There was slow, deep, hissing ahead of them on the road and in the fields. Sallina's smile turned to a frown. After another hundred steps, they ran into a wall of rain. It was cold and heavy, with big drops that struck her face and made her blink.
"Can we take our masks off now?" Sallina shouted over the sound of the rain.
In the dim light of the city behind them, Sallina saw Dan take off his mask and put it in his pack.
"Yes! Take them off. We'll be in the dark soon."
She took off her mask. Baat did the same. Garibaldi left his on.
It was easier to see without the mask. She was so glad to take it off. She was so tired of running, that she almost threw the mask off to the side of the road. But she carried it with her instead. She did not see what Baat did with his mask. Maybe he put it in his pocket.
They came to a bend in the road. It was the same bend at which Sallina had first seen the lights of Prudence. She looked back and saw the same lights once more through sheets of rain. When they went around the bend, the lights disappeared behind a hill. With the rain-clouds above, and the shadow of the hill all about them, it was once again absolutely dark. Dan took out his light and shone it on the road for them. They ran close together so that they could see by its light. Dan and Garibaldi went in front, followed by Chimeg, Sallina and Baat.
Although he did not complain, Garibaldi was tired. His back hurt from carrying the young woman, and now he was aching all over from carrying the boy. He was not sure how much longer he could keep going. Dan had been right to tell him to save his strength. If he had carried the boy in the city, he would certainly be too tired to do it now.
He looked straight ahead with his mouth clenched and his arms holding the boy. He peered into the rain, waiting to see the place where they could turn off the road and go south. When they reached that point, it would not be long before he could take a rest. When they were on the path the fields, the police would not find them.
Garibaldi blinked and stared ahead again. "Is that a light?"
"Where?" Dan said. He put his hand over his eyes and stared ahead without slowing down.
"In front of us, about five hundred paces."
Baat and Sallina stared ahead. Sallina saw one or two lamps.
"Yes," Dan said. "There's someone on the road in front of us. They are running like us, in the same direction."
"They're going to Faith Town," Sallina said.
They kept running. The puddles in the road grew deeper, and the road more slippery. Their boots splashed in the puddles and threw water up their own trousers and onto the trousers of their companions. Sallina put her rain hat on, but her hair was already soaking wet and dripping down the back of her jacket. Cold water made its way into her boots, and as it did, her boots became heavier, and running more difficult. Her hip was aching, and her feet were burning. But she ignored all this discomfort. None of it seemed important compared to getting away from the police.
Garibaldi slipped in the mud and fell on his bottom. Boli rolled off his shoulder and landed in a puddle. Dan shone his light upon the two of them. Boli stood up. His thick black hair hung down around his head, wet with the rain. Chimeg hugged him. Garibaldi sat in the road. Sallina put her hand on his head and knelt down beside him.
"Are you hurt?"
Garibaldi closed his eyes for a few seconds. He stood up slowly. Sallina held his elbow to help him.
Garibaldi took off his mask. He looked at it and threw it into the darkness. He put his hand on his lower back, just above his bottom. He stood as tall as he could and looked up into the rain.
"I'll be okay. I can't carry the boy any more."
Chimeg spoke to Boli.
Dan said, "The boy can run now. He's caught his breath. Come on!"
Dan started running. He shone his light backwards for the rest of them. Boli followed Dan. Seeing Boli running again, the rest of them started running also.
The lights in front of them were growing larger.
"We're gaining on them!" Dan said.
"They see your light," Baat said, "They can be police."
"No," Dan said, "They won't see my light."
Sallina imagined Baat shaking his head. She could tell where he was by the splashing of his boots, and she could see Chimeg and Boli's feet in front of her by the light of Dan's lamp. But she could not see any of their faces.
Sallina looked hard at the lights on the road ahead of them. There were two of them, one on either side of a large object. Maybe it was a cart. But the cart seemed to have legs, and there was movement on either side of it.
"It's the litter!" she said. "The one Jayhan the Captain of the junk uses. Look at the men carrying it. They are wearing robes."
Chimeg's sandal came down in a puddle that was as deep as her ankle. Water splashed to either side and she stumbled. Sallina caught her with one hand.
"Yes," Garibaldi said, "I see the men in robes."
