When All the Leaves Have Fallen

by Mark McCabe

  But Rayne had been decidedly unimpressed at the way he had flirted tentatively with Sara. Even the obvious rebuff she had given him hadn’t fazed him, though it had brought a smile to Rayne’s face.

  Like him or not, though, he was now their guide, and all their hopes rested on his abilities. Despite his quirkiness, he gave every impression of knowing exactly what he was doing. Rayne hoped his over-abundant self-confidence was well founded and not just a façade.

  They travelled by foot at first. Kip led the way, followed by Sara with Nell in tow and Rayne and Ned bringing up the rear. The lad kept them close to the buildings, hugging the shadows in the dim light of the night sky. Though it was a cloudless night, the moon hadn’t risen. The stars were their only source of light, but it was enough, in fact, it was ideal; too much light would only have hindered their progress. Their goal was to make their way to the gate with the minimum of fuss and attention, and so they stuck to the laneways, crossing the bigger streets only when they had to.

  Rayne was tense from the moment they set out. On more than one occasion he had to force his muscles to relax, only to find moments later that he had tightened up yet again. The narrow streets made him nervous and he felt completely disoriented in what was to him an alien environment. They had been through tighter spots in the wilderness, but he had always felt in control there. Here, he was totally dependent on the skills of others. He had never had to do that before.

  As he was bringing up the rear, he was constantly looking over his shoulder, checking to make sure that they weren’t being followed. At the same time, he was on the alert for any unusual sounds. The darkness provided them with welcome cover, but the fact that they were alone on the streets made the noise of their passing seem intolerably loud to him. To add to this, the town itself was unnaturally quiet. In the forest, there was always some noise, even in the dead of night. Here, there was nothing; nothing at all except the sound of their steps. All he could do was keep his ears and eyes open. Kip was their guide and he gave every appearance of being relaxed and in control of the situation.

  Despite Rayne’s concerns, all went well. A few stray cats and one rat were their only companions. Eventually, they were obliged to follow one of the major thoroughfares for a short way. Kip said that they couldn’t cover the whole of the route to the gate without at least some brief usage of the major by-ways. In a few stretches, they would just have to do so and hope not to be seen. This particular street seemed safe enough to Rayne. They waited for a short while in the shadows of the alley they had been following, and then, when they were satisfied that all was quiet, they ventured out into the wider way.

  Rayne could feel his apprehension rising. In the forest, this would be the equivalent, he guessed, of crossing an open clearing or a stream. He couldn’t help reaching up involuntarily to feel his arm as he remembered the stream they had crossed in the wilderness and the encounter with the sligs that had followed. There was no pain there any longer, but the thought was a dark one and he tried to suppress it, pushing it back into the recesses of his mind from where it had sprung. That kind of memory was not going to do them any good here.

  His trepidation soon proved warranted, however. They hadn’t gone far down this particular concourse when, of all the things they could have encountered, a troop of some dozen or so Rangers appeared out of a side way, only some forty or fifty paces away, and began to march right down the middle of the street. They were heading straight towards them.

  Luckily, the three fugitives were still hugging the shadows close to the buildings and they quickly flattened themselves against the wooden wall beside them. Sara turned to look at Rayne and her unspoken message was as clear as if she had shouted it. ‘What will we do?’ the look of panic on her face said to him. She was obviously ready to take flight at the slightest sign from him. To his surprise, whatever he was feeling himself, the look he gave her seemed to reassure her.

  When he looked beyond her to their guide, however, he had to struggle to keep a rein on his own nerves. The desperate look on Kip’s face as his head darted back and forth, obviously looking for a means of escape from the jam they were in, confirmed what he had already feared. Unless they did something soon, they would be seen within a matter of minutes.

  Before Rayne’s thoughts could go any further, Kip turned to them both and signalled with a wave of his hand for them to stay put. Once he was satisfied his message had been understood, he slowly ambled out into the middle of the street, heading straight towards the Rangers with his head down and his hands in his pockets, as if he wasn’t even aware they were there. Rayne motioned for Sara to stay put. As they edged back even further into the shadow of the building beside them, his eyes remained fixed on Kip and the approaching Rangers.

  The youngster sauntered down the deserted street until he was no more than ten or fifteen paces away from the Rangers, then looked up, as if in surprise, and suddenly turned and bolted down a side alley Rayne hadn’t even realised was there. Without a moment’s hesitation, the Rangers, to a man, took off in hot pursuit, with cries of “Halt” and “Come back here you.” Within a few moments the whole lot of them, Kip included, had disappeared from sight, the cries of the soldiers barely audible now as they receded into the distance. Rayne looked at Sara and saw that she was just as stunned at this sudden turn of events as he was.

  “What do we do now?” she whispered.

  At first, he was at a loss for words. He had no idea where they were, let alone what direction the gate was in, or how to negotiate a way through it once they got there. As to what they should do next. He had been happy to let Kip be their guide and hadn’t even considered an eventuality like this.

  “I . . . I guess . . . I guess we should try and backtrack to the warehouse. I don’t know whether I’m sure of how to find our way back there, but I do know we’d have no chance of finding the gate without Kip. We’d just wander around until eventually we were caught by someone. Oh, Sara. I think I’ve got us into a very bad situation here.”

