The Snowy Tower (7 page)

Roana glanced at Saxon in confusion. Then she remembered two things. She remembered the sign Saira the Wise had shown them, which when you looked at it one way, said
True
, but when you looked at it upside down said
False
. She also remembered Sniffer’s ambush a few days ago, when Fox had commanded the smugglers’ ponies to ‘whoa’. The ponies had immediately sprung into a full gallop, surprising the Sedahs and allowing them to escape.

‘Yes,’ replied Roana cautiously. ‘We should not be
false
.’

‘Good idea,’ agreed the leader approvingly. ‘So why –’

He never finished his sentence. Saxon dropped his head and rammed it straight into the leader’s stomach with all his strength, yelling ‘WHOA’ at the top of his voice.

Roana obediently turned and ran as fast as she could for the shelter of the forest. For a moment, all was confusion as men ran to help their leader and struggled to drag Saxon away. For a moment, no-one thought about the smaller boy, dashing for the
forest. Roana ran as fast as she could, the safety of the forest drawing closer and closer.

Then she heard footsteps pounding behind her, slowly gaining on her. Adrenalin gave her an extra burst of speed, but still the footsteps thudded closer. One of her pursuers dived for her legs, knocking them out from under her. Roana fell heavily to the ground, all the breath knocked from her body. She was dragged back to the fire, gasping for breath, and trying desperately not to cry.

‘Tie them up,’ barked the leader. ‘Tightly.’

Willing hands trussed them up so that they were sitting on the ground back to back, their legs stretched out in front. Blood poured from Saxon’s lip. Roana ached all over.

‘Now, I don’t think I made myself quite clear,’ the leader said grimly. ‘I think you and I are probably on the
same
side. We are Tiregians, and it is our sworn duty to force the Sedahs to leave our lands. You, I take it, are fleeing from the Sedahs? So I guess the Sedahs are your enemies too?’

‘Bitter enemies,’ spat Roana impetuously. ‘I hate them with all my heart.’

Saxon nudged Roana sharply.

The leader smiled. ‘Good, then perhaps we can work together.’

At that moment, a large man with a black beard ran into the clearing. He looked thrillingly, heartwarmingly familiar.

‘George?’ Saxon cried. ‘George, the blacksmith, from Kenley?’

The large man turned immediately, ‘Saxon? By the blessed Sun Lord, what are you doing here?’

‘What are
you
doing here?’ retorted Saxon, his face twisting with conflicting emotions.

‘Training with the Tiregian rebels, of course,’ roared George. ‘There are two hundred of us here, men, women and children, hiding in small groups in the forest, waiting for our chance to strike against the Sedah. Working for the day we can rid our country of this evil vermin.’

The leader of the rebels looked from George to Saxon to Roana. ‘You know this lad, George?’ he asked.

‘Known him since he were a swaddled babe,’ replied George. ‘Saxon’s father left him in my care two months ago, but he disappeared during the Sedah invasion. I thought he was on his way to Sedah as a slave by now.’

‘And you can vouch for him?’ the leader pressed.

‘With my life, Sam,’ George grinned. ‘Though he’s probably more mischief than he’s worth.’

‘Good.’ Sam sighed. ‘I think we are finally getting somewhere. Why don’t we eat and talk over everything? Did you have a message for me, George?’

‘Oh, I completely forgot,’ George said. ‘The woodcutter’s family arrived in the eastern rebel camp, saying the Sedah had commandeered their cottage and had thrown them out into the forest. They had two prisoners with them – two children.’

‘Ethan and Lily!’ exclaimed Roana.

‘Ethan and Lily?’ repeated George, pale with shock.

‘You know the others as well?’ asked Sam, grinning. ‘It’s quite a Kenley gathering, isn’t it? And this young lad’s from Kenley too?’

‘No,’ frowned George. ‘Though he does look a bit familiar …’

Roana smiled and shrugged her shoulders noncommittally.

Saxon and Roana were untied and given roast rabbit to chew. A few moments later a bedraggled, wounded Aisha limped into the camp site, her ears and tail drooping. Roana and Saxon cleaned her cut with water, stroking her head and soothing her with loving words.

‘Do not fret, Aisha. We will find Lily and
Ethan and rescue them, as soon as we can,’ Roana promised. Aisha whimpered in answer, too despondent to eat.

Roana looked worried. ‘I wish I had some of Lily’s ointments to dress Aisha’s wound. It looks nasty, and quite deep. I hope she will be all right.’

