The Hourglass (21 page)

Finn pressed a
button on the side of the cell door that he hoped would open it up. Thankfully
it slid back with a small hiss. “Just come with us,” he said bluntly.

“For what? What
are you going to do to me?” she hissed, a tremor now in her voice.

“You won’t know
unless you come,” said Finn, his voice nearly slipping back into his normal one
out of sheer exasperation.

Marland blinked,
stunned. This was clearly a new thought. After a slight pause she stood up,
slightly wobbly on her feet. “Alright then,” she said defiantly, her chin held
high. “I’ll come. I’ll be the witness for when this all comes to light. I will
tell them everything. Everything,” she emphasised the word ‘everything’ strongly.
She marched out of the cell and Finn closed it quickly behind her. They had
attracted quite a bit of attention now. Walking on either side of Marland, they
headed back to the door. Sarah glanced around herself as she did so, unable to
stop herself from looking. To her horror she locked eyes with the Queen. The Queen
was standing up close to her cell wall. Her eyes narrowed and Sarah tore her
own eyes away. She arrived at the door and walked through quickly after Finn
and Marland. She felt sure that the Queen had recognised her. She shivered. She
didn’t like the feeling that the Queen might know that she was out there, that
she had escaped.

“I think the Queen
recognised me,” she whispered to Finn once the door had shut behind them. “What
if she tells the Hourglass Group?”

“Nah, she
couldn’t have. If she did she would have demanded that you let her out. Don’t
worry about it.”

Marland gasped
and staggered back a step. “Sarah? Finn?” Sarah grinned despite her nagging
feeling of unease and pulled down her mask. Marland shrieked and threw herself
on Sarah, enveloping her in a massive hug. “And you!” she said, turning to
Finn, who actually looked slightly alarmed. Marland hugged him equally as
tightly. “I can’t believe it! How did you?” She cut herself off, overwhelmed.

“Another time,”
said Sarah, still grinning sillily from ear to ear. “We’ve got to get out of
here.”

They headed back
up the stairs.

“I can’t believe
I’ve been rescued,” Marland was mumbling to herself. “Oh my gosh. I’m actually
going to be able to tell people about what’s been happening. I’ll be a
whistleblower!” She seemed exuberant over the idea. Sarah shushed her. They had
reached the door leading outside. Finn cracked it open a little. There was
nobody there. They left quietly, heading away from the main buildings.

“Where are we
going?” whispered Marland.

“No idea,”
replied Finn.

“Wait, we’ve got
to go back.”

“What?” demanded
Finn and Sarah simultaneously.

“We need proof
of what they’re doing!”

“Marland, you are
the proof. Let’s go.”

“Oh my god,”
said Marland, her hands flapping excitedly. “
I’m
the proof.”

“Yes. Now let’s
go. Please.”

“Yes, right.”
She allowed them to hurry her forwards. A small grin played on her lips as she
glanced at Sarah out of the corner of her eye. “This is so rebellious!” she
whispered gleefully.

They rounded a
small, outlying building and found themselves against an eight-foot tall metal
mesh fence. It was topped with loops of barbed wire.

“Shit,” muttered
Finn. He started jogging along it to his left. After about one hundred and
fifty metres he stopped. From where they stood in the shadows they could make
out the only entry point in the fence. The gate was big enough to let trucks
in. There were spotlights shining on the surrounding area and a man sat on a
chair, smoking a cigarette. They turned back around and retraced their steps.
They passed their previous starting point. This time they only went an extra
twenty metres before they found a section of the fence that had been bent outwards.
It was partly hidden behind a bush that was starting to encroach on the fence
line, which is why they didn’t spot it before. Sarah was willing to bet money
that that was how Boulder had gotten out. They each lowered themselves onto
their bellies and shuffled through the gap into a forest. There were ferns up
around their knees and trees everywhere. Sarah gazed at them in appreciation.
She hadn’t really seen much of trees in her city.

“We’re out,”
whispered Finn, disbelief in his voice. “I can’t believe we’re actually out.”

Finn and Sarah
hugged spontaneously. They withdrew slightly, just looking at each other.
Slowly, inexorably, they leant in towards each other. Just before their lips
touched Marland fell against Sarah awkwardly.

“Woops, sorry!
Tripped. Should really look where I’m going. But these trees are incredible,
aren’t they?” She was gazing up at them appreciatively, completely oblivious to
what she had just interrupted.

Sarah grinned
awkwardly and withdrew from Finn’s hold. “No worries.”

“Wait,” said
Marland. “What about the others?”

“They’re
criminals,” said Finn, without much conviction.
“So are we.” Marland glared at them.

“Technically,
I’m not,” said Sarah.

“You just
escaped from prison. That’s a crime. So yes you are.”

“Damn-it.”

“What if they
harm the locals?” asked Finn, practically.

“What if they
don’t?”

Finn threw up
his hands. Marland turned to Sarah. Sarah bit her lip guiltily and then groaned
in frustration as she made a decision. She turned to Finn. “Let’s at least give
them the keys. They can do the rest themselves.”

“But we’re out!”

“I know,” said
Sarah wretchedly. “I’ll be quick.”

“Wait, you’re
not going alone,” replied Finn.

“It’ll be
quicker and I’ll have a lesser chance of being spotted. Stay here and look
after Marland.”

“What?” said
Marland, outraged. “I’m coming too.”

“We’re wasting
time. I do this now, or we don’t do this at all.” Finn had given her the keys
after they had retrieved Marland and she still had them in her hands. Without
looking back or waiting for their protests, she ducked under the wire and ran
silently back to the building. She reached the door and pulled the handle. It
was locked. She tried again only to get the same result. She quickly rounded
the building in case whoever it was who locked the door went to investigate who
it was who was jiggling the handle and found herself back at the enclosed
exercise area. With hardly a second thought she lobbed the keys through the
air. They clanged gently against the wire mesh before landing with a jangle on
the exercise yard’s grassy floor. The prisoners should spot it the next morning
when they went for their daily laps. She didn’t dwell on the possibility that
maybe they wouldn’t be taken out there for exercise, or that maybe the guards
would find the keys first. She just ran. Within what felt like seconds she was
back at the gap in the fence, wriggling through. Finn and Marland helped pull
her through from the other side.

“You gave it to
them?” asked Marland, as they started to jog away from the compound.

“I left them
somewhere they would find it.”

They travelled
for the rest of the night, trying to put as much distance between them and the
Hourglass Group as possible. A short time after dawn they climbed a hill. On
one side they could make out a small town a couple of hours walk away. On the
other lay the Hourglass Group’s compound in the distance. A faint siren reached
their ears.

“It’s them,”
said Marland excitedly. “I bet they found the keys. They’re escaping.”

Finn reached out
a hand and Sarah held it. It felt warm and comfortable and strong. A tingle
went up her arm.

“Well then,” he
said, looking at her with a grin, “we better run.”