  Rayne could feel himself beginning to tremble. His worst fears were materialising before his very eyes. He was out of his element here and Sara was counting on him to get them out of trouble. Yet again he was letting her down. Only, this time, they were really in a mess. And Josef wasn’t around to pull them out of this hole.

  “It’s okay, Rayne,” soothed Sara, moving alongside him and placing her hand on his. “You didn’t get us into this situation. If anyone’s to blame, I am. If it weren’t for me you’d be sitting safe and warm somewhere; not out here in a jam with me. I think you’re right. We should try and go back. There’s nothing else we can do. If we work together, we might be able to remember the way.”

  “Okay.” Rayne knew he had to get a grip on himself. Sara’s calmer tone of voice had made him realise he was on the verge of making an even bigger fool of himself than he already felt. He could sense that she was worried too, but that she was masking her feelings in an attempt to help him to calm down. That’s what he should have been doing for her. What would his father think of him now?

  “Okay,” he repeated. “Let’s get back into the alleyway. We’ll be seen if we stay here.”

  Just as they began to move out of the shadows, back in the direction of the alley they had come from, they heard a sound. It came from the alley Kip and the Rangers had disappeared down. Before they had a chance to react, a person came running out of the alley and into the street. Instinctively, Rayne’s hand went for his sword, but he had no more than half drawn it from its scabbard when he saw that the person was none other than Kip. He was breathing hard, but he had a broad grin on his face as he came to a halt in front of them.

  “I gave ‘em the slip,” he said with a wink. “There’s not many can catch me at the best of times, ‘specially not in the dark. Let’s get out of here, quickly.”

  As he turned and headed back along the route they had been following before their encounter with the Rangers, Rayne and Sara quickly moved to follow his lea
d. Kip led them at a cracking pace now, walking so fast they almost had to run to keep up with him. Neither of them complained. Rayne, for one, saw the lad in a different light now. Whatever failings he might have, he certainly had some nerve. Besides, they didn’t have time for recriminations or debates. It was clear that they had to get as far away from where they had encountered the Rangers as possible, and as quickly as they could.

  Despite the pace, Rayne now made a very conscious effort to try and take notice of the route they were following. Whenever they took a change in direction, he looked around for some distinguishing feature that might remind him where they had been should they have to retrace their steps. Better late than never, he thought. Although this wouldn’t guarantee their ability to find their way back without Kip, it would at least give them some chance. He needn’t have bothered, as it turned out, though. They made the remaining distance to the gate without a further encounter, unless you counted two dogs and one snoring drunk, the latter blissfully asleep propped up against the side of a building.

  When they finally turned a corner to find the gate only a few paces away, Sara stopped and turned around. Though she was smiling, Rayne could see the tears in her eyes as she walked back to where he was. As she approached him, he reached out and drew her into his open arms.

  “It’s all right, we made it,” he whispered, as she hugged him to her tightly. He could feel his own emotions welling up within his own breast. The whole journey from the warehouse to the gate had felt like walking a tightrope.

  A discreet cough from Kip interrupted their brief moment together. “I need ten silvers for the guard,” he informed Rayne, almost apologetically. “That’s the usual fee.”

  Rayne was in no mood to haggle over price; he assumed that Kip knew his business. Though ten silvers was a lot of money, what they were doing wouldn’t be without some risk to the guards as well. They would also know that anyone desperate enough to seek to leave the town in this manner would undoubtedly be more than willing to pay for the privilege.

  Kip put out his hand to take the silvers that Rayne counted out from his purse. After slipping them into the pocket of his breeches, he told them to wait in the shadow of a nearby building.

  With a quick look back in the direction they had come from, he turned and crossed the street, heading for the door of a small wooden building which was butted up against the wall, just to the left of the big gates themselves. Rayne guessed that this must be the guardhouse. Though the wooden shutter on the small window facing the street was closed, thin strips of light could still be seen between small cracks in the woodwork. Someone was awake inside.

  He watched as Kip tapped three times on the door. A moment later, the door opened, spilling light out into the street. After a brief exchange with the occupant of the building, Kip entered and the door closed behind him.

  Rayne and Sara waited nervously in the cold night air. Rayne guessed that this was a critical point. Kip hadn’t said whether he had already struck an agreement with the guards or whether the ‘deal’ was to be transacted on the spot. Everything he had said had led Rayne to believe the latter to be the case, however. He wondered what Kip would do if the usual guards weren’t on duty. What if they weren’t interested in any ‘deal’ and suddenly came rushing out to arrest them? The shiver that ran down his back then wasn’t just from the cool night air.

  He had barely begun to turn his mind to thoughts of some rough plan for a quick escape should they need it, when the door of the guardhouse opened and Kip came out followed by the two guards. “C’mon,” he whispered across to Rayne and Sara. “Hurry up. They’re going to open it up.” As he spoke, the two guards walked over to the gate. Taking hold of a handle beside the large beams that formed the frame of the entryway, they began to work the mechanism which raised the iron grille which barred the gateway.

