Castle of Shadows (14 page)

‘I don’t know! Go ask him, why don’t you?’ Tobias replied for the twentieth time.

And then they heard it: the clop of horses’ hooves; the
clink and chink of harness, the rumble of iron-rimmed wheels on gravel. ‘He’s ordered the carriage!’ Tobias said. ‘Right! Time to send that message!’

They slid through the snow in a strange, greyish half-light. The sun had set. ‘What about the hounds?’ Charlie hissed, suddenly remembering.

‘It’s only just gone four. Fossy don’t let out the hounds till last thing. He’ll be tidying up for an hour yet. They know me, anyway. It’s you they’d tear to pieces.’

‘Well, that’s reassuring!’

They ran side by side. Tobias grabbed her hand, and they ran even faster. Snow continued to fall. It had transformed the gardens into an unrecognisable place, smoothing away familiar landmarks. A wedding cake of glass and icing reared out of the gloom: the summerhouse. Tobias slid to a stop and pushed in through the door. Charlie looked over his shoulder as he knelt before a small wooden crate.

‘Bird’s in here,’ he said. He had pulled the knapsack off his back, was scrabbling about inside it. ‘Got it!’ He pulled out a scrap of paper wrapped around a pencil, held the paper on his knee and scribbled something. ‘Telling them he’s going by carriage. That’ll give them an idea of time. Mind you, the snow’ll slow him down. If it keeps up, the train may not be able to run. Here.’

He had slipped the paper into a narrow metal tube. He handed it to her and bent to unfasten the crate. There was a flutter of wings, and Tobias turned to her, his grin just
visible. ‘She’s a beauty! Want to touch her?’

Charlie reached out, smoothed the breast feathers. They were soft and warm. She felt the pigeon’s heart fluttering beneath her fingers.

‘Best get her off, then.’ He cradled the bird in the crook of his arm and slipped the message tube into a holder fastened around the pigeon’s leg. ‘Done.’

They stepped out of the summerhouse into deepening twilight. ‘Wish her luck, Charlie.’ The snow muffled Tobias’s voice. He threw up his hands. She heard a whirr of wings, saw a blur fly upwards to meet the falling snow, and the pigeon was gone.

They hid in overgrown hedges bordering the drive and watched Windlass’s carriage glow out of the darkness towards them, snow sifting through the twin beams of light cast by its carriage lamps. Like some crunching, lurching, orange-eyed monster, it wheeled past them. The last Charlie saw of it was the red tail-light winking as it rounded a bend.

She crawled backwards out of the hedge, stiff with crouching and cold. As she stamped the blood back into her feet and brushed the snow from her skirts, the moon broke through the cloud, pouring a stream of silver onto the snow. ‘Look,’ Charlie whispered, tugging on Tobias’s sleeve and pointing to the sky. ‘The snow has stopped. The train will run.’

‘Right, I’m off.’ Tobias shouldered his knapsack. ‘Get back to the Castle. Fossy’ll let the hounds out soon. We’ll get word to you.’ He turned and strode off into the garden.

Charlie waited until he was nearly out of sight, then ran after him, her feet punching through the snow. He was heading deep into the wilderness of untamed garden, away from the gate. He must have a way to get over the wall.

The moon was waxing full, and the snow reflected its light so that it seemed nearly bright as day. The Castle grounds flickered with strange blue shadows. Tobias’s footprints made him easy to follow, which was good because he kept disappearing behind trees and bushes. She was terrified in case he looked back and saw her. She strained to hear any sound above her panting breaths and the soft crunch of her boots in the snow; strained to hear the first howl that meant the hounds were on her trail. Would the snow hide her scent?

He had disappeared again. She broke into a stumbling run, following his footprint trail until she reached an overhanging canopy of trees shrouded in bramble, and the snow faded and took his footprints with it.

She stood in the darkness beneath the trees. He was lost. She was alone. The hounds would be out. The hounds… Something rustled, shifted, scrabbled a few feet to her right. ‘Tobias?’ Charlie asked in a shaking voice. ‘Tobias, I hope that’s you!’

The rustling stopped. A rich, fruity stream of swear words emerged from the shadows. It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. More rustling, and Tobias broke free of the bushes and moved towards her. Charlie took one look at his face and stepped back.

‘I’m coming with you,’ she said. She noticed she didn’t sound all that certain about it.

‘Of all the puddingheaded…selfish…thoughtless… dimwitted,’ – he paused for inspiration – ‘addlepated… pigheaded
brats
! Right! I’ll take you back to the Castle and shove you in at the window myself, and it’ll be your own blame fault if the hounds have you for supper!’

