Terrible Beast of Zor (7 page)

“Stop talking in riddles,” Josh growled. “What’s the plan?”

“OK. Here it is. These big old chimneys take lots of cleaning, and they have chimney sweeps here just like they used to back in old England. I’ve seen them. You’ve all seen them around here—filthy and dirty, faces black.”

“Sure, we’ve all seen them, Jake,” Josh said impatiently. “What about it?”

“I figure this,” Jake said slowly. “One of us that’s about the same height as the prince gets into an outfit like that, black from head to foot, face all smeared, and he goes to clean the chimney in the prince’s apartment.”

Instantly Josh saw it. “I got you! When he gets in, he gives the prince his chimney-sweep clothes, and Alexander comes out and walks away, so dirty and black that the guards don’t see any difference.”

They talked about the plan for a while, and everybody liked it.

Josh said, “It’s going to be difficult for the one who stays. He’ll have to stay in the prince’s quarters after Alex leaves, and when they find him they’ll know he helped Alex make his escape.”

“Well, it won’t be either of you two girls,” Dave said. “And it’ll have to be Reb or me. We’re the only two who are nearly as tall as the prince.”

“I’ll do it, Dave.” Reb grinned. “And I know how I’ll get out of there, too.”

Reb would not reveal his plan for making an escape, but finally Josh said, “All right. That’s what we’ll do, then. Let’s get at it.”

The two guards standing outside the prince’s apartment looked up as Sarah and her two companions approached. They had often seen the Sleepers and even knew their names. “Hello, Josh. Hello, Sarah,” the guard Jent said. Then he grinned. “Who’s that fine looking fellow with you?”

“He’s come to clean the chimney,” Josh said. “And we’re going to visit the prince a little while.”

His own mother would not have recognized Reb. He was clothed in the dirtiest possible, tattered clothing. His face was black, and he had a cap pulled down over his ears. It was also black. He grinned back at the guard. “Orders from the top. Clean the chimney in the prince’s chambers, they said.”

“Then go on in,” Jent told them.

The three entered, and Alexander came toward them. “What in the world—”

Josh put a finger to his lips and held up his other hand in warning, as Sarah closed the door. “Be quiet,” he whispered.

“What’s going on here?” the prince whispered back. Then he looked at the sooty figure before him and said, “Who are you?”

“You know me all right, Prince,” Reb said. “Just never saw me so dressed up before.”

“Reb, is that
you?”

“It’s me.”

“What’s going on here?” the prince demanded.

“We talked to Dethenor,” Sarah said quickly. “He agrees with us.”

“What did my father say?”

“I’m afraid he was too ill for us to talk with him, but Dethenor says this is the wise thing to do.”

“What is? And how am I going to get out of here?”

Reb laughed. “You’re going to get out the way I came in. As a chimney sweeper.”

The prince saw immediately what the plan was. But he began to argue. “I can’t put myself in that kind of garb.”

“It’s better than being dead,” Sarah said, “which is what you’ll be if you stay here. Now what will it be?”

The prince flinched at her direct speech. “All right,” he finally grumbled.

“Come on, Prince,” Reb said. “You shuck out of those clothes and into these.”

The boys changed clothes while Sarah turned her back. When Reb said, “OK,” she turned around—and laughed.

Reb was a comical sight. His face was still black, although he had worn his own clothes underneath the rags. He went over to the wash basin, saying, “I’m going to wash this off. You put some of that soot on the prince, Sarah. Make sure he’s as dirty as I was.”

“Come on, Alex,” Sarah said. “You’ve got to look just like Reb did.”

It was not easy to persuade the prince. He was very fastidious, but Sarah insisted on smearing his face, his neck, and his hands with soot and even throwing more onto his filthy clothes. Then she frowned at his hair. “I really ought to cut that off,” she said.

“You aren’t going to cut my hair!”

“I think it’d be better, Prince Alex,” Josh said.

“No! I’ll put it under this cap. Nobody will see the difference.”

The prince pushed his long hair under the floppy cap, and Josh and Sarah walked around him, looking him over.

“I guess he’ll do,” she decided.

“You’d better get on your way,” Reb said. He was standing at the window.

