Sallina watched the shadows around her. She tried to breath quietly so she would be able to hear anyone hiding nearby. Up on the cliff behind her, she heard a scraping noise. The bottom of the rope moved back and forth on the sand. Someone was climbing down. She looked up. A black shape moved on the wall of rock. She could not tell who it was.
From the large boulders on her left, Sallina heard a noise that sounded like someone coughing. She stared into the shadows. With the corners of her eyes, she could see the outlines of two boulders, each twice as tall as she was. The starlight shone upon the boulders, and between them was a dark space. Was there someone hiding in the dark space? She reached into the pack on her back with one hand and took out one of her fighting sticks.
She moved sideways across the sand with her stick in her hand, watching the dark space. She crept nearer and nearer, watching all the time. The noise came again. Cloff! She stopped moving. She waited. If there was someone in there coughing, then they must not know she was there, or else they would stop coughing.
Unless they could not stop themselves, because they were sick.
Cloff!
There it was again. She counted her breaths. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, Cloff!
Now that was strange. Whoever was coughing was coughing every ten breaths or so. I had better count again, she thought. I'll start at three because I started late. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, Cloff!
She waited. After eight breaths, it came again, Cloff! The sound was not loud, but she could always hear it, because it always happened between the times the waves washed upon the beach. Surely, if someone was going to cough while hiding between two boulders, they would do it when the waves were washing upon the beach so they would not be heard, not when it was quiet.
Cloff!
On the other hand, it could be someone making noises to cover up the fact that they coughed earlier. No, that was silly. The waves were washing up on the beach, and somehow they were washing up against the other side of the boulders and making the coughing noise. That had to be it. She crouched lower on the sand. Her heart was thumping. She breathed deeply.
On the sand nearby, the rope was jerking around. Someone landed beside her with a soft crunch.
"Sallina," the person said. It was Baat.
"Here," Sallina said.
Baat crept across the sand and crouched beside her. "Good, we here. No police?"
"No." Sallina wanted to tell him about the coughing noise, and ask what he thought about it, but she decided not to. Now that Baat was here, she was more certain that the noise was just the waves.
Baat unslung his pack and took out his helmet. He put it on his head and fastened its chin strap. He took his sticks out and put the pack on his back again. He patted the helmet on his head and held up his sticks. "I ready for police."
Sallina smiled. She believed him. He may be no match for Dan, but he had run right into that crowd of policemen back on the road to Faith Town, and at the end of the fight he was unhurt.
"I feel safe with you, Baat," she said.
Boli came down next, then Chimeg. Chimeg fell the last two arm-lengths and landed upon the sand with a thump and a groan. Baat and Boli helped her sit up. She could hardly breath for a while, but she said she had not broken any bones.
Sallina looked up the cliff. Now it was Garibaldi's turn to come down. She stared up into the darkness. After a while, the rope began to shake, and another black shape moved above her. He was coming quickly, hand over hand, and bouncing out from the cliff. Suddenly, he was only four arm-lengths up.
"Help me!" Garibaldi said.
Sallina and Baat stood beneath him. One of his boots knocked the side of Sallina's head, then his leg was in front of her face. She wrapped both arms around it to stop him from falling.
"Ah!" Garibaldi said, "Not that leg."
Sallina let go. So did Baat. Garibaldi fell between them onto the sand.
Sallina almost cried out Garibaldi's name, but she remembered Dan's orders and just let out a short whimper instead. She crouched beside the dark shape on the sand. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine. I landed on my bottom."
"Oh, thank heavens," Sallina said.
She and Baat moved Garibaldi away from the rope and sat him up against the cliff.
"How did you get down so fast?" Sallina said, "It looked like you were bouncing down."
"I can hold my weight with one arm for a short time," he said. He took a deep breath and leaned back. "So I held my weight on one arm after another. I kept myself away from the cliff with my good leg."
Sallina stroked his head. "It worked well."
