The captain of the guard took off his cap and tucked it under his arm. He bowed.
'Your Majesty, Melos has gone.'
'What do you mean?'
'He has left, swept out of the Palace and over the mountains to wherever he came from.'
'But why?' Barnabas was both relieved and perplexed.
'There is worse news,' the captain added. 'The wolf has gone too.'
'With Melos?'
'No, that's the strange thing. Melos laid my guards unconscious and let the wolf and his companion escape.'
'Let them go? That is strange. With the wolf gone, we have no bargaining power.' He then asked the captain, 'How long since?'
'An hour, your Majesty.'
Despite the wolf's escape, the news that Melos had gone cheered Barnabas. A dark cloud was lifting from his mind.
'Search for them. Mobilize the guard. Call off all leave. Whether young or old, ready or retired, prepare them for battle. And find the wolf!'
****
'I can smell more men,' Not-Bear said as they stood in the corridor.
'How did you do that?' Martin asked as he and Beetle arrived and saw the two unconscious guards.
'It wasn't us,' Jod said. 'And now is not the time to wonder about it. Men are coming.'
'This way then,' said Martin, and he ushered them back the way he and Beetle had come.
'Hurry, there are soldiers everywhere.'
As they turned the next corner, three more soldiers lay motionless in a corner.
'Melos,' Jod breathed.
'Melos?' said Martin. 'What has he got to do with this?'
'He came to see us in the cell. When he left we opened the door and saw those two guards as you did.'
'But no one came past us.'
'Interesting,' Jod said. 'Despite his protestations he still has power.'
They peered around the next bend. All clear. Yet they heard the sound of chattering laughter. It came from the military restroom they had passed earlier.
'There's another way,' Martin said, and he led them to a flight of narrow stairs. They descended and negotiated more corridors. Soon they found themselves outside a familiar storeroom.
'This is where they kept us when we first arrived,' Martin explained.
They went in. The boxes were still at the back and the hatch was open. Their escape had remained undetected. Following the same route they were soon back in the kitchens.
'What now?' Not-Bear asked.
'We're in the Eastern wing of the Palace,' Martin said. 'Outside are the kitchen gardens. There's nothing there but an overgrown hedge separating the Palace from the Wastelands.
'Wastelands?' Jod echoed. 'Gordon used that name.'
'And a good one,' Beetle said. 'It's an area beyond the Palace, stretching across to the Mountains. Where the citizens 'ave dumped all their rubbish over the years.
Home to those what prefer the disorder of the Wastelands to the structure of city life.
'And how do we get there? Through the hedge?'
'Well, here's the thing. It's called an 'edge but it's all twisted trees and thorny bushes that stretch all the way around. It's at least ten feet thick and there's no way through for anything bigger than a spider. The only other way is through the front gates. And as you know, that's well guarded.'
'And once the King knows we're gone, he'll be after us with a vengeance.'
'There may be another way out,' Beetle said. The others looked at him. 'There was a bloke in the Myrtle Tavern used to talk about it. Reckoned his grandfather helped build 'em.'
'Build what? asked Jod.
'Tunnels.'
'Tunnels?'
'That's right. Under the 'edge, all the way to the Wastelands.'
'Have you seen them?' Not-Bear asked.
'No. But this guy said they built the Palace right on top of 'em. There's an underground river runs from the mountains into the Great Green. They built the tunnels to take it away from the city.'
'There's an old well in the kitchen gardens,' Martin said. 'That must have been built over water.
We could start there.'
'We can't drop down a well. We'll all drown.'
'If the fall doesn't kill us.'
'Have you got a better idea?' Beetle scoffed.
'Wait,' said Martin. 'When I was working in the kitchens, there was often talk of water under the Palace. One old chef said he played in it when he was a boy. We thought he was crazy but he might have been telling the truth.'
'Mmm. Assuming it exists and has anything to do with the well, the river or the tunnels, how do we get to it?' Jod exclaimed.
'All I can think is, we need to go right down to the bottom of the Palace.' Martin said.
'Wait,' said Beetle. 'Son, do you remember those doors we saw when we were getting out of the storeroom cell? Where do they lead? You said it at the time.'
'More storerooms, I imagine.'
'What about that echo you heard when you barged into it?'
'Just the wood.'
'Or maybe something else. Rushing water?'
For a third time, they found themselves back in the storeroom. The doors they had talked about were huge, closed, and made of oak.
'How do we get through those?'
'There's a lock. Look. On this side, and another one over there.'
'But no key.'
'Keys. One for each lock I imagine, for extra security. But I know where I saw a whole bunch of them.' Beetle said.
'Where?'
'In the kitchen.'
'I'll go back for them.' Martin said.
'No,' said Beetle. "They'll be looking for you. But me – well only the King will recognise me, and he's not going to turn up here. For the moment we're safe in here.'
'How can we trust you?' asked Jod. 'Martin told us you'd struck a bargain with the King.'
'That's true enough, but I've changed me mind about it. Melos had me under some sort of mind control. And I trust my son, if he thinks you are worthy to fight with, then I will fight too. Besides, I wouldn't do something to endanger my son's life, would I?'
Jod thought he might, but kept quiet.
'I can do it, I won't let you down,' and turning to Martin, he said, 'I'll be back before you can blink.'
It was an anxious time for the others while Beetle was gone. No one knew if he would return, whether out of his own duplicity or because he'd been captured. No one spoke in the dingy storeroom. Jod tapped out a quiet rhythm on a box until Not Bear asked him to stop.
Somewhere the dripping of water from a broken pipe punctuated the silence. Every now and then they heard a shout – it sounded like men were gathering.
'He's never going to make it,' Jod whispered. 'Even if he wanted to.'
'Shush, Jod,' said Not-Bear, and gestured with a nod towards the boy, who was deep in thought.
Jod shrugged. 'He's thinking the same.' Tiredness was getting the better of him. 'What's the plan if he doesn't return?' he asked.
'There isn't one,' Not-Bear replied.
The minutes dragged on. More shouts, and each one felt like it heralded a capture. Then Beetle's face appeared at the trap door. Next to it, a hand dangled a huge bunch of keys.
'Dad, you made it.'
'Course I did, but it's getting scary out there. Soldiers running everywhere, shouting and hollering. I swear I even saw that skinny chancellor flitting about. Lucky they're all sweat and no stealth – I slipped through easy.'
'No one saw you?' said Jod.
'Would I be here if they did?'
Martin had taken the keys and was over by the big door. He tried them one by one, discarding many as not big enough. None of them worked.
'Are you sure?' Beetle took them back and went over. Nothing. Jod was inspecting the door.
'Over here,' he said. 'Look, there's another one under here.' He swung a metal plate over. It was stiff but exposed another lock.
'Which one works?' Martin said.
'Both of them,' Beetle replied. 'I've seen it before. Double-locked. You have to put two keys in and turn them together.'
'Have we got two similar keys?'
They inspected the bunch. 'There, these two long ones. Try them.'
With a satisfying click, the keys turned, in opposite directions.
'Push!'
They put their weight against the door, heaved, and inch by inch, slowly it opened, before it stopped and moved no more.
It left enough of a gap for them to squeeze through.
Pitch darkness beyond.