Emilie & the Hollow World (13 page)

There wasn't, at least not off this corridor. The guards shouted behind her and a bullet rang off the stone wall. Emilie yelped and ducked into the room at the far end, praying that there would be a window. There was - a big one, which looked out over an open waterway at the far end of the building. She scrambled up onto the sill, glanced back to see a guard just behind her, and as he lunged for her she jumped.

By pure luck she missed the stone dock platform and plunged into the water. She floundered to the surface, coughing and gasping, heard someone yelling about shooting at her, and flailed away, swimming frantically.

She managed to get headed down the waterway, away from the window, but another gunshot rang out behind her. Then something grabbed her ankle and jerked her under water.

Emilie struggled wildly, until she realized whatever had a hold of her was both furry and scaly. It had to be Rani. She hoped very hard that it was Rani. They passed through a dark section of water and she thought they were going under a solid object. Right at the point where Emilie thought her lungs would burst, they surfaced abruptly.

Emilie coughed and spat out water as Rani pulled her up onto wet stone. Emilie sputtered and managed to get a full breath. “You all right?” Rani asked.

Emilie nodded weakly. They were inside a building, perhaps next door to the one the airship was docked in. The ceiling was low and arched, cracked and stained with mold. There was more floor space between the pools of water.

“I had to stuff your boots and the sack they brought you in into the slop bucket,” Rani said. “Sorry. I saved these.” She pulled Emilie's dripping stockings out of the front of her shirt.

“That's all right.” Emilie took the stockings, though she wasn't sure what good they would do her at the moment. “I don't think Miss Marlende got away.” She coughed again.

“No, but she was very helpful, your friend. I would not have gotten away without her. And you,” Rani added, giving Emilie a friendly nudge to the shoulder that almost pushed her over. “You are one brave little person.”

“Thank you.” Emilie was too worried to be flustered by the compliment. “We have to rescue Miss Marlende.”

“That we do.” Rani got to her feet, giving Emilie a hand up. “This way.”

They made their way through the long building. It was quiet except for the water lapping in the pools, and Emilie saw cracks in the pillars and more splotches of mold; it had clearly been abandoned for some time. She wondered how many empty structures there were in this section of the city. Probably many, since the Queen had chosen this area to dock Lord Ivers' airship. This city was not as prosperous as it had looked at first, more evidence that what Lord Ivers had said was the truth.

They came to a doorway on the far end, opening out to a narrow canal, with steps and platforms for merpeople to enter the water. It was lined with three- and four-story buildings, with large windows and balcony platforms. There was no sign of life or movement. Rani turned back toward the airship building, and Emilie kept close to the wall. Being shot at was not an experience she wanted to repeat. We need to steal a gun, she thought. The rifle Rani had jerked out of the guard's hands had fallen into the water, and Emilie wondered if they could retrieve it, if it would still work. She rather thought it wouldn't.

They reached a doorway leading into the airship building, and Rani stopped abruptly, holding up a hand. Emilie froze, and realized she could hear a low metallic buzz. “You hear that?” Rani whispered, then she said something in Cirathi that was probably a very bad word, adding: “The engine!”

Rani ducked through the doorway and Emilie hurried after her. They went through a wide shadowy passage with a shallow stream of water running down the center, toward an archway that opened into daylight. That must be the courtyard, she thought. Emilie's heart was pounding. If they had already started the airship's engine...

Rani stopped at the edge of the archway, taking a cautious peek through it. She cursed again and said, “We are too late, Emilie.”

Emilie looked, in time to see the cabin of the airship clearing the top floor of the building, the enormous balloon throwing a huge shadow over the water court.
Damn it, no!
Desperate for it not to be true, she said, “Maybe they left her behind.”

Rani ruffled Emilie's hair sympathetically, but said, “We'll search.”

Cautiously, they looked through the lower floor, then worked their way back up, all the way to the cell level. There was no sign of Miss Marlende, but they could see the place had been occupied. In one room they found fruit rinds and crumbs, and bits of food trash that had clearly come from Menea: a couple of brown bottles that had probably held beer, and a wrapper for a cracker packet. There were some bits of crumpled paper and a blue uniform cap someone had dropped.