“But what’s your plan, Reb? How are you going to get out of here?” Sarah asked. “They might hang you for kidnapping the prince.”

Reb reached down into the bag that held the tools he had brought for cleaning the chimney. “I got this and this.” In one hand he held up a file and in the other a long rope. “I cut the bars with this and shinny down this rope. There won’t be anything to it.”

“Well, we’re not leaving until the bars are cut,” Josh said firmly.

They took turns filing through the two bars. Fortunately, the file was very keen. When they were filed through, the prince proved to be the strongest of them. He bent the cut bars upward so that there was room for Reb to squeeze through.

Reb grabbed the rope, tied it firmly to the bunk, and tossed the coil out the window. He looked out, then said, “You go on downstairs. I’ll be behind the palace waiting for you when you come out.”

“I guess we’d better go,” Sarah said nervously.

The prince straightened up. “I feel like a fool in this outfit,” he grumbled.

“You look fine. And we’ll take the attention of the guards away from you. But don’t say a word to anybody,” Sarah warned.

“All right.”

As they went out into the corridor, Sarah at once engaged the guards in conversation. “My, they must
choose the best looking soldiers to be the guards to the prince!” she began with a smile.

The guards both grinned and did not pay one moment’s attention to Josh and the blackened figure moving rapidly away from them and down the hall. As soon as Sarah saw them disappear around a corner, she said, “Well, you men do a great job. I hope you get your proper reward.” She hurried after Josh and Alex, leaving the two guards grinning foolishly at each other.

As soon as Sarah caught up with them, Josh said, “I hope we get out of the palace as easily as we got out of Alex’s quarters.”

But all seemed to be going smoothly, just as Jake had said it would.
People are careful about those coming in
, Sarah thought,
but they don’t pay much attention to those leaving
. Every guard merely gave them a nod, and they walked out of the palace.

“I just hope Reb is down safely,” Josh said. “I’d break my neck if I tried to slide down a rope like that.”

They turned immediately to their right, hurrying along in the falling darkness. As they turned the corner to the back of the palace, a voice said, “Well, you took your time. I’ve been waiting here for a week.”

“Reb! You made it all right!”

“Slicker than goose grease,” Reb said cheerfully. He looked up at the rope still dangling from the window. “Easier coming down than it would be going up.”

“We’d better get moving,” Josh said.

They hurried to the stables, where they found the other Sleepers ready and waiting.

“Did you get a good horse for the prince?”

“I want my own horse,” Prince Alex said.

“Not a chance,” Sarah said quickly. “It would be recognized right away. What you need is a good, solid
homely horse with no attractiveness whatsoever.”

“Just the one I’ve got.” Dave patted the rump of a mousy brown animal. It looked strong but certainly not flashy.

“Quick, then. Everybody mount. We’ve got to get away from here,” Josh urged.

They swung into the saddles and rode out. The gates were opened for them without a question, and they passed out of the palace grounds and thundered down the road. Josh led the way at a full gallop, wanting to put as much distance as he could between the prince and the palace.

“Where are we going?” Sarah asked him.

“To a place called the Deep Forest. It’s a place Dethenor told me about it. Hardly anybody goes there, he says. People think it’s haunted.”

“Good,” Sarah said. She was leaning over her horse’s neck. When she looked back, she could see the prince riding bolt upright. The moon was coming up, and she could even see the soot on his face. “We’ve got the prince out, but what good does it do us in the long run?”

“Don’t know. At least we’ve got time now.”

Sarah kept even with Josh, and the others followed closely. Finally she said, “And it gives us time to work on Prince Alexander. He’s got to learn the hard way how life is—just like us ordinary mortals do.”

J
osh came out of a sound sleep very slowly. He was aware that his body was sore all over, and he rolled over and snorted and tried to go back to sleep. Then a bird began singing close by, and opening his eyes to a slant, he saw that dawn had arrived.

With a groan he sat up and looked around. The other Sleepers and the prince were all lumps in the gray darkness, wrapped in their blankets against the cold of the night. He staggered to his feet and stretched his aching muscles.

“That was a hard ride and a hard piece of ground,” he muttered. “But at least we’re away from the palace.”

