Grizelda crouched behind a machine skeleton in the vacant lot where Laricia spent her time, watching. The stream running down the center of the lot glinted green from the light of a lantern stick, jammed into the ground at the base of one of the skeletons like a camping stake. The only movement was from a small figure sitting cross-legged at the lantern’s foot. It was making plucking motions like sewing.
Grizelda stepped up to her softly. “Laricia?”
“Jeez!” In a flash, Laricia was on her feet, fists up. When she saw it was only Grizelda, her look darkened. “Don’t do that, girl! Damn, I thought I told you to buzz off.”
“I need your help,” Grizelda said.
“Well, I don’t need yours.” Laricia stuck out her hand. “Look what you did! I just stuck myself. Leather needles are sharp.”
“Please, hear me out. I’m with some ogre revolutionaries. We need your bats to act as lookouts for a jailbreak.”
“What do I care about ogre business?” She crossed her arms and turned her back on Grizelda.
Grizelda looked at Laricia’s back, thinking hard. The interview was obviously supposed to be over. She was only moments from losing her hope of having bats for the breakout forever. Laricia would scoop up her half-repaired bridle, start climbing away on the machine skeleton, and be gone. She needed to think fast.
“I know what you do care about,” Grizelda said. “You care about your bats.”
Laricia turned around, and her look was absolutely frightening. It wasn’t human; more like an angry she-bear.
“All right, who put you up to this?”
Even though the woman was only five and a half inches tall, Grizelda found herself shrinking back from her. Laricia stepped forward.
“Was it Kricker? It would be like him.”
“Nobody. Nobody did.”
“You don’t have to lie. What did he say this time? ‘Oh, she’s got bats in her belfry.’ That’s his favorite.” She laughed, a mirthless bark. “They all think I’m mad. They leave me alone, except when they send ogres here to torment me–”
She kicked out at a gear viciously. It clanged and she yelled in pain. She sank down into a crouch, her face covered in her hands.
Then Grizelda wasn’t afraid of her anymore. How could she be, at this little figure, curled up in pain? She knelt down so she was at Laricia’s eye level.
“If you help me, you can prove that you aren’t.”
“Yeah? Like how?” Muffled, Laricia spoke to the ground.
“This is only going to be the biggest … ratrider prank in all of history. And you’ll get all the credit.”
She looked up at Grizelda, one wary eye. “Who’s in charge of this?”
“A revolutionary group. They’re called the Lonnes Underground.”
Laricia was silent for a long while.
“All right, first tell them they’ve got a stupid name. But I’ll listen to them. I can’t promise any more than that.”
The basement room under the Trebuchet bustled with voices tonight, barely restrained by their need to conceal themselves from the customers overhead. Everybody had ideas for the breakout plan. Solander had talked to the old man of the Trebuchet, who let them use this room, and had gotten him to agree to front them some money. He also said he’d talk to some of his friends. Stevry intended to pick pockets to contribute to the fund. Katarin had written up a list of all the supplies they would need to get and some stores in town that wouldn’t ask too many questions.
“So, how is this going to work again?” Jamin asked Grizelda. “You’ve been talking about these holes in Promontory. What are they? How are we going to get in?”
Grizelda sat in the newest seat of their circle, still a little appalled to be the center of so much attention. The Undergrounders were paying attention to her. Her! A seamstress from Miss Hesslehamer’s Charity Workshop.
She realized with a start that she hadn’t thought about Miss Hesslehamer and the girls for days. What if they were in there, in those horrid kennels? But the Undergrounders were all waiting for her to answer.
“It turns out that the area that is now the Promontory cell blocks used to belong to the goblins,” she said.
“Goblins?” Jamin raised an eyebrow.
“They sold it to them. Promontory tried to close the old tunnels all off, but they’re still there. The place is full of them, like an anthill. And I have some guides who can help us.”