Emilie rescued her boots from the slop bucket in their cell, and admitted bleakly, “They didn't leave her behind.”

Rani turned back toward the stairs, asking, “Do you know what they will do with her?”

“I don't know.” Emilie hadn't thought Lord Ivers had seemed like the type to murder people, until his men started shooting at her. “If he just takes her back to the surface, to Menea... If he doesn't hurt her, when Lord Engal gets back he can tell the magistrates what happened. They'll arrest Lord Ivers if he doesn't let her go.” Lord Engal must have just as much influence as Lord Ivers, and the magistrates would have to believe him and take action
.
If Lord Engal can get back to Menea, she thought. If we can all get back. “What do we do now? Try to get to the harbor and find Lord Engal and the others?” If he wasn't a hostage too.

“Yes, I think it must be your Lord Engal, for now,” Rani said, thinking it over. “If he has no solutions, we'll have to think of one for ourselves. And I wish to retrieve Kenar as soon as possible.” She paused on the landing to confide to Emilie, “Men are not good left on their own, you know. They pine.”

Emilie had never heard that before and the thought kept her occupied all the way down the stairs.

Getting to the harbor was just as difficult as Emilie had suspected it might be, even with Rani's help.

Rani knew what direction they had to go in, but when they came to the edge of the empty area, there were too many merpeople between them and the waters of the harbor. Merpeople swimming in the waterways, towing little rafts piled with bundled goods, merpeople walking along the bridges and the galleries. The light was starting to get that edged quality that meant the Dark Wanderer was bringing the night eclipse, and Emilie thought this might be the rush to get home before dark, or to get the last things done for the end of the working day.

She was glad she had decided to try to rescue Rani and Miss Marlende, and hadn't fled alone toward the harbor for help; not only would Lord Ivers have been able to leave with both of them in his airship, but Emilie would have become hopelessly lost and recaptured by the merpeople.

Rani left Emilie to hide in an enclosed passage in the last empty building, and made several forays to check on different possible routes. Emilie sat on the cool smooth floor, washed her boots off in a little pool, and worried. Her stomach was also starting to growl; it had been a long time since breakfast. She had also had time to feel her bruises from being manhandled into the sack; her arms looked like she had put them into a vice.

Rani returned finally, surfacing in the pool suddenly and giving Emilie a start. “It's not good news,” Rani reported, and slung herself out of the water to sit on the platform. “The harbor area must be the most crowded part of the city. I think we must wait until dark before we try to make it to the docks.”

“That's not long, though, is it?” Emilie asked, trying not to sound as weary and anxious as she actually was. “Maybe another hour?”

“Not long.” Rani absently wrung out her long braids. “Your Lord Engal's ship would not travel at night, would it?”

“Um, yes. It has spotlights. We've been traveling at night all along, because we wanted to find Dr. Marlende and you all as quickly as possible.” Emilie bit her lip. “You think the Queen might have made them leave already?”

“Ah.” Rani frowned, preoccupied, but she said reassuringly, “We'll see. Perhaps we'll be lucky.”

Emilie thought Rani was probably an optimist.

About an hour later, the complete darkness of the eclipse settled in, and they crept out of hiding. Lamps, burning oil that smelled vaguely fishy, had been lit along some of the waterways and bridges, but most of the byways were dark. Rani moved silently over the walkways, giving wide berth to the lighted areas, leading them toward the docks.

Emilie was relieved to be moving. The wait for darkness had worn on her nerves, though at least the anxiety had kept her awake. It had been a long time since her last good night's sleep, as well as a long time since breakfast. At one point Rani had demanded, “What is that noise? Is that you?”

“It's my stomach,” Emilie had replied defensively. She had noticed that Rani didn't speak Menaen as readily as Kenar; she thought that was because Kenar had been with Miss Marlende, probably talking himself hoarse to help her convince Lord Engal of what had to be done to come to Dr. Marlende's rescue, while Rani had been locked up with not much of anyone to speak with. “Doesn't your stomach grumble when you're hungry?”

