When Garibaldi, Sallina, Dan, and Baat entered Prudence City on the night of the Circus Masquerade, they came from the west, walking along the road from Faith Town. Once inside the city, they turned left onto a wide avenue. After that, they turned right onto a street, and last of all they turned left down a dark alley and arrived Diamara's back door.
Now they were running back up the alley. Dan was in front. Sallina was just behind him. Chimeg and the boy she had brought with her out of Diamara's house were behind Sallina. Last of all were Baat and Garibaldi.
Sallina imagined herself herself running all the way back through the city streets, along the road to Faith Town, through the fields, along the cliff, down the stairs, and across the beach to the Reliant's rowboat, where she would be safe. She wanted to be safe. Right now she was not safe at all. She was in a group of people who had stolen two slaves from a rich woman's house, and if the police of Prudence City caught her, she would go to jail, or worse.
Sallina saw light shining in the street at the end of the alley. It seemed to her that the light in the street was brighter than before, and it was flickering. She did not wonder why the light was brighter and flickering. All she could think about was running. She followed right behind Dan, and they ran out of the darkness of the alley and into the light of the street, going as fast as they could, and turning right.
In front of them, thirty steps down the street, and walking towards them, were ten men wearing helmets. They carried spears and bright lanterns. The light of the lanterns flickered on the walls on either side of the street. Among the men, towards the front, was the young woman that Garibaldi had carried into the city. She had Pookie's body in her hands.
Dan stopped running and stood still. Sallina tried to do the same, but the road was still wet from the rain, or perhaps there was some kind of mud on the street. She slipped and fell. She landed upon her hip and felt a sharp stab of pain in her side. She clenched her teeth to stop herself from crying out. Chimeg and the boy came around the corner. Baat and Garibaldi followed them. They all stopped behind Dan.
The policemen stopped and stared at them. Sallina was lying on her side in the street. Her five companions were breathing heavily.
The policemen were wearing shiny, hard pieces of leather on their chests. They wore black leather gloves, and leather trousers. Their helmets were made of steel. The steel of the helmets shone in the light of the lanterns. Sallina wondered how anyone with a stick would be able to win a fight against men protected by steel helmets and leather armor. It was one thing for Baat to attack men who were probably drunk at a party, and another thing for him to attack policemen who were not drunk, who were trained to fight, and who were wearing armor.
Dan took Sallina's hand and helped her stand up. She winced when put weight upon her right leg.
The young woman that Garibaldi had carried into the city raised one hand and pointed at them.
"Those are the people who brought me back. That big handsome one carried me." She tilted her head to one side. "But they didn't have their slaves with them then." She closed her eyes and leaned against the policeman next to her.
Sallina looked behind her at Chimeg and the boy. Both had iron torques around their necks. That was how the young woman knew they were slaves. One of the policemen stepped forwards. He was smiling, and it seemed to Sallina that he was about to say something friendly. She smiled at him. What a relief it would be if these men did not attack them or run after them. But she never had a chance to hear what the policeman had to say, because Dan took her hand and pulled on it.
"This way."
Sallina did not like Dan pulling on her hand. But she did not want to be left alone with the policemen, either, no matter how friendly their leader might appear. So she ran with Dan, and Baat, Garibaldi, Chimeg, and the boy followed behind her.
Dan led them back into the alley again, where it continued across the street, away from Diamara's house. Sallina looked back. Diamara and her guests were standing outside Diamara's garden door, holding up lanterns and shouting. None of them ran after Chimeg and the boy. Sallina wondered why. Were they afraid of Baat?
Dan shone his light behind him, just as he had done on the stairs leading up from the beach. Sallina ran beside him. There was not as much light running beside him, but there was enough, and she wanted to be in front. She felt no pain any more, not in her shoes, nor her head, nor her hip. She felt as if she could run forever, and she wanted to run forever, or long enough to get far, far away from this place, where Baat had broken one man's leg and smashed open another man's face, far away from the city where the police with spears would want to put them all in jail as soon as they learned what had happened in Diamara's garden. How absurd it would be, she thought, to run away from home because she did not want to go to jail, only to end up being a slave in the mines.
