The Spellbinder (Tom & Laura Series) (27 page)

The night was not without incident.
Cam
nearly walked into a soldier heading towards the lavatory, but he failed to see her though she stood in plain sight. A number of ornaments fell as students strayed too close to the furniture. But finally, all the students were safe in the cove.
Cam
gave Tom a pat on the shoulder as he slept, and Laura a hug and a kiss before making her way down the tunnel after them.

The servants were next. They arrived loaded down with provisions, as there was nothing to eat down in the cove. Dan, the cook, and his two lads made repeated trips, finally taking wine barrels from the cellar.
Nan
supervised the operation, encouraging the terrified young women as they went down the tunnel to safety.

Finally, the only servants left in the cellar were
Nan
and Dan. “Why don’t you go too?” Laura asked as she woke up Tom.

“I am mistress of this house and I will not let a few madmen drive me from my post.”
Nan
sounded most disapproving of the idea.

“I can’t leave
Nan
alone up here on her own,” Dan said when Laura looked at him waiting for his excuse.

As there was no way to make them change their minds, Laura remade the bind blocking the tunnel and the four of them made their way up into the house.
Nan
and Dan went to the kitchen, still guarded by soldiers who believed it full of servants while Laura and Tom made their way up to Mick and the triplets in the secret room.

It was only an hour to go till dawn when they arrived.

Chapter 32
   
Morning

Laura felt hands shaking her awake
. It wasn’t fair.
She had only just shut her eyes. Tom’s voice boomed in her ear. He sounded unreasonably cheerful.

“Come on lazy. Time to put your best foot forward. Though I have no idea what that means. I’ve been talking to the girls about that boat of theirs. It’s amazing. We didn’t totally disable it. It can still get away on electric batteries, but it won’t go far because…”

“Shut up.” Laura’s angry words brought Tom up sharp.

Laura dragged her eyes open and pushed Tom’s hand away. When she got to her feet Tom handed her a cup of tea, looking a little offended.

Tom, Mick and the triplets had been eating a breakfast of cold meats and crusty bread. The bread was stale, but not one of them complained about it. Laura joined them on the bed as Mick and Tom talked about taking control of
Hobbs
Tower
.

“Yer dressed as one o’ them and that’ll gi’ us a chance.”

Tom looked down at his uniform in some surprise. He had forgotten he was wearing it.

“We got t’ get t’ ‘em afore they get onto t’ tower,” Mick continued.

“I thought we were going to take them after the shift change?”

Mick shook his head. “Too dangerous.” He hefted the heavy revolver the Tom had taken from the soldier in the dock. “They’ll know summats up if we go knocking on t’ roof door after t’ change. Afore, they’ll be expecting someone t’ knock.”

“What about the men set to replace them?”

“We tie them up and then go up t’ roof. The’ll open t’ door t’ thee lad, wearing those clothes.”

“What do I do then?” Tom asked, dreading the obvious answer.

“Tha’ll ‘ave pistol. Tha’ points it at ‘em until I can tie ‘em up.”

“I see. It will be easy then,” Tom said, feeling a lead weight in the pit of his stomach. It did not sound easy in the slightest to him. “I’m not very good with guns.”

“I’ll show tha’ how right now.” Mick proceeded to give Tom a lesson in the art of holding and firing revolvers. It seemed complicated to Tom as he found he was required to cock the hammer before he could pull the trigger.

“How long have we got,” Laura asked them. Her mouth had gone dry as she listened to Mick.
Who did he think Tom was? Tom was a Healer, not a gunslinger
.

“About a quarter of an hour. Maybe before they find everyone’s gone. They eat soon and they’re going t’ notice a lack o’ servants and students when they do. Might work t’ our advantage, might not.”

Mick carried on with his instructions to Tom.

Tom held the gun as Mick suggested, using both hands and outstretched arms. The pistol felt heavy and awkward in his hand. He would have been happier using the rifle as he had used shotguns at home. He consoled himself with the thought that the last thing Mick wanted him to do was to shoot anyone. That would alert the enemy to what was going on and that path led to disaster.