"Could be," Dan said, "Jayhan was going to see the circus. Maybe he's late leaving the city."
It was hard for Sallina to hear him, even though he was shouting, because of the sound of the rain, and all the splashing of their feet.
"Why didn't he go earlier," Garibaldi said, "With the big group of people. He would have been safe from bandits."
There was a roll of thunder high up among the clouds. Sallina looked up. Was there going to be lightening too?
"He doesn't have to worry about bandits," Dan said, "He has Yohiromaki with him."
"What's that?" Garibaldi said.
"His body-guard."
Sallina remembered the man who had crouched down on the ground when he saw Dan with the Captain beside the hot springs.
"The man with white hair."
"That's him," Dan said.
Splash, splash, splash went their feet in the puddles. Even though she was wet, Sallina was not cold. The running was keeping her warm.
"Behind!" Baat said.
"What?" Dan said.
"Lights behind!"
Sallina looked over her shoulder. Baat was right. Several lanterns were on the road behind them, about five hundred steps away. And there were people running on the road with the lanterns.
Dan stopped running and looked back. The rest of them stopped too. The splashing of their boots stopped. They could hear one another breathing heavily. The rain hissed upon the road and the fields all around them.
Dan held his hand over his eyes. "Yes, well done Baat. I should have looked myself. The lanterns are in regular order. That means it's police."
Dan turned and started running again. They followed.
"What we do?" Baat said.
"Keep running. I'm thinking about it."
"They coming fast. We go too slow."
"Shut up, boy!"
Baat did not answer. Sallina frowned. She agreed with Baat. They were going too slowly. They could all run faster than this. In fact, she would be happier running faster. This jogging was making her tired and hurting her legs. It would be better to run faster, and then rest. But they could not run faster because of the boy.
Sallina looked back down the road. The policemen were catching up with them. Was it the same group of policemen they had run away from in the street at the end of Diamara's alley? Who else would be able to run after them so quickly?
"The litter has stopped," Garibaldi said.
He was right. The litter was only a hundred paces in front of them. Dan stopped again.
He pointed his light at the hedge by the side of the road. "We're going into the field."
There was a wooden gate in the hedge, and beyond the gate, a field. It was still raining, but not as hard as it had been earlier.
Dan stepped off the road, through a large puddle, and climbed over the gate in the light of his lamp. He stood on the other side and pointed the light at the gate. Garibaldi stood in front of the gate for a few seconds, wondering if he could climb over it without hurting his back. He decided he could. He put one leg over, then another, and stood in the field. His back seemed okay. Boli sprang over the gate, and Chimeg too. Sallina climbed over, and Baat came over quickly, in a way that Sallina did not get a chance to watch.
Dan pointed with his light along the hedge. "This way."
He crouched low. They crept along the hedge, one behind the other. They came to the end of the field. Another hedge stood in front of them. But they could see the litter and the men in red robes through the hedge, while they themselves were hidden in the darkness.
The litter was sitting on its wooden legs about thirty paces away. There was a lantern on each of the four corners of the litter. The lanterns shone light in every direction. Sallina could see the rain falling between her and the litter. Six men in red robes stood close to one corner. Another man in a red robe was sitting on the road, holding his ankle. The man with white hair was kneeling beside him. The eighth man in a red robe was lying down with his eyes closed. He was not moving.
The man with white hair helped the injured man to his feet. The injured man took a few steps and nodded. The man with white hair looked towards the policemen's lanterns. They were only two hundred paces away. He opened a hatch in the wall of the litter and spoke through it. Sallina could not hear what he said, and nor did she expect to understand him, even if she did hear him. She was sure they were speaking Chiin.
The man with white hair stopped talking and put his ear to the hatch. He nodded and said something like, "Hai!" He closed the hatch and spoke to the men in red robes. They picked up the man lying in the road and carried him to the front of the litter. Sallina was not sure where they put him. Maybe there was a bench on the front of the litter.
The man with white hair stood in front of the door of the litter, facing the policemen's lanterns. He closed his eyes and held his hands flat together in front of him. He took a deep breath. He let the breath out.
Dan said something. Baat rose up on his knees and pushed the leaves of the hedge apart .
Sallina tapped Garibaldi on the shoulder. "What did he say?"
