B00dw1duqa ebok, p.28
B00DW1DUQA EBOK, page 28
‘Will you at least come with me if I leave?’ he asked her, lowering his head to be very near hers.
‘Leave? There is no way out, Finn. Everyone knows that.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘There is a way. This time tomorrow, I’m going. We can escape together. It’s what we’re supposed to do.’
‘It’s not possible, Finn!’ Around them, other workers stirred, some scowling at being woken up before necessary. Sleep was their only refuge. ‘Haven’t you seen what’s up there? The size of it? It isn’t some stupid pile of twigs; it’s vast, it goes on for ever. You can’t destroy all that. We never had a chance.’
‘No. You’re wrong,’ he replied, trying to keep his voice down. ‘It is possible. To get out, I mean. And then, after that, we’ll see. Come with me and I’ll show you.’
‘It’s hopeless.’
‘At least say you’ll try to escape. Please? You’ve got nothing to lose by staying here, believe me.’
She studied his face for long moments. Then she shut her eyes.
‘OK, Finn,’ she said. ‘We’ll escape the mines of Engn tomorrow. Whatever you say.’
Finn sat deep in thought, thinking over the details of what they would have to do. He glanced over at Tom being kicked awake by an Ironclad guard. They would need a diversion, someone to stay behind. Could he really ask Tom to do that? He tried to think of some alternative until the bell rang for them to start work.
Finn waited until the great wooden bucket was at its lowest point on the wheel before talking to Tom. The Ironclads sometimes perched at the top of one of the ladders to watch them, but if there wasn’t one there you were safe to talk for a moment. Tom worked in one of the corners, splashing tar onto the freshly exposed wood. Spots of black speckled his face. Finn, cutting away decayed, soggy wood with a saw and a file, worked his way across. The others in the gang were some distance away. He talked quickly, in hushed tones.
‘I need your help. I’m going to get out tomorrow morning.’
Tom carried on working away, slapping the thick, sludgy tar onto the wood. ‘Are you now?’
‘I’ve worked out how to do it, you see. This time it will work. Diane gave me the idea. It’s easy. The only problem is I need something to distract the Ironclads for a moment and ....’
He tailed off. He was asking Tom to stay behind. Strong, reliable Tom. He was asking him to sacrifice himself so he and Diane could escape. He’d take Tom, too, if he could. He’d take all of them apart from Graves. But it wasn’t possible. But if two of them could escape, maybe they could wreck the workings and set everyone free eventually.
‘No, Finn. I’m sorry,’ said Tom, not looking up from his work.
‘We’d take you if we could, Tom. You know that. But we need someone we can trust to stay here. Just for now.’
Tom shook his head. ‘You don’t get it do you? I’m not going to help you because I’m not going to let you get yourself killed. I’ve kept you alive all this time. Whatever you’re planning, it isn’t going to work.’
‘But it will, I know it.’ He’d raised his voice now. A few of the others glanced over at them, frowning. It wasn’t unknown for fights to break out when the Ironclads’ gaze was elsewhere, and any trouble often meant punishment for them all.
‘It won’t,’ said Tom. ‘And if I have to put up with you getting angry at me to save your skin again, then that’s fine. But I won’t help you.’
‘Please, Tom.’
The older man would say no more. Soon an Ironclad climbed up the ladder to oversee them and Finn worked his way away from the corner, attacking the rotten wood of the floor with feverish anger. Without Tom they had no chance.
Diane was still asleep when he returned. She stirred as Finn lay down nearby but there was no chance to talk. The Ironclads were already urging the new shift to begin. Diane struggled to her feet, clearly in pain. She set off to follow the others but the portly Ironclad waved her back. She wasn’t fit yet, would be a danger to others. Finn knew, as Diane surely did too, that they wouldn’t wait for ever. If she wasn’t ready for work soon they’d give up on her. Finn just hoped she’d be mobile enough to escape with him.
Finn watched her for a time, picking her way around the scattered piles of rags where the others from her shift had slept, trying to work some movement back into her back. He wanted to say something to her, tell her about Tom, but he couldn’t. Too many guards milled around. One of them directed her to push the empty meal trolley away. Finn slipped into a troubled slumber as he tried to think of a way to distract the Ironclads long enough to put his plans into action.
