DANTAR
The jailhouse was an old stone building, and the facade was in the ornate Merkian classical style, with stone gargoyles, cherubs and dragons.
‘Interesting, the building was probably not originally a jail,’ said Marko. ‘Should be easy to break out of.’
Their hands were bound behind their backs before they were pushed into a dimly lit cell, one floor up. The heavy ironwood door was slammed behind them.
Morid grinned at them through the bars of the little window in the door.
‘Hangin’ is too good for you scumbags. So just give me one excuse to come in there, and we won’t even need a hangin’!’
The face vanished, much to the relief of Dantar and Marko.
‘Should be easy to break out of,’ muttered Dantar as he and Marko struggled to get to their feet without the use of their hands.
‘He’s hung the rat’s cage from a torch hook on the opposite wall,’ said Marko, looking through the little window in the cell door. ‘There’s no way we can let him out to steal the keys.’
‘Well, company at last!’ said a cheery voice from the shadows.
Dantar peered into the gloom at the back of the cell. He could just make out a girl, dressed in a dark tunic and ragged cape. She sauntered forward into the light from the door’s little window. Perhaps a year older than him, she was dark-haired, pale, and quite pretty in a grubby sort of way. She’s pale for someone living in a city at the edge of the tropics, thought Dantar. Probably sleeps during the day, so what does she do during the night?
‘Well, good morrow to you, Miss,’ said Marko, bowing like a courtier. ‘I’m Marko, Seaman First Class of the Dravinian Imperial Navy.’
Dantar felt a sudden pang of annoyance and realised that he was frowning. Marko was definitely the sort of boy that a girl would look at first, and he knew exactly what to say to girls.
‘And who are you?’ the girl asked, only moving her eyes to look at Dantar.
‘Just Dantar, his commanding officer.’
Now it was Marko’s turn to frown.
‘I’m Arrissa,’ she said. ‘Welcome to my palace! Sorry I didn’t tidy up before you came but they didn’t warn me that guests were to be flung in here.’
She drew her hands from behind her back and gave a flourish.
‘Your hands are free!’ exclaimed Dantar.
‘My, my, this one is as sharp as a shipwright’s chisel,’ said Arrissa. ‘I once worked in a carnival, doing conjuring tricks and escaping from being tied up.’
‘We would appreciate being untied,’ said Marko.
‘But I hardly know you. Why don’t we get to know each other first, then I’ll decide if you can be trusted with your hands free.’
‘Why are you in here?’ asked Marko.
‘It’s a short but sad story. The drunk with the fat purse looked too good to be true, and he was.’
‘Constable in disguise?’ asked Marko.
‘And not drunk?’ asked Dantar.
‘All of that, and he was being watched by four other constables in disguise. I’m too good at what I do, and I had relieved so many honest citizens of their purses that five constables were assigned to catch me. I felt rather flattered.’
‘What’s the penalty for stealing purses?’ asked Dantar.
‘Death by hanging. Am I supposed to have your company on the town gallows tomorrow morning?’
‘That you will,’ said Marko.
‘On what charge?’
‘Murder.’
‘But we’re innocent!’ said Dantar quickly.
‘How boring,’ said Arrissa.
‘You seem very calm for someone facing death,’ said Marko. ‘Do you know something that we don’t?’
Arrissa waved Dantar away from the door and looked through the little barred window.
‘There were eight ways to get out of here before you two arrived. Now there may be nine. Is that rat in the cage one of those Savarian rats that can be trained to climb through windows and steal coins?’
‘Yes, if he’s in the mood,’ said Dantar. ‘He also talks, so don’t make any rat jokes.’
‘The rat talks?’
‘Yes.’
‘So he can be given orders?’
‘Yes, and he might even obey them.’
‘Then I think I might change the method of escape I was planning to a new one.’
Arrissa took off her ragged cape and began picking at the hem. Before long she pulled a long black cord out of the edging.
‘This is strong enough to support my weight, although it looks too thin,’ she said. She reached through the barred window and hissed to Merikus in Savarian. ‘Oi, rat, grab this cord and tie it to the bars of your cage if you want to avoid whatever they have planned for you.’
