‘Please tell me your shoes aren’t back there,’ he whispered.
She shook her head, too afraid to speak.
Harlan looked up, watching and listening to the movement above him. It was only a matter of time before the two men came across the unconscious defender lying in the middle of the wall walk.
‘When I say go, you’re going to run as fast as you can. Understand?’
She nodded.
There were shouts overhead, then men running.
‘Wait,’ he commanded, ear to the wall. When the men entered the turret, he said, ‘Go.’
Blake took off at a sprint through the mud towards the trees. Her hand pulsed as blood returned to it. Harlan’s feet pounded behind her, pushing her faster still. She did not slow when she reached the trees, navigating the trunks as best she could in the dark. He moved like a demon in her peripheral vision, his pace even and his breath quiet in comparison to her raspy inhales. They maintained that speed all the way back to the village, and then he took hold of her wrist again as they broke free of the trees. Somewhere behind them, dogs barked. She flinched at the noise and heard Harlan curse.
‘This way,’ he said, leading her to an abandoned shop. Instead of going inside, he nodded to the roof. ‘Up you go.’
Blake looked up, panting. ‘You want me to get on the roof?’
His reply came in the form of grabbing her by the waist and throwing her up in the air. She took hold of the edge of the thatched roof and dragged herself onto it, then turned to help Harlan, but he was already up. He carefully navigated the timber support beams so he would not fall through.
‘Lie down,’ he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a piece of folded cloth. The smell of pepper hit Blake’s nostrils.
‘What’s that for?’ she whispered.
He began sprinkling pepper on the roof around them. ‘The dogs have our scent. It’ll buy us time.’
‘Do you normally carry pepper around with you?’
His dark eyes flashed at her, but before he could reply, dogs burst from the trees a hundred feet away, pulling their handlers along in excited leaps. Blake held her breath. She had seen merchant men torn apart by those dogs. The handlers had control over them to a point, but then instinct seemed to take over.
She began shivering, and Harlan rolled his head to look at her.
‘Eda came to the gate,’ he whispered.
Of course she had. Blake looked up at the sky, trying to remember the last time she saw stars. It had been years. ‘I don’t know whether to thank her or scream at her.’
‘Thank her.’
Her eyes closed when a dog barked nearby. They were both still as feet ran past.
‘I guess that explains the pepper,’ she whispered when the footsteps faded. ‘Did anyone see you up there?’
Harlan shook his head.
She swallowed down her guilt. ‘Good.’
More silence.
‘Why did you do it?’ he asked, sounding angry again.
‘Food.’
He looked away, staring up at the clouds too. ‘You risked your life for a bit of grain even though I’ve been sending you eggs and butter.’
A tear slid into her hair. ‘I can’t rely on you anymore. Surely you understand why.’
‘And surely you understand why I can’t stand back and let you go hungry.’