He grabbed for her. Charlie dodged. A long, mournful howl sounded somewhere behind them. Tobias hissed in fury. ‘In here, and be quick!’ He reached out his hand, and Charlie took it. He pulled her after him into a thicket of weeds. She stumbled and nearly fell. He was wrenching her arm from its socket. He dived beneath an overhanging curtain of ivy. It creaked in protest as they pushed beneath it. Dirt, leaves, snow, and a multitude of unguessable dead things showered down on them, some filtering down the back of Charlie’s neck. Tobias waded forward. It was completely dark beneath the ivy. When he suddenly
stopped, she ploughed into him and only the pressure of the hanging plant kept them upright.

‘Get off!’ he growled and shrugged away. Stood still. Nothing happened. Another howling bay penetrated the darkness. Much nearer.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Shut up!’ And still he simply stood. And then, suddenly, a rectangle of light appeared in front of them. Tobias disappeared into it, reached back, and pulled her through.

The stitch in her side had begun as a niggling sharpness. Now it was a huge tearing pain that made her gasp with every breath. She had never run so far, so fast. Tobias was giving no quarter, and she wasn’t going to ask. The train would be on its way soon, carrying Bettina and her mother’s fate. If the Resistance managed to ambush it, she intended to be there.

Tobias hadn’t wasted time venting his fury after he pulled her through the door in the Castle wall and relocked it. He had simply stared at her for a long second, then said: ‘This ain’t a lark, Charlie. And I’m no babysitter. I’d take you to me mum and lock you in the cupboard under the stairs if I had the time. If you can keep up, you can come. But I promise, when Nell and Peter catch sight of you there’ll be hell to pay!’ And he turned and ran.

Forty-five minutes later, he was still running. He was
a hundred feet ahead of her, and the gap was slowly widening. Charlie redoubled her effort; gasping more breath into her lungs, ignoring the pain stabbing her side. If she lost him, she was truly lost. At first they had slithered over snow-covered cobbles. When the streets changed to macadam, the crushed gravel underfoot gave a better purchase, and they made good speed. Now the lanes were dirt, the houses smaller and less frequent. They were nearing the edge of the City.

Tobias veered off the lane onto open ground and slowed to a walk, tramping through the four or five inches of snow cover. She could see it now: a raised hump like a dike, rearing out of the flat field. Even the snow drifting over it couldn’t disguise its relentless straightness, like a line drawn by a giant across the surface of the earth. They had found the railway.

They followed the railway line away from the City. Tobias had stopped running, settling for a brisk walk. Charlie managed to catch up with him. They walked in silence for some time. ‘Will the train run in this?’ she asked at last.

‘Yes.’ And that was all.

Fifteen minutes later, Tobias began to trot again, ploughing doggedly through the snow. Charlie groaned, but kept up. They were approaching a small hill with a circular grove of trees on its top. Charlie was gasping and panting as they climbed the last few feet towards the edge of the grove. The railway cut through it, carving through
the hillock and splitting the circle of trees down the middle. Even in the snow and moonlight, the cutting looked raw and brutal.

Tobias slowed to a walk. Charlie stopped altogether, bending over with her hands on her knees, struggling to get breath back in her lungs. Her legs were shaking with exhaustion. So she didn’t see the people advance out of the darkness beneath the trees until they were nearly upon her. She looked up, and the first thing she saw was Nell’s furious face as she rounded on Tobias and clipped him so hard on the ear that he staggered and fell into the snow.

‘What do you mean by it, Toby Petch?’ Nell panted as Tobias scrambled to his feet and backed away. ‘I’ll have your hide for this! I promised Rose! You’re to have no part in any fighting. And to make it worse, you bring
her
? Are you mad?’ Nell dodged forward and took another swipe, but a man Charlie recognised as Joseph pulled her back.

‘I’ve got as good a reason as any of you to be here!’ Tobias growled. He was rubbing his ear, shaking his head. He looked angry and sullen and stubborn. ‘And I’m a fair shot with a rifle. Better’n most of you, I reckon.’

So Tobias wasn’t supposed to be here either. Charlie grinned. Served him right for his high-handedness. But then she saw Peter step forward, and her grin faded. ‘You can shoot, can you, boy?’ His voice was cold.

‘Yes.’ Tobias straightened and stared back at him. ‘I been shooting rabbits, crows, and other garden vermin since I was seven. It’s my job.’

‘You want to fight?’

‘That’s why I’m here.’

‘Give the boy a rifle.’

‘Peter! No! He’s only twelve!’ Nell cried.