He awoke feeling barely rested, a knot of anxiety fizzing away in his stomach. The other shift were coming down from the wheel and soon he would have to climb back on to begin work. He glanced up at the vast curve of the great wheel, checking out which bucket the others had completed while he slept. His calculations of two days earlier were correct. The wheel was almost completely recaulked now; today might be their last day on it. He and Diane had to leave now.
He looked around and saw her helping to push the new food trolley towards the camp. She grimaced with the effort and pain of it but she was moving a little better. That was something. She looked up at Finn, catching his gaze. Finn nodded to her, telling her now was the time, be ready.
He looked around for Tom, hoping his friend had relented and was somewhere nearby ready to help them. But Tom was queuing up for the morning’s gruel, his back turned to Finn.
Someone kicked Finn in the side, a sharp blow that made him recoil with pain. He turned expecting to see an Ironclad urging him to work. But instead it was Graves standing over him.
‘Leave me alone, Graves,’ said Finn. ‘I’m not afraid of you any more.’
‘You should be. Because I know all about your plan.’
‘My plan?’
‘Oh, yes, I heard the two of you arranging it all. Well, you’re taking me with you, Smithson. It’s your fault I’m down here so you can get me out.’
‘What makes you think I would ever do anything for you, Graves? You can rot down here for the rest of your life as far as I care.’
Graves grinned. ‘Because if you don’t take me I’ll tell the Ironclads what you’re planning.’
‘They won’t believe you.’
‘Won’t they? Sure about that? Maybe they’ll cart you off to the furnaces just in case I’m right, eh?’
Finn thought quickly. He doubted the Ironclads would believe Graves, but if the older boy did tell them what he’d heard it would make it impossible for Finn and Diane to slip away. And they might never make it back to the wheels. He had to act now.
He looked at Graves, grinning away at his own cleverness. Except he wasn’t clever was he? He was brighter than Croft or Bellow, maybe, but that wasn’t saying much. He’d ruled the dormitory because he was the strongest, the tallest, the meanest. And he had no idea what Finn’s plans actually were. He hadn’t explained them to Diane or Tom had he? Finn saw, then, what he should do, how to engineer the distraction he needed.
He slumped his shoulders and sighed, feigning defeat. ‘OK, Graves. We’ll take you. But once we’re back on the surface we go our separate ways, yes? You’re on your own and we never see each other again.’
Graves nodded. ‘Suits me. So, what’s the plan? What do we do?’
Finn nodded over at the metal trolley that brought them their vats of gruel each day. ‘Know where that goes when it’s empty?’
Graves shook his head, eyes narrowing as he tried to understand Finn’s plan.
‘I found out,’ said Finn. ‘They make the slop upstairs, on the surface. There’s a little cage they haul up and down on a chain, over at the end of the rail. It’s big enough for those metal churns so it’s big enough for one of us. That’s the plan. We go up one at a time.’
‘The Ironclads will see us. They must guard it.’
‘No, that’s the beauty of it. See, Diane’s been pushing the food and water over there, checking it all out. The Ironclads don’t inspect the trolleys. All we have to do is take the empty churns out and there’ll be room for me - for the two of us I mean - inside. Diane can just push us along. When the shift starts the Ironclads are too busy watching the wheel to see us. We just take turns ascending in the cage. We can be up and out in minutes.
Graves looked doubtful, seeing problems with the plan. Finn wasn’t surprised. It sounded wild and unbelievable to him even as he made it up. He carried on talking before Graves could object. ‘I’ll go up first, make sure the coast is clear, then send the cage back for you.’
‘You think I’m stupid, don’t you?’ said Graves. ‘I’ll go up first, understand?’
Finn frowned, pretending to calculate. ‘And why should I trust you?’
‘You haven’t got much choice have you?’
Finn waited a moment more, then sighed. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘But make sure you send the cage back down. You’ll need me up there. I’ve seen a lot more of Engn than you have.’
Graves grinned, and Finn knew he planned to leave the two of them stranded down there once he was free.