"Not really," he said, "I was almost falling at the end. I couldn't slow down."
Sallina sat beside him. All they had to do now was wait for Dan. She looked up the cliff. She could not see him coming down, but she was not worried about him. She stared ahead at the sea. Boli and Chimeg were sitting on the other side of Garibaldi. Baat was sitting in front, cross-legged on the sand with his sticks in his lap and his helmet shining in the starlight.
What was Dan going to do with the rope? Sallina stood up and reached for the rope with her hands. It was not there. She moved back and forth along the cliff, waving her hand in front of her slowly. There was no rope hanging down. She searched on the sand. She could not find it.
She looked up at the cliff. Dan must have pulled the rope up after him. Why would he do that? She looked around. Here they were, alone. There might be policemen on the beach nearby, on hiding on the other side of the rocks. If Dan left them here, waiting for him, they might be captured. But she was glad they were down here on the sand instead of up there on the cliff. At least they had a chance to run for the rowboat when it came along. If it came along. She wondered what time it was. It must be fifteen minutes until midnight by now.
She stared up at the cliff. Was Dan climbing down at all? Yes, she saw something moving. That must be him. She kept staring. The pure, steady light of Dan's luminous stone shone against the cliff face. Then it was gone. She looked around her. What was Dan doing? Surely the policemen would see that light and come and look for them?
She moved across the sand to Baat. "Dan is coming down."
Baat turned and looked up at her. "Good."
"He pulled up the rope."
Baat said nothing.
"And I just saw him shine his light on the cliff. The policemen will see the light. I think he wants the policemen to find us."
Baat stood up and turned so he could watch the cliff and the sea at the same time. "He want to flog me on ship, not leave behind."
"Well, what's he doing shining his light then?"
Even though it was dark, and Baat could hardly see her hand, Sallina pointed up at the cliff.
"There! You see!" Sallina said.
Dan's light swept back and forth across the cliff and disappeared. He was about half-way down, but he was off to one side, away from the place where the rope had hung down.
"Please quiet," Baat said. "I see."
"What's he doing?" Sallina whispered.
"He climb down."
"But he didn't need light coming down the top part."
The coughing noise Sallina had heard earlier came again from between the boulders. Baat crouched and spun around. He held his sticks out and ready. He stared into the darkness.
"No, Baat," Sallina said, "That's just the sea."
Baat did not move. Sallina looked up at the cliff. She could not see Dan. The coughing noise came again, and again. Baat sat down.
"Only wave," he said.
"Yes," Sallina said.
She stared at the cliff. She guessed that the rope weighed as much as a small bucket of water. If Dan had the rope, he was carrying it over his shoulder. Climbing would be much more difficult with the rope over his shoulder. Of course, he had done it before, but what use would the rope be when he reached the bottom? He could have just dropped it down.
Sallina ran her fingers through her hair. There was no way the Captain was going to order Harry to flog Baat. Baat was the son of Sukh. Sukh would be furious. And Sallina was a paying passenger on the ship. How could the Captain have her flogged? All that talk about flogging was so much nonsense.
A voice spoke next to her ear. "Hello, Miss."
She jumped and almost screamed. Baat stood up and raised his sticks. Even as Sallina landed two steps away, she knew the dark figure standing on the sand was Dan. He stood between Baat and Sallina, but neither of them had seen him coming.
"Well done," Dan said. "You are keeping quiet, even when you're frightened."
"What did you do that for?" Sallina said.
"I like creeping up on people." Dan moved towards the cliff. "How is everyone?"
"Why were you shining your light?" Sallina said, "Where is the rope?"
"I was shining the light because I could not get down in the dark. The rope is tied to the cliff. I found a place to tie it, and I climbed down with the rope. But of course: I had to leave it up there."
"The policemen might have seen the light," Sallina said.
"That was a chance I had to take. You may recall, Miss, that I plan to come out of this alive. Falling off the cliff and dying on the rocks so that you can make it to the boat without being caught would go against my plan."