“Yes, but not that loud. No one's stomach is that loud.”

Now Emilie was almost willing to believe she was right, and hoped her stomach didn't alert any merpeople swimming through the dark water below them. She had kept her boots off in case they had to swim, tying them together and looping them around her neck, and the smooth stone was cool underfoot.

They came down a narrow walkway above a deep canal, and out onto the docks, under the shelter of the lower level of the big gallery. It was quiet except for the breeze on the water, and this part of the gallery smelled of the bundles of wet reeds stacked and piled everywhere. There were more lamps lit here, illuminating the piers that ran out into the water. Rani drew Emilie forward, using the reed bundles as cover, to where they could look out over the ships.

Emilie's heart sank immediately, but she still squinted, studying the piers, the place she was sure the
Sovereign
had been anchored. But the
Sovereign
would have been the most obvious thing in the crowded harbor, with all its running lights lit. “Not there?” Rani asked quietly.

Emilie shook her head, unexpectedly and stupidly feeling tears well up. They had known this was a possibility. She swallowed hard and managed to say, “No, it's gone.”

“Hmm. Then we go with the other plan. Wait here.” Rani ghosted away down the gallery before Emilie could say, “What other plan?”

Emilie crouched on the cool stone, waiting. She heard merpeople talking somewhere nearby and flinched, but after a moment it was obvious they were on the gallery a level or two above, and walking away. She realized she was trying not to bite her nails, recalled that her aunt was not here to remonstrate with her about it, and that she could bite them as much as she liked. It was a relief to her abused nerves.

Rani finally returned with a net bag slung over her shoulder. “This way,” she whispered, and they went the other way down the gallery, away from the lighted piers. Emilie wanted to ask where they were going, but was afraid their voices might carry over the water. If one of the merpeople in the gallery heard a conversation of more than a few words, they might realize they were hearing a strange language and give the alarm.

They left the shelter of the gallery and were heading toward the far side of the harbor. It was so dark, Emilie couldn't make out much, but when she tripped over a coil of rope and stumbled on a ramp, she realized they were passing the taller piers where the big barges had been docked.
Had been docked.
Now that she looked, she could see the empty water glinting faintly between the dark shapes of the piers. She tapped Rani on the back, and whispered as softly as possible, “The barges are gone.”

Rani stopped, leaned back to cup her hand around Emilie's ear and say softly, “They've gone with your ship, after the nomads.”

Oh, no, Emilie thought. They must have left when the
Sovereign
was forced to go, sometime this afternoon. When Rani started to pull away, she caught her arm and whispered, “Where are we going?”

“After them,” Rani replied.

Oh. Startled, Emilie followed Rani through the dark. Good, she thought.

Past the big barge piers, Rani turned and stepped down onto a platform at the water level. From the dim glow of the lights on the gallery, Emilie could just make out the shapes of small boats, no bigger than the rowboats that plied the village pond at home, tied up along it. Rani selected one, motioned for Emilie to climb in, and began to untie it.

Emilie managed to clamber in and sit down on the narrow seat running down the center without flipping the boat over, though it was a near thing. The hull was made of something as light as straw; it must be dried reeds. Rani cast off, and stepped in to push away from the pier. She took a seat in the back, dumping her net bag in the bottom of the boat. Something poked Emilie in the back, and she twisted around to take the paddle Rani was handing her.

They paddled as quietly as possible, Rani guiding them out of the harbor, away from the city. The dark was so complete they had to navigate by brushing against the stands of reeds that bordered the outlying islands. After a time Emilie made out isolated lights that must be burning in the windows of the occasional outlying settlements; she hoped that Rani knew where they were going, because Emilie was completely lost.

Finally, when the lights of the city were a good distance behind them, Rani said, “We must stop for a moment.”

Relieved, Emilie pulled her paddle in, and stretched her neck and back. She turned around, listening to Rani rummage in the net bag. Then Rani handed her a heavy soft object. It felt like a big peach. Emilie said hopefully, “Fruit?”