  Sara and Rayne looked about nervously, concerned at the noise the mechanism made in the quiet of the night. It seemed inconceivable that half the surrounding area wouldn’t hear what was going on. Perhaps whoever lived within earshot of the gates was used to such goings on, thought Rayne. Or maybe they simply knew better than to interfere with what was none of their business.

  The task was soon completed, however, and with the gate finally open Rayne and Sara took their leave of Kip, thanking him for his help and asking him to pass on their thanks to Jakeb and Alys. Rayne gave Sara a helping hand up onto Nell and then quickly mounted Ned. As he turned his mount around, towards the gateway, a voice suddenly rang out through the darkness.

  “Halt right there, you two. You’re under arrest. Don’t give us any trouble now.”

  Looking around, Rayne was dismayed to see a half dozen or so Rangers blocking the street behind them. Any thoughts of escape quickly evaporated as he turned his head back to the gates themselves. Several more Rangers had appeared from outside the walls and were blocking the open gateway. A number of them had bows drawn with arrows ready to shoot.

  They were trapped, trapped and caught.

  Chapter 5

  Looking down at the sleeping girl beside him, Thom couldn’t help but wonder how she would fare once the war was over. Once it was over! Would it ever be over?

  In the course of their journey, he had considered all of the different courses the war might take and had resolved very early on in the piece to focus only on the most positive of all possible outcomes, the eventual Algarian victory he was certain would roll the sligs right back to their ancestral grounds. He had to believe that. How else could he deal with the horrors they had seen over the last few days?

  Together, he and Jinny had seen sights which would unnerve the most battle-hardened veteran. To accept that this might continue, that it was more than just the devastating impact of a surprise initial onslaught, that what they had seen here might soon be repeated right across the whole of Algaria, that was just too ghastly a thought to contemplate. No, as far as he was concerned it wasn’t a matter of if but of how long it would take before the Algarians rallied and completely reversed the current situation.

  So how would Jinny fare then, once the war was over and things returned to normal? Her father was dead; that much seemed certain. Her mother was also gone, lost to fever some two years ago now, and Thom had never heard of any brothers or sisters. What few other relatives she did have were likely to have fallen with the rest of the unfortunate souls at Brand’s Ford.

  She would be a war orphan, that’s what she would be. Thom would have to look after her, if she would have him. Together they could build a new life together. His da would help them, and his ma. His parents would both be all right, of course. They had got out in time, not like some. Most likely they were sitting out the fighting quietly in Kurandir right now, taking it easy for a change after all the hard work getting that crop in.

  The truth be known, his da had been working too hard for far too long now anyway. He needed a rest. He had talked of making the trip to Kurandir many times over the years, but somehow he had just never got around to it. Well, now he had.

  Kurandir. He and Jinny should be there by morning. It wasn’t far now, though it had taken them much longer than he had thought it would to get there. He hadn’t counted on how many sligs there would be. What’s more, rather than thinning out as he had thought they would the closer he got to Kurandir, the opposite seemed to be the case. He couldn’t figure what that meant. Maybe, he thought, with sudden insight, maybe the Rangers were massing there for the big Algarian assault. That would explain this build-up of slig forces. That would be very good news, and something to see.

  But what of his parents? The Rangers wouldn’t want a whole bunch of refugees filling up the town if they were regrouping there. Most likely, the civilians would have to be sent further west. His parents may have just had to keep going until they were well out of harm’s way.

  Thom let out a deep sigh. Though he longed to reach the protective walls of Kurandir, he had hoped to be reunited there with his da as well. Well, ‘no use t
hatching the roof till the walls are up’, as his da would say. One thing at a time. First, let’s just get there, he thought, and then we’ll see what’s going on.

  The dwindling light told Thom that it would soon be time to wake Jinny. As soon as the sun set for the day, they needed to be on their way again. Travelling by night wasn’t easy, especially with no moon to light their way, and he meant to get as early a start as he could. With luck, this should be their last leg. Tomorrow night he hoped they would be sleeping safe and sound with the Queen’s Rangers on lookout duty instead of he or Jinny.

  Jinny. Just the thought of her made him smile. Gently he reached down and brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen across his companion’s forehead. “It’s time to wake up, Jinny,” he whispered, leaning down close to her.

  Though the spot they had chosen to spend the daylight hours in was well concealed, Thom had grown accustomed to caution. The little hollow they had crept into, with its surrounding thicket of bushes, provided the two essential qualities they had learnt to covet, concealment from prying eyes and shade from the sun. Some small animal, a bush hog, or a nerricoot, or something very similar to that in size, had probably spent the day cursing them for stealing its bed. Or maybe it would return when night fell to reclaim its home. No matter, for now, it was theirs and they were glad to have it.

  Jinny sat up with a start. Like Thom, she had slept lightly over the past few days and it took only the slightest of noises to bring her fully awake.

  “Is everything okay?” she whispered, placing one hand on his arm as she twisted her head back and forth, scanning the surrounding area, alert to the prospect of danger.

  Thom’s heart went out to his friend. If her tone did little to conceal her fear, the wild look in her eyes certainly confirmed it.