Sallina stared at the shadows around her feet and frowned.
Dan crouched beside Garibaldi. "How's the leg?"
"Okay," Garibaldi said, "I'm glad you made it."
"Thank you. I'm beginning to think you're the only one who appreciates me around here."
"They'll come around," Garibaldi said.
Dan laughed quietly. "Don't get me wrong boy. I don't mind."
Sallina was still staring at the ground. Dan was here, she thought. He used the rope to help himself climb down in the dark. He had bound Garibaldi's leg. Somehow he had figured out how to get them all down to the beach without using the stairs. Could it be that all along he was just doing his best to get them back to the Reliant, but somehow she had misunderstood him, and decided he was trying to trick them? Back in the cave, Baat had agreed with her. He had said she was crazy not to tell him about the gold. But Baat had not said anything insulting about Dan, or even been angry at Dan, since Dan had climbed up to rescue him on the cliff. It seemed like Baat had changed his mind.
She looked up. Dan was crouched next to Garibaldi, shining his light upon his round instrument. "Five minutes to midnight," he said. He covered the light and stood up. "We're just in time. The Captain is a punctual man. He will be here in five minutes."
"Is that a watch?" Garibaldi said.
Dan stretched his arms above his head. "Aye, it is."
"It is beautiful."
"Aye."
"Is it dwarf-made?"
Dan stopped stretching. "Aye." After a moment he said, "That it is, lad, dwarf-made. And a prettier dwarf you never saw."
"Pretty dwarf?" Baat said. "You make joke?"
After a few breaths, Dan said, "Baat, my dear boy. When a man says a woman is pretty, think twice before you argue with him."
Baat did not answer.
"Right," Dan said, "Sallina, get Garibaldi up. Baat, come close behind me. Sallina and Garibaldi after Baat. Chimeg and Boli at the end."
Sallina helped Garibaldi stand up. She put her arm around his waist and he put his arm over her shoulder. Dan crept towards the sea. Baat followed him, bent low over the sand. Sallina and Garibaldi could not bend over. Garibaldi leaned on Sallina's left shoulder and hopped on his left leg. With Garibaldi's weight upon her shoulder, Sallina's boots were sinking into the sand.
The sound of the waves grew louder. The sand ahead of her glowed in the starlight. She saw the slope of the beach, and the white foam of the waves on the sand. At the sight of the waves, she smiled. The sea made her feel safe.
Dan crouched beside a boulder at the top of the beach. Baat knelt beside him. Sallina and Garibaldi stopped in the darkness beside another boulder. Dan stared over his boulder at the beach to their left. Sallina could not see the beach to their left or to their right. The boulder on her left was higher than Garibaldi's head. To her right, there was an open stretch of sand about forty steps wide, and then a huge pile of rocks.
Sallina whispered in Garibaldi's ear. "The beach we landed on at last night is on the other side of that pile of rocks."
Garibaldi looked at the pile of rocks. "How far is the staircase we went up?"
Sallina thought for a moment. "I don't know. But I guess it must be at least a few hundred meters."
"Is that where we're supposed to meet the rowboat?"
"Yes."
Garibaldi nodded and looked down at his injured leg. He was standing on his good leg, resting the foot of his injured leg upon the ground. He was trying not to lean against Sallina too much. He put some more weight on his injured leg. He felt pain in his wound, but his leg held him up. If he could endure the pain, he could walk on his own. Maybe he could even run, if he had to.
Dan crept across the sand towards pile of rocks. Baat, Sallina, Garibaldi, Chimeg, and Boli followed him. When he reached the edge of the rocks, Dan moved towards the waves. The sand around the last of the rocks was wet with sea-water. Dan raised his head slowly and stared over the rocks.