“What will I do?” Laura asked. She was very aware of the passing time. They would have to go soon.

“The girls can stay here. It’s the safest place for them,” Tom said. “You come with us and carry the rope, unless you can come up with a bind that might help?”

Laura wished she could, but her mind was a blank. Everything she thought of might get the soldiers killed and she was not willing to do that. The guilt she felt at the boy soldier’s death left her paralyzed. She felt completely useless, but she could not help herself.

There was only one way the soldiers could get up to the tower and there was a perfect ambush point halfway up the spiral stair, a room with a door that opened inwards.

The three made their way to the room without incident and waited for the new watch to come to relieve the men on the roof. The house was ominously quiet. They knew that was unlikely to last much longer. When the servants were discovered to missing there would be shouting at the least.

They heard the voices of the soldiers coming up the stair.
 
Mick hid behind the door, which he held slightly ajar. As they made their way passed he opened the door and hit one of the men on the head with his gun butt. The second man turned around as his comrade fell and found Mick pointing the gun at his head. The soldier raised his hands.

“Hands behind yer back,” Mick snapped. Tom was waiting and pulled an already looped rope tight around the soldier’s wrists. Mick took the man’s revolver out of his holster and gathered up the rifles on the floor. The other soldier was out cold, blood pouring from a head wound. Tom was about to heal him when Mick pulled him away.

“There t’ enemy and we don’t have the time.”

When the men were firmly bound and gagged, Mick strode over to a shaking Tom and gave him a revolver. “It’s all up t’ you now, lad.”

Tom looked at the tied soldiers and then at Laura. She stood as far away as she could get from the soldiers and he saw her face was so pale it looked almost white. Fresh blood was splattered across the floor. Tom found it hard to avoid vomiting.

“Come on, lad. We’ll be right behind yer.”

Tom climbed up the steps reluctantly. The heavy revolver was awkward in his hand and he kept knocking it against the wall. He wished that he’d thought to take a holster, but it was too late for that now.

When he reached the roof he knocked at the locked door.

“About time” said a muffled voice and he heard the key in the lock. That was followed by the door opening. The soldier outside immediately returned to keeping watch, ignoring Tom as soon as a glance assured him that Tom was wearing a uniform.

Tom came through the door, straightened up and looked around. The soldiers were on the other side of the roof, away from the door. Moving around to join them, he raised his gun and cocked it. At that distinctive sound the soldiers turned, reaching for their revolvers.

“Stop,” Tom’s voice raised an octave halfway through the word.

When they saw his gun pointing at them they froze. Tom’s used both hands to hold the gun and even he could see how much the gun was shaking. The soldiers moved their hands away from their holsters and glanced at each other. Tom was sure some message passed between them, but he had no idea what it was.

“Now steady up, son. There’s no need for you to shoot no one,” one of the soldiers said calmly. He raised his hands slowly up in the air as the others soldier’s hand slid down towards his gun.

“Look, we’re no threat,” the first soldier said, waving his hands to keep Tom’s attention. The other soldier pulled his gun and cocked the hammer.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I wer’ you,” Mick said in a soft voice. He had crept onto the roof and had a rifle pointing straight at the soldier holding the gun. The soldier nodded his understanding of the new situation and lowered the hammer slowly before putting the gun on the ground.

Tom realized how close he had come to being shot and shook with reaction.

“You couldn’t take that gun off the kid before one of us gets shot by accident,” the first soldier suggested. Tom knew he had a point and lowered the gun. The two soldiers visibly relaxed.

Laura emerged from the door carrying rope.

Mick made the soldiers take off their gun belts and walk away from them before he had them lay face down to be tied up by Tom. Only when they were bound and gagged did he take his hand from the trigger and put his rifle down.

Laura had been staring out over the battlements that faced the front of the house. There was a large grey tent on the front lawn. She was sure it must hide the strange gun that had killed the Spellbinders. There could be no other reason for putting up a tent except to hide it.

