Kate knew they were getting close when the air changed from stale and damp to clean and fresh. The Secretary must have sensed it as well, for he clucked his tongue and muttered, "almost there... almost there..."
It had been laughably easy to free him from his cage. No one had been left to guard him, no one had even noticed when Kate snuck over, held the keys aloft, and told him her demands. She would free him if he'd get her to the Countess, before Gabriel and King Robbie stormed the town with their army. She'd deliver the Atlas to the witch, if the children of Cambridge Falls were set free and the monsters left for good, without harming anyone. Could he do that?
Yes, the man had sneered. There was a way.
That brought them here, stumbling down the dark tunnel by the dim light of Kate's pilfered lantern. The Secretary stuck close to her side, his presence clammy and nervous, but he did not dare grab her, even when she sped up and left him scrambling forward on his own. Apparently, getting burnt and pushed out a window made him hesitant to touch her. Good.
The duo rounded a bend and, for the first time in two days, Kate found herself under the open sky. They were on a narrow footpath winding up the edge of the mountain and down to a sharp cliff, which the Secretary eked towards cautiously. The moon hung low and full amongst the star-dappled darkness, bathing the valley in a silver glow. It was both beautiful and lonesome, Kate thought.
The Secretary fell to his knees at the edge of the cliff and began etching in the dirt with one gnarled fingers.
"What're you doing?" Kate questioned. "The others will be after us soon! We have to-"
"Quiet! I need to concentrate!"
Kate shot an anxious glance back at the wide mouth of the tunnel. She expected at any moment to hear her name being called, to see the light of approaching torches.
"There," the Secretary declared triumphantly. He clambered to his feet and wiped his hand on his jacket. "Done."
Kate looked at him and frowned. "Done what? All you've done is drawn a line in the dirt."
"Ah, but it's a special line."
Her scowl deepened. "Dr. Pym and Gabriel and the Dwarves will undoubtedly be here at any second. You said you knew a way to town!"
"I do," he replied. "This way. Step over the line."
The line was scratched in the dirt, a yard long and drawn right on the sharp edge of the cliff. Stepping over it would mean stepping into thin air and a deadly freefall.
"You've gotta be kidding," Kate muttered.
"It will take you to the Countess. This is magic she granted me," the Secretary said.
Kate continued to eye the line skeptically. "Uh-huh. There has to be another way-"
He lurched at her, talking right into her face with a crazed look in his eye. "There is no other way! Your friends will be here soon! Does the little birdie want to save the children? Then she must fly! Fly, fly, fly..."
He staggered back and gestured to the literal line in the sand with a gruesome grin. He was clutching something in his hand, Kate noticed. It was the tiny yellow bird she'd seen earlier, but its body was motionless and mangled. She swallowed nervously.
"What about you?"
"Very kind of you to ask, very kind. But the spell only works on one birdie. Griddely Cavendish will have to find another way."
"Right," Kate said, taking a tentative step forward. "And, if you aren't coming along, how do I know you aren't just trying to kill me?"
He smiled once again, showing all his crooked, yellow teeth. "You don't. Now, fly!"
YOU ARE READING
Waiting For Sunrise - The Books Of Beginning AU
FanfictionThe year is 1899, and Kate has more responsibility then ever placed upon her aching shoulders. She and her siblings have just been thrown out of their orphanage in Baltimore by the cruel Mrs. Crumley, and have no place to go. They haven't seen their...
