She hadn’t considered what she would do onceshe got to the top.
At the moment, she was using the chain toanchor herself above the ground, but once she slipped it over thetop, there would be nothing holding her in place. She would fall.Probably make a lot of noise and be recaptured in short order.
The chain rattled as she forced it higher.She didn’t care. She’d come all this way and wasn’t about to quitnow. As the chain slipped over the top, Shea lost her balance. Herarms jerked over her head as they were caught by the chain’sanchor. She dangled several feet above the ground.
Wondering why she hadn’t plummeted straightto the ground, she looked up to find the loop caught on the top ofthe post.
If Fallon came in right this minute, he’d seewhat she was up to, and she didn’t really want to think about whatwould happen next. Not after Paul’s beating.
Setting a foot against the pole, she pushedoff and tried to jerk the chain free. The scrape of metal againstwood was as loud as a shout in the enclosed space. Once again, shechecked to make sure nobody was coming before trying again.
Using her core, she tried to jack knife upand away. With a crack the chain slithered loose, and Shea landedon her back. The impact forced the breath from her lungs. Sheblinked up at the ceiling as she gulped at the suddenly thinair.
Rolling onto her elbows, she looked at thepartition again. She was surprised no one had come to investigateyet. That fall, especially, should have drawn some attention.
She climbed to her feet and gathered thechain up, not wanting it to drag behind her. Perhaps they had lostinterest in her now that they thought they had won.
Either way, it was a little early to begetting cocky. There was no exit back here and with how tight thistent was strung, there would be no crawling under the canvas.
She ran her fingertips along the slightlyrough texture of the fabric. Perhaps she could cut her way out.
Damon discovered her knife the second daywhen he finally searched her for weapons. By the third day, she hadsecured a semi sharp rock and then upgraded to a dagger one of themen forgot in his rush to pack when he overslept. She might havehad a hand in his lack of sleep the night before. Who knew thesound of fog koyots would keep him up all night? The creatures wereharmless as long as you didn’t approach their young.
The dagger wasn’t as sharp as her previousknife, but it was better than trying to open a hole using just herfingernails. She picked a spot she hoped wouldn’t be seen byanybody entering the front of the tent.
She stabbed, but the blade resisted cuttinginto the fabric. She pushed harder until she opened a small slitbefore attempting a downwards slice. When that didn’t work, shesawed at the canvas.
When the hole was big enough, she peeled oneedge back and looked out. The back of another tent greeted her. Shepeeked out the other side and saw the same. Good. Nobody wouldraise an immediate cry when she slipped out.
For a moment she hesitated, looking back atthe room. The maps were still in the enemies’ possession. Shedidn’t like the idea of leaving them behind. Unfortunately, she hadbeen supervised every time they had given her access to her bag andhadn’t wanted to chance trying to slip the maps out of their secretcompartment.
But if she didn’t escape now, she didn’t knowif there would be another chance. She would just have to trust thecode on the map was strong enough to keep its contents secret.Maybe she could figure out a way to come back for them later.
There was movement on the other side of thepartition as the men stood to greet a newcomer.
Time was up.
Shea gathered the chain and slipped one legthrough the hole. The rest of her body slid after it.
Outside, she rose to her feet and lookedcautiously around, keeping her back pressed against the tent. Herluck held.
She released the breath she had beenholding.
The tents backed into each other, leavingonly a foot or two between them to create a small alley. The ropesused to secure the tents created an obstacle course that onlysomeone as thin and small as Shea could fit through easily.
She smiled. Perfect.
She moved stealthily along the alley, beingcareful whenever she came to the end of one tent and the start ofanother. Knowing her escape could be discovered at any moment, shetook a few turns so nobody following her creative exit would beable to immediately see her by stepping through the hole she’dleft.
Minutes after she made the second turn shoutsrose from the direction she’d escaped from. She sped up, lightlyleaping over one of the ropes and ducking under the next.
“Go that way; I’ll go this way,” a voice saidfrom three rows back and slightly to the right of her.
She ducked down another alley, ran past a fewtents and abruptly burst onto a road. Eyes turned her way as peoplestopped and stared. She didn’t pause, crossing to the other sideand ducking between two tents. She slid past barriers as voicesbabbled behind her.
Not long after, she caught a glimpse of afigure crossing three tents in front of her. She slid to a stop,backtracked to the last alley and ran in the oppositedirection.
“Here!”