‘Of course,’ said Graves. ‘But where do we hide the churns?’
‘That’s easy,’ said Finn. ‘We just stack them over by the wheel, carry them over there as if we’ve been told to by one of the Ironclads. They often get taken over there for cleaning in the river. The Ironclads won’t suspect anything; they don’t count them or anything.’
Finn turned to set off. There were only a few moments before the bell rang for the start of the shift and he didn’t want Graves to have too much time to think about the plan.
‘Where are you going?’ called Graves as Finn walked away.
‘I’ll distract the Ironclads while you move the churns. I’ll keep them talking about something and make sure they don’t see you, OK?’
It was a nice touch. In reality Graves would be the one causing the distraction for the guards. He just had to hope Graves wouldn’t see that.
‘Why don’t I talk to the Ironclads and you move the churns?’ asked Graves.
‘If you like,’ said Finn. ‘Doesn’t really matter. Only, I’ve got this whole story worked out, one to keep them occupied for a few minutes. If you’d rather do that bit then feel free. But you’ll need to keep them busy for long enough or we’ll never get away.’
There was only the briefest pause while Graves considered. ‘No, you do that, talk to the Ironclads. I’ll lug the churns over to the wheel. Just make sure you keep them distracted.’
‘Will do,’ said Finn. ‘Once you’ve cleared the trolley, jump inside. Make sure there’s room for me. When it’s clear I’ll hop in and Diane can push us out of here. Got it?’
‘Got it,’ said Graves.
Finn walked away, towards the masters who stood near the foot of the wheel, watching the workers climbing down at the end of their shift. He allowed himself once glance back to see Graves lifting the metal churn out of the trolley and rolling it, in a great booming clatter, towards the river. Finn grinned. If the noise of all that didn’t get the Ironclads’ attention, one of them was bound to notice Graves crouching there inside the trolley, waiting patiently to be wheeled away.
Finn hurried through the throng of stirring workers, stepping over and around those who still clung to sleep. Diane was over by the wheel, as agreed. Tom stood up ahead of him a short way, watching him approach. For a moment, Finn thought Tom had relented, that he was going to help after all. But no. Tom looked away, lowered his head. Finn stopped when he reached him, bending down, pretending to pick up some bit of rag.
‘Good bye, Tom,’ he said. ‘Thank you. For everything. I’ll get you out of here, I promise I will.’
Tom shook his head. ‘You won’t, Finn. You’ll just get yourself killed.’
Finn turned to go. They had to leave, now.
‘Finn?’ said Tom.
‘Yes?’
‘Thank you, too.’
‘For what?’
‘For your stories. For everything. You’ve kept me alive, too, you know.’
Finn was about to reply when a cry went up from the portly Ironclad. He’d spotted Graves trundling the empty churn towards the water. Perhaps he suspected some escape attempt. Perhaps he just saw a worker doing what he wasn’t supposed to. In any case, blowing his metal whistle, the shrill piping sound echoing around the cavern, the Ironclad lumbered over to Graves. From all around the wheels other guards converged too, carrying whips or muskets or grapples, ready to suppress the trouble, the riot, whatever it was. Finn caught a glimpse of Graves, stranded in the open as the Ironclads converged on him, comically clinging on to his churn. He wouldn’t live long after this. Finn felt neither remorse nor jubilation. Escaping was all that mattered.
He had to hurry now. He walked briskly towards the wheel, dodging past all the workers who were hurrying to see what was going on. In a moment, Finn reached Diane standing at the wheel. She looked nervous, shaky, unsure of herself.
‘Come on,’ said Finn. ‘We don’t have much time. Follow me.’
He led her around the wheel they had been recaulking and on to the next one. This ran at full speed: immense, terrifying, churning through the water of the river, lifting the great, streaming buckets of water upwards towards the surface. They ran around to the far side, the camp out of sight. Spray lashed into their faces. Finn tried to dry his hands on his sodden clothes.
‘Up there,’ he said. ‘We need to climb the frame.’
‘What?’
‘Hurry. Come on, we can do it. It’s just like climbing a tree.’