This proved to be a lot easier said than done. Several dozen tosses later, Merikus finally caught the cord. It took almost as long for Arrissa to teach him how to tie it to one of the wire bars of the birdcage.
‘How is this going to help?’ asked Dantar. ‘The cage is on a hook, so you can’t pull it off.’
‘No, but I can pull on the cord until the wire bends enough for the rat to get out.’
She pulled, and the wire cage slowly distorted. Merikus was soon able to squeeze out. He bit through the cord to release it, then jumped to the floor.
‘What do I do now?’ he squeaked.
‘Your rat really can talk!’ exclaimed Arrissa.
‘Don’t encourage him,’ said Dantar.
‘My name is Merikus, and I don’t belong to either of those two louts.’
‘Just sit under the cage,’ said Arrissa. ‘As soon as the jailor arrives to do his regular inspection, run across the floor, climb the door and get in here through the barred window.’
‘I’ve just got out of a cage, and you want me to get into a cell?’
‘Just do as you’re told.’
‘What about untying our hands?’ asked Dantar.
‘Why don’t you two untie each other’s hands?’ asked Arrissa.
‘I can hardly move my fingers!’ said Dantar, feeling the numbness in them.
‘Well, I managed to get free.’
‘Merikus gnaw through the ropes,’ suggested Dantar.
‘No, no, I need him out there!’ exclaimed Arrissa.
‘Then untie our hands or hang with us tomorrow.’
‘Very well. Can’t you tell when someone is just teasing?’
It was not long before they heard Morid’s footsteps approaching, followed by ‘Oi! The rat’s out!’
Merikus scampered across the floor. There was a frantic scrambling of little feet on the door, then he clambered through the window, jumped down, then ran up the back wall to a ledge.
Morid’s face appeared at the cell door. Arrissa, Dantar and Marko were lying against the back wall, looking as if they were still tied up.
‘The rat!’ cried Morid. ‘Where’s the rat?’
‘Up behind us, trying to climb to the outer window,’ replied Marko.
‘Stop him!’
‘How? We’re tied up.’
Morid’s face vanished, and there was a rattle of keys as he unlocked the door. Dantar and Arrissa scrambled to either side of it and pulled her black cord tight across the entrance way at ankle level. Morid pulled the door open and dashed in, his eyes fixed on Merikus, who was now at the cell window. The jailor tripped on the cord and went straight down. Marko was on him at once. The others joined in, and before long Morid was bound and gagged on the floor.
‘That was too easy,’ muttered Dantar as they walked away down the corridor.
‘The trick is to make your victim panic,’ said Arrissa. ‘We set up the guard to think escaping rat. He looked into the cell, saw that we were tied up, and dashed in without taking notice of us.’
‘You sound like you’ve done this before,’ said Dantar.
‘All conjuring tricks are done by tricking people into looking where you want them to look.’
They found a staircase at the back of the block which led down to another corridor. There was a door at the far end.
‘I remember being brought in this way,’ whispered Dantar. ‘The door opens onto an alleyway, but it’s bolted on both sides.’
‘My turn,’ said Marko softly. ‘Wait here.’
He walked away down the corridor, stamping his sea boots on the flagstones as loudly as he could. Then he rapped at the outer door.
‘Inspection!’ he shouted, and drew the inner bolt back.
‘Bleedin’ hell, is it that late already?’ said someone outside.
They heard the rattle of the outer bolt being drawn back. The door was pulled open. Arrissa seized the first guard’s arm and pulled him inside. The guard tripped over Dantar, who was on his hands and knees across the doorway. Marko brought the tip of the jailor’s sword up to the throat of the second guard.
‘You’ve failed inspection, please step inside and report to someone important,’ said Marko.
The escapees slammed the door and slid the outer bolt across, then ran away down the lane.
‘Slow down!’ said Marko as they reached the street at the end. ‘Arrissa, hold my hand.’
‘This is all very sudden,’ she said, but did not pull her hand away.
‘If anyone asks, we’re a married couple out for a stroll with our little son.’
‘Now just a moment!’ Dantar exclaimed.
‘Shut up and hold your mother’s other hand,’ said Marko.
A bell clanged behind them, but because they were not running, and looked like a family, the constables on patrol waved them past.