Aisha lifted her ears slightly at the sound of her name, but slumped back uneasily. She shivered. At last Aisha slept, but Roana could hear her whimpering and twitching in her sleep.

‘So, now we know we are on the same side, but what about the Sedah?’ asked Sam, resuming his questioning. ‘Why are they chasing you, and do you think they will come after you two as well, now that they have caught your friends?’

Saxon thought carefully. He was certain that Sniffer would come after them as soon as he realised Ethan and Lily did not have the gems, and he knew from bitter experience how skilled Sniffer was at tracking. But how much to reveal to the rebels? He needed to ensure their help, but their true quest must remain secret.

‘I am sure the Sedahs will come after us, and soon,’ Saxon replied. ‘Their leader is Sniffer, an expert tracker. They are after us because we offended Lord Lazlac trying to help Tiregian.’

Sam looked skeptical, glancing at the two dishevelled children.

‘Ethan and Lily helped dozens of prisoners escape the Sedahs at Kenley,’ confirmed George, beaming proudly at the memory.

‘That was the other children,’ Sam said. ‘What about you two? Why do the Sedahs want you as well?’

Everyone stared at Saxon and Roana expectantly. Roana took a deep breath.

‘May we speak with you privately, in the greatest confidence?’ requested Roana.

Sam, George, Roana and Saxon withdrew into the shadows outside the circle of the fire. Roana drew herself up tall.

‘I am the Princess Roana,’ she announced. ‘The Sedahs wish to capture me, like my mother, the queen, and my brother, Prince Caspar.’

Sam and George gasped with amazement. George glanced at Saxon for confirmation, who nodded gravely.

‘I thought you looked familiar,’ cried George. ‘I mean, sorry, your highness.’ He ducked into a clumsy bow, followed by Sam.

‘Your highness, of course we’ll do all we can to help you,’ Sam promised. ‘I’d love to teach those Sedahs a good lesson.’

Together, Roana, Saxon, Sam and George sat up around the fire planning strategies until late in the night. At last, Roana curled up gratefully in her cloak, surreptitiously feeling the precious lumps in the hem. She finally fell asleep, listening to the soft sounds of the forest in the dark.

The Sedah troops cantered easily through the early morning forest, fingers of sunlight poking through the tree canopy. It was a fifteen-minute ride back to the clearing where they had found the children.

Sniffer led the way, Captain Malish and Lord Mortimer at his side. In the clearing they found everything as they had left it. Under the trees were abandoned saddles, blankets and weapons all covered in dew. Ethan’s bow lay in the middle of the clearing, and a dagger lay down near the stream.

Sniffer did not pause but continued to the west, following the clearly marked trail where the five
horses had galloped away into the forest. Sniffer’s quick eyes noted smears of dried blood on some ferns, and some large uneven paw prints.
Good, that blasted dog was seriously wounded. Hopefully it is dead already
, Sniffer thought.

The trail was easy to follow, with cracked branches, crushed ferns and scuffled leaf litter indicating the way. It twisted and turned for a couple of kilometres as the horses had tried to forge a path through the forest. At last Sniffer saw a slight movement in the forest ahead. He stopped his horse and held up his hand for silence.

There was another sudden movement, and a muffled noise. Sniffer gestured to the rest of the party to stay behind, while he dismounted and crept on ahead for twenty metres. He peered through the undergrowth into a small glade.

Here he could see five horses tethered – three well-bred hunters, a pure white pony and a black pony. The sturdy black pony whickered in warning, pawing the ground and shaking its head. A smile lit up Sniffer’s face. Huddled together under an overhanging fallen log, he could see two sleeping bodies – two children, covered with dark green cloaks.

Sniffer crept back to his men, who dismounted and crowded around to listen to his report.

‘They are just up ahead,’ he whispered. ‘Sleeping. Now I want you four to creep around to the west, you four over to the south. I’ll take four men to the north, so we will have them surrounded. Leave the horses tethered here and go on foot as quietly as you can. When you hear my call, then we will strike.’

Lord Mortimer gazed eagerly at the figures sleeping in the distance. ‘Remember, don’t injure the girl dressed as a boy!’ he said, already planning his wedding later that day.

The soldiers nodded their understanding and crept off in the directions that Sniffer had specified. Lord Mortimer and Captain Malish stayed at the rear with the horses and four soldiers.