He pulled himself onto the lowest spar of the wooden framework that supported the great wheel. Although the frame of the wheel and the drive mechanism were made of metal, the cradles in which the wheels were mounted were all wood: a nest of thick, round beams lashed together with ropes or pinned with iron rivets the size of Finn’s arm, reaching all the way up to the roof of the cavern. He could feel the framework swaying and creaking in time to the turning of the wheel. He reached down to haul Diane up. The stretch of it clearly hurt her but she pulled herself onto the lowest beam. Finn set off, shinning his way up a diagonal spar.
‘We’ll never make it to the top,’ said Diane. This close to the thunder of the water and the wheel she had to shout to be heard.
‘No need!’ replied Finn. ‘We just need to get up a short way. It’ll be safer then.’
They climbed for several minutes, Finn helping Diane as much as he could, repeatedly glancing down, expecting to see the Ironclads. They were still within easy range of a musket. He tried to climb faster but the smooth wood was slick with water. They were taking too long. They had to try it now.
He helped Diane onto a horizontal beam and stood for a moment to catch his breath. In front of them, so close he could reach out and touch them, the vast wooden buckets full of frothing water roared past his face.
‘There,’ he said. ‘This is it.’
‘The buckets? You plan to grab hold of one and ride it up? That’s crazy. You could never hold on long enough.’
He turned to look at Diane. She was soaked, her black hair plastering her face.
‘No, that’s not it,’ he said. ‘You’re right, you couldn’t do it by holding on. But you don’t need to. If you time the jump properly you can jump into the bucket. Into the water. Then you’ll be taken all the way up, out of the caves, up to the surface.’
She looked upwards, then back to him. ‘But you don’t know what happens up there. Where the water goes.’
‘It must empty out somewhere. There’s so much of it with all these wheels running, it can’t just be sent straight to the boilers can it?’
‘It’s a terrible risk, Finn. I don’t like it.’
‘It’s the only chance we’ve got. It’s this or die in the mines. Believe me, I’ve never found another way out in all this time.’
He tried to sound as confident as he could. In truth, he was racked with doubts himself, and terrified at what he was suggesting. If they missed their jump they would be mangled by the wheel. And of course he was only guessing what happened up on the surface. They could easily be crushed or drowned or boiled. But it was their only chance. Diane glanced between wheel and ground, unsure, terrified of either prospect.
‘We have to try it now,’ said Finn. ‘Let’s hold hands and jump. Then at least we’ll stay together. Whatever happens. OK?’
She thought for a moment more then nodded. She grasped Finn’s hand. He could feel the tension in it, the way it shook. Or perhaps it was him shaking.
He watched the buckets on the wheel, each rising rapidly towards and past them, trying to judge the best moment to jump. The expanse of water in each was clear as it rose at them. They just had to reach that. But if they mistimed it and caught the lip of the bucket they would be scissored in two as it cut past the spars of the framework. They stood there for long moments, repeatedly twitching at what seemed like the right moment, not daring to jump this time as each bucket roared past them and upwards. It reminded Finn of something, an old memory, but he couldn’t think what.
A cracking sound near his ear distracted him for a moment. He thought the wood was splitting, perhaps, giving way under their weight. But that couldn’t be right; surely they were insignificant compared to the vast weight of the wheels. The diagonal spar near his head had a great gouge cut out of it, fresh looking. It hadn’t been there a moment ago. He looked down at the ground, confused, and saw the Ironclad down there aiming his musket up at them. The shot had been inaudible against the roaring and creaking of the wheel.
‘Now!’ Finn shouted, gripping Diane’s hand tight. ‘Jump now!’
He leapt into space, tugging her with him into the air. They seemed to fall for a long time. They must have missed the bucket; they would tumble among the wooden spars before smashing into the ground. But then water engulfed him. Finn shot under the surface, his breath taken away by the freezing chill of it. He struggled, confused, kicking out but suddenly unable to work out which way was up. He could see nothing around him except a blur of brown and blue. He no longer held Diane’s hand. Had she made the jump too? He had to get to the surface and find her. They had to be ready for the bucket to reach the top of the wheel so they could get out. He had to breathe. He had forgotten to take a breath as he jumped and his lungs were already screaming in alarm.