“Yes. You can eat the peel.” She crunched into one herself, and Emilie hastily followed suit. It was sweet, with the texture of an apple, but the inside was thicker and more filling. She hoped the sack was full to bursting.

Rani rummaged in the bag again, and Emilie heard a faint clank of metal. Then a small flame sparked and she saw Rani was lighting a lamp with a big matchstick. Or it looked like a matchstick, except that it sparked blue and didn't smell of sulfur. “There, that will make our journey a little easier.” She handed Emilie the lamp.

Emilie took it and stretched forward to hang it on the hook above the bow. Swallowing the last bite of fruit, she asked, “How do we know where the nomads are?” She remembered that Rani had escaped before the nomads had reached their final destination.

“This.” Rani pulled off one of her necklaces, and handed it to Emilie. She couldn't see detail in the dark, but it felt like a piece of soft round stone. Rani said, “Spit on it and rub your thumb over it.”

Emilie followed instructions. After a moment, light gleamed inside the stone, forming an arrow. It swung around like a compass, pointing toward Emilie's right. She looked up, smiling, and handed it back. “A magic compass?”

Rani looped it around her neck again. “Dr. Marlende made it, and gave it to me in case our ships became separated. It shows the way to find him, wherever he is.” She leaned over to feel along the side of the boat, where a long reed wrapped in cloth was clipped to the hull. She lifted it up, and Emilie realized it was a sail. “The Queen's ships will have to search around for the nomads, even if her spies know roughly where they have taken our friends. With the compass, we can beat them there.” She added more quietly, “I hope.”

Emilie shifted around on the seat to help her hold the pole steady while Rani got it fixed into the base mounted to the bottom of the boat. She had almost forgotten that Dr. Marlende was a sorcerer, like Dr. Barshion. Except better, apparently. “I wish he'd given one to Kenar. At least then we could have dealt with the nomads and skipped the Queen.”

Rani tossed Emilie another piece of fruit. “He didn't have to. Jerom had the magic of his own, to find us.” She hesitated. “Jerom is not with your ship?”

Emilie hesitated. She hadn't told Rani that part yet. “No, he died, I'm sorry. It was more dangerous than they thought it would be. But Kenar got through it all right.”

“I see.” Rani sounded pensive. She was silent for a time, finishing her second piece of fruit and tossing the rind into the water. She said finally, “I think your people are a little more delicate than us. And perhaps the ease of their journey down here made Marlende and Jerom incautious.”

Emilie thought that was very likely. “Our journey was easy up to the point where the engine stopped working and we would have been crushed to death if we hadn't been so close to the Hollow World already.”

Rani snorted with wry amusement. “That sounds typical. Now...” She stretched out the light fabric of the sail, fixing it to the lower reed. “If we can get this to work the way it's supposed to, we can make better time.”

With Emilie to hold things and help tie the light seaweed-braided ropes, Rani got the sail rigged. It caught the breeze and they began to move, skimming lightly over the water.

They sailed through the night, sometimes having to stop and use the paddles to get the boat through a narrow island channel, or through stands of tall reeds. Emilie knew she was lucky the boat was light and easy to paddle, and that there seemed to be no strong current to fight. The wind was light but steady, full of the scent of the sea, and the jasmine-like fragrance of the reeds. When Emilie's stomach started to growl again, Rani passed out more food from her bag, including some pieces of dried fish that tasted salty-sweet. It wasn't entirely pleasant, but it gave Emilie the energy to carry on.

For a while, at least. They had been passing through an empty stretch of water for some time, with no islands or obstructions that required them to use the paddles. Emilie caught herself slumping forward. The second time, her forehead banged her knees before she woke up. Behind her, Rani said, “Sleep, before you fall out of the boat.”

Groggy, Emilie rubbed her eyes. “What about you?”

Rani chuckled. “After too many days as Lord Ivers' prisoner, with nothing to do but sit or sleep, I could go on forever.”

Emilie was sure even Rani couldn't go on forever, but she appreciated the chance to sleep. She shifted around in the bow, easing down to the bottom of the boat, and put her head down on the seat. She was asleep instantly.