Grizelda looked over at the pile of crates behind Solander. That was the signal. From an inaccessible crack between the boxes and the wall, the three ratriders came riding out onto the floor. Laricia swooped down from her hidden place in the rafters. Several of the kids cried out, overturning their seats in an attempt to get away from the rats. Laricia, clearly enjoying this, made a few deliberate passes at people’s heads.
“It’s all right, everyone!” Grizelda called. “They’re friends. Laricia!”
Laricia let off and landed on top of a pile. She watched the aftermath of the chaos, arms akimbo.
Jamin lowered his hands from his head. “Fairies on rats, Grizelda?”
“We’re pixies!” Kricker gave him a warning poke with his lantern-stick.
“Ouch!” Jamin pulled away from him.
“They’re ratriders,” Grizelda explained. “Their names are Kricker, Tunya, and Geddy, and that one up there is Laricia. They helped me escape from Promontory when I got targeted. I’m sorry they scared you.”
She hoped it had been a good idea to ask the ratriders for help with this breakout. What if it was all just a game to them, like breaking the goblins’ machines was?
“Um, hi.” Jamin got up and brushed himself off. Meanwhile, the other Undergrounders were doing the same. “I mean, I’m not quite sure how to shake your hands…” He held his hand out tentatively. The three ratriders each gave one of his fingers a quick clasp. Then he did the same for Laricia.
“Pixies, those aren’t magic, are they?” Toby said suspiciously.
“They’re the good kind of magic,” said Grizelda.
“But are you sure that you can trust–”
“They saved my life! They’ve never had anything to do with the Auks.”
“Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows,” said Geddy.
There was a silent faceoff between her and Toby for several seconds. Katarin gave Geddy a sideways look.
“You read–”
“Yes. I do,” said Geddy.
Finally Jamin stepped in.
“I think they’re great,” he said. “So, what’s your plan, Grizelda?”
Inwardly Grizelda breathed a sigh of relief that the situation was defused. She gestured at the ratriders. “I think it would be more fair to ask them.”
Laricia nodded. “We’re going to be running reconnaissance with the bats. To be honest, they’re quicker and more maneuverable than any of you are. When you’re spread out in the goblin territory, we can keep you in communication and raise the alarm if anyone sights a gendarme. In the tunnels we’ll help guide you out of the city. Are you okay with all that?”
“How many of you are there?” Jamin said, a little overwhelmed.
“More than you would like to know.”
“Um, okay.” He looked to the other Undergrounders, then looked back. “Where do you think we should start?”
“There’s an opening on the river side seven levels down that would work. Used to be a mine tunnel. It’s pretty large and it’s not guarded.”
On a sudden idea, Grizelda leaned forward.
“Laricia, is there any way you could go in there and find a particular prisoner?”
“Yes, I could.”
“There’s somebody in there named Mr. Dunnag. He’s an old man, and he probably looks a little bit like Toby. He was sent there very recently.”
Laricia looked Toby up and down. “I could do that,” she said. “I’ll go right now.”
She hopped onto her bat and gave it a good kick in the sides. It sprang into the air, fluttering circ
les around the room until Mitchell opened the door and it shot out. For a moment after they were gone, the basement was quiet.
“Why did you do that?” said Toby.
Grizelda looked at him, angry. Why wouldn’t he even give the ratriders a chance? Just because they were magic, he was convinced they were Auk-lovers!
“Because maybe it’ll help,” she said. “Not all the magic is evil, Toby.”
“We were talking about the breakout fund, weren’t we?” said Jamin. “How is that going?”
Katarin had her figures written on a sheet of paper, which she gave to him. “These prisoners, when we get them out, they’re going to have nothing. If we’re going to do a proper job of this, that means there’s a lot of supplies we’re going to have to buy. Warm coats and food. Train tickets are going to be the worst. I don’t even know how we’re going to get them all without making the stationmaster suspicious. Go down and buy them in shifts or something.” She sighed. “With our fund, we’ve got enough for … twenty people.”
