Wormwood Gate by Katherine Farmar Page B

sure?’
    â€˜Sure as sure can be. Come on.’ He turned around and crouched down. ‘I’ll give you a piggyback the rest of the way. We’re going to visit your friend in the cells.’
    Julie climbed up on his back. ‘And set her free?’
    â€˜Of course,’ said the guard, jogging down the stairs. ‘Sure, when your friend is free, you’ll have a loose leg, won’t you?’
    â€˜Em, I suppose so.’ Julie didn’t know what ‘a loose leg’ meant, but this was not the time to ask for definitions. ‘And you won’t tell the patrols?’
    â€˜Ah. Well, now. Now that you mention that … I’m going to have to, though I’d rather not.’
    â€˜If you’d rather not, why do you have to?’
    â€˜Your woman’ll find out, and soon enough to make trouble for you and your friend,’ said the guard, ‘and more trouble for me. No, I’ll have to tell them, but I’ll do you this favour: I’ll dawdle and delay until the last moment. You should have a head start of ten minutes at least, and that’s enough time to get to places where they won’t find you.’
    â€˜If you say so,’ Julie muttered.
    They reached the bottom of the stairs, and the guard crouched down. ‘You can walk the rest of the way, since you’re supposed to be working for the queen.’
    Julie shook out her legs quickly and started down towards the corridor where her and Aisling’s cell was, with the guard following behind her. At the corner, they ran into a patrol and had to squash themselves against the wall to let the other guards march past, with Julie all the while bowing her head and hoping that none of them would guess that anything was amiss. When the last booted foot had long passed and their footsteps couldn’t be heard any more, she let out a breath and ran down the corridor towards the cell, then skidded to a halt when she realised that she didn’t know which cell had been hers.
    The guard pushed past her gently and strode towards one cell in particular.
    â€˜This one,’ he said.
    He took out a ring of keys and unlocked the door, then pulled back the bolt and flung the door open.
    â€˜You’ve got it wrong,’ said Julie. ‘This isn’t our cell. It’s empty.’
    The guard sniffed the air. ‘It’s empty now,’ he said, ‘but it smells of you and your friend. This was your cell all right.’
    â€˜Then where … Are you asking me to believe that Aisling’s disappeared into thin air?’
    â€˜Or escaped,’ said the guard. ‘With the help of somebody less fearful than me.’
    â€˜I don’t believe it,’ Julie said, stepping into the cell and looking around, her eyes sweeping the walls and the floor. ‘I haven’t even been gone that long, how could she –’
    She broke off what she was about to say. Her eyes had fallen on a small oblong object that looked thoroughly out of place in the cell with its stone walls and straw-strewn floor. It was so dark that it almost faded out of view, but when Julie picked it up, it lit up.
    â€˜You’re right,’ said Julie flatly, staring at the screen of Aisling’s mobile phone. ‘This was our cell. And Aisling’s escaped.’
    The guard was silent for a moment, then put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Then there’s no need to worry about her. Come on, I have to take you to the exit.’

5
    Aisling slumped down onto the bench after the door slammed shut. She didn’t like the fact that the guard had called her fat (okay, so her body mass index was outside the recommended range, but she was still growing and it had never caused any health problems), but that was just a minor irritant next to the way he’d dragged Julie away. To see the queen, he’d said, as if that was meant to be reassuring. As if it hadn’t been the queen who’d locked them