Bring Forth a Fire (Book 1)

Fourteen - Tangled in Knots

The time it took for me to recognise Huntley and the time it took for someone to come across us a second time was barely long enough to draw breath.

"PRISONERS OUT!" came a shout from behind, alerting us to their presence and theirs to ours.

I sprang to my feet and stumbled, Celia and Christopher pulling me upright in a flash. I saw Cath and James make a simultaneous throwing motion behind us, buffeting the guards and slowing them down. It wouldn't keep them away for long. The alarm was out, and I could already feel them coming. Right then, my injury acted up, and I staggered.

Christopher doubled back, scooped me up in his arms like a child, and was soon streaking along after the others.

"Stop them!" Huntley's voice boomed from behind us. That only egged us on, with no desire to look back.

Our path was a zigzag route, sometimes throwing ourselves down in the trough between two hills. Then we were up and off. Throwing them off seemed to be working, although every time we crested a hill, I could see them in the distance.

Just as we threw ourselves across the tracks, cut off from our pursuers by an oncoming train, we finally stumbled. Christopher broke our fall with his body as much as he could. We ended up at the bottom of the hill, me half-trapped under him. He was so close I could feel his breath on my lips and see myself in the deep green of his eyes. Our gazes locked for a few seconds, although to me, it seemed like hours. It was the green of wandering through a deep forest, looking up to see the sun shining through the leaves. Or looking down into deep water, while floating in a rowboat. 

Then he cleared his throat and righted himself, putting out a hand to pull me up. With that the spell was broken. I caught Sebastian watching us, eyes narrowed. That might have been jealousy that had just darted across his expression.

"Are they still following us?" he asked, looking away from me quickly.

To all of our surprises, Celia scuttled up the hill and looked over, and then after a second came back, stumbling down the slope.

"We seem to have lost them," she said cheerfully, her eyes shining from exertion and excitement. "That was brilliant, Mr Wellington. Very quick thinking on your part, I think."

"Call me Christopher, Celia. Mr Wellington is my father." He gave her a warm smile.

She beamed back, blushing.

"Right." Cath picked herself up. "Hate to break up the celebration, but what do we do now?"

"We find another train station." Christopher dusted himself off, and I could see his ears and his cheeks were red. Mine were just as hot. "There should be one not far, if we keep following the tracks."

"Out here?" Sebastian interrupted. "Are you mad?"

"It's the only way, I believe," Christopher said, evidently not feeling the heat of Sebastian's gaze. We couldn't have infighting. Especially not now, with seemingly no way to get back.

"He's right, Sebastian," I said finally, breaking the tension between them. "We'll have to start walking."

Sebastian rolled his eyes, grumbling. I had no doubt he had noticed Christopher by now, but I was determined to keep things amenable between them, as much as humanly possible.

||

It only got worse from there. The sky darkened as we walked, the clouds low and iron-grey, carrying the taste of rain with them. Then the wind began to blow, whipping knives and needles through our clothes and punishing our exposed skin. Christopher stayed close to me, letting me lean on him whenever I felt weak. His warm encouraging hand on my shoulder or secured around my waist kept me putting one foot in front of the other.