But she couldn’t see the gun from this position. She had never seen it and things she had never seen, she couldn’t bind. It was so frustrating. She was more than willing to turn the infernal device to jelly at the first chance she got.

Mick came to stand by her side and seemed to understand her dilemma.

“Never mind, love. There’s more than one way t’ skin a cat. Can you bind t’ coaches as they come over t’ brow o’ the hill?” He pointed to the windy road that wound its way out of the woodland.

“Yes, once I see them, I can bind them.”

“Could you change wood t’ steel, so t’ enemy bullets would bounce off?

Laura thought about it. She could see no reason why not, but there was one immediate problem with the idea.

“The coaches would become so heavy the horses wouldn’t be able to pull them,”

“Ah, I got an idea about that,” Mick outlined the rest of his plan to Laura as they settled down to wait for the Prime Minister’s party to arrive. Mick locked the door to the tower to make certain nobody was going to be able to get to them.

The Captain and Snood had spent the night in the Headmaster’s office. There was a hesitant knock at the door and the Captain came instantly awake. It took Snood longer and by the time he had worked out where he was the Captain and a soldier had gone off.

Snood decided to make his way to the kitchens. He could do with something to drink. When he got there he found
Nan
and the Cook on the floor. Blood poured from head wounds and at first, he thought they were dead. A closer inspection showed they were unconscious. He wondered if he should try and revive them.

“Don’t mind them. Ah just put ‘em to sleep for a while,” the Captain’s voice startled Snood and he spun around to find the man standing by the door with an evil grin on his face.

“Seems the servants decided they don’t like workin’ under my employ. Let’s go see who else is still here.” He strode off in the direction of the student quarters.

The soldier at the entrance to the student’s wing came to full attention as the Captain came up to him.

“They’ve been as quiet as the dead all night, sir,” he said, saluting smartly.

“Maybe as quiet as the dead gone,” the Captain said. He strode past the bemused soldier. The soldier at the far end of the corridor heard the noise and opened his door. The Captain motioned him to follow them. It did not take long to confirm that the students were gone.

The Captain smiled at Snood.

“Not so stoopid after all, Glen. They must have realized that we were go-in’ to kill ‘em. Now let’s go see if we got us any teachers.”

The Captain collected up several soldiers as he strode down the corridors to the staff room. He motioned the soldier on guard to stand back and kicked the door in. The teachers, who had been asleep or sitting in chairs, jumped up at the noise.

“Well looky here, Glen. We still got all our teachin’ staff an’ I’ll guess they’ll do.”

The Captain turned to the soldiers behind him. “Get them out of here and outside. Get all our men out of the building, ‘cept for the snipers on the roof an’ then lock all the doors. I know all them people are in this place somewhere. We’ll burn it down when we finish with his Highness and let ‘em burn with it.”

Having finished giving his orders he pushed past his men, leaving Snood and the soldiers to take the teachers outside.

The teachers stood in a group outside the house just beside the main entrance. The weather was fine for the time of year, but not all wore coats and it was cold. Some stamped their feet, while the others shivered.

The Captain was carrying an extra gun and holster in his hands as he came out of Hobsgate.

“Looks like you’re go-in’ to make do as our welcoming committee. Now my men are gonna be standin’ right behind you and if they don’t see some cheers and howdy-do’s from you, they’re gonna start shootin’. Do I make myself clear?”

Mrs. Trenchard acknowledged his instructions with a curt nod.

“Now, there’s just one more thing I gotta do.”

The captain dragged Miss Pruitt out of the group and subjected her to a long kiss on the mouth. Mrs. Trenchard moved forward in outrage, but was stopped in her tracks by a laugh from Miss Pruitt, a very coarse laugh.

“Have you missed me, honey?” she enquired as she took the gun and holster he offered her. “What you done and gone to the students, Bren? Not got tired of them before we had our fun and games, I hope?”

“They’re hiding in the house. Not worth lookin’ for ‘em, we’ll just burn ‘em out later.”