Garibaldi and the others ran as close behind Dan as they could. They needed Dan's light to see where they were going. But the closer together they ran, the more often they bumped into one another. This was not so bad for Garibaldi, because he was big and wearing boots. But the boy fell twice as they ran along the alley. Once he tripped over Baat's leg, and once Garibaldi stepped on his foot. Both times, the boy got back up on his feet without saying anything, and kept running.
Garibaldi looked back over his shoulder. The policemen stood in the street at the end of the alley. His left hand scraped against the alley wall. The alley was bearing to the right, and he had not noticed because he was looking behind him. When he looked back a second time, all he could see were the alley walls. The policemen and the street were out of sight. He was glad he could not see the policemen, because it meant that they could not see him either.
There was lantern-light ahead. The alley came to another street. Dan turned right, with Sallina beside him. When Garibaldi came out of the alley and into the street with Baat, he guessed they were now going west, which was the direction he wanted them to go. If they kept going along this street, they should come back to the avenue where they had first seen the policemen. He knew how to get back to the road to Faith Town from there.
There was plenty of light in this street. Lanterns hung from the walls. Dan put his light in his pocket. Garibaldi ran forward until he was running beside Dan and Sallina. The ears of Sallina's rabbit mask flapped up and down as she ran.
"We'll strike the avenue this way," Garibaldi said, "We turn left."
Dan nodded. He slowed down and looked back. Garibaldi wondered how he could see and run with his wolf mask. The eye holes were so small.
Sallina looked across Dan at Garibaldi. There was blood on the back of his left hand. How did that happen? He smiled at her. She raised one eyebrow. Was Garibaldi smiling because he was brave, or was he smiling because he did not understand how much danger they were in?
Dan was breathing hard. Sallina looked at him. How long could Dan run like this? He was sixty years old, maybe older. He would get tired soon. She was glad he had slowed down. He would last longer that way, and they would get farther away from the policemen.
Dan looked back again. Sallina looked too. There were no policemen following them. She heard no sound other than the sound of their boots on the street. Chimeg ran beside the boy. She held her hand out often, as if she was worried that he was going to fall. The boy's eyes were wide. He was breathing in deep gasps. His hair stuck out in all directions. It was wiry, thick, black hair. His face was dark, like Chimeg's, but narrower, and his nose was larger.
Sallina faced forward again. The boy was afraid and exhausted. Sallina had heard Chimeg speaking to the boy in Kubla, so he must be a member of one of the Kubla tribes. But she did not think he was from Kublaminsk. Wherever he was from, he was a boy. He was twelve years old at the most, maybe only nine, and soon he would be unable to run any farther, and they would either have to slow down and walk, or carry him, or leave him behind. Already, the boy was so tired that his shoulders rocked back and forth as he ran.
Sallina wished the boy was not with them. It would be better for all of them if he sat down and let them go on without him. If he stayed behind, he would be a slave in Diamara's house, but that would not be too bad. He could say Chimeg made him come with her. If he came with them, he would slow them down, and they might all be caught and sent to the mines to work underground for the rest of their lives. That's what Dan had said would happen when they first talked about the rescue in the Captain's cabin. Why was the boy with them? They had come to rescue Chimeg, not the boy. Was this part of Baat's plan, to bring the boy as well? Was the boy part of yet another one of Sukh's tricks?
They reached the avenue. Garibaldi ran ahead of Dan and turned left. Sallina saw the bench where they had left the young woman and Pookie. Garibaldi jumped across the water channel beside the bench and continued running on the other side. Dan jumped after him. When Chimeg jumped, she took the boy's hand to help him. As she pulled his hand, he tripped and fell in the water. His shin struck the channel wall. He yelled and landed upon his face in the avenue.
"Boli!" Chimeg said.
She knelt beside the boy. Garibaldi and Dan stopped running, and came back. Sallina jumped across the channel with Baat. Baat stopped beside Chimeg. He took off his stocking mask and wiped his forehead with it. His hair was shiny with sweat.
The boy stood up. There was a dark smear of blood on his shin. He tried to walk, but all he could do was limp. Dan put his hand on the boy's shoulder and spoke to him in Kubla. The boy limped to the bench and sat down. Chimeg sat beside him. She held his hand and spoke, but she was breathing too deeply to speak clearly.
