by Tina Hunter
It was time to put her plan into action.
Thirteen
~Still Friday Night In The Fort~
LYNN’S STATION WAS at the bottom of the stairs, next to the door into the courtyard. It was a tricky spot. She had to keep an eye out for guards in the courtyard as well as from the hallway heading to the jail cells. Sounds would drift to her from other parts of the fort. Screaming, yelling, shouts of anger or pain. The attack was doing its job of distracting the guards, but the sounds were putting her nerves on edge.
Watching Dorothy was harder still.
They had given Dorothy the tight spiral stairs to carry the crates down and then pass them to Lynn. The girl looked more and more tired every trip. Lynn gave her a chance to rest at the bottom before sending her back up, normally getting her to sit on the crates they stacked with care beside the door.
“Isn’t that a dangerous place to keep them?” Dorothy had asked during one trip.
“No. I’m here to watch over them,” Lynn said with a confident smile. So far it had been fine but there were a lot of moving parts at this stage.
“Here,” Lynn pulled out the stick of jerky her uncle had given her earlier and gave it to Dorothy. Hopefully, it would keep her energy up. Dorothy gulped it down quickly and went back up the stairs for another load.
Just then, a shout of surprise from near the jail cells made her jump. Lynn’s hands were twitching from the nerves. She hid in the stairwell and watched the hallway. A guard came running right toward her, probably heading for the courtyard, eyes wide in panic. Well, that wouldn’t do.
Once he was close enough, she leaped from the stairwell and smashed him into the opposite wall. He recovered quickly and pushed her off but she was prepared and, holding onto his jacket, she used the momentum to pull him into her raised knee. Groin shots always knocked a man down a peg. Lynn slammed his head into the wall, but he was not unconscious yet. Thick skull, huh?
He took a swing at her and missed her by a hair. If she didn’t deal with him quickly, it would cause problems. The thought of the dead guards upstairs reaffirmed her resolve. She wouldn’t kill this guard even if he was being troublesome. She was not like her uncle. A swift kick to the gut and again to the head a couple of times once he was down, and he was out like an uncharged crystal.
It took a few moments to drag his body over to the far side of the stairs, and by the time she was done, she heard Dorothy huffing down with the ninth box. Lynn met her halfway up and took the crate from her. No point in worrying the girl with the guard.
“After the next crate something will happen,” Lynn said quietly, breath still ragged from the fight. “I want you to follow along. But most important before we get back to the vault I want you to steal the two keys that James has in his pocket without him noticing. Can you do that?”
Lynn watched Dorothy’s face as it flickered with fear and exhaustion. She regretted asking it immediately. She had no right to ask that of her. Maybe she could find a way to do it herself. It would be harder but...
Dorothy took a deep breath and smiled bravely. “Of course,” she said.
Lynn beamed a big grin for her and hoped the girl knew her own boundaries. “I knew you could. It will be tricky, but we’ll make it out of here, I promise.”
Dorothy nodded, and she climbed back up the stairs slowly. Lynn dropped her smile as soon as the girl was out of sight.
She hated having to rely on Dorothy. The kid had no place here. It should have been Malack, or at least Simon, who she could get to stay with the crates. But she needed those keys and their best chance at escape meant that it had to be Dorothy who stole them. It also meant that they both needed to do a bit of acting.
Lynn stacked the crate and checked the courtyard and hallway again. All clear. Even the unconscious guard didn’t look too bloody. It wasn’t long before she heard Dorothy huffing down the stairs with the tenth crate. Lynn made her face into one of panic and met Dorothy on the stairs again.
“Give it to me. Run back up. Guards are massing in the courtyard. Don’t forget the keys.”
Lynn grabbed the crate, but Dorothy didn’t move. She looked frozen with fear. Come on girl, you can do it, she willed. “Go,” Lynn pushed her with the side of the crate and Dorothy took off up the stairs, panic lending her speed and guilt weighing on Lynn.
She put the crate on top of the others and ran up the stairs quickly. She heard James swearing and saw the backs of the crew filing into the vault. It was their safe place in case the soldiers came back this way. James was about to shut the door when he saw her running down the hall.
