“Uh-oh!” Pete said, at the window. “Someone’s coming out on the roof. He’s looking this way!”
All three crowded to the window. A somewhat stooped man in baggy gray clothing and wearing a large apron had stepped through the doorway from the stairs. He held a broom, dustpan and cloth. He looked around stealthily, then put down his cleaning implements and came scuttling toward the sentry hut.
“Let him in, Pete,” Jupiter said. “He’s not a guard and he obviously knows we’re here.”
Pete eased the door open and the man slipped inside. Once within, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Wait!” he said in heavily accented English. “Make sure I was not followed.”
They watched at the window for another couple of minutes. No one else appeared, and they all relaxed.
“Good,” the man said. “I am a cleaner. I slipped away up the stairs. I have message from Rudy. He says does one named Bob remember?”
“Tell him no,” Jupiter answered. “Bob doesn’t remember.”
“I will tell. Rudy says also, be patient. When it is very dark again he will come. Meanwhile, here is food.”
The man reached into the pockets of his ample apron and brought out wrapped sandwiches, some fruit, and a plastic bag of water, all of which had been hidden in the capacious garment.
The boys took the food with great satisfaction. The man did not linger.
“I must hurry back,” he said. “All is excitement below. Be patient and may Prince Paul extend his protection to you and to our prince.”
With that he was gone. Pete gratefully bit into a sandwich.
“We’ll have to ration the food to make it last all day,” Jupiter remarked, passing a sandwich to Bob. “And especially the water. But it’s lucky Rudy and Elena have friends in the castle.”
“Lucky for us,” Bob said. “What was it he was telling us last night about the organization of minstrels to assist Prince Djaro? My head hurt too much for me to listen carefully.”
“Some of it you already know,” Jupiter said between bites, “but I’ll go over it again. Rudy said that his and Elena’s father was the prime minister when Prince Djaro’s father ruled. As he told us, he’s a descendant of the original minstrel family that saved Prince Paul.
“When Duke Stefan became Regent, Rudy’s father was forced into retirement. He suspected Duke Stefan then, and he began to organize everyone he could find who was loyal to Prince Djaro into an undercover organization to keep an eye on Stefan. They call themselves the Minstrel Party.
“Some are here in the castle as guards, or officers, and I suppose the cleaning man who brought us the food is one. Last night loyal Minstrels on the staff of guards learned of the plot to arrest us and got word to Rudy’s father. By working very fast, Rudy and Elena were in time to help us. When they were children, their father lived in the palace, you remember, and they explored it from top to bottom. They know hidden passageways and tunnels and drain sewers that no one else knows about, so they can come and go unseen. Remember what Djaro told us about the palace being built on the ruins of an older castle?”
“All that is just great,” Pete put in, “but we’re still stuck here on top of the palace. Do you think Rudy and Elena will really be able to lead us out tonight — that is if nobody catches us before then?”
“They think so,” Jupiter answered. “They plan to recruit some more Minstrels to help them, I think. We’ve got to get out of here so we can get that tape I gave you to the American Embassy. It’s important evidence.”
“I’d feel a lot better if I was James Bond,” Pete grumbled. “He can get out of anything. But I’m not James Bond and neither are you. I’ve got a funny feeling things aren’t going to go as smoothly as Rudy hopes.”
“We have to do our best,” Jupe told him. “Only by getting away from here can we help Djaro, and after all, that’s what we came for. In any case, we can’t do a thing until we hear from Rudy and Elena again. By the way, Second, did you know you finished breakfast and are already halfway through lunch?”
Pete hastily put down the sandwich he was about to bite into.
“Thanks for telling me,” he said. “I’d hate to miss lunch. It looks to me as if it’s going to be a long day up here on the roof.”
It was indeed a long day. They took turns watching through the window slits and napping. Finally the sun set, a crimson ball behind the golden dome of St. Dominic’s.
The birds twittered sleepily in the parks of Denzo and went to bed.
With the coming of darkness, the palace quieted.
Soon the only people who remained awake were the guards, who sleepily manned their posts. It had been so long since anything exciting had happened in Varania that they found it hard to be alert, even though they had special orders.
Deep in the dark cellars of the castle, two figures crept noiselessly along secret routes that they alone knew. Slowly Rudy and Elena made their way upward, aided at one vital staircase by a guard who turned his back and pretended not to see them.
Presently they emerged into the night silence of the castle roof, and waited to make sure they had not been followed. Then they slipped across to the guard hut, moving so silently that they almost took Pete, who was watching, by surprise. He let them in and Rudy risked lighting a flashlight which he had covered with a handkerchief.
“We’re ready to move,” he told the three. “Our plan is to sneak you out of the castle and get you to the American Embassy for refuge. The rumour is that Duke Stefan has speeded up his own plans. We think that tomorrow he plans to cancel Prince Djaro’s coronation and proclaim himself Regent indefinitely.
“Unfortunately we can’t do anything to stop him. The people would storm the castle and rescue Prince Djaro if they knew, but there’s no way to tell them he’s in danger. We thought of trying to capture the radio and television station, but Duke Stefan is too cunning. He has the building heavily guarded.
“Tell me, Bob, have you remembered yet what you did with the silver spider? It has not been found in the courtyard.”
Bob shook his head. He felt terrible not being able to remember.
“If we had the spider,” Jupiter asked, “would that help Prince Djaro any?”
“It might,” Elena put in. “The Minstrels could issue a proclamation in the prince’s name, asking the citizens of Varania for help in overcoming the tyrant, Duke Stefan.
The silver spider would be a symbol that the proclamation really came from the prince. It would carry great weight — it might possibly turn the tide. Though we’d probably be arrested before we got very far.”
“In any case,” Jupiter said, “we ought to have the silver spider. So before we leave the castle, I propose we hunt for the silver spider along the ledges and in our room. We may yet find it where Bob dropped it.”
“It will be terribly dangerous,” Rudy said. “But there is the possibility we might find it. That would help. And anyway, your room is the last place anyone would expect to find you. So we’ll do it.”
10
A Dangerous Descent
BEFORE THEY left the little sentry hut, they took every precaution they could think of. They picked up the paper wrappings from the food they had eaten and stuffed them in their pockets. They didn’t want to leave any evidence. Then they waited for the castle to settle down for the night. At last Rudy stirred.
“We have waited long enough,” he said. “I have two extra flashlights here, small ones. I’ll give one to you, Jupiter, and one to Pete. Use them only if you have to. I’ll lead and Elena will bring up the rear. Now let’s go.”
In single file they crossed the roof to the door leading to the stairs. The sky was dark with heavy clouds, and big drops of rain had begun to fall.
Once inside, they went cautiously down the narrow stairs, pausing often to listen. No sounds reached them. They felt their way along, aided only by the glow of Rudy’s flashlight which went on and off like a firefly.