‘He’s old enough to disobey orders. A good shot is a good shot. Twelve is old enough to kill and be killed. You’ll find that soon enough when the Esceanians invade. Give him a rifle.’ He turned to Charlie. His eyes were as cold as his voice. Her mouth dried to cotton wool. ‘And are you a good shot, too, Your Highness?’

Her mouth fell open. ‘I-I can try. I’ve never—’

‘
Then why are you here?
The boy at least is some use. You are a liability! I can’t spare a fighter to look after you. And if you get yourself killed Quale is the loser. Did you think of that?’ He whirled on Tobias. ‘Why did you bring her? I wouldn’t have cast you as the fool till now.’

‘He didn’t!’ Charlie cried. ‘I followed him. He didn’t know until it was too late. I need to be here. More than any of you! It’s my mother Windlass is after. And none of this would be happening if I hadn’t shown him that letter. It’s my fault! If anyone dies…I’m responsible!’ There, she had said it.

Peter looked at her. Some of the coldness faded from his eyes. He nodded. ‘Very well, ma’am. But no fighting for you. Can you climb?’

‘What?’

‘Can you climb a tree?’

‘Of course!’

He smiled for the first time. ‘Good. You can be lookout. Go and pick the best climbing tree in the grove. Get as high as you can and watch seawards. The train’ll run with lights. As soon as you see it, holler, and we’ll block the line. Then, Your Highness…’ He reached forward, grabbed her by the shoulders, and stared down into her eyes. ‘You stay in that tree! You stay till it’s all done, one way or the other. When it’s safe, someone’ll fetch you down. If you stir a limb out of that tree before the fighting’s done, I’ll give you the whipping of your life! Do you understand?’

‘Yes,’ Charlie said. He gave her a gentle shake, another smile, and turned away.

Nell swooped, grabbed her hand and pulled her up the slope into the shelter of the trees. ‘He had a daughter who would have been your age,’ she whispered. ‘She died two years ago. He couldn’t afford the doctor.’ Charlie stared up at Nell, then her eyes sought out Peter. He strode ahead of them into the shadows beneath the trees and disappeared.

At first, Charlie thought it was a star, dimly visible just above the horizon, where the sea and the sky met. A few minutes later, she saw the light again, and saw that it was not above, but below the horizon. And it was moving. She clutched the branches more tightly, hoisted herself higher and squinted. She had to be certain. It was definitely moving, coming towards them, growing brighter.

‘I can see it,’ she shouted. ‘I can see the train! It’s coming!’

‘How far away is it?’ Peter’s voice drifted up through the branches.

‘It cleared the horizon about a minute ago. I’d say it was about a third of the way here.’

‘Thank you, Your Highness. Fifteen minutes, people! We have fifteen minutes. Let’s get this line blockaded!’

Charlie heard Peter’s voice calling out orders, the milling hum of people shifting into action. She peered down out of the tree, trying to see what was going on. There seemed to be two groups of people, one on either side of the cutting. Peter was shouting across to the opposite group. The Resistance members ran to and fro in the snow, small dark figures.

There were two mini mountains of stone and rubble heaped either side of the cutting itself. They were piled at the very edge, kept from falling by crude wooden walls supported by wooden props. On Peter’s order, the props would be pulled away, and an avalanche of stone would block the rails.

She stared out towards the sea again. Yes! The light was brighter, clearer. She knew that carriages on an atmospheric railway could travel at up to forty miles an hour. This train wouldn’t travel so quickly in the snow, but it was coming fast.

A clattering roar startled her half out of the tree. She grabbed the nearest branch and watched as the Resistance
members on both sides of the cutting flung their arms in the air and cheered. They had done it! The railway line was blocked.

The approaching light grew brighter. Now Charlie could see the train itself. ‘Two carriages, Peter!’ she shouted. ‘I see two carriages.’ One, she knew, would contain Alistair Windlass and his prisoner. The other would be full of soldiers. Her heart began to thud in her ears. She wanted to be out of this tree, down with the others, doing something! But she had promised.

Now Peter knew how many they would be facing. No more than ten to twenty soldiers. She had counted at least forty Resistance fighters. But the soldiers would be sheltered inside the carriage and armed with the latest rifles. No barrel-loading muskets or pistols, like some of the Resistance fighters carried. She looked for Tobias, but couldn’t spot him among the dark figures darting to and fro. For a moment, she thought she saw Nell, running with Joseph towards the cutting, a rifle in her hands. And then, quite suddenly, silence fell over the grove. All the scurrying figures had disappeared. It was as though Charlie was totally alone, perched high in a tree above the snow-clad Qualian plain. The Resistance was lying in wait. The ambush had begun.