“Are they coming?” James asked. She put on a mask of fear.
“Yes. I’m not sure I hid the crates well enough.” She stopped just outside the door to catch her breath, her hands on her knees. “I have an idea to throw them off. But I’ll need Douglas.” Lynn looked at Dorothy. The girl looked back with fearful, wide eyes.
“Ok,” Dorothy mumbled.
She peered at the floor then up at James’ pocket. So, she hadn’t stolen the keys yet. Lynn would have to stall.
“Have you seen any guards come up here? Or are they only in the courtyard?” she asked James.
“We haven’t seen anything, I swear,” he replied. He really looked nervous. Maybe even a little scared. Guilt gnawed at her heart a little more.
Dorothy slipped past James and into the hallway, so Lynn pushed James backward through the door and kept her eyes on his.
“Keep the door unlocked in case we need to come back,” Lynn said.
James nodded and reached out the brush her cheek with his hand. “Be careful.”
Her heart jumped into her throat and she forced herself to shut the door, leaving Lynn and Dorothy outside the vault and everyone else inside.
Lynn glanced at Dorothy and held out her hand, praying the girl had swiped the keys. Dorothy placed them in her palm without a word. But the confused look in her eyes made Lynn’s hands twitch again.
Lynn put the keys into the locks and turned them. There was a heavy clank and the turning of gears. Then the sound of pounding on the doors.
“Lynn! What’s going on?” James was calling out through the door.
“I’m sorry James,” Lynn shouted back. “This isn’t about you. Or the others.”
She could hear their voices—James yelling about the keys, the others yelling about being trapped. She tried not to focus on that. She really was sorry about them but this was the only way.
“Lynn?” her uncle’s voice came through the door. “What are you doing?” He didn’t sound angry, just concerned. Her hands were sweating now. It was done, they shouldn’t be sweating.
“This is the way it has to be,” Lynn said. Her voice was cracking. What was wrong with her?
“The crystals? You needed the crystals! Why didn’t you just tell me? We could have split them!” his voice was gaining anger now.
“Yes, I needed the crystals. But it’s not about that. Not anymore.” Lynn reached down and touched her mother’s blade. The memory of the blade in her mother’s neck springing to her mind as clearly as the door in front of her. She took strength from it.
“You shouldn’t have killed my mother!” Lynn shouted, pounding her fist against the locked vault door. Silence greeted her. No one spoke. Perhaps she’d finally gotten through to the others. Maybe they wouldn’t follow him anymore?
“Lynn. You know I didn’t kill her,” He shouted back.
What? Rage filled her up. “I have her memories right here to prove it!” she shouted back, banging her hand on the door again.
“She was dying anyway. I saved her memories, Lynn. I saved what I could of her.” Lynn felt the tears falling from her eyes and hung her head. He really believed that. How could he believe that? She had felt her mother’s fear. Her pain. He could deny it all he wanted to, but he killed his sister and had to pay for that. She wiped the tears from her eyes. “This would have gone so differently if you hadn’t killed her. But now you�
�ll have to answer for your crimes.”
Noises in the hall turned her attention away from the door.
“It’s time to go,” Dorothy said, placing a gentle hand on her arm. Lynn nodded and smiled weakly.
“Lynn!” Benjamin was shouting now. Banging on the door. “No. Wait...” the voices became quieter as they walked away. Lynn left the keys behind a column near the door. She wanted the guards to find them, eventually.
“I’m sorry,” Dorothy whispered. Lynn almost didn’t hear it. She grabbed the girl’s arms and squeezed a gentle thanks. Lynn didn’t have time for tears or regret. What was done was done. There was another part of her plan that needed to be dealt with now.
Dorjee’s head hurt. Her face and arm were still sore, and she wanted to just sleep for a week. But she followed Lynn down the stairs, keeping a hand on the wall for balance.
“How are we going to get past the guards in the courtyard?” she asked once they were at the bottom.
“They aren’t actually there,” Lynn said over her shoulder. “Sorry. It was all a ruse.”