The bird began singing a louder song now, and Josh grumbled, “What have you got to be so cheerful about so early?” He’d grown rather expert at telling time without a watch since coming to NuWorld, and now he estimated that it was almost six o’clock. He walked over to where Wash was sleeping and poked him with his socked foot. “Get up, Wash,” he said. “It’s past sunrise.” Moving on, he did the same with Dave and was greeted with a hoarse voice saying, “Get away and leave me alone!”

Josh grinned, went back, and pulled on his boots. They had all slept in their clothes and hadn’t eaten supper. They’d been too weary to cook a meal after riding half the night.

He walked down to the stream and washed his face in its cold water, snorting and shivering. He ran his hands through his hair, then turned back to the camp, where he found everyone more or less awake. The girls had found a private spot to sleep, and as they rejoined the boys, Abbey was complaining as usual about her looks.

“I’m a mess!” she said. “I’ve got to wash my hair.”

“Wash all you want to, but the first order of business is to get something to eat.”

“That’s a good idea,” Jake said. “My stomach thinks my throat’s been cut.”

The prince was standing off by himself. They had paused long enough last night for him to wash the soot off his face and to clothe himself in an outfit that was very unprincelike but clean. It was a simple costume of rough brown material consisting of britches and a tunic. The shoes were made of leather but were old and cracked.

Recalling what Sarah had said about teaching the prince something about humility, Josh had an idea.

“We’ll divide up the work. Wash, you cook the breakfast this morning. Prince Alex, you go cut the firewood.”

As Josh had expected, Alexander straightened up, and his face flushed. “A prince,” he announced firmly, “does not cut firewood!”

Josh saw that the others were all watching. They were well aware of the prince’s arrogance, and Josh knew that it was time to set the lines of battle. “Prince,” he said, “you may not cut firewood. But if you don’t, you won’t eat.”

“I don’t care anything about that! You don’t have anything fit to eat anyway!”

Josh said, “You may feel differently after another hard day’s travel. We probably won’t stop to eat at noon, so you won’t have anything until tonight. And even then you won’t eat if you won’t cut firewood.”

“I do not take orders from you,” Prince Alex said loftily. He stalked down to the stream, where he knelt for a drink.

“What are you going to do with him, Josh?” Sarah murmured.

“Let him go hungry. When he’s hungry enough, he’ll cut firewood.”

“It must be hard for him,” she mused. “He’s had everything done for him all of his life, and now he doesn’t have any servants. Taking orders from somebody younger—it must be really galling to him.”

“He’s got to learn,” Josh said grimly. “Now let’s get busy.”

The wood was gathered, though not by Alex, and the breakfast got cooked. The smell of frying bacon was in the air. Josh, who had helped Wash by frying it, looked up and called, “Come and get it!”

Everyone came at once to gather around. Josh put bacon slices on their tin plates, and Wash added fried potatoes. Sarah sliced some bread. All in all, it was a pretty good meal. They ate as though half-starved, and as Jake wolfed down his breakfast, he nodded toward the prince standing at a distance, trying to look disinterested.

“I bet he’s hungry as a wolf,” he mumbled to Abbey. “And all he had to do was cut a little firewood.”

“You’ve never been a prince, Jake,” Abbey said. “You don’t know what that’s like.”

“I know what it’s like to be hungry, though, and I’d rather cut firewood than be hungry—even if I
was
a
prince.” He swallowed another bite of bacon and glanced over at Josh. “Are you going to hold out, Josh, and let him go hungry?”

“It’s his own choice,” Josh said. He did not like what was happening, but he knew that part of the prince’s education would have to be learning to work together with others. Alexander seemingly had never done that in his whole life, and Josh knew it would be hard.

After breakfast, he called, “Prince Alex, if you wash the dishes, you can have the leftovers.”

Alexander gave him a hard look. Then he turned and walked to his horse and began to saddle it.

“I’m worried about him, Josh,” Sarah whispered.

“Well, don’t worry. He won’t starve. He’s got to come down from that ivory tower sooner or later.”

Traveling proved to be very difficult. The Deep Forest was still almost a day’s journey away, and they had to keep off the main roads. The horses grew weary, and so did their riders. Josh did let everybody stop at noon, but only long enough to allow them to eat a little of the leftover bacon from breakfast. He pointedly did not offer any to the prince.