Dan knelt down. He took his wolf mask off and put it on the ground. He looked at the boy's leg where it was bleeding. Sallina watched Dan's back moving up and down as he breathed. Everyone was breathing hard, but the boy was breathing hardest of all. Sallina frowned beneath her mask.
Garibaldi looked up and down the avenue. Baat stood with his arms crossed, his stick hanging from one hand. Now his mask was off, Sallina saw that he was frowning and sticking out his chin. He was angry about something. Was he still angry at Dan?
Dan stood up. He turned and spoke to Baat in Kubla. Baat frowned. He shouted ten or twenty words in Kubla. At first, Sallina thought Baat was shouting at Dan, but then she saw that Baat was shouting at Chimeg and the boy. When Baat finished, Dan shook his head, bent over, picked up his mask, and walked a few steps away from them all, rubbing his chin with one hand. Garibaldi walked over and stood beside him.
Sallina took her mask off and said to Baat, "What's the matter? Why are you angry? Who is this boy?"
Baat pointed to the boy, "He is from the tribe that killed my mother and my sister!"
Chimeg put her arm around the boy and pulled him close to her. There were tears in her eyes. She swallowed, took a deep breath and said, "He's a boy, Baat. He's a child."
"He is filth!" Baat shouted.
Sallina looked from Chimeg to Baat. Baat frowned at Chimeg. Chimeg frowned at Baat. Sallina's lungs were burning. Her left heel was throbbing. Her right toes felt as if all the skin had rubbed off them in her sock. Her hip was aching with a deep, dull ache. She looked back along the avenue, towards the street they had run out of. She expected to see the policemen run out of the same street at any moment.
But they didn't.
Garibaldi and Dan were talking. Sallina listened to them, even as she was looking out for the policemen.
"How bad is he hurt?" Garibaldi said.
"Not bad. He can walk," Dan said. "We need to get away from the lights to the main road. Then we can hide in the fields."
"I can carry him," Garibaldi said.
"I know. But not yet," Dan said, "Save your strength for when you need it most. For now, let's just get them moving."
"Baat doesn't want the boy with us."
Dan laughed. "Nor do I, lad. But the girl is fixed on him, and it wouldn't do to leave her behind. She's what we came for."
Dan clapped his hands. Sallina turned around. He was right behind her. She had not heard him move across the street behind her. Her mask must stopping her from hearing properly, or maybe it was the pounding of her heart. Dan had his wolf mask on again.
"Right, lads and lasses, let's go. Chimeg, tell the boy his leg will be okay. Tell him to run until he can't run any more."
Chimeg spoke to the boy.
Dan pointed at Baat. "Put your mask on." He turned to Sallina. "You too, put it on and let's go. Right now."
He turned and started jogging along the avenue. Baat him, pulling his stocking mask over his head. Chimeg raised the boy off the bench. He nodded and started jogging.
Sallina looked back down the avenue one more time. There was still no sign of the policemen, nor anyone else.
"How are your feet?" Garibaldi said.
She looked at him. She remembered him touching that young woman's neck. She wanted to stomp her foot again.
"Are you okay?" Garibaldi said.
Why was she so frightened? Garibaldi did not seem frightened. She put her mask over her face. The rabbit ears were bent and floppy. She must look silly in the mask. But she was glad to have it covering her face.
Sallina touched Garibaldi's chin.
He smiled. "We'd better get going."
Sallina nodded. They ran after their companions.
Farther along the avenue, they passed a group of ten people wearing masks. They were walking in the same direction Sallina and her companions were jogging. They were laughing and singing as they went, and they hardly noticed when five adults and one boy ran past them.
A few hundred paces later, they passed another group of people in masks. This group was walking in the opposite direction along the avenue. They were not laughing or singing. They were silent. They turned their masks towards Dan and Baat, and without saying a word to one another, crossed over the water channel to the far side of the avenue. Sallina thought they were afraid of Dan in his wolf mask and Baat with his stick.
Sallina saw in front of them a tall tree by the side of the avenue. She remembered it from earlier, on their way to Diamara's house. It was close to the road to Faith Town. Sallina smiled. They were almost at the road, and the police had not caught them yet. Maybe everything was going to work out all right after all.
Boli was in front of her with Chimeg. He was limping a little, but it was easier for him to keep up with them now that they were not running quickly. Garibaldi was jogging along easily at her side. Thirty paces in front of them were Dan and Baat.
