stone fireplace, where a velvet curtain hid a small door. It was bolted
and locked. After a quick fiddle with the bunch of keys, Toby swung the door open.

“Dad? Are you in there?” Toby called out into the dark.

“He might be upstairs,” suggested Katie. “The upstairs rooms butt onto the archway connecting this building to the Palace Hall where we were being kept.”

“Is that the archway where I saw you at the window?” Toby asked Jamie.

“Yes. There’s a door there but it was sealed up. We’ve been trying to open it to get to your dad,” answered Jamie.

“Well, we don’t need to now, providing his lordship here doesn’t wake up,” said Toby.

The four of them groped their way up a tiny narrow staircase that curved around, coming out into a tiny room at the top. There, curled up on the floor, wrapped in a nest of blankets, was Toby’s dad. Toby couldn’t believe that after all this time and all his trials and tribulations he had actually found him.

“Dad! Dad, it’s me. It’s Toby.”

“Huh? What? Who’s that? Toby? Is that you? Am I dreaming?” His dad poked his sleepy head out of the covers and blinked into the torchlight. “Good grief! It IS you! How did you find me? Sylvie? You managed to find Sylvie, too?”

“I told you Tobes would come and rescue us, didn’t I, Daddy?” said Sylvie.

His dad staggered to his feet, and they all hugged, silly grins on their faces. Toby could see that his dad
was trying hard not to cry but tears escaped down his grimy cheeks. Suddenly the sound that Toby dreaded most rang out through the night air:

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL!

“The dogs? What are they doing here?” Toby gasped.

“We heard them earlier, didn’t we, Mum?” cried Jamie.

“Yes, we’ve heard several howls tonight. They seem to be getting closer,” said Katie.

“We’d better get a move on then. Dad, can you carry Sylvie? Let’s go!” ordered Toby. “I’ll explain as we go along, Dad. You see, the SAS are coming.”

“What?” exclaimed his dad.

“Hush, and we’d better turn the torch off quick,” warned Katie. “There could be guards going about.”

Trying hard not to make any noise, the five of them carefully picked their way down the staircase in the dark, coming out into the Great Hall. The General still lay comatose on the table, snoring away.

Just then the main door swung open. In the dim light Toby saw several dark figures slink in, scanning the hall with their night goggles on, rifles raised to their shoulders. They ran in controlled smooth movements, crouching with their upper bodies still and alert, then disappearing into the shadows of the hall. It could only be the SAS team.

Just in time. I can get everyone out before any trouble kicks off.

He stepped forward into the flickering light of the candles.

“Tom, it’s me. It’s Toby,” he called out, quietly. One of the figures held up his hand and the others halted.

“Toby? How did you get here? I thought you were still back at the bunker,” said the black-clad figure. “And where is Bill? Wasn’t it him sending the signal?”

“No, it was me,” replied Toby. “Bill was captured, and his ankle got broken in the fight with the raiders. So I…”

“I underestimated you, Toby. I’m sorry. You’re a very brave boy.”

“Not really,” said Toby, ruefully. “Just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“So where’s Bill now?” asked Tom.

“He’s in the dungeon, next to the guardhouse,” Toby told him.

Not moving from his stance, Tom signalled for two of his men to go and find Bill.

“And who are all these people?” Tom asked.

“I’m Toby’s father, Dave Tennant, and this is his little sister, Sylvie, and this is Jamie,” said Toby’s dad, stepping closer to Toby.

“And I’m Katie McTavish, Jamie’s mum.” Katie walked towards Tom and offered her hand for him to shake.

“Nice to meet you. Look, this is all very well, but we’re in the middle of a covert operation. We’re here to secure the capture of the General.” Tom’s voice betrayed impatience.

“Well, there he is.” Toby pointed to the slumped figure sprawled on the table. Tom signalled his men to move and take up positions. The six men lurking
in the depths of the hall sped silently to surround the table, their gun muzzles pointing at the General.

“Katie’s made your job easy: he’s drugged. He won’t give you any problems apart from having to move the big fatty,” said Toby. “Now, if you’ll excuse us we’ve got people to rescue.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” commanded Tom, raising his rifle to point it at Toby and the others. “I can’t take the risk of you and your family jeopardising this mission by alerting the raiders to our presence.”

“Excuse me,” cried Katie. “You can’t keep us here against our will. That’s… that’s not right!”

“We should listen, Katie,” interrupted Toby’s dad. “We don’t want to do anything to put these men at risk. What if we stay here until you’ve completed your mission and then we can go? After all, we want these raiders captured, don’t we?”

Trust my dad to be on their side – he doesn’t know these guys don’t want to save anybody else because there’s no room back at the bunker for them.

“You have my word, Mr Tennant. You’ll be released as soon as we have all the General’s men rounded up, and him and them safely removed.”

“Ok. We’ll stay here until you give us a signal it’s safe to go,” replied Toby’s dad.

The men moved out stealthily, leaving one to guard the slumbering General, Toby and the others.

Toby slouched down against the wall in despair. This wasn’t what he had imagined would happen. He wanted to leave the castle with all his family and friends, right now while there was a chance.
What if Tom’s plan went wrong? They’d be stuck here with a very angry General and his disgruntled henchmen.

I can’t let them stop me. I’ve come all this way to rescue Dad and Sylvie and just as I was about to get them out, we’re risking being back in someone else’s hands. I’m not going to sit here – I’m going to rescue everybody.

Toby thought of Tash and her parents. She was a good friend and a brave companion. He had intended to find her parents and take them back to the bunker to be reunited with her.

