holding the torch high so she could see her way clear.
-How far to the Marshes? she shouted back at Malvic .
-Perhaps another mile, my Queen.
-Haste. Make haste everyone.
She was moving faster now, sweating. A spider fell on her arm. She brushed it away and it hit the stone floor with a thump and scuttled out of the torch-light.
-Ha, said Malvic . Admiringly. What a quick, brave Wolf Queen.
Ahead suddenly she saw bluish blackness rather than the solid black of the tunnel. Then she heard rushing water.
-We've made it, she cried, her voice ringing in the tunnel.
A shout went up from the wolf people.
-Hush! said Malvic , and the voices hushed.
Lucia stepped from the tunnel into a foot of murky water. The cold shocked her. She splashed around a bit trying to get solid footing.
-My Queen! Are you safe?
-Yes. It's not deep. Come out quickly. Put out your torches first.
The torches blinked out. The Wolf people began to thrash through the cold water, grasping at reeds.
Some of the Wolf children sank into it up to their necks.
-Hold each other's arms! said Lucia.
Forming chain of arms the Wolf people waded into the darkness filled with muck and reeds.
The sky was radiant. Stars in all directions but down.
Then the night was shaken by a blast. The sky turned red for an instant. There was a distant clattering of stones.
-They've blown the castle, said Malvic . It's over.
Someone cried out:
-A Vampire!
-Hand me a bow! said Malvic .
Jason splashed away into the watery dark and came back huffing and puffing, holding out a longbow and a small clutch of arrows bound with a leather cord.
Malvic gave the boy his torch and took the bow and arrows. He plucked out and arrow, notched it onto the bowstring, and turned in a slow circle, whispering:
-Where is the Vampire?
A scuttling splash nearby.
-There! cried a woman's shaking voice.
The bowstring thunked . There was a squeal. Malvic waded over to a clump of reeds. Then he held up a large dead water rat by its tail. The arrow had gone right through its head.
He dropped the water rat with a splash.
-No Vampires. Just water rats. Be quiet everyone. Follow the Queen. Which way, my Queen?
Lucia cleared her throat. At the shout of Vampires her mouth had gone dry with panic.
-West. There are river barges hidden in a clump of old and mossy oaks.
Jivalti had told her this. Where was she now? Had she stayed behind? Lucia's heart was thumping like a bird's.
-Please lead on.
Dawn
The sky was growing light blue by the time they reached the barges and all the Wolf refugees were shivering from the cold of the water.
The river barges were massive, long and flat bottomed boats half sunk in mud. They had been carefully covered with pine branches and reeds to conceal them.
The pine branches were fresh and most of the reeds had been recently cut. Someone had tended to these boats with great respect, caulking any gaps in the sides or bottoms with tar.
There were six barges. Swiftly, Lucia calculated that each would have to hold thirty people. Yes. It was possible.
-Aboard, everyone, she hissed.
Mist drifted in tendrils over the surface of the dark water, so that it looked as if the swamp was steaming.
As the Wolf people boarded the big boats, shivering and splashing and coated with raw muck, Lucia was startled by a whirring of wings overhead. Malvic raised his bow, then lowered it.
-Wild ducks, he said.
The sun brimmed the horizon, shooting rays in all directions. Lucia felt its heat on her forehead. She shut her eyes.
Alive. What ecstasy.
And Alphonse?
She wept a little, sniveling like a human child, until Malvec sat down beside her in the boat.
The stronger Wolf boys would do the poling. Each boat had a dozen or so bamboo poles onboard just for that purpose.
The bamboo poles
-How far to the Marshes? she shouted back at Malvic .
-Perhaps another mile, my Queen.
-Haste. Make haste everyone.
She was moving faster now, sweating. A spider fell on her arm. She brushed it away and it hit the stone floor with a thump and scuttled out of the torch-light.
-Ha, said Malvic . Admiringly. What a quick, brave Wolf Queen.
Ahead suddenly she saw bluish blackness rather than the solid black of the tunnel. Then she heard rushing water.
-We've made it, she cried, her voice ringing in the tunnel.
A shout went up from the wolf people.
-Hush! said Malvic , and the voices hushed.
Lucia stepped from the tunnel into a foot of murky water. The cold shocked her. She splashed around a bit trying to get solid footing.
-My Queen! Are you safe?
-Yes. It's not deep. Come out quickly. Put out your torches first.
The torches blinked out. The Wolf people began to thrash through the cold water, grasping at reeds.
Some of the Wolf children sank into it up to their necks.
-Hold each other's arms! said Lucia.
Forming chain of arms the Wolf people waded into the darkness filled with muck and reeds.
The sky was radiant. Stars in all directions but down.
Then the night was shaken by a blast. The sky turned red for an instant. There was a distant clattering of stones.
-They've blown the castle, said Malvic . It's over.
Someone cried out:
-A Vampire!
-Hand me a bow! said Malvic .
Jason splashed away into the watery dark and came back huffing and puffing, holding out a longbow and a small clutch of arrows bound with a leather cord.
Malvic gave the boy his torch and took the bow and arrows. He plucked out and arrow, notched it onto the bowstring, and turned in a slow circle, whispering:
-Where is the Vampire?
A scuttling splash nearby.
-There! cried a woman's shaking voice.
The bowstring thunked . There was a squeal. Malvic waded over to a clump of reeds. Then he held up a large dead water rat by its tail. The arrow had gone right through its head.
He dropped the water rat with a splash.
-No Vampires. Just water rats. Be quiet everyone. Follow the Queen. Which way, my Queen?
Lucia cleared her throat. At the shout of Vampires her mouth had gone dry with panic.
-West. There are river barges hidden in a clump of old and mossy oaks.
Jivalti had told her this. Where was she now? Had she stayed behind? Lucia's heart was thumping like a bird's.
-Please lead on.
Dawn
The sky was growing light blue by the time they reached the barges and all the Wolf refugees were shivering from the cold of the water.
The river barges were massive, long and flat bottomed boats half sunk in mud. They had been carefully covered with pine branches and reeds to conceal them.
The pine branches were fresh and most of the reeds had been recently cut. Someone had tended to these boats with great respect, caulking any gaps in the sides or bottoms with tar.
There were six barges. Swiftly, Lucia calculated that each would have to hold thirty people. Yes. It was possible.
-Aboard, everyone, she hissed.
Mist drifted in tendrils over the surface of the dark water, so that it looked as if the swamp was steaming.
As the Wolf people boarded the big boats, shivering and splashing and coated with raw muck, Lucia was startled by a whirring of wings overhead. Malvic raised his bow, then lowered it.
-Wild ducks, he said.
The sun brimmed the horizon, shooting rays in all directions. Lucia felt its heat on her forehead. She shut her eyes.
Alive. What ecstasy.
And Alphonse?
She wept a little, sniveling like a human child, until Malvec sat down beside her in the boat.
The stronger Wolf boys would do the poling. Each boat had a dozen or so bamboo poles onboard just for that purpose.
The bamboo poles
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