“Hrummp,” Dorjee crossed her arms, “You could have told me that. I was scared.”
“You aren’t that good of an actor... yet. We’ll work on it.” Lynn winked at her and Dorjee felt somewhat vindicated. At the bottom of the stairs, the crates of crystals sat right where they had stacked them. Lynn hadn’t even covered them up.
“I will miss James’s ability over the next few minutes, but I think we’ll make do.”
“Wait, James was an Inborn too?” Only Dorjee’s exhaustion kept her from squealing in excitement, “What could he do?”
“Later. Right now, stand guard for me.”
Dorjee was disappointed. Lynn was acting like it wasn’t a big deal, but outside of the Morendi community she’d never met another Inborn. Well, except Lynn. But Lynn didn’t even know she was one when they met. So that didn’t really count.
“All clear,” Lynn said. Dorjee realized Lynn had stuck her head out the door, and Dorjee hadn’t been paying attention. Well, at least nothing bad had happened.
“Grab a crate and follow me,” Lynn said as she picked one up. Dorjee groaned but obeyed. Just one more crate, she told herself. Her head really hurt, but it wasn’t the worst she’d experienced. More like intense pressure reminding her to take it easy.
Lynn led them out into the courtyard and into another building, which turned out to be an empty mess hall. They waddled to the back and into a foul-smelling room. When Lynn put her crate down, Dorjee gratefully did the same. Even though she was using her ability to help, she was getting tired. Lynn opened a door in the wall and Dorjee saw moonlight. And forest. They had made it outside.
Lynn took a few steps out the door and looked around. When she saw whoever she was looking for she waved them down. Oh, wait. The only other person who was supposed to be out here was...
Brutus walked in the door and Dorjee shrank into the corner, bumping her elbow into a pot of smelly water. Brutus saw her anyway, and he stared her down as soon as he walked in. There wasn’t anywhere for her to run.
“Where is Teodor?” Lynn asked, she really was a great actor. Dorjee was the one who told her about Teodor and Brutus, but Lynn looked oblivious.
“There was a complication,” Brutus said, eyeing Dorjee. “I see you had one too.”
“No plan is perfect,” Lynn sighed heavily. “Well, we’ve got two crates here and the other eight further in. Dorothy is exhausted so the three of us will walk these out and then you and I can head back in for the rest.”
Lynn grabbed a pot from the wall and used it to prop the door open. Brutus walked over to Dorjee and picked up the crate on the floor in front of her. He didn’t take his eyes off her once. And she couldn’t take her eyes off his. Was he going to kill her? Is that why Lynn was leaving her out in the forest? It was probably safer.
“Let’s go,” Lynn whispered.
Brutus turned around and walked out. When he walked straight out Lynn made a cooing sound and waved him towards the wall. When Dorjee stepped out she noticed the little walkway along the wall. And the puddles of gross stuff in the grass past it. They stuck to the walkway for a while then darted across the grass to the safety of the forest. No one called out an alarm or anything, and a quick glance back told her that no one was on top of the fort wall. What was going on that all the guards would be away from their posts?
“Did you plan the attack?” Brutus asked Lynn once they were in the trees. Attack? Dorjee wondered.
“No. That was another group. I just piggy-backed on the distraction.”
Brutus nodded seemingly satisfied, but Dorjee had a ton more questions. Who was attacking? Was the group the one they had locked in the Vault? And how could she be so calm around someone she knew was planning to kill her?
“Dorothy,” Lynn snapped to get her attention. “I know you are tired. So sit here, with the crates.”
Dorjee was pretty tired. Lynn pointed to the two crates, but they were already sitting in a little trolley meant to make carrying them to the boats easier. Thank goodness she wouldn’t have to use her magic anymore. All she could do was nod.
Lynn put her hand on her shoulder.
“Dorothy. Rest. You’ll be safe behind the bushes here.” Lynn’s voice was so calm and confident. Surely she could just lay down for a minute while they were bringing out the rest of the crates. Dorjee remembered curling up on the ground and then Lynn was shaking her awake.
