Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

The Rangers split up and went abouttheir individual tasks. In a couple of hours everyone hadreassembled and changed into the blacksuits. “I wasn’t able to findanything suitable,” Arik admitted, “but I did think of how we canaccomplish the task. After Tedi gets to the island, he can tie therope to one of the cells and throw the grappling hook back to us.We can affix it to the other end of the rope and dig it in to theground. As long as the rope doesn’t flex too much, it shouldwork.”

“If not,” Tedi commenteddryly, “you three can take off.”

“The four of you will have toleave the city right away,” Fredrik stated. “I will stay at theFluttering Jib because the King will check to see if I left withhis prisoner. I will also have to tell Garth where you havegone.”

“There is a cove about fourmiles north of here along the shore,” Tanya nodded. “I will leadthem there and wait for the rest of you.”

The three Rangers descended the stairsand exited the old house. Fredrik, still in his red velvet suit,remained at the window to lend magical assistance if everythingfell apart. The trio quickly crossed the street and hid in theextra darkness that the wall provided. Tanya watched the window ofthe old house and when she saw a small sparkle of light, she threwher climbing claw up at the wall. It took her two tries to seat itand she cursed over the first attempt. Arik was first up the walland he signaled Tedi to follow and then hung by his hands and letgo to fall to the ground.

Within moments the three Rangers wereover the wall and inside the estate grounds. Quickly, Arik grabbedthe grappling hook that Tanya had lowered and ran across the fieldto the moat. He hurled the hook towards the cages and missed. As hehauled it back in, the hook fell into the moat and got stuck onsomething. Arik pulled feverishly and something pulled back almostcausing him to lose his balance. He called softly to Tanya and Tediand they each grabbed onto the rope. The three of them pulled andthe beast on the other end pulled back. The tug-o-war lasted onlyseconds before the hook was free and the three Rangers weresprawled on the ground, but it felt as if it had lasted for tenminutes.

Arik tossed the hook again and thistime was rewarded with a clang as the hook snagged a bar on one ofthe cells. Arik wrapped the free end of the rope around his backand sat with his feet dug into the ground. Tanya placed herself acouple of feet in front of Arik and also grabbed the rope and dugin. Tedi walked to the edge of the moat and tested the flex in therope. It seemed taut and time was running quickly, so Tedi put hisfaith in his partners and hopped onto the rope.

Tedi’s balance was excellent and hisfear did not emanate from the thought of falling, it came from theflexing of the rope as it dipped close to the water’s surface. Onething he hadn’t thought of was that the beasts might actually riseup out of the water to eat him. Tedi tried to concentrate ongaining the other bank and off of the moat. He felt the ropefirming as he neared the far edge and soon he was on land again. Helooked into the cell that the hook had caught on and his heartskipped a beat. The cell was empty.

Even as he was feeling doomed andwondering what to do next, his hands were untying the hook andtying the rope to the bar of the cell. Without thinking he threwthe hook across the moat to Arik and Tanya. Tedi untied the ropeonce more and shimmied up the flagpole. Swiftly, he tied the ropeto the metal ring at the top of the flagpole and slid down to theground. He quickly ran from cell to cell looking for Niki. It washard to see in the dark and then he remembered that Fredrik hadsaid that she was in one of the corners. He ran to the closestcorner cell and peered in. There was definitely something in thereand Tedi bent to pick the lock.

The lock was not particularly hard andTedi soon had the cell opened and the rope ladder fastened to thetop. He let the ladder drop and scrambled down as he heard thepatrol’s boots scraping along the ground. The bottom of the cellwas black and, hoping Niki would forgive him, he began feelingaround. At least he was sure that the woman in the cell had curlyhair. He lay on his stomach and pushed her on top of himself.Shifting her body around on his back to allow the straps of theharness to secure her, he kept listening for the sounds of thepatrol.

Once she was secure, he started up therope ladder. When he reached the top he stuck his head out to lookfor the patrol and saw no one. A moment of dread ran through himwhen he thought he might have been abandoned by his friends in theRoyal Prison. A feeling of shame quickly followed as Arik and Tanyaran forward from the wall where they had hidden while the guardswere in sight. The guards did not make a complete circuit, but camedown the path towards the cells and then turned around. Thankfully,they did not see the rope.

Tedi almost lost his balance as hestooped to retrieve the rope ladder and lock the cell. He rose andthrew the ladder across the moat. Adjusting Niki’s weight, Tedistepped to the edge of the moat and jumped up to grab the rope,which was tied to the flagpole. He decided if the rope was going tofail, he wasn’t going to spend time dreading it. Straining againstthe weight of Niki and himself, Tedi began swinging to get his feetup on the rope. By the time he got his feet wrapped around therope, Tedi’s arms were aching. As quickly as he dared, Tedi startedmoving his hands along the rope towards the other side of the moat.Each hand movement was a strain and his arms felt like they wouldbe ripped out of their sockets. Slowly and agonizingly, Tedi putone hand in front of the other until finally he and Niki were safeon the other side.

Tanya ran up to the edge of the moatand cut the rope to leave it dangling in the water. Arik pried theclimbing claw out of the ground and coiled the remaining rope. Thethree Rangers met at the wall and Arik caught the top of the wallwith the hook. Tanya climbed the rope first and stayed on top ofthe wall. Tedi and Niki went next and Arik had to help by pushing.When Tedi reached the top, he managed to straddle the wall withoutfalling. Arik was close behind and pulled the rope up and switchedthe hook to let the rope dangle on the outside of the wall. Arikdescended first and allowed Tedi to place his feet on his shouldersto ease the way down. When they were safely down, Tanya tossed thehook down and then dropped herself to the ground.

Fredrik was downstairs waiting whenthey entered the house. They changed Niki into her blacksuit andTanya pushed her leather hat over Niki’s red hair. The three ofthem mounted their horses and Fredrik hefted Niki up to Arik, whoheld her in front of him. Tanya took the reins to Niki’s horse andthey set out for the North Gate.

Fredrik made it back to his room at theFluttering Jib on foot and tossed himself on the bed to get a fewhours sleep before the guards arrived.

It was barely past first light when thepounding on the door woke Fredrik. He struggled to sit and thepounding continued. Sleepily shuffling over to the door, Fredrikthrew the bolt back and two Melbin Guards rushed in, their headsswiveling to search the room. Fredrik could see two more guardswaiting in the hallway beyond the door. “Lord Wason,” one of theguards declared, “you have been summoned to the Royal Palace. It iswell that you are dressed, King Alfred appears impatient thismorning.”

As fearful as he was, Fredrik walkedover to the basin and wet his face. “I shall just be a moment,” hesaid through the towel wiping the sleep from his face. The guardtapped his foot impatiently while Fredrik tried to smooth his redvelvet suit. At least, Fredrik realized, he was not under arrest.The guards would not wait for him if they had orders for hisarrest.