“You were right, Dominic. I can hear them coming. We’d best move fast. Have you loosed those staples, Ben?”
The boy had already extracted one. He shoved the pointed end of the ice pick through the eye of the other one and levered. It popped out and the bear stood free. Karay took the big beast’s paw and led it outside. It followed meekly.
Ben could not resist smiling at the sight. “Well, you’ve certainly found a friend there, Karay. Let’s get out of this place, pals!”
They followed the passage upward, emerging into the main cavern. Arnela handed them each a pistol, which she had taken from the armoury. “These may come in handy. Careful now, they’re primed and loaded. I can hear them hammering at that door, listen!”
Sounds of the Razan battering against the door that was wedged across the passage below echoed out clearly.
Crossing the cavern, the friends made their way up to the exit tunnel. Ned ran ahead. He was waiting at the entrance as Ben reached it. The dog shot him a thought. “Look, another door. I hadn’t noticed that. Tell Arnela to shut it after us and wedge it tightthat might buy us a bit of time.”
Ben immediately passed on the dog’s idea to the big goatherd. She looked at the door thoughtfully. It was obviously a stronghold door open inward, standing flat against the wall. Its timbers had been painted and hung with grey cloth, disguised skilfully to resemble the surrounding rock. An enemy would have difficulty finding the cave entrance with the door closed.
Ned’s thoughts became urgent. “Is she going to stand there all day thinking about it, Ben? I can hear the Razan, they’ve freed the tunnel of the armoury door. There’s a lot of ‘em, and they’re coming fast. We’d better do something quickly, mate!”
Arnela produced her knife again. “Right, here’s what we do!” She slashed through the leather hingesthere were four of them. The leather was extra thick and well greased but was no match for the big woman’s keen blade. Leaping forward, she held the large door, taking the weight of it on her back. Arnela gasped. “Help me get this outside!” The two boys gripped either side of the thick timbers. Ben was surprised when the bear joined Arnela to share the weight.
Now the pursuing Razan could be heard coming into the main cavern. Ligran Razan was shouting, “Get to the entrance! Don’t let anyone leave this place alive!”
With a loud whump! the door fell flat on the ground. Arnela looked at the slope down the mountainside. It was covered with ice and snow, dotted with shale and scrub grass. “Well, friends, this’ll either kill us all or get us away free. Jump aboard, a sleigh ride is our only hope!”
Ned peered back into the Razan strongholdthe robbers were dashing through the main cavern like a huge pack of wolves.
An arrow zipped by him. Ben seized his friend’s collar. “Onto the door, Ned, quick!”
Karay was already seated on the grey-cloth-covered door and was hugging the bear, which crouched beside her. Arnela, Ben and Dominic, bent double, pushed the heavy door. It inched forward as they bent their backs, grunting with exertion. Slowly, the entire door began moving on its own as it came onto the slope. Arnela thrust Ben and Dominic on, and with a bound she, too, landed on the door.
Then they were offjust as Ligran emerged from the cave with a crowd of henchmen. One of the men unslung a musket. Ligran grabbed it from him savagely. “Idiot, d’you want to kill us all? Use yours bows, fire arrows!”
The big door was still moving rather sluggishly when Dominic felt an arrow whip by, close to his cheek. “Archers! Get down!” The four fell flat, and the bear lay down behind Karay, protecting her. It roared with rage as an arrow clipped it through the thick fur of its shoulder. Arrows rained downward, thudding into the wooden door.
Just as Arnela felt the sledging door begin to pick up speed, a shaft pinned her cloak to the timbers. She sat up and unslung her rifle gritting her teeth together. “Right, let’s finish this. Out with those pistols. Fire when I give the order, and let’s hope we can outrun what follows!”
Scrabbling around to face the Razan contingent uphill, Ben, Karay and Dominic drew their pistols.
Arnela shouted, “No need to aim. Just fire. Now!”
Four shots sounded out simultaneously. The sound was deafeningit sent echoes rebounding for miles in the high, clear mountain atmosphere. It was like the end of the world! The gunfire was preceded by an immense rumble which shook the very slopes. There was a noise like a great kraaaaawwwkkk! An entire section of the mountain peak fell away. Ligran Razan and the henchmen standing outside the cave vanished in a heavy white curtain, as did the entire mouth of the Razan stronghold, everyone inside it entombed in countless thousands of tons of ice, rock and snow.
Whipping wind and snow particles stung Ben’s face as he lay flat, clinging to his faithful dog. The huge sledge was skimming down the mountainside faster than any arrow from a bow. Ben’s and Ned’s thoughts were blended in one almighty yell that would not issue from their mouths. “Yeeeeeeeooooooowwwwww!”
Dominic’s fingernails felt as if they were cracking as he clung to the door like a leech. The bear had both front paws flat across Karay, its claws clamped into the wood as it held itself and the girl down. Ben had Ned’s collar between his teeth, and the dog lay with him, both trapped beneath Arnela’s back. They hit a bank, plowing through it like lightning; then, covered in snow, the massive toboggan crested a small ice-clad outcrop and left the ground, sailing out into midair like a bird. The only sound was the wind. All of them, with their eyes tightly shut, knew they were no longer on solid ground. Whirling snowflakes and shrieking wind engulfed them for what seemed an age.
Then came a sickening bump that ripped the breath from their lungs. A bang! They were still rushing onward, though now touching the earth. A crash! Always moving down, hurtling forward. A ripping sound! A thud! A loud swoosh! A grating noise, followed by a final earsplitting… bang! Then there was blackness and enveloping silence.
27
IT WAS NIGHT. BEN knew this as his eyes openedhe was facing a star-strewn sky and a half-moon of pure beaten silver. But his legs would not move. Panic overcame him. He sat up rigid and knocked the back of his head on a tree. Ben saw more stars then. When they dispersed, he sat up again, gingerly, and discovered that a heap of frozen snow had buried his legs from toes to thighs. Slowly, laboriously, he forced his numbed hands to dig himself free. His entire body was one great ache, and his hair was frozen stiff. Instantly another panicked thought flashed through his mind. Ned, where was Ned?
A reply came back promptly to Ben. “I think I’ve joined the angels, mate. Try not to grieve too much.”
Ben pulled his legs free. “Ned, where are you?” “Right above your head, you great frosted lump. Look up!” There was the faithful hound, draped over a fir branch three feet above his master’s head. He wagged his tail carefully. “I’m coming down, get ready to catch me. One, two …”
The black Labrador landed in Ben’s outstretched arms, knocking them both flat in the snow. They lay for a moment, exhausted.
“Maaaaah!” A bleat rang out, followed by Arnela’s voice. “Ajax the Less, stop nibbling my sleeves, they’re ragged enough as it is. Be still!”