“All right, so what do we cut?” Jamin looked around at them. “Skip the train tickets? We could make it stretch farther that way. People can try and sneak over to Salinaca on foot.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” said Geddy.
They looked at him.
Geddy hesitated, toeing the ground. “Well, ratriders … we’re the sock stealers. You know how you wake up in the morning and you can never find your sock’s match? That’s us. We’re pretty good at it.”
“Geddy, why are you telling them this?” said Tunya. “Don’t you know what they might do?”
“What I mean is,” Geddy continued, “You can afford to get ambitious. Those government supply caravans.”
“No way!” said Stevry.
Geddy turned to Kricker. “Don’t you think we could take one of those down?”
Kricker shrugged. “Sure.”
“If the humans find out we steal their stuff, they could wipe us out!” Tunya insisted.
But Geddy ignored her. “All you would have to do is sit back and watch. You’ll have all the supplies you could need, and you can save your money for tickets.”
Stevry was about to say something when a dog started barking up on the street. There came a frantic scratching at the door. Solander got up and opened it, and a slightly disheveled Laricia zoomed inside. She landed on the top of a crate pile and dismounted shakily.
“I found Mr. Dunnag.”
The Undergrounders crowded around to listen, but Grizelda was more concerned about Laricia’s condition.
“Are you all right?”
“Hmm?” It took Laricia a moment to realize Grizelda was referring to her. “Oh, I’m fine. Just had a run-in with a dog on my way back.”
She gripped the side of the box and lowered herself to a seat. “He’s not well, but he’s alive, Toby. He’s your grandfather, isn’t he?”
Toby nodded, stunned.
“That’s what he said when I spoke to him. I don’t think he really believed I was there. Thought the cave air was making him go crazy. But I’ve told him about our plan to come and get him out. He’ll be ready.”
It took Toby almost half a minute to decide what to say. “That was amazing. Thank you.”
Grizelda said, “I don’t think I can explain what it is you’ve done for us. That was–”
Laricia waved it away. “If you keep this up, I might just go through with this.”
“We’re going to try and raid one of those supply caravans,” said Jamin. “Geddy said we could do it.”
Laricia raised an eyebrow. “That’s something else, isn’t it? I’m in.”
Chapter 20
Kricker sat on a little metal cliff up at the top of a machine skeleton, his legs dangling out into a sickeningly empty space. He’d long since decided this flying lesson was taking place way too high up. Why did they have to hold it at the very top of one of those piles of scrap metal, anyway? Laricia had made him and the other ratriders who volunteered climb up here, and on the way, he had seen plenty of good bat perches that were at far more reasonable altitudes.
The crazy bat lady was in full riding dress already, in heavy boots, gloves, and goggles pushed back to the top of her head. He bet she slept with them on. She strode back and forth on another spar of metal, lecturing them all on bat safety tips.
“You’ve got to treat a bat with respect,” she was saying. “Otherwise, you’ll be lucky if all you lose are a couple of fingers.”
Great.
He was finding it hard to pay attention. How could he, when the ground was swaying slightly way below them? The other ratriders sitting next to him didn’t seem to notice, damn them. Geddy and Tunya were hanging on her every word.
Tunya. Beautiful Tunya. That was another reason he was distracted.
“I’ve already bridled your bats up so we can get started. These are some of my best behaved: Hoarfrost, Snapdragon, Peregrine.” She pointed at each bat as she named them. Kricker forgot the names as quickly as she pointed.
When Tunya was really focusing on something her eyes sort of–
“Right! Let’s suit up!”
Crazy Bat Lady doled out the boots, gloves, and goggles they were all supposed to wear, then stood back to see if anyone needed help. The boots she’d given him were too small. He had to struggle to yank them up over his ankles. He was a little gratified to see that his neighbor, Willis, was having trouble, too.
When he pulled down his goggles, he staggered. They narrowed his vision down to two bright circles and made his feet look like they were a million miles away. He froze, unable to move.
