A small, dark smile pulled Hallie’s mouth. The two men hadn’t realised anyone was listening, and now that she had advance notice of their plans, she was determined to do everything she could to make sure not only that no one died, but that neither Jonah nor Nicholas had the chance to inflict their will on the people of the island in the future. The rightness of that determination settled into her bones, chasing some of the chill away. Now she just had to work out how to accomplish her goals.
Chapter nineteen
Girardshiftedhisweightbeside her and Hallie gripped his arm, fingers tight enough to bruise. Even with her new resolution warming her, the conversation she’d just overheard had sickened her and she needed to make sure he was real, alive and unharmed. Girard didn’t complain, just put his hand over hers, lacing their fingers together, his skin warm and slightly rough.
“We need to get the Reunion people out of here,” Hallie said, as softly as she could.
“And us, too. I don’t plan on dying here,” he answered, a trace of grim humour in his voice.
“Me neither. But Peredur and Isoud would never believe the accident story,” Hallie told him, letting go of his arm as they eased back from the barn wall. That got her a low laugh from Girard.
“Still don’t plan on dying here,” he said, prompting a laugh from her in turn.
The dark humour faded as they made their way back through the workspace and round the end of the building to where the Reunion settlers were still huddled together in the shadows.
At Girard and Hallie’s approach, Donall straightened to his feet, grimacing a little as if his body hurt.
“Safe?” he asked, voice pitched low.
“Not for long. We need to go,” Girard said, matching Donall’s volume. “Now.”
The urgency carried through the group and it was mere moments before everyone was on their feet, and Donall was moving back to the head of the line, making his way to the great, deep shadow of the wall. He went to a particular section and did something with a couple of bits of the wall that had a narrow piece sliding open, letting a chill breeze into the settlement. The settlers needed no encouragement to go through the gap.
Hallie and Girard brought up the rear again, Donall closing the wall up behind them. In the dark, Hallie couldn’t tell there was anything different about that particular part of the boundary.
They’d come out of the settlement onto a narrow strip of open ground between the wall and the edge of the forest, marked by head-high shrubs and trees. With careful looks in either direction, Donall made his way across to the trees, the settlers following him in a loose bunch. They’d be leaving tracks, Hallie thought, and worried for a moment, but then realised it might not matter too much. The settlers weren’t trying to disappear completely. They were headed back to Reunion, after all. They just needed a decent head start to get there.
Walking with Girard across the rough ground, Hallie couldn’t help thinking how much her life had changed. She wasn’t hunting a fugitive on the streets of low city with no weapons and only her own resources to work with. Instead, she was walking on foreign soil, a magical artefact in one pocket, a more-than-friend and colleague at her shoulder - someone she could relyon - both of them following the lead of a human man they’d only met earlier that day, caught up in a tangle of local politics and power struggles she was only beginning to understand. But they were alive. She and Girard were alive, and out of New Hope in one piece. She looked across at him, his face highlighted by the faint moonlight, and met his eyes. They brushed hands, the briefest of touches, before she dragged her attention back to their surroundings. They were alive. And she wanted to stay that way.
The group all made it into the shrubs and among the trees without discovery. Hallie could feel and hear the relief in the people around her as they sagged, the nerves and adrenaline that had got them through the streets of New Hope and out of its walls beginning to fade. The settlers and their children were exhausted after so many days’ captivity, with limited food and water.
“We can’t stay here,” Donall said, tone full of urgency that had a few of the adults snapping their heads round, eyes wide as they stared at him. “I know we all want to rest. We’re all tired. But if we stop now, they’ll have us back in the walls before nightfall. We need to put some distance between us and New Hope. We’ll share some food and drink as we walk.”
With a few sighs, and what sounded like a muffled sob from one of the children, the settlers all gathered themselves and started to move, heading in the direction Donall had pointed.
When they were on the move, he turned to Hallie and Girard. “Are you coming with us?”
“I don’t think so,” Girard said. “I think we’ll put you in more danger if we do that, and we’ve business of our own to look to.” He glanced at Hallie, as if checking she agreed. She did. The resolution she’d made a short time ago - to see that Jonah and Nicholas could do no more harm - was still ringing through her.
“But be careful, please. The two men who were meeting were Nicholas and Jonah, and from what they said, you’re in danger,” Hallie said.
“The principal and the governor?” Donall seemed more astonished by that than anything else in the time Hallie had known him. “What were they doing in there?”
“A whole lot of posturing,” Hallie said, sarcastic edge to her voice that made him smile and blink. “And making deals. It seems they have a mutual agreement.”
Donall muttered a few words that Hallie hadn’t heard for a long time. The creative swearing made her brows lift and brought an inappropriate smile to her face.
“When Hallie says you are in danger, she means it,” Girard said softly, the serious tone getting Donall’s attention. “They were planning your execution. They seem to believe that eliminating you would have the rest of the Reunion settlers falling in line with whatever Nicholas wants.”
Donall took a deep, shaky breath. He seemed to have grown pale, shadows of tiredness on his face even more pronounced. “I think they underestimate my neighbours,” he said at length, a slight tremble in his voice. Hallie could understand the fear. Nicholas had threatened her and Girard earlier in the day, and even though she’d had some time to get used to it, she was still off-balance, and shaken again by the conversation she’d just heard.
“I hope so, but I think they are still best served if you stay alive,” Girard said. There was a warmth to his voice that made Hallie want to hug him. It seemed he also cared about what happened to the people here.
“You are the most unusualhochlenI’ve ever come across,” Donall said, a slight laugh in his voice.
“You’ve been speaking to the wronghochlen, then,” Hallie said cheerfully. “There are a lot of arrogant ones, but there are some very good people, too. And Girard is one of the best.”
“So I see,” Donall said, smile on his face. He tilted his chin at them both. “I’ll make sure to be careful, and warn the others about what Jonah and Nicholas are up to.”