Sallina looked in the other direction. The beach and the white waves stretched away into the dim starlight. After a while, she saw water flowing out from beneath the boulders at the base of the cliff, about fifty paces away. She decided that this water must be from the stream that flowed down the ravine outside the cave. She had forgotten about the stream until now. Why didn't the stream fall over the edge of the ravine? It must fall down through some kind of crack instead, and come out of another crack at the bottom of the cliff. Perhaps it was the water of the stream mixing with the waves that made the coughing sound she had been worried about earlier. She listened for the sound again, but she could not hear it.
Dan crouched down and crept back towards them.
"What you see?" Baat said.
"Nothing," Dan said.
"No police?"
"No."
"Good," Sallina said.
"The staircase is three hundred paces along the beach, on the other side of the rocks," Dan said, "I don't see the rowboat yet. I don't see any police, but they could be hiding. I think we should−"
Dan did not finish his sentence, because Boli interrupted him, saying, "Yalla!"
Boli was pointing along the beach to their left, over the stream, in the direction Sallina had been staring a moment earlier. There was a light on the water. Sallina guessed how far away it was: farther than two hundred paces, but less than a thousand. The light went out, and on again. It was an oil lantern just like the ones the Reliant used at night.
"That's them," Dan said.
"But they are in the wrong place," Sallina said, "They're supposed to be over there." She pointed over the pile of rocks towards the staircase.
"Yes, they are," Dan said, "But it's not easy to find your way by starlight. They missed. And you never know: it may be for the best."
He stood up and looked once again over the pile of rocks. Sallina heard a shout carried on the wind. The shout did not come from the rowboat. It came from the staircase. She stood up. There was movement on the sand, a few hundred paces away. She heard the clank of metal upon metal.
"Police," Sallina said.
Dan turned around. "Aye." He spoke to Chimeg in Kubla and pointed along the beach towards the rowboat.
"Go!" he said.
Chimeg and Boli started running across the sand towards the rowboat. When they reached the stream, they stopped and looked at it. Sallina wondered how deep the stream was. Chimeg took Boli's hand and started wading into the water.
Sallina turned to Dan. "What do we do?"
Dan stroked his chin with his hand. "I'm thinking."
"What's going on?" Garibaldi said.
"There's a bunch of policemen over there," Sallina said. She pointed over the pile of rocks towards the staircase. She watched the moving shapes on the beach out of the corners of her eyes. "They are about two hundred paces away and running towards us. The rowboat is coming over there." She pointed in the other direction, across the stream towards the rowboat. The rowboat light flashed. "The rowboat is a hundred paces from the shore, and it will land on the beach two hundred paces from where we stand now in about a minute. We are between the police and the rowboat." She watched Chimeg and Boli wading in the stream. "We have a stream to cross to get to the rowboat. The water in the stream is waist-deep. Boli and Chimeg are half-way across." She looked down at Garibaldi. "And you are wounded."
"Oh," Garibaldi said. He smiled. She could see his white teeth. "Tough spot for us."
"Yes," Sallina said. She bent down. "Let's start by getting you up."
Garibaldi held her arm. She pulled him to his feet. He leaned on her.
"You two get going," Dan said, "Baat and I will hold the policemen here for a minute, then we'll come after you."
Baat pointed at the stream. "They shoot us there, when we swim."
Dan stared at the stream. It seemed to Sallina that Baat was right, but she did not think Dan would listen to Baat.
"Yes," Dan said. "They may have bows. Good thinking. Okay, we'll all cross the stream right now."
Sallina and Garibaldi started jogging towards the stream. Baat caught up with them and took Garibaldi's other arm. Together, Sallina and Baat almost carried Garibaldi across the sand. He hopped as best he could to make it easier for them.
Dan followed behind them. "Hurry! We have to get across before they reach the rocks."
They reached the stream and plunged into the water. The water was cold, but Sallina did not notice the cold. All she thought about was getting across as quickly as she could. A wave washed up from the sea and pushed them sideways. Sallina and Baat held Garibaldi and dragged him through the water. When they were half-way across, Sallina put her foot down and felt no bottom to the stream. Garibaldi's weight was upon her shoulder, pushing her down. Her head went under. She let go of Garibaldi's waist. Garibaldi wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her up. She spat out a mouthful of salty water and wiped her face with her hand.