Garibaldi leaned towards her. "Dan said Yohiromaki is preparing for battle."
The men in red robes stood together at the front of the litter, watching the man with white hair. Sallina looked back towards Prudence. She stared through the leaves of the hedge. The policemen had four lanterns. Four or five policemen ran beside each lantern.
"There are twenty of them," she said.
There had been only ten policemen in the group they had met in the city.
Dan looked through the hedge. His face was lit by lantern-light. He was smiling. Sallina frowned. Why was Dan smiling? It must be that Dan did not like the man with white hair, and was happy to see the man with white hair in trouble.
The policemen's boots splashed along the road. Moments later, they were all around the litter with their clattering weapons. They carried spears, swords, shields, and crossbows. They wore helmets and armor.
One policemen walked up and stood in front of the man with white hair. He shouted over the sound of the rain. Sallina could hear him clearly. This must be the police captain.
"We are searching for two missing slaves."
The man with white hair held his hands clasped in front of him. He did not hide them in the sleeves of his robe as he had done beside the hot springs.
"Inside is my master, Jayhan, illustrious captain of the Hoi-Chiin."
His voice was strange, but Sallina could understand him, even from thirty paces away, through the bush. He spoke loudly. Perhaps he wanted to make sure that the people in the litter could hear him also.
"With captain are two wives, which he bring with him from Chiin. There is no-one else inside."
"Open it!" the police captain said.
The man with white hair opened the door. The police captain stepped closer. He looked inside. He pointed to the ground at his feet.
"Out, all of you!"
The men in red robes jostled one another. Those at the rear tried to look over the ones in front. The ones in front leaned back upon their comrades to stop themselves from being pushed towards the man with white hair.
The man with white hair closed the door. "No. You dishonor us."
The police captain stared at the man with white hair. The man with white hair was wet. His black robe clung to his body. He was short compared to the policeman, and not particularly broad. He appeared to carry no weapon. The policeman, on the other hand, had a spear in one hand, a shield on his back, a sword at his belt, leather armor, and a helmet.
"I beg your pardon?" the policeman said.
"They will not come out."
Sallina heard Dan chuckle. He said something to Baat.
"Arrest him!" the police captain said.
Four policemen stepped forward around their captain and reached out with their hands for the man with white hair. Sallina could not see clearly through the hedge and the rain and the other policemen standing on the road. She wanted very much to stand up so she could look over the top of it, but of course she didn't, because the policemen would see her.
One of the policemen sank to his knees and fell backwards, his eyes closed. Another fell against the litter with a thud and slid down into a puddle.
The police captain leaned his spear against the litter and drew his sword. He waved it in the air.
"Plant lanterns! Draw weapons!"
The policemen planted the ends of their lantern-poles in the soft earth beside the road. The lanterns swayed back and forth. One fell over and broke, but the policemen paid no attention to it. They drew their swords and hefted their spears and shields.
Baat stood up and moved back from the hedge. He had his two sticks in his hands.
"What are you doing?" Dan said.
"He fights for us!" Baat said. He spat on the ground. "You stink!"
Dan stood up and rushed towards Baat, but Baat was too quick for him. He ran to one side and jumped right over the hedge, his sticks held high.
Sallina stood up. What was the point in remaining hidden now? Baat ran onto the road and charged into the crowd of policemen, shouting something in Kubla as he did so. The policemen turned and raised their shields and spears. Baat beat upon the shields and spears with his sticks.
Garibaldi ran along the hedge. He had his sticks in one hand.
"No!" Sallina cried.
Garibaldi must have noticed a gap in the hedge earlier, because he pushed his way through easily, and ran towards the policemen. Now he had a stick in each hand.
I'm not going to let him fight while I stay behind, Sallina thought. She moved along the hedge. She took off her pack and pulled out her sticks. She dropped the pack on the ground and tried to push her way through the hedge where Garibaldi had gone through. Maybe she had the wrong place, because it was hard to push through. A branch scratched her face. She bumped her shin on something, maybe a rock. She pushed hard, and heard the canvass of her jacket tearing at the back. She pushed again and came through the other side. Her hair was caught in some thorny thing, but she pushed forwards towards the road and pulled a tuft of hair right out of her head.