They passed the tree and went around a slight bend in the avenue. Ten or fifteen men sat beside the water channel. Their voices were loud. Sallina did not like the sound of their voices. All of them were wearing masks. Some of the masks looked like helmets. They were made of metal. When the men saw Dan and Baat jogging towards them, four of them walked out into the avenue and stood in the way.
As soon as they stood in the road, Baat ran ahead of Dan. He pulled his second stick from his pack. One of the men laughed. The others raised their fists. Baat sprinted towards them as fast as he could.
Sallina could not believe what she was seeing. What was Baat going to do? There were fifteen men in the group. He was going crazy because he was so angry about the boy. Now he was going to start a fight and get all of them beaten up and thrown in jail.
She raised her hand. "No!".
But Baat kept running. He cried out something in Kubla and ran straight into the group of four men. His sticks rose and fell on either side of him. He seemed to climb over one of them while at the same time hitting the others on the head. They punched and shouted, but all they seemed to hit was air, and maybe one another. Two of them fell down. The other two stepped back.
The men beside the water channel jumped up and laughed. Dan pulled Baat forward. Baat looked around him. He looked confused. Dan shouted and Baat started to run. Chimeg, the boy, Sallina, and Garibaldi ran behind Dan, as close as they could. Sallina watched the men as she ran past. They were clapping and cheering.
Sallina faced forward. She smiled. Just a moment ago, she had been terrified of the men, and now it seemed that all they wanted was to see something exciting. Baat had given them their excitement, and now they were pleased. Maybe this was like a little circus for them, to see Baat smack down two of their friends.
She could still hear the men laughing behind her when they reached Road to Faith Town. They turned right onto the road, away from Prudence City. The road was still lit by lanterns and torches on the rooftops, and even, Sallina thought, by light shining from the lamps on top of the arena far behind them in the city.
They kept running.
Sallina was feeling hot inside her mask. She wanted to take it off. But Dan had told her to put it on a few minutes earlier, so she left it on. Her feet were hurting so badly now that every stride she took ended with a stab of pain that made her wince. Beside her, Garibaldi ran easily. He was breathing deeply, but he did not seem to be uncomfortable. His mask was an easy one to wear, of course. But more than that, he was strong and fit, and his legs were long. His boots were the same boots he had been wearing on the day they had found the Duke's gold.
The gold was on the ship. And her furs too. If she and Garibaldi were captured by the police, what would become of the gold and the furs? Would the Captain keep them? She forgot about the pain in her feet. Yes, the Captain would keep the gold and the furs. What else would he do with them? Throw them away? Why hadn't she thought about that before? If this rescue mission failed, and somehow nobody but Dan got back to the ship, the Captain would be one thousand gold pieces richer. Dan and Harry could move back into their cabin. Didn't she remember something Dan had said about that? Something about him moving back into his cabin soon enough, and smiling in an unpleasant way when he said it. Yes, she was sure he had said that, in the Captain's cabin, when they were talking about the rescue.
"Garibaldi," she said.
It was at that moment that Boli fell on the road, gasping for air. Chimeg ran a few steps farther and stopped. She was so tired, she just bent over and leaned on her own legs with her arms, breathing as deeply as she could.
Sallina and Garibaldi stopped. As Sallina stood there, she felt a sudden sharp pain in her hip. She put her hand upon it and cried out.
"Ah!"
Garibaldi had started to bend over the boy, but when he heard Sallina, he stood up and put his hand over hers. "You hurt your hip when you fell."
Sallina nodded.
Dan knelt beside Boli. Baat stood ahead of them, down the road, where he had stopped. He did not come back.
Garibaldi put his arms around Sallina and hugged her. She hugged him back. They were both breathing so deeply that holding one another was uncomfortable at first, but when she made sure she breathed out when he breathed in, they held one another tightly and it felt good.
Dan stood up. "I think it's time to carry him."
Garibaldi let go of Sallina and turned around. "Okay."
He bent down and put his arms under Boli's back and knees. He stood up and, with the same smooth movement, threw Boli over his shoulder. Without waiting for any word from Dan, Garibaldi started jogging along the road towards Faith Town. Sallina watched him and smiled. Dan ran after him. Chimeg followed close behind him.