Garibaldi pulled her another step forward. Her boots found the bottom and she stood up. She grabbed Garibaldi around the waist with her right arm and pushed forwards through the water. Baat did the same. Garibaldi let them drag him along. She looked ahead of her. They were over half-way across. Chimeg and Boli stepped out of the stream in front of them. The rowboat's light flashed. It seemed hardly nearer than it had been before. Chimeg and Boli ran along the beach.
A man's voice called out from behind them. "Stop, in the name of the law!"
"Keep going!" Dan cried. He was right behind Sallina.
"Form up archers!" the man's voice called.
"Here it comes!" Dan said.
Sallina waited for the twang of bowstrings. Dan lunged through the water behind her. She felt his hand grab the top of her head and push her down. She tried to hold herself up, but the strength in Dan's arm was astonishing. She slipped on the sand and sunk down beneath the water. Garibaldi went down with her. She had her arm around his waist. Dan's hand was off her head, but she was still deep beneath the water. She bent her legs up to her chest and reached out with her boots for the bottom. One boot touched the sand, then the other. She pushed up, holding Garibaldi firmly.
She burst out of the water. Baat reached out and grabbed Garibaldi's arm. They pulled him up. When he came above water, he cried out. "Ah!"
Dan was still there, behind Sallina. "Move up the beach when you get out of the water." He panted and spat to one side. "The boulders will cover you!"
In that moment, Sallina was more terrified than she had ever been in her life. The archers would fire again. She had no time to think. She had no time to wonder if she should trust Dan or not. She would do whatever he told her, and maybe, just maybe, she would survive."Aim!" the man's voice called. "Fire!"
Sallina felt Dan's arm wrap around her waist. He pulled her sideways. The water was knee-deep, and she tried to stop herself from falling by thrusting one leg to the side, but her boot caught in the sand, and down she went. She fell flat upon her face in the water. When she came up on her knees, Baat was pulling Garibaldi out of the stream in front of her. She stood up and splashed through the water to the sand.
"Forward!" the man's voice called.
Garibaldi stood up. He tried to run up the beach, but he stumbled in the soft sand. Baat caught him and helped him forward. Sallina ran beside them. After twenty paces, she looked back. There was the stream, shimmering in the starlight. Dan was five paces behind her. Several enormous boulders hid the archers from view. If she could not see the archers, she supposed that they could not shoot her. She took a deep breath. The sand was dry beneath her boots, but her boots were full of water.
"That's far enough up," Dan said, "Go along now."
They jogged along the soft sand towards the flashing light. Sallina tried to find Chimeg and Boli in the darkness ahead of them, but she could not. The light on the rowboat flashed. It was at least a hundred paces away, and some uncertain distance out from the shore.
Above the sound of the waves and the sloshing water in her boots, she heard splashing behind them. She looked back. Ten men were pushing through the water of the stream.
"They're coming across!"
"Of course they are!" Dan said. "Keep going."
Sallina put her arm around Garibaldi's waist and tried to help him and Baat to go faster. But all she seemed to do was slow them down.
"Go down to the wet sand!" Dan said. He panted. "It's easier to run and we're far enough ahead."
They turned down the beach towards the waves. Sallina looked back at the stream. Several men were splashing out of it, a hundred paces away. She felt the sand harden beneath her boots as they neared the waves.
"Now, Garibaldi," Dan said, "Run! Run for your life!"
Garibaldi looked back. He let go of Baat and started to hop and limp as fast as he could. He was not quite running, but he was going faster than before, and he was doing it on his own. Sallina ran too. Baat slowed down and she ran past him. She was behind Garibaldi, with Baat and Dan somewhere behind her.
The light from the rowboat shone out again. It was then that Sallina realized the rowboat would not reach the shore before the policemen caught up with them.