But she hardly noticed the pain. She saw Garibaldi in front of her, in the light of the police lanterns. He was fighting a man with leather armor and a spear. The man raised his spear. Garibaldi struck him on the head with his stick, but the man did not seem to notice. He stuck his spear into Garibaldi's leg. Garibaldi slipped down to one knee and the spear came out.
Sallina ran as fast as she could. The man with the spear stepped back. His spear was long. He had his back to Sallina. He raised his spear. Garibaldi tried to stand. He could not. He held up his sticks. Sallina did not say anything when she charged up behind the policeman. She did not want him to know she was coming. She ran fast, but she didn't splash in any puddles. She jumped up in the air when she came to the policeman, and she hit him on his helmet as hard as she could, with the weight of her entire body behind the blow.
Clang!
The policemen staggered, turned around, and held his spear up. She did not bother being amazed that the man was still standing, and she paid no attention to his spear. She hit him right on the elbow with her other stick.
Crack!
"Ah!" the policeman said. He grimaced.
Sallina hit him again, on the side of the head. His head went sideways. He stepped back. He still had one hand on his spear. The end of the spear was resting on the ground. She hit his hand with her second stick, right where it held the spear.
"Ah!"
He let go of he spear. It fell sideways. The man was moving slowly. It was if he could not see properly, or had forgotten he was in a fight. Sallina stepped forward and hit him on the head.
Thump!
The policeman sank to his knees. Hitting him on the head seemed to be working after all. She hit him on the head again. He fell down on his back. There was blood dripping down his face. He lay still.
Sallina looked at Garibaldi. While she had been hitting the policeman, Garibaldi had stood up. Now he was leaning upon the policeman's spear with one arm. He held a stick in his other hand. By the light of the policemen's lanterns, Sallina saw that his right trouser leg was soaked with blood.
Sallina looked towards the litter. The man with white hair was standing outside of the door with a sword in his hand. Baat was a few steps away, closer to Sallina. Only four policemen were still fighting. Three were fighting the man with white hair and one was fighting Baat. Six or seven other policemen lay in the road. She was not sure where the rest of them had gone. There had been twenty of them to start with. Perhaps they were hiding in the ditch? She wiped rain from her eyes. The men in red robes were still gathered together at the front of the litter. They watched the man with white hair fighting the policemen. They did not move to help him. They just watched.
Baat hit his policeman on the side of the head with a stick. The policeman fell to his knees. Baat kicked him in the stomach. The policeman fell sideways into a puddle. He tried to get up, but lay back in the puddle and hugged his belly.
For no reason that Sallina could see, one of the policemen attacking the man with white hair dropped his spear and fell to his knees. Another banged his head on the side of the litter. The last one stood still. He held a spear in one hand. He let go of the spear. It fell to the ground. The man with white hair was holding a sword to his throat.
To Sallina's right, a policemen sat up and held his head in both hands. Another rose to his knees and looked around. Sallina heard splashing on the road behind her. She looked back. The rest of the policemen were running back to Prudence, taking a lantern with them.
The man with white hair stared at the policeman in front of him. The policeman shivered. The man with white hair lowered his sword. The policeman turned and ran. Four other policemen stood up and followed him. They stumbled past Sallina and Garibaldi and through the rain towards Prudence, leaving three injured comrades and two lanterns behind them.
Sallina stepped up to Garibaldi and kissed him. He smiled. She knelt down in the road and looked at his leg. There was a cut about as long as her finger in the front of his thigh. She had seen the policeman spear him. The cut could be deeper than it was long. Blood was dripping out of it. She could see it flowing down the front of his trousers, and over the tips of his boot.
She thought she was going to faint. She did not want to feint. She breathed deeply and clenched her teeth. What was she going to do? How was she going to save Garibaldi? He was going to bleed to death if she did not do something. How was she going to get him to the boat?
She looked up and saw Dan standing above her. He took Garibaldi's arm. "Move aside lass. Let's lay him down and get that leg up."
Garibaldi lay down on the wet road.
"Hold it up there."
Sallina held Garibaldi's leg.
Dan looked at her. "That's good."
She stared at him. She was shivering.
Dan smiled. "He's not going to die." He looked down at Garibaldi and shook his head. "You kids are crazy. But you have spirit. It'll be a shame to lose you."