“Come on,” Tunya said somewhere vaguely behind him. “We’re getting started.”
He stood there, helpless.
“Look, Mr. I-belled-the-cat-single-handed, you’re going to get left behind.”
Cursing, he peeked under the goggles enough so he could watch his feet on the way to the bat launch place, where the others were already gathered and waiting for him.
Laricia was kneeling by her bat, Apollo. “When you mount your bats, you’ll have to be quick. First, you wake him up.” She prodded the bat, and he stretched his wings lazily. “Then the trick is to get yourself on before he takes off!”
She vaulted herself over the ledge and disappeared. For a few heart-stopping seconds, Kricker waited for the sound of a splat, but then she rose back into view, on the back of Apollo.
“Your turn!” She swooped past low over their heads and out into the cavern.
The other ratriders obediently launched themselves over the edge of the cliff one by one, like lemmings. Kricker hesitated. If he didn’t move soon, he was going to be the last one left. And then Tunya would see him, looking like a doofus. Already the first to jump were circling unsteadily over his head. He gritted his teeth, slammed his goggles down, and took a leap of faith.
He landed in a musky-smelling tangle of ropes and fur. Before he could get a good grip on the harnesses or anything, it launched itself into the air. He pressed himself flat against the fur and clung on, while the bat swerved one direction and his stomach went the other.
The bat went into a complex series of flying maneuvers, rolling, bucking, doing its very best to throw him off. There was no way of knowing how the others were doing; it was all he could do to cling on for dear life.
“Use your reins!” came Laricia’s voice from somewhere above and behind him. “Shift your weight the direction you want to go!”
“Gee, thanks,” he muttered, but he did as she told him. He felt around for a likely cord in the tangle crimped below him and gave it a good pull. The bat went right. He tried another one. The bat refused to respond, perversely shooting up to the ceiling.
“Let him know who’s boss! Command him!”
Oh, it knows. And it’s not me, he thought.
“Take that, uh, Batface!” he yelled, pulling a name out of the air. He yanked what he hoped was a rein and the bat leaned into a curve, smooth and perf
ect. A flick to the right, and the bat leveled out. He had it! He was flying! In spite of himself, he whooped. Now, if only he could see what he was doing…
He tore off his goggles and let the wind catch them and send them tumbling away. A blast of air burned his face. Very slowly, he squinted opened his eyes.
He was in empty space, the ground tilted below him at a very unnatural angle. A wave of vertigo swept over him and he froze. The bat looped out of control, again trying its best to buck him.
“All right, that’s enough! Just land him!” Laricia cried.
But Kricker couldn’t move. Not with the sight of that ground rushing, swaying, tumbling, way too far below him. He could only close his eyes and hope death would be swift.
Foo-weet!
Laricia whistled, high and shrill. The bat abruptly changed direction, swooped downward, and jerked to a halt. When Kricker finally dared open his eyes he found himself hanging off the edge of the metal cliff, upside-down. With weak limbs he crawled up the bat and poured himself onto the ledge.
“What happened out there?” Laricia landed next to him and hopped off. “You were doing great until you had the fool idea to take off your goggles.”
He muttered something about not being able to see.
“So you took your goggles off and got yourself blinded by the wind,” she said. “Great job.”
Meanwhile, behind her, the other ratriders looked like they were having a wonderful time. Geddy and Tunya were laughing and doing loop-de-loops around each other. Kricker fell into a slouch. Flying lessons every day until the jailbreak. He wasn’t sure he would survive that long.
Outside of the Lonnes train station, there was a great field of empty land, covered in gravel, with rails laid out on it in close parallel lines like rows of corn. This was the place where freight cars that weren’t in use lay around singly or hitched into chains, waiting to be loaded or repaired. Grizelda lay on her belly under one of the cars next to Stevry. The other Undergrounders were in various hiding places scattered around her, far enough away from the main station not to get noticed by the gendarmes, but close enough to get a good look at the supply train when it came in.
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