“It’s time to go.”
Dorjee rubbed her eyes, confused for a moment, then she saw the trolley of crates. She counted ten. They’d done it, and she had... slept? She looked back at the fort. It was on fire.
Well, not all of it, just where the dock would be, behind the wall. She could see the tips of flames and the bright orange glow in the air made their little corner of the forest darker. The people doing the attacking were really attacking. It wasn’t just for show.
“Come on,” Lynn grabbed Dorjee hand and pulled her to her feet. Brutus was a hulk in the darkness, always staring. “Brutus, be a dear and help me with this,” Lynn said in an upper-class tone. It seemed to startle Brutus out of his staring and he grabbed one side of the trolley. With Lynn on the other side, they pulled it through the woods away from the fort and its orange glow.
“Dorothy, could you scout ahead, please?” Lynn asked.
“Right.” Dorjee ran ahead of them and tried to pick out the best path for a trolley heavy with crates to make it through the forest. Luckily there seemed to be a trail. Once they were on it, she ran ahead to make sure there were no major holes or logs that would stop their progress. It was a well-worn path, but it was made for people’s feet, not trolley wheels, so they ran into a few snags along the way. No soldiers though. Not one.
Dorjee was contemplating asking how much further when she found it—a small cove with two large canoes tied off. There was another one on the grass nearby. That one had been smashed.
“That’s the one I paddled here,” Brutus said pointing to the smashed boat. “Where did these come from?”
“Me,” Lynn said, looking relieved. “Now let’s put all the crates in one boat and tie it to the other one. It’ll make paddling easier.”
Lynn put her end of the trolley down and grabbed a crate. Brutus took a moment to glare at Dorjee, as if she didn’t remember he was ready to kill her, before he grabbed a crate and followed Lynn. Dorjee hung back and watched the trail they had come down. She wondered if she was recovered enough to do her magic if she needed to protect herself. Her stomach rumbled at the thought. Apparently, her magic needed to be fed too.
When they had the crates in the one canoe, Lynn broke down the trolley while Brutus tied the canoes together with a long rope. Dorjee wasn’t sure what she could do to help, or if she should even try, considering who she’d be working beside. She hovered near Lynn only moments before Lynn tossed two wooden pieces of the trolley at her.
“Catch,” Lynn said with a laugh.
Dorjee caught them before they fell on the ground, but only just.
“That wasn’t fair,” Dorjee shouted. Then she saw the giggle hiding behind Lynn’s eyes and couldn’t help feel more relaxed. If she was goofing around, then they must not be in any real danger... at least not anymore.
“Cut it out, you two,” Brutus’ low voice still cut through the moment of peace like a charged blade. If she wasn’t so afraid of him, she would call him a grump.
“Hey,” Lynn whispered to Dorjee. “Once we are on the water, don’t turn around ok. We’ll be fine.”
Dorjee wasn’t sure what she meant and didn’t have time to ask. Lynn quickly dumped her parts of the trolley into the canoe with the crates and settled herself into the back of the other one.
“What do you think you are doing?” Brutus asked, coming to stand over Lynn.
“Steering? You can sit in the middle and help me paddle,” Lynn said with a grin. Dorjee tried to stop herself from shaking. She knew that sitting in the front meant that she wouldn’t have to paddle, but she had been hoping that Lynn would be between Dorjee and Brutus for the trip back.
Muttering under his breath, Brutus crawled in front of Lynn, then motioned with the paddle for Dorjee to get in the front. Dorjee climbed in slowly and curled up as close to the front of the canoe as she could.
Brutus and Lynn maneuvered out of the cove without a single word exchanged between them. Just a grunt, a nod, or a gesture, and the other knew what needed to be done. It was like Grandpa Gregorio’s magic. Except, she knew Lynn would never let Brutus into her head.
Once they were out of the cove, Dorjee shifted position so she could look around a bit more. She could feel Brutus’s gaze on her, like fire ready to consume her. It made her skin crawl. Dorjee vowed not to move again. She didn’t want his eyes on her.