Sniffer and his band of men crept to the north, moving slowly to avoid cracking branches. The children’s horses started nervously, snuffling the air for danger. One of the children stirred, but settled back to sleep again. Sniffer chose a spot with clear access to the glade. He paused for a few minutes, watching. There was no sign of the dog.

Sniffer whistled softly into the morning air, ‘Too-wit-too-woo.’

‘Too-wit-too-woo,’ answered back from the east.

Things happened quickly. Sniffer and his soldiers ran forward, spreading out over a few metres, eyes forward and daggers drawn. From the trees above, a man dressed in green dropped suddenly, landing on the last soldier, knocking him to the ground. Sniffer heard the thump of a body hitting the forest floor and turned around in surprise, ready to berate the soldier who had tripped. Another green flash jumped from behind a log, knocking his black-armoured target flying. Two more emerged from behind tree trunks, daggers in their hands.

Before Sniffer could react, he realised that all four of his men were fighting, struggling, rolling on the ground with men dressed in green, who had sprung as if from the very soil. In a few moments, the four Sedah soldiers were deprived of weapons and tied up.

Sniffer ran. He ran as fast as his short, stooped frame could take him. He ran straight for the bodies of the two children sleeping in the clearing. One of them was the Princess Roana, and this time he was going to catch her.

At that moment, Lily was struggling with the rope
that bound her. She wriggled and twisted until at last the rope dropped free.

Lily sighed with satisfaction. Ethan whistled in excitement.

‘Thank the Moon Goddess, you’re free,’ Ethan whispered. ‘The guard must’ve been in such a hurry that he tied the knots carelessly. Come and untie mine.’

‘Yes, he was in a hurry,’ Lily whispered, as her fingers worked at the knots that tied Ethan’s hands. ‘But I also thought of Caramel and how she always blows herself up like a barrel, so that when she releases her breath, the girth comes loose and slides off. So when he was tying me up the second time, I filled my lungs with air and puffed myself up as hard and strong as I could. The rope didn’t quite slide off, but it made it a lot easier to undo.’

‘That was clever,’ congratulated Ethan, grinning broadly as he rubbed blood back into his tingling fingers. ‘Thanks, that feels better. Now let’s see if we can get out of this cottage and find the others.’

There was a small window at the back of the room. It was closed with barred wooden shutters. Ethan wriggled the bar free from the supports, cautiously pushing open the shutters and peeping out. There was no-one to be seen at the back of the
cottage. Ethan climbed out and dropped quietly to the ground, followed by Lily. They crept around the back of the cottage, then slipped away into the forest.

When they were far enough away from the cottage they risked whispering to each other.

‘Our packs are still somewhere in the cottage,’ Lily sighed, thinking of the thick jumpers that Fox had given them and the gloves lovingly knitted by her mother.

‘I know, it can’t be helped,’ Ethan agreed. ‘But Sniffer might be back at any time, and we should find Roana and Saxon. I think we should head back to the clearing where Sniffer caught us and try to follow their trail.’

Together they set off, slipping through the forest in the shadows beside the track.

Saxon heard the sound of Sniffer’s running footsteps, threw off the blanket and leapt to his feet, brandishing the sword that George had given him. Saxon enjoyed feeling the familiar weight of a sword in his hand once more. Roana was on her feet in seconds, an arrow nocked in her bow, her eyes
narrowed in concentration. Aisha struggled into the clearing from behind a log, limping on three legs, teeth bared, hackles raised, barking furiously. Sniffer stopped immediately, his face pale and bloodless.

What had gone wrong? Instead of ambushing the escaped children, the escaped children had ambushed him. Sniffer evaluated the weapons, the ferocious dog, the determined expressions on the children’s faces and the sound of soldiers in the forest behind him. He was no swordsman, no fighter. He was a tracker. Sniffer turned and fled, dodging and weaving, off into the cover of the forest.

Saxon briefly ran after him, sword in hand, but soon stopped, determined to protect Roana above all else. Moments later the clearing was filled with green-garbed rebels, dragging trussed Sedah soldiers behind them. The last to be brought into the clearing were Captain Malish and Lord Mortimer, their arms bound behind their backs. Roana started with surprise when she saw her father’s cousin.

‘Lord Mortimer,’ Roana cried. ‘What are you doing here with the Sedahs?’

‘As you know,
your highness
, I am a prisoner of
the perfidious Sedahs,’ replied Lord Mortimer, attempting an ingratiating smile.

Captain Malish snorted by his side.