“I’m not staying here,” he muttered to Jamie, who was slumped next to him. “Come on, let’s sneak out and find the rest of the prisoners.”

“Are you mad?” croaked Jamie. “We’ll get pulverised by the SAS, and your dad will go mental!”

“Get a grip, Jamie,” whispered his mum, who had slunk down beside the boys. “Your dad’s busy with Sylvie. I’ll cover for you, Toby. You go and let the rest of the prisoners out. Get yourselves back here in an hour. Go on. GO!”

Toby didn’t wait; he ducked down and disappeared behind a bench. Jamie followed reluctantly.

“Honestly, my mum. What’s she like?” grumbled Jamie. “Sometimes I wish she would act a bit more responsibly. What’s all this commando stuff about?”

“Shh. Let’s get going,” hissed Toby, crawling behind a tapestry covering on the wall.

The two boys slipped out into the courtyard where there was no sign of Tom and his team, not even any footprints left in the snow.

“We’ve got to find where the men are being kept. Any ideas?” murmured Toby under his breath.

“I think the men are being held on the farm where we work every day. It’s been horrible, Toby. The raiders have forced us to dig the fields and plant potatoes and stuff.”

Toby could imagine how much Jamie would have hated that. Jamie disliked any physical activity. He’d much rather sit and read a book.

“They were seriously scary. They had guns and they used to crack whips at us and everything, and they didn’t feed us – just yucky potato soup every day!”

I’m so glad I didn’t get kidnapped!

“I think there’s a whole lot of new sheds down in the valley bottom. I bet they’re down there,” said Jamie.

“Should we get the women and children out first or will the little ones be frightened and noisy?” wondered Toby.

His questions were interrupted by a loud explosion ripping through the archway leading to the other courtyard and blowing snow and dust into his face.

“What was that?” yelled Jamie.

“Tom’s men must have thrown one of those smoke grenade things into the guardhouse to get the raiders out. We need a quick plan now. Things are going to get pretty wild around here!”

“I think I can hear the dogs again,” exclaimed Jamie. “And it sounds like there’s more. Could it be Cerberus and his pack?”

That flipping dog seems to follow me wherever I go!

“I don’t know but we can’t send the mums and kids down to the farm if the dogs are about – they won’t stand a chance. Hang on, Jamie, what’s that?”

Toby quickly grabbed Jamie and pulled him further into the shadows. The din of men running and shouting reverberated through the archway, echoing off the ancient walls. A black-clad figure rushed past them, a gun braced to his shoulder.

Sounds like Tom’s men have underestimated the raiders. They’re not going quietly.

“Jamie, I think we’ll have to go and rescue the men prisoners ourselves. Things aren’t going smoothly. We can’t risk being here if Tom’s mission goes wrong.”

“What shall we do?”

“Let’s get the men up to the castle and they can help the mums move the children safely, and quicker than we could on our own. We just have to get out into the car park first – then…” Toby wasn’t sure what he’d do then. But he knew he had to somehow get the prisoners away from the raiders and the dogs. “Come on, Jamie. We need to move!”

“Really?” wailed Jamie. “Do we have to?”

“We’ve done dafter things than this. Remember, we once rescued your mum from under the nose of Cerberus!”

Jamie nodded in resignation.

I need him to be big and brave now. I wish Tash was here – she’d be up for it.

Jamie had obviously seen the determined look on Toby’s face. “Ok, let’s go.” He stumbled out across the courtyard.

Toby reckoned they needed to get out the other side of the guardhouse and through the entrance gates. But how? They would have to get past the battle that seemed to be raging around the guardhouse. Was there another way round to the car park? At that moment he heard more shouting. He peered out and saw several darkly dressed figures struggling up the cobbled ramp, hauling some of the raiders behind them. The raiders had their hands fastened behind their backs, and were swearing and cursing.

“They’ve got some of them! Right, we’re on the move!”

Toby kept in the shadow of the Palace Hall walls, skulking down the icy yard until he reached the gatehouse. It was empty. He didn’t wait to check if Jamie was keeping up, just raced out across the first bridge. Sprinting through an archway, he crossed another bridge and into the large open space where the vehicles were parked.

“Toby!” yelled Jamie. “Wait for me!” But Toby kept on running. If the SAS had captured some of the raiders then maybe the other raiders would come to their defence and that would mean a fight. He didn’t want to get caught in the middle.

There in the yard sat the white van he had arrived in. He dived into it. Jamie jumped into the passenger seat as Toby caught his breath.

“So, how are you going to start it? Do you know how to hot-wire it?” asked Jamie breathlessly.

“No, you dope, I’m going to use the keys.” Toby flipped down the sun visor and out fell the keys to the van.

“That was clever. How did you know they were going to be there?”

“Call it intuition,” replied Toby, turning the key in the ignition. He grinned at Jamie as he turned the van around and headed for the sentry post. The two raiders who had been there before had disappeared. The only obstacle was the wooden barrier across the entrance.

“Hold on!” shouted Toby as he put his foot to the floor. The van rammed the pole sending it bouncing over the ground. He swerved round a corner, slewing sideways over the icy tarmac, and headed down the hill.

“I think it’s that way,” yelled Jamie, pointing to a cobbled road on their left. Toby wrenched the steering hard and the van bucketed over the bumpy lane. Toby clenched his teeth and concentrated on keeping the van on the road as it slithered and skidded down into the valley below.

I only hope we get there before the dogs.