A Song of Spiders

Chapter 18 - Escape

They climbed out of the back of the van in a small empty side street then quickly moved away from it. They turned a corner and stopped at the Moll Maloney statue. From there they could look up the crowded pedestrian-only Grafton Street. They heard the blare of a siren behind them and looked. Walking up towards them on horseback still was Felt and the four Chthonic guards. 

Felt lifted a loudhailer, made it screech to get people’s attention, then shouted into it. 

‘Attention devout Chthonics of Ireland. There are two killers in your midst. They are young orphans, dressed like a news crew, a male and a female. They have just attempted to assassinate his holiness the Pope.’ People had stopped to listen and at this point there was an audible gasp. He continued. ‘If you see them detain them with force if necessary. We will take it from there. Be alert, be true to your faith. That is all.’

Dex and Karma froze. They saw people around them begin to scan their fellow passers-by curiously. Dex and Karma looked around. They saw a doorway of an expensive fur shop. A small wizened woman with a heavy layer of powdered makeup and a huge fur coat and carrying a small dog was about to enter. A large security man was holding the door for her. Suddenly, Dex felt a powerful hand drip his arm. A voice behind him said. ‘Stop right there you two, I have ye.’ Dex looked over his shoulder. A small man in a traffic warden's uniform had a grip on his arm and Karma's. He was looking for Felt and his men and talking a breath to shout to them. Dex said to Karma, ‘run now, over there! Pointing at the open door the woman in fur had just entered. The security man was slowly closing it. They both jumped forward at once pulling the man off his feet. He fell in surprise. They barged in the door, pushing the security man behind it. Dex slammed it shut. Through the heavy glass, he could see the traffic warden pointing at the door and shouting in the direction of Dex. Dex ducked reflexively as the security man tried to grab him. They both ran towards the counter at the back of the shop, pushing stands of furs out of their way. 

‘Move!’ shouted Dex and the fur-clad woman with the dog jumped aside. It began to bark noisily.

A man in a pinstripe waistcoat and pince-nez had just opened his mouth in an 'O' of protest as the two ducked past him into the back of the shop. Dex pushed open a back door out into a dim back alley just as hear heard Felt shout behind them 'halt!' They then heard a shot as they slammed the heavy exterior door. They looked around desperately. All around them were tall old buildings. They were in a gap barely the size of a large car. There were bins piled up to their left and above them a walled gap between the buildings. Dex jumped on the wall and Karma pushed his feet up. He turned and reached for her hand and helped her up.

They were on a flat roof. They ran forward out of sight just as the door below them burst open. They did not turn to look, just climbed down onto the street. They were in front of an ancient black and white pub. 

‘Back up Grafton’ said Dex breathlessly. They ran across the road, and turned left and right and started to run through the crowd as fast as they could, ducking low to hide themselves. 

They reached a junction and saw a line of police in black looking around. One of the men spotted them and pointed. Dex and Karma moved to the opposite side of the street and started to move up it again, dodging around shoppers. 

‘This is pointless, they'll catch us eventually.’ said Dex panting even as he moved forward into the crowd and further up the street. 

‘They'll kill us if they catch is’ said Karma, ‘they think we're papal assassins. Run you idiot!’ She pulled him along. They heard hooves behind them. Felt and the guards had mounted up again. People jumped aside and they galloped towards them. People jumped or where knocked aside.