‘So this is your blushing bride, Mortma,’ sneered Captain Malish. ‘I wonder that you were in such a hurry to marry the hoyden, even if it did make you king. Surely there are maidens in Tiregian that aren’t quite so grubby?’

Roana flushed with anger and mortification. Lord Mortimer scowled ferociously.

‘That’s enough of your chatter,’ growled the rebel escort, pushing Captain Malish in the back. ‘Keep moving.’

‘You murderous traitor!’ shouted Roana at Lord Mortimer, her furious words echoing through the clearing. ‘How could you betray us all?’

Lord Mortimer ignored her shout and was herded over to the side of the clearing with the other prisoners. There was a moment of embarrassed silence. Saxon gave Roana a rueful smile.

‘Well, we caught most of them,’ boasted Sam, the rebel leader, changing the subject.

‘All except for that blasted Sedah tracker,’ grumbled George, the burly blacksmith. ‘He’s as slippery as an eel.’

‘Perhaps the tracker can become the tracked,’ Sam grinned. This was his first victory against the Sedah invaders, and he thrummed with exhilaration.

‘Sam, our friends Ethan and Lily are being held prisoner by the Sedahs,’ reminded Roana imperiously. ‘We must set forth and rescue them immediately.’

Sam was brought back to the situation with a jolt. In fifteen minutes, Saxon and Roana were riding back towards the woodcutter’s cottage, accompanied by Sam and George, and twenty rebel soldiers. Another band of rebels was left to guard the prisoners while dozens of soldiers scoured the forest for Sniffer.

Aisha was draped, rather uncomfortably, on Caramel’s shoulders in front of Saxon, as she could hardly walk. Saxon was concentrating on the road ahead when a shrill bird whistle sounded from the scrub to the left-hand side of the road. Aisha whined loudly, struggling to clamber down from Caramel’s back. The whistle sounded again, forcing its way into his consciousness. It was the bird whistle that Ethan and Saxon had used in Kenley to summon each other.

Saxon turned to the left, pulling up the lead on
Caramel’s halter and peering into the undergrowth. A quick movement caught his attention.

‘Ethan?’ he called. ‘Are you there? Are you all right? Come out – we’re with friends.’

In a few moments the four children and Aisha had a joyful reunion. Lily fussed and worried over Aisha’s wounds, her brow furrowed with anxiety. An hour later all the packs and gear had been recovered from the cottage and the clearing. Charcoal had also been found, prowling haughtily in the reeds by the creek, and the party returned to the rebel camp.

Lily’s medical supplies had been smashed by Sniffer, so she resorted to supplies foraged in the surrounding forest to treat Aisha’s wounds. In the woodsman’s garden she found lush red geraniums growing by the door. She removed the geranium stalks, dipped the leaves in water, packed them on the wounds to aid the healing and bound them in place.

Roana, Ethan and Saxon were sent into the woods to gather spider webs, which Lily later used to dress the wounds and stop the bleeding that slowly oozed every time Aisha moved. Growing in the open woodland, Lily discovered a cluster of delicate hairy plants, about sixty centimetres tall, with thick spikes of tiny purple tubed flowers.

‘Woundwort,’ Lily announced in satisfaction to Roana. ‘Sometimes known as All-heal. It will take a few days before I can use this to wash the wounds, but it will come in very handy.’

Lily made an infusion by soaking the shredded herb in some brandy, which she had begged from George the blacksmith.

Either Ethan or Lily stayed by Aisha’s side at all times, giving her small dribbles of water and trying to tempt her with titbits of meat.

Roana watched anxiously. Now that everyone was safe once more, her thoughts had returned to her brother, Prince Caspar, imprisoned in the Tower of Sun and Moon far to the north. The delay caused by Sniffer’s attack was making her apprehensive.

‘Is Aisha well enough to travel?’ Roana asked.

Lily thought carefully. She knew that it was urgent that they find Caspar, but Aisha was seriously hurt and could hardly walk. Aisha’s coat was dull, her eyes were clouded and her ears drooped miserably.

‘We really should let Aisha rest for a few days but I know we must keep moving north,’ Lily mused. ‘Let me see how she is tomorrow, then perhaps we can carry her in front of one of us on horseback.’

‘Perhaps we should leave Aisha here with
George …’ Roana began. A worried look from Lily silenced her at once. ‘No, of course not. I am sure she will be much better tomorrow,’ Roana continued.

Everyone chafed at the delay. But there was nothing to be done. The children decided to fill the time by training with the rebels – shooting arrows at stuffed sacks, or practising sword fighting with wooden swords.