The red bundle on Rye’s belt seemed suddenly very heavy. He sat straighter, looking anxiously around him.
‘We must find out where Farr is,’ he said abruptly. ‘I must get to him before he makes his move tomorrow.’
And as Sonia drew breath to answer, perhaps to say that they should find Sholto and Dirk before they did anything else, the peace of the square was shattered. A man in a soldier’s uniform bolted in from the street with several other soldiers in hot pursuit.
‘Stop him!’ the leading soldier roared. ‘He tried to kill Farr! Stop him!’
Shocked, the other people in the square half rose from their seats as the running man splashed heedlessly through the little fountain, intent on escape. Without a thought, Rye jumped up and stuck out his foot.
The running man had no chance. He tripped over the invisible obstacle and fell heavily. In seconds, the soldiers were upon him. He snarled and struggled as they hauled him to his feet.
And only then did Rye realise who he was. The prisoner, the man who had tried to kill Chieftain Farr, was the scar-faced guard, Jett.
‘Let me go!’ Jett roared. ‘I am innocent!’
‘Then you were a fool to run!’ growled the leading soldier, holding him firmly by the arm. ‘Be steady now, man! If you are innocent you have nothing to fear.’
‘He is not innocent and he has everything to fear!’ Councillor Manx had swept into the square, with Barron, Sigrid and some other robed people panting behind him.
A crowd of onlookers was quickly gathering. The little square was becoming more crowded by the moment. Rye and Sonia edged quickly behind their bench to keep out of the way.
‘We all saw it!’ Manx cried in ringing tones. ‘This man brought in a food tray and put it before the chieftain. He then backed away and tried to leave the room quickly, in a way I thought suspicious. I at once inspected the tray. Beneath one of the covers was a device primed with blasting powder stolen from the pipeline workers’ stores and set to explode in moments!’
Sigrid, her iron grey braids hanging down her back and bright red patches burning high on her cheekbones, nodded vigorously.
‘All this is true,’ she panted. ‘Councillor Barron most bravely seized the device and ran with it to the water closet where it was safely quenched. If it had not been for his actions, Farr would now be dead, and we, the only three of his councillors who know the plan to foil the enemy, would be dead with him.’
‘Lies!’ Jett shouted, struggling violently.
‘Not lies, you wretch!’ Barron spluttered. ‘Truth! We all saw the device! We all saw you run!’
Manx pursed his lips and raised his chin. ‘Guards, take this man to the watchtower! Lock him up! He will be dealt with when Chieftain Farr—’
‘When Chieftain Farr has done what he came upriver to do.’ The deep voice was sombre. The onlookers drew back, awestruck, as the tall figure of the chieftain entered the square.
And through a gap in the moving crowd, Rye suddenly saw Dirk and Sholto standing together not far away. They were wearing unfamiliar clothes, and small red knapsacks were slung on their backs. Dirk’s arm was in a sling. Sholto was leaning on a stick. They both looked ill and pale. But they were alive!
A great, burning lump rose in Rye’s throat. Tears sprang into his eyes. Until that moment he had not known how strong his secret fears for his brothers had been. He felt Sonia sway beside him as his powerful emotion crashed into her mind without warning.
Where, Rye?
There! There! They live, Sonia! Both of them!
He felt her joy and relief lapping through him like warm, fragrant water, surrounding him, then flowing on to gather Dirk and Sholto in its embrace. He saw Sholto raise his head and look round, his brow creased in puzzlement, his clever eyes scanning the crowd.
We are here, Sholto! In the corner. Behind the bench. Come!
It seemed to Rye that he and Sonia were calling with one mind, one voice. He had never felt anything like it before. His whole body thrilled as he saw Sholto touch Dirk’s arm, murmur to him, and begin sidling awkwardly through the crowd, towards the corner. Dirk followed, frowning and glancing repeatedly at Jett.
‘Chieftain, I am not guilty!’ Jett cried, holding out his arms to Farr. ‘Do not believe—’
‘Silence, Jett!’ Farr’s face was seamed with grey lines. His eyes were bleak. ‘This is a bitter day. I have trusted you, but you have deceived me utterly. I must believe the evidence of my own eyes. The makings for the device have been discovered hidden among your possessions.’
The crowd shouted angrily. Jett shrank back, showing his teeth like a cornered beast.
‘I always thought it suspicious that he was so eager to guard the spy Keelin,’ Sigrid said tightly. ‘I told you so, Farr, at the beginning. Both of them injured when you took them in! Neither of them carrying proof of who they were or where they came from! Both with strange patterns of speech that proved they were foreigners! It seems my suspicions were justified. They were in league!’
Rye felt a chill. Sonia tightened her grip on his arm.
‘Plainly,’ snapped Manx. ‘And the plot was a deep one. Jett has been in Farr’s service for years.’
‘By the stars!’ Barron groaned. ‘If only we had unmasked them before poor old Carryl …’
His chin wobbled and he hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose loudly.
‘I had nothing to do with the explosion at the museum, you bloated windbag!’ Jett snarled. ‘I do not make war on children and old women!’
‘That is enough!’ Farr snapped. ‘Take him away!’
Again the crowd parted as the soldiers holding Jett began wrestling him none too gently out of the square. The expression on the prisoner’s scarred face was desperate, ferocious. He fought like a wild man, bellowing that he was innocent of any crime. Twice he almost slipped through the hands that gripped him. Twice he was secured again. At last the biggest of his captors twisted his arm behind his back and he screamed in pain.
‘Barbarians!’ he roared. ‘Filthy barbarians!’
Rye’s stomach turned over. He looked wildly at Sholto, still moving determinedly towards them, at Dirk, who was staring in horror at the struggling man, and finally at Sonia.
Sonia had clapped her hand over her mouth. ‘Can it be?’ she breathed through her fingers.
Rye nodded grimly. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I am sure of it, and by Dirk’s face he knows it too. Jett is one of us. He is from Weld.’
15 - The Watchtower
As soon as Jett had been taken away, Farr and his councillors left the square. The crowd followed eagerly. Dirk and Sholto stood waiting while the chattering tide surged past them. And at last the little square was as bare as a wave-washed shore except for the two who waited and the two standing invisible in the shelter of Rye’s hood.
The shock of Jett’s arrest could not overshadow the glad reunion of the four. Their relief at finding one another safe and well was so great that even Sholto could not hide his joy.
Dirk seemed to assume that Sholto had caught a glimpse of Rye and Sonia, and Sholto did not correct him. Neither did Sonia, who merely looked amused. Perhaps, Rye thought, Sholto had convinced himself that Dirk must be right, and that the call he had felt was simply his brain playing tricks. Sholto would believe anything before accepting that people could speak mind to mind.
Well, now is no time to make him uneasy by trying to persuade him differently, Rye thought. Soon enough there will be something more important I will have to make him accept. He touched the red bundle at his belt, feeling the shapes of the gold casket and the book, and silently